Firewood Cord Delivery Cost Calculator

Delivered mixed hardwood runs [RATE:mixed_hardwood_cord_delivered] per cord in market estimates; oak runs [RATE:oak_cord_delivered] and softwood [RATE:softwood_cord_delivered].

Compare cost per million BTU, not per cord. Buy in spring for 20 to 30 percent off peak. Confirm 128 cubic feet stacked before you pay the balance.

Buying a face cord priced as a full cord. At 16-inch logs a face cord is one third of a cord, so a $150 'cord' is really $450 per full cord.

Second worst: accepting a loose-dumped pile without stacking it. Air gaps hide 20 to 33 percent of the volume you paid for. Stack, measure, then pay.

Price per cord hides the real story. A cheap cord of pine burns out faster, so you buy more of it. Cost per million BTU (MMBTU) is the honest number, using USDA Forest Products Lab heat values per cord.

All prices are market estimates. No federal agency publishes retail cord prices; the EIA residential wood data tracks consumption and state-level biomass price estimates, not what your local seller charges.

Pine looks cheap per MMBTU on paper. You handle roughly 1.5 times the volume for the same heat and refill the stove more often.

Hickory at 27.7 million BTU is the densest common option, worth a premium if the price gap is under 15 percent.

A cord is 128 cubic feet stacked, 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet. That's the only unit with a standardized definition under NIST Handbook 44, adopted by most states. Everything else is seller vocabulary.

A face cord is 4 feet tall by 8 feet long by whatever the log length is. At 16-inch logs that's one third of a cord. So "$150 a cord" for a face cord is really $450 for a full cord of wood.

Rick, rank, and truckload mean nothing enforceable. Ask one question before money moves: is that 128 cubic feet stacked? Get the answer in writing on the invoice. The face cord cost tool converts any log length to full-cord equivalent.

Green wood is cut but not dried, sitting at 40 to 60 percent moisture. It's the cheapest wood on any lot. It also won't light this winter.

Seasoning takes 6 to 12 months for softwood and 18 to 24 months for oak and hickory. Target is under 20 percent moisture. Burn wet wood and you get significantly more creosote buildup, which turns into a chimney cleaning bill you weren't planning on.

Green makes sense only if you're buying a year ahead. Kiln-dried at 8 to 12 percent moisture costs the most and burns fastest, which makes it great for a fireplace evening and expensive for a stove that runs all season.

Cord price tracks local supply, not national markets. Wood is heavy and cheap per pound, so it can't travel far economically. Forested states with lots of small sellers sit near the bottom of the estimate ranges. Desert and dense-urban markets sit near the top.

City delivery adds cost on top. Same state, same species, urban addresses run higher than rural ones because the seller drives farther from where the wood was cut.

Heating fuel context matters too. EIA residential energy data and the Maine DOER weekly surveys both show wood price varies more by local timber supply than by any national market.

Wood competes well against fuel oil and propane in regions where those fuels are expensive relative to the national average. The Maine DOER fuel survey tracks this across heating types.

Take the calculator defaults. Two cords of mixed hardwood, delivered 20 miles. At $150–$450 in market estimates, two cords lands in the $370 to $990 band before extras.

That spread is wide because it covers every region. Your job is to figure out where in the band you belong. Three questions to the seller do it: is that 128 cubic feet stacked per cord, what species is in the mix, and what's the moisture reading.

Twenty miles is usually inside a standard delivery radius, so no per-mile surcharge. Ask anyway. If the seller charges beyond a radius, the meter typically starts at mile 15 or 25.

The most common overcharge: a face cord sold as a full cord. A face cord is one row deep, roughly one third of a cord. A full cord is 128 cubic feet stacked.

If the pile is one log deep, you are paying triple the per-cord price for the volume you received.

Loose-dumped wood adds a second problem. Air gaps mean a dumped pile holds 20 to 33 percent less wood than the same volume stacked. That's the most common way buyers come up short.

Stack it, then measure. Height times width times length in feet, divided by 128, gives you cord fraction. A stack 4 feet high, 8 feet long, and 16 inches deep is 42.7 cubic feet, or exactly one third of a cord.

Pay a deposit on delivery and the balance after stacking. Sellers who measure honestly won't blink at that. The ones who do are telling you something.

Standard split is 16 inches. Cut it to 14 and the same-looking stack holds 12.5 percent less wood. Nobody advertises this.

Pull five random splits and measure them with a tape. If they average under 15 inches, the pile is short of what you paid for. Mention it before the driver leaves, not the next day.

Custom lengths like 12 or 24 inches cost more to produce, so expect a surcharge if you ask for them. Measure your firebox first and buy the standard if it fits.

Spring buyers often pay less per cord than fall buyers; compare local quotes before the heating season starts. On two cords that is $100 to $200 saved.

Spring and summer bring lower prices and more supplier availability. December through February is peak demand, and in a cold Northeast winter supply runs out entirely.

Run the math on three cords. At a $300 cord, buying in spring instead of late fall saves roughly $180 to $270 on the same wood. That's a rack, a tarp, and a moisture meter with change left.

Spring wood also gets a summer of drying in your yard before you burn it. You're paying less and getting better fuel.

Pickup runs $100–$300 against $150–$450 delivered, both market estimates. If you have a truck and a free Saturday, that gap is real money. A half ton pickup takes about a third of a cord safely, so budget three trips.

Stacking service adds cost per cord. Stack it yourself and you also see every split, which is how you catch a species swap or a short log length.

A moisture meter runs $15 to $25. Split a piece and test the fresh interior face, not the end grain and not the bark side. Under 20 percent is ready to burn.