A high demand for a cheaper source of warmth this coming winter has caused a wood pellet shortage in the Saint John area.

Stores throughout the city and other parts of the province were sold out of wood pellets this week.

Some stores have waiting lists of customers who want to buy the pellets.

Don Perry, owner of Squires Home Comfort in Saint John, said he has been installing a large number of pellet stoves in homes lately.

"They're coming in the back door and going out the front," Perry told CBC News on Wednesday.

Perry said the demand for wood pellets is driven by the high cost of heating homes with oil and electricity.

Dave Arsenault, who recently had a pellet stove installed in his home, said pellets are a big step up from a regular wood stove.

"It's a lot cleaner than burning regular wood," Arsenault said. "Carrying the fuel around is a lot easier and it's a more efficient type of stove. I've done some research on it," he said.

Meanwhile, Arsenault said he is OK with the wait to buy wood pellets. He said he does not plan to use his new stove until the temperatures get colder.

However, a spokesman for one pellet manufacturer in the Maritimes indicated the wait for wood pellets could be a long one.

Michael Kontak with the Shaw Group said the downturn in the forestry industry has created a shortage of the sawdust and chips used in making wood pellets.

"We are constantly looking for more raw material and an alternative means of producing raw material," Kontak said on Wednesday.

The company, which has a pellet plant in Nova Scotia, cannot increase output this year despite the increase in demand, he said.

While the Shaw Group isn't taking on new customers, other pellet manufacturers said they are catching up with the demand.