Pellet Stove Owners Fired Up

Over Fuel Shortage

By Nancy K. Crevier

Area residents who bought wood pellet burning stoves in an effort to stave off high heating costs have been in for a rude surprise this fall. The stoves, clean-burning units that operate on bits of compressed wood resembling small animal feed, reached new heights of popularity this fall when oil prices skyrocketed. More pellet stove owners meant an increase in demand for pellets, and according to several area merchants, manufacturers are not presently able to keep up with the demand.

“The pellets are hard to get,” admits Matt Bower of Black Swan Hearth and Gift Shop on South Main Street. “Everybody who had pellet stoves stockpiled [the pellets] and now they are in short supply.” The Black Swan has pellets on order, and a waiting list of customers who want them. “Our first pellet order should come in about three weeks,” says Mr Bower, but that order, as well as a second order to follow, is sold out. “After that,” he says, “we have no idea if we can get more.”

The lack of fuel has not stopped people from purchasing the pellet burning stoves, though, and The Black Swan is presently waiting for a new shipment of the appliances, some of which are on a 90-day back order. “Most people are pretty understanding,” says Mr Bower, even though they are disappointed not to be getting full use of their stoves this season. “They might still get some use out of it [a pellet burning stove] this winter, but we remind them that it’s for years to come, as well.”

Newtown Hardware has always stocked the pellets, but this year, “Prospects don’t look good,” says a spokesman for the local store on Church Hill Road. “We keep trying to order them, but the warehouse has been out for a month. We’ve got to wait until the manufacturer catches up.”

Even traveling a bit out of town, pellet stove owners come up empty handed. Bruce Benedict of Benedict’s Farm and Garden in Monroe has carried the pellets for a number of years, but this year has seen unprecedented sales, to the point that he was down to his last 100 bags by the second week in November. “Those will be gone this weekend,” he predicts. “That’s all I can get for the next few weeks.” The manufacturer he generally deals with has been unable to supply him, and other manufacturers are not taking new customers. His clients will have to be patient, probably until December says Mr Benedict.

“Everybody made a run,” says a Home Depot spokesperson for the store located on Federal Road in Danbury. “We had a truckload [of pellets], 16 tons, that went in an hour the end of September. Two more truckloads were gone in three hours.” Right now, the store is waiting for a promised shipment of 12 truckloads of pellets. The order was expected in October, but had still not arrived in November. “It could be January,” he says, adding that presently Home Depot is not ordering any wood pellet burning stoves.

The pellets are hard to come by for Agway’s in Bethel, as well. The store was out of stock in early November, and the delivery coming in is all prepaid and sold. It does not bode well for pellet stove owners who lacks fuel now, unless they are willing to travel somewhat out of the local area.

A&J’s in Monroe has sold out of stoves and pellets, and according to a recorded message, has currently closed the Monroe location. However, A&J’s on Post Road in Westport has shipments of the pellets coming in on a fairly regular basis, says a spokesperson there who asked not to be identified. A certain amount of the pellets in stock have been set aside for current customers, he says, but it may be possible for new customers to obtain pellets, as well.

Buyers who are willing to go a little further afield may have some luck at The Trading Post in New Milford located on Kent Road. Stoves and pellets are in stock, and a spokesperson there finds supplying pellets to customers not to be a problem at all for their store. Because tracking products is a priority at The Trading Post, he says, the store was able to anticipate the quantity of pellets it would need to have on hand this fall. “Consequently, we have plenty of pellets and stoves,” he says. Many customers also took advantage of the early buy program offered this past spring to purchase the pellets they would need for the upcoming winter.

Because The Trading Post is now seeing an influx of customers from as far away as Westchester County in New York seeking pellets, a limit of ten bags of pellets per week per customer is in effect. At the peak of heating season, the average consumer will use only five bags of pellets each week, so the company feels that the limit is fair to all of their customers, old and new.

Pellet stove owners who did not foresee a shortage in the alternative fuel might have to stoke up their conventional heating source in the meantime, until manufacturers increase production and supplies become plentiful again.