How Much Firewood Do I Need for Winter Calculator

At the calculator's defaults: 1,500 sq ft, moderate climate, EPA-certified wood stove, mixed hardwood, primary heat, $250 per cord. Output: roughly 3.8 cords, seasonal cost around $950.

Change one variable at a time to see the levers. Upgrade to oak at $275 per cord: roughly 3.2 cords at $880 total. Cheaper per season despite the higher per-cord price, because fewer cords are needed for the same heat.

Switch to an open fireplace at 15% efficiency: the same 1,500 sq ft home needs roughly 15 cords. For \$250 per cord, that's $3,750. The appliance is where the money lives, not the cord price.

The seasonal cost estimate from the calculator above is your firewood budget. To compare it against propane or electric heat for your state, use the Firewood vs Propane Heating Cost Calculator.

In Massachusetts, propane runs close to $3.65 per gallon (EIA current average), near the national high. Wood heat saves $800–$1,200 per season vs. propane for a primary-heat household there. In Minnesota, propane averages under $1.00 per gallon, which narrows the savings gap significantly.

The comparison calculator uses your state's live EIA propane rate to run the math for your specific situation.

Three to four cords gets quoted as the answer to almost every firewood-sizing question. It's also wrong for at least half the people who hear it. The EIA RECS 2024 national average for primary wood-heat households spans 3.5 to 4.8 cords per season.

But that average hides a range from 1.5 cords in a mild climate with a supplemental stove to 8+ cords for primary heat in northern Minnesota.

Four variables each swing the estimate by 50% or more: home size, climate severity, stove efficiency, and whether wood is your only heat source or your backup. When any one of those sits at an extreme, the national average fails you. Enter your square footage in the calculator above and the estimate adjusts immediately.

Your stove's efficiency matters more than your home's square footage. An open fireplace at 15% efficiency needs five times more cords than an EPA-certified stove at 80% efficiency to deliver the same heat to the same 1,500 sq ft house. That's not a rounding error.

It's the difference between a $750 winter and a $3,750 winter at $250 a cord.

Climate severity runs close behind. Atlanta averages around 2,900 heating degree days per year; Minneapolis averages around 8,200. A Minneapolis household needs roughly three times more cords than an Atlanta household with the same stove and same home size.

Change the stove type dropdown above to see how your appliance choice moves the cord count before you go further.

EPA-certified wood stoves run 70–85% efficiency. Fireplace inserts: 65–75%. Older non-certified stoves: 40–60%.

Open fireplaces: 10–20%. At 1,500 sq ft in a moderate climate needing about 20 MMBTU of delivered heat, an EPA stove burns roughly 3 cords of mixed hardwood. The same home with an open fireplace burns 12+ cords for the same heat delivery.

Efficiency halving means cord count doubling. A fireplace at 15% efficiency uses 5.3 times more wood than a stove at 80%. First-timers with open fireplaces routinely order 2 cords and run short by January because they expected fireplace and stove to perform the same.

They don't. Switch the stove type input above and watch the estimate move.

Heating degree days (HDD) measure seasonal cold intensity by counting degrees below 65°F, totaled across every day of the heating season. Atlanta: 2,900 HDD. Denver: 5,900.

Minneapolis: 8,200. Boston: 5,600. Our calculator uses a climate zone selector as a proxy for HDD.

For primary heaters in severe climates, the cord count runs 3–4 cords above what moderate-climate neighbors use.

To find your exact HDD by zip code, use the NOAA climate station finder. Select your nearest weather station and pull the annual HDD summary. Under 3,000 HDD is mild; 3,000–5,500 is moderate; 5,500–7,500 is cold; above 7,500 is severe.

For supplemental heaters, the zone dropdown is close enough. For primary heaters placing a 5+ cord order, the zip-level lookup is worth two minutes.

If wood is your only heat source, plan 3.5–7 cords depending on climate and stove. You're feeding the stove all day on cold days. Your wood pile is your heat budget. Running short in February in Minnesota is not a small inconvenience.

If wood is your backup (a furnace or heat pump handles the cold snaps and you run the stove 3–4 nights a week), you typically burn 1.5–2.5 cords per season. That's a fundamentally different order size and a fundamentally different storage requirement.

First-timers who plan to heat "primarily with wood but have backup just in case" almost always underestimate how often they'll flip on the backup. If that sounds like your situation, use the supplemental setting in the calculator above. You can always reorder mid-season.

Running short is worse than having a half cord left in April.

Oak and hickory deliver 25–28 MMBTU per cord, according to USDA Forest Products Laboratory species data. Pine and fir deliver 18–20 MMBTU. That 40% BTU gap means 40% more cords of pine to deliver the same seasonal heat as oak.

At 1,500 sq ft primary heat in a moderate climate: 4 cords of oak or 5.6 cords of pine. For \$250 per cord, pine costs $400 more per season and requires more storage, more splitting trips, and more loads to the stove. When oak and pine prices are within $50 per cord of each other, oak wins on total season cost.

Check which species delivers the most heat per dollar with the Firewood BTU Calculator. Switch the species input above to see the cord count shift.

Order in July or August: mixed hardwood runs $200–$250 per cord in most markets, suppliers have full inventory, and the wood seasons through fall before you need it. That's the right window for primary heaters.

Wait until October: expect a 10–15% price premium. November: 15–25% premium, limited species selection, possible supply shortages in cold regions. The cord count from the calculator above is your order quantity. Buying the full estimate in August beats scrambling in November every time.

If you're ordering green wood in late summer, split it immediately and stack it with ends open for airflow. Most species reach burnable moisture levels (below 20%) in 6–9 months when stacked correctly.

The calculator outputs a mid-estimate based on your inputs. A cold January in Minnesota can burn through a month's projection in three weeks. A broken stove, two weeks of -20°F, or a prolonged cold snap all cut into your expected supply faster than the average suggests.

Add 15% to the cord count. At 4 cords, that's 0.6 cords extra, around $150 at $250 per cord. That's cheap insurance against a mid-February scramble when prices are highest and supplier inventories are thinnest.

Experienced wood heaters treat the calculator's output as their minimum order, not their target.

One full cord stacks to 4×4×8 feet, 128 cubic feet total. Four cords needs roughly 16 feet of wall space at 4 feet deep and 4 feet high, or the equivalent in a shed layout. Measure your storage space before you commit to an order size.

A woodshed, a garage wall, or a covered outdoor rack all work. Keep stacks at least 12 inches from the house structure to reduce termite pathways. If you have a small yard or no covered storage, order one cord at a time and resupply.

Most suppliers in cold regions run deliveries through December, though prices rise and selection narrows as the season progresses.

Mid-winter firewood ordering costs 20–30% more than summer prices, and supplier inventory gets thin in severe-cold regions after January. If you're running short, order immediately rather than waiting to see if the cold breaks. The suppliers who still have stock move it fast in cold snaps.

To estimate your remaining season demand: check your local HDD history, calculate how many heating days remain through March, and re-enter a reduced timeframe in the calculator above. In most regions, January and February carry the heaviest heating load, so a December shortage is more manageable than it feels. A mid-January shortage in a primary-heat household in a cold climate is a real problem.

Use the Firewood Cord Delivery Cost Calculator to compare delivered cord prices in your area quickly.

While waiting for delivery: reduce stove burns to evenings only, turn up the backup heat, and check with neighbors for spare cords. Don't wait until you're completely out to act, because a 5-day delivery lead time on a cold week is uncomfortable.