Start With How You're Actually Burning
The number one mistake in buying firewood is guessing based on "winter" instead of on actual hours of burn time. A cord lasts very differently depending on whether it's fueling a few weekend fire pit nights or running a wood stove as your only heat source. Here's a realistic breakdown by use case.
Occasional Fire Pit or Backyard Use
If you're lighting a fire pit once or twice a month, mostly in spring and fall, plan on a quarter cord (32 cubic feet, stacked) lasting the better part of a season. A typical fire pit burns 15 to 20 pounds of wood — roughly one small armload — over 2 to 3 hours. At that rate, a quarter cord covers 20 to 25 fire nights.
Regular Fireplace Use (a Few Nights a Week, Ambiance Only)
If you're running a wood-burning fireplace 2 to 3 nights a week through a 4-month cold season, but it's not your main heat source, budget half a cord to one full cord for the season. Open fireplaces are inefficient — most of the heat goes up the chimney — so you'll burn through wood faster than the warmth you get back would suggest.
Wood Stove as Supplemental Heat
A modern, EPA-certified wood stove used most evenings and weekends through a typical winter, supplementing a furnace or heat pump, generally burns 2 to 3 cords per season in a moderate climate (say, zone 5 or 6). Stoves are far more efficient than open fireplaces, so you get more usable heat per cord, but consistent daily use adds up.
Wood Stove or Furnace as Primary Heat
If wood is your main heat source for the whole house through a real winter, plan on 4 to 6 cords per season in a moderate climate, and 6 to 8 cords or more in a cold northern climate (zone 3 or 4) or for a larger, poorly insulated home. This assumes a well-sealed, efficient stove or furnace running daily from first frost to last.
A Simple Formula
If none of the categories above quite fit your setup, use this rough formula:
Cords needed ≈ (hours burned per week) x (weeks in your burn season) ÷ 60
That divisor of 60 comes from the rough rate at which an efficient stove burns through a cord — about 60 hours of steady burning per cord for a mid-density hardwood like oak or ash. Softer wood or a less efficient fireplace will use wood faster, so treat this as a floor, not a ceiling.
Example: Burning a wood stove 4 hours a night, 5 nights a week, for a 16-week winter: 4 x 5 x 16 = 320 hours. 320 ÷ 60 ≈ 5.3 cords.
Buy a Little Extra
Buy 10 to 15 percent more than your estimate. Wood gets lost to poor stacking, rot at the bottom of a pile, and the occasional colder-than-expected month. Leftover seasoned wood isn't wasted — it's a head start on next season, since it only gets drier and better sitting in storage.
Don't Forget Seasoning Time
If you're buying wood that isn't already seasoned, order it 6 to 12 months before you plan to burn it, depending on species (see our guide on seasoned vs. kiln-dried firewood). Ordering firewood the week before a cold snap only works if it's already kiln-dried or fully seasoned.
Check firewood delivery availability in your area or find a local supplier in our free directory to get your season's wood ordered early.