Firewood Calculator

Ordering the right amount of firewood for the 2026 heating season is a balancing act. Buy too much and you tie up storage space while logs sit long enough to spoil; buy too little and you risk running out mid-winter, when last-minute deliveries get expensive fast. Pinning down your real need protects both your budget and your comfort, and that matters when prices are projected to average $350-$500 per cord in 2026 depending on wood type and where you live.

The estimate runs on a BTU-based method. Your home's hourly heating load is built up from square footage, insulation quality (poor, average, or good), and the regional heating degree days (HDD) projected for 2026. That load is divided by the typical energy in a cord of seasoned hardwood, around 20-24 million BTUs, then adjusted for how efficiently your fireplace or wood stove burns, usually somewhere between 60-80%. The number of heating days in your area and a target indoor temperature round out the math.

Treat the result as a planning figure rather than a guarantee, since burning habits and the specifics of your stove move actual consumption up or down. Not all firewood performs the same, either: seasoned hardwood delivers the best BTU output and burns cleaner, while green wood wastes heat and leaves creosote in your chimney. Be honest about insulation quality, too, because an optimistic rating leads straight to ordering less than you actually burn.