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Use this free firewood calculator to figure out how much firewood you need before you order a load. Tell it how you heat now, how much of that heat wood will cover, and what kind of wood and stove you have. You’ll get the number of cords and face cords to buy, plus how much room you’ll need to stack it.
How much firewood do you need?
Tell us how much heat you use, how much of it wood will cover, and what you’re burning. You’ll get cords, face cords, and how much space to stack it.
Your heating
Your wood
- Face cords (16 in logs)—
- Heat wood needs to supply—
- Stack length (4 ft tall, one row deep)—
- Storage footprint (4 ft tall)—
Estimate only. A cord is a stack 4 ft high, 4 ft wide, and 8 ft long (128 cubic feet). Heat values assume seasoned wood at about 20% moisture. Wet wood gives far less heat. Buy a little extra for a cold winter.
| Wood heats | EPA stove | Older stove |
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Enter your own numbers above for a closer estimate.
WHAT’S IN THIS GUIDE
How to Use the Firewood Calculator
The firewood calculator works in 3 easy steps:
- Tell it how you heat now. If you heat with natural gas or propane, pull last winter’s total from your bills (therms for gas, gallons for propane) and pick your furnace type. If you’re not sure, leave it on “typical home.”
- Choose how much wood will heat. Pick “all of it” if a wood stove is your main heat, “about half” if it carries the house most evenings, or less if you just enjoy a fire now and then.
- Pick your stove and wood. Choose what you burn it in, the type of wood you’re buying, and the log length.
The result shows how much firewood to buy in cords and face cords, how long a single 4-foot-tall row of it will be, and how many square feet it’ll take up.
Cord vs. Face Cord: What’s the Difference?
This is where a lot of people get shorted. The Indiana Division of Forestry defines a standard cord as a stack 4 feet high, 4 feet wide, and 8 feet long. That’s 128 cubic feet. Source: Indiana DNR Division of Forestry — Heating With Firewood
A face cord, sometimes called a rick, is also 4 feet high and 8 feet long, but it’s only one row deep. Indiana DNR notes that a face cord of 16-inch logs is one-third of a standard cord. So if a seller quotes you “a cord” for a suspiciously low price, ask whether it’s a full cord or a face cord. The firewood calculator gives you both numbers so you can compare prices.
How the Firewood Calculator Works
The firewood calculator follows the same method University of Maryland Extension uses to compare heating fuels. It figures out how much heat your home needs for the winter, then divides that by how much heat a cord of your wood actually delivers in your stove. Source: University of Maryland Extension — Heating With Wood (FS-926)
If you choose “typical home,” the firewood calculator uses UMD’s example of 80 million BTU for a heating season. If you enter your own bills, it uses your numbers instead. A therm of natural gas holds 100,000 BTU and a gallon of propane about 91,000 BTU, and it takes off what your furnace loses so it only counts the heat that actually reached your house.
Every home is different, so treat the answer as a good starting point. A drafty house, a colder-than-normal winter, or wood that isn’t fully dry will all burn through firewood faster.
Which Firewood Gives the Most Heat?
Dense hardwoods pack far more heat into a cord than light woods. Utah State University Extension lists the heat in a cord of dry wood by species. A few common ones in Indiana:
- White oak: 29.1 million BTU per cord
- Black locust: 27.9
- Hard maple: 25.5
- Red oak: 24.6
- White ash: 24.2
- Black walnut: 22.2
- Cherry: 20.4
- Elm and green ash: 20.0
- Silver maple: 19.0
- White pine: 15.9
Source: Utah State University Extension — Wood Heating
That means you need nearly twice as many cords of pine as white oak to get the same heat. When you’re comparing prices, a cord of oak at a higher price is often the better deal. With a lot of ash trees coming down in Indiana, ash is also easy to find, and it burns well once it’s dry.
Your Stove Matters as Much as Your Wood
How you burn the wood changes how much firewood you need just as much as what you burn. University of Maryland Extension notes that EPA-approved wood stoves are typically more than 70% efficient (it uses 68% in its calculations), while an open fireplace is only about 10% efficient. Most of a fireplace’s heat goes straight up the chimney. Source: University of Maryland Extension — Heating With Wood (FS-926)
The EPA says an EPA-certified stove uses about one-third less wood for the same heat than an older stove built before 1990, which is why the firewood calculator gives older stoves a lower efficiency. If you’re burning a lot of wood in an old stove or an open fireplace, upgrading to a certified stove or insert can pay for itself in firewood. Source: EPA Burn Wise — Energy Efficiency
Before your first fire, here’s how to get your fireplace ready for winter, from the chimney sweep to the ash bucket.
How to Season and Store Firewood
Wet wood is the fastest way to burn through your woodpile. University of Maryland Extension notes that freshly cut wood can be up to 50% water, and it should be below 20% to burn well. The EPA recommends storing softwood about six months and hardwood at least a year before burning it. Source: EPA Burn Wise — Energy Efficiency
A moisture meter takes the guesswork out of it. Split a piece and test the fresh inside face, not the outside, since the outside dries first.
University of Maryland Extension’s storage tips:
- Store firewood outside, not in the house or garage, so insects that live in the wood stay out.
- Don’t stack it directly on the ground. A firewood rack keeps it off the dirt and lets air move under it.
- Stack it loosely so air can flow through.
- Cover the top of the stack but leave the sides open, so rain stays off and the wood can still dry. A firewood rack cover that only covers the top few inches works well.
Source: University of Maryland Extension — Buying and Storing Firewood (FS-937)
Wear a pair of work gloves when you stack it. Splinters and bark add up fast. Keeping firewood out of the garage also helps keep mice away. See our guide on how to keep mice out of your garage.
Burning wood is one part of keeping heating costs down. Our thermostat savings calculator shows how much a nightly setback saves, and our winter home maintenance checklist covers the rest of the house.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Firewood Calculator
How much firewood do I need for a winter?
It depends on how much you heat with it. Using wood as your main heat in a typical home with an EPA-certified stove takes roughly 5 to 6 cords of mixed hardwood. Using it about half the time takes about 3 cords. Enter your own numbers in the firewood calculator for a closer estimate.
How many face cords are in a cord?
With 16-inch logs, there are 3 face cords in a full cord. With longer logs, there are fewer. Two face cords of 24-inch logs make a full cord.
How long does a cord of wood last?
Burning wood as your main heat, a cord often lasts around a month in the middle of winter. Burning it a few evenings a week, a cord can last most of the season. It depends on your stove, your house, and how cold it gets.
What is the best firewood to burn?
Dense hardwoods like white oak, black locust, hard maple, and hickory give the most heat per cord. Whatever you burn, make sure it’s seasoned to below 20% moisture.
How much space does a cord of wood take?
A cord stacked 4 feet high takes up 32 square feet of ground (4 by 8 feet). In a single row of 16-inch logs, that’s a stack about 24 feet long.
Sources & Further Reading
- Source: University of Maryland Extension — Heating With Wood (FS-926)
- Source: University of Maryland Extension — Buying and Storing Firewood (FS-937)
- Source: Utah State University Extension — Wood Heating
- Source: Indiana DNR Division of Forestry — Heating With Firewood
- Source: EPA Burn Wise — Energy Efficiency