Wood Stove Heating Cost Calculator

1,500 sq ft, moderate climate, mixed hardwood: about 2.7 cords a season.

At $250 per cord that is 2.7 × $250 = $675 for the winter.

Full cord = 128 cubic feet stacked, 4 ft × 4 ft × 8 ft.

EPA-certified stove efficiency: $63–$83. Old uncertified stoves run near half that, costing about 1.1 extra cords a year.

Target moisture before burning: under 20% ^[4].

A face cord is 4 ft × 8 ft but only as deep as the logs are long, typically 16 inches. That is roughly one third of a full cord.

Pay $280 believing you bought a full cord and you actually paid about $840 per cord equivalent. Do that across four cords worth of heating and you are out roughly $1,680 in a single season.

The fix is a tape measure and one question: is that a full cord, stacked 4 by 4 by 8? Get the answer before the truck tips.

See face cord vs full cord pricing to compare quotes on equal footing.

A 1,500 sq ft home in a moderate climate needs about 2.7 cords a season. The same house in a cold climate needs about 3.8. Find your square footage, then your climate. These are whole-home estimates for an EPA-certified stove burning seasoned hardwood, per EPA Burn Wise efficiency ranges.

Pre-2000 insulation adds roughly a quarter more. An older non-certified stove adds more than that. Picking the wrong climate row costs real money: a borderline-moderate home ordered as mild can under-buy by a full cord, or $250 to $350 short at typical prices. Both are covered below.

These figures come from heating degree day bands and stove efficiency data published by EIA and EPA Burn Wise. Competing fuel prices come from EIA and state surveys such as the Maine DOER heating fuel survey.

Cord price is the figure you enter, because it is the input that varies most by region and supplier.

Price your cord order before the heating season with the firewood cord cost calculator.

An uncertified stove burns roughly 1.1 extra cords a year in a 1,500 sq ft moderate-climate home, about $275 more at $250 per cord. EPA-certified stoves run $63–$83 per EPA Burn Wise. An older uncertified stove runs closer to half that.

Run the same house both ways. A 1,500 sq ft home in a moderate climate needs about 2.7 cords with a 78% stove ^[3]. Drop to 55% efficiency and the same heat demand takes about 3.8 cords. That is 1.1 extra cords a year.

At $250 per cord that is 1.1 × $250 = $275 a season. At $300 per cord it is $330. Over ten years you are looking at $2,750 to $3,300 in wood you burned to heat the chimney.

A new stove runs into the thousands installed, so the payback is not instant. It arrives faster in cold climates where you burn more cords to begin with.

The calculator above assumes an EPA-certified stove. If yours is uncertified, divide the cord count it gives you by roughly 0.7 to get your real number, then multiply the gap by your cord price and the years you plan to stay.

Catalytic stoves sit at the top of the certified range. They also need the combustor replaced every few seasons, which eats into the gain. Non-catalytic certified stoves are the simpler bet for most households.

Usually yes, sometimes not, and it depends entirely on what you pay now. Residential natural gas runs $12.72–$23.62 per EIA. Electricity runs $0.15–$0.22. Heating oil runs $4.15–$6.92.

The honest way to check: pull last winter's actual bills, not an average-home benchmark. Total the heating months, subtract your summer baseline to strip out the non-heating load, and compare that to your modeled cord spend from the calculator above.

Wood beats oil and electric resistance heat in almost every region. Against cheap natural gas it is closer, and in gas-rich states wood often loses on pure dollars, winning instead on outage resilience and the fact that you cut your own.

Propane swings hardest by state, which is why it gets its own tool. Run the numbers at firewood vs propane for live per-state propane rates, or compare all fuels on a per-MMBTU basis with the wood heating cost calculator.

It models fuel cost only. It does not include chimney cleaning, which runs $150 to $300 per year and recommended annually, more often if you burn heavily. It does not include stove purchase or installation ($300 to $800 labor), or a liner if your flue needs one ($2,500 to $5,000 installed).

It assumes seasoned wood under 20% moisture ^{[4] [4] [4]}. Burn green wood and every number here is 20 to 25% low.

It assumes whole-home heating from the stove. If your stove is zone heat in one room of a 2,500 sq ft compartmentalized house, you will burn less wood but keep most of your old heating bill. That is covered in the FAQ below.

It does not know your insulation, your window count, or how cold you keep the house. Two identical homes on the same street can differ by a full cord.

Moderate climate, EPA-certified stove at 75% ^[3] efficiency, seasoned mixed hardwood at $280 per cord delivered.

Step one, base cord need. From the table, 2,000 sq ft moderate is 3.6 cords and 1,500 sq ft is 2.7 cords. At 1,800 sq ft the base is about 3.2 cords. The table already assumes an EPA-certified stove, so no second efficiency discount applies.

Step two, dollars. 3.2 cords × $280 per cord = $896 for the winter.

Next action: order in August at 3.5 cords to leave margin for a cold snap, verify the stack measures 4 ft × 4 ft × 8 ft before you hand over money, and set aside a separate line item for the annual chimney sweep.

A full cord is 128 cubic feet stacked tight. That is 4 ft high, 4 ft deep, 8 ft long. Any other arrangement is fine as long as the three dimensions multiply to 128.

Have the delivery stacked, or stack it yourself before paying if the supplier will wait. Loose-thrown wood in a truck bed is unmeasurable and that is often the point.

Bring a tape measure. It takes ninety seconds. It is the single highest-value minute of the whole transaction.

Cord prices climb through October and November as the first cold snap sends everyone to the phone at once. Suppliers discount in spring and summer to move inventory and free up yard space.

August is the sweet spot. The wood cut last spring has had a season to dry, you still have room to negotiate on price, and you are not competing with panic buyers.

Buying green in spring is cheaper still, but you are buying for next winter, not this one. Oak needs a full year. Ash and maple can make it in six to eight months under cover.

A moisture meter costs about $25. Split a piece, press the pins into the fresh face, and read it. Under 20% ^[4]burns. Over 25% ^[4]is a problem.

Wet wood spends its energy boiling off water instead of heating your house. EPA Burn Wise warns that burning unseasoned wood wastes heat and increases smoke; in practice the loss costs an extra cord or more per season.

It also coats your chimney with creosote, which means more frequent sweeps and a real fire risk. The wet-wood penalty is wasted wood plus extra cleaning, both out of pocket.

Visual checks help but they lie. Cracked ends and a hollow knock are good signs, not proof. Grey bark on the outside can hide a wet core.

Price far below your regional floor. If everyone near you is at $250 and someone quotes $120, you are being offered a face cord, green wood, or both.

Refusal to guarantee a stacked 4×4×8 measurement. A legitimate seller has no reason to dodge this.

Wood described as ready to burn with no cut date. Ask when it was felled and when it was split. Split date matters more; a log dries slowly with the bark on.

Vague species. Mixed hardwood is a fair answer. Just wood is not, because softwood at hardwood prices costs you close to a third of the heat per cord.