A ton of wood pellets is fifty 40 pound bags. That is the entire answer, and it holds across the US retail market: the 40 lb bag is the standard unit, and fifty of them make a 2,000 pound short ton.
Pellets are sold shrink wrapped on a pallet, and a pallet is a ton. When a supplier quotes a price per ton, that is what arrives.
The numbers
| Unit | Weight | Bags |
|---|---|---|
| One bag | 40 lb | 1 |
| Half ton | 1,000 lb | 25 |
| One ton, one pallet | 2,000 lb | 50 |
| Two tons | 4,000 lb | 100 |
| Three tons | 6,000 lb | 150 |
A few mills bag at 33 lb or 20 kg, mostly imported brands, in which case a ton is a different number of bags. If the bag weight is not 40 lb, divide 2,000 by the actual bag weight rather than assuming fifty.
Why the ton is the unit that matters
Pellet pricing is quoted per ton because that is how the product moves. The mill palletises it, the freight is priced per pallet, and the retailer stocks it that way.
Buying single bags always costs more per pound. The margin on a bag off a hardware store shelf covers handling that a pallet does not need, and in midwinter, when stock is short, that gap widens. Single bags are for topping up in March, not for heating a house.
For what tons actually cost, our regional pellet price index records observed listed prices from named suppliers with the date each was recorded. It covers the Northeast and Great Lakes, where suppliers publish readable prices, and it is not a national index.
How much space a ton needs
A pallet of fifty bags is roughly 4 feet square and 4 feet tall, so about 64 cubic feet. That is a useful figure to know before ordering three tons.
Storage rules that matter more than the space:
- Dry, always. Pellets are compressed sawdust with no binder beyond the wood’s own lignin. They absorb ambient moisture, swell, and then break down into fines that jam the auger. A wet bag is a ruined bag.
- Off bare concrete. A garage floor wicks moisture upward. Leave the pallet under the bags, or put boards down.
- Covered but ventilated. The factory wrap sheds water but traps condensation once it is opened. If you are storing outside, cover the top and leave the sides open.
- Indoors is better. A garage or basement beats a driveway in every climate.
Pellets stored properly keep for years. Pellets stored badly are useless in one damp season, which makes storage the single largest risk in buying a season ahead.
How many tons a winter takes
| How you burn | Tons per season | Bags |
|---|---|---|
| Supplemental, one room | 1 to 2 | 50 to 100 |
| Primary heat, mild climate | 2 to 3 | 100 to 150 |
| Primary heat, moderate climate | 3 to 4 | 150 to 200 |
| Primary heat, cold climate | 4 to 5 | 200 to 250 |
The variable is run hours and feed rate, not the size of the house. A stove running 20 hours a day at a high feed rate gets through a bag a day.
To size your own order from your actual burn rate and heating season, use the pellet consumption calculator. It converts feed rate and run hours into tons, bags and a season cost. If you are switching from firewood, a ton is roughly a cord of mixed hardwood, and how many tons of pellets equal a cord of wood converts your old cord count species by species.
Buy in spring
Pellet demand peaks in January and bottoms out in June, and pricing follows the same curve. Mills run year round and want to clear inventory in the off season, so the same ton is materially cheaper in May than in December.
This is the largest saving available to a pellet burner, and unlike firewood it costs you nothing but the space. Firewood bought green in spring at least has to season. Pellets are a finished product the day they are bagged, so buying early is purely a price play.
The constraint is storage, which is why the 64 cubic feet per ton figure is worth working out before you order. Three tons is a pallet footprint of roughly 12 feet by 4 feet, or stacked two high, 8 by 4.
Delivery is quoted separately
One thing to settle before comparing two prices: almost no supplier includes delivery in the per ton figure, and most do not publish a delivery rate at all.
On a $300 ton, a $90 delivery fee is 30 percent, which is more than the entire spread between many suppliers. Always ask for the delivered total for the number of tons you actually want, since freight per ton usually falls as the order grows. Our supplier list records which ones publish a rate and which quote on request.