Wood pellets and wood pellet stoves have been in the news a lot lately, stating everything from how efficient they are, how they can keep the air quality around your community cleaner and how you can save yourself a lot of money by installing a wood pellet stove. But now the hype seems to be catching up with everyone as manufactures of both stoves and pellets are unable to keep with the demand from the public.

A news article from the New Hampshire Sunday News called “Pellet stoves efficient, but becoming scarce” shows that many stores in New Hampshire state have become so overwhelmed by the demand of pellet stoves that their sales have increased, in some instances, by 500%.

At Fireplace Village in Bedford, customers won’t receive their stoves until October.

June sales are up close to 500 percent compared to the previous June, and 90 percent of customers are inquiring about the pellet stoves or inserts for their fireplaces, according to store manager Jeff Taylor.

In Nashua, Al Carachio of Pellet King said he sold 100 stoves last month — 10 times the number for a typical June.

“The demand is just enormous,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like this at this time of the year,” Carachio said.

Today, more than ever, with raising oil prices people have to seek alternative ways to heat their home without breaking the bank. These little pieces of compressed wood can do just that but at the same time help the environment, yet we have to remember that with any other heating source we have to take cation when using a wood pellet stove.

“I think what’s driving sales is people are getting their home heating bills,” Strimling said. “People are getting concerned about the environment and want to do the right thing, especially if it can save them some money.”Strimling is selling pellets for $269 to $279 a ton now, about $10 more than at this time last year but $60 to $70 more than in March, when prices had dropped. Home delivery will run about $35 a ton.

Raymond Fire Chief Kevin Pratt said that he is receiving “lots of calls” each day from residents who have recently installed new pellet stoves or are thinking about getting their old wood-burning stoves going again.

This trend is most likely to spread to other states at a rapid pace, if it hasn’t already. If you are wanting to heat your home cheaper this year you may not want to wait placing your order for your pellet stove. If you can’t get your wood pellet stove by the start of the heating season, at least you’ll have it for half of the season and that can really keep your oil / fuel cost from getting to high.