Free firewood calculator. Enter your home size, climate zone, and heating use to estimate cords of firewood needed for winter, face cords, and total cost.
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This calculator turns your home and heating setup into a firewood order quantity using standard industry heating guidelines. It starts with your heated living area in square feet, since that is what drives fuel demand, then applies a climate factor: about 2.5 cords per 1000 sq ft for cold climates with harsh winters, and about 1.5 for mild climates. A heat-use factor adjusts for how you burn: 1.0 if wood is your primary heat source, about 0.4 for supplemental or occasional use alongside a furnace. The result is converted into every unit you might shop in: full cords (128 stacked cubic feet each), face cords (one third of a cord), and total stacked cubic feet, plus the estimated season cost at your local price per cord. The worked example on this page: a 1500 sq ft home in a cold climate with wood as primary heat needs 3.75 cords, or 480 cubic feet, costing about $1,125 at $300 per cord. Treat the figure as a planning estimate, not a guarantee. Insulation quality, stove or fireplace efficiency, wood species (dense hardwoods like oak burn far longer than softwoods), and how severe a particular winter turns out all shift real consumption. Once you have one season of your own usage data, adjust from there.
A firewood calculator estimates how much wood you need for winter heating. You enter your heated home size, your climate zone, and whether wood is your primary or supplemental heat source, and it returns the cords needed, the equivalent face cords and stacked cubic feet, and the estimated season cost at your local price per cord. It turns vague rules of thumb into a concrete order quantity so you buy once, in spring or summer, instead of scrambling in January.
Start by picking your currency and the area unit (square feet or square meters). Enter the heated living area of your home: only the space you actually heat, not garages or unheated areas. Choose your climate zone (cold for harsh winters, mild for moderate ones) and whether wood is your primary heat source or supplemental to a furnace. Enter the local price per cord of seasoned hardwood. The calculator instantly shows cords needed, face cords, stacked cubic feet, and the estimated total cost.
The estimate follows standard industry heating guidelines. Step one: convert the heated area to square feet. Step two: apply the climate factor, about 2.5 cords per 1000 sq ft for cold climates and 1.5 for mild climates. Step three: apply the heat-use factor, 1.0 for primary heating and about 0.4 for supplemental or occasional use. So cords_needed = (heated_sqft / 1000) × climate_factor × heat_use_factor. Step four: convert, with 1 cord = 128 stacked cubic feet and 1 face cord = 1/3 cord. Step five: estimated_cost = cords_needed × price_per_cord. Worked example: a 1500 sq ft home in a cold climate with wood as primary heat needs 1.5 × 2.5 × 1.0 = 3.75 cords, which is 480 stacked cubic feet or 11.25 face cords; at $300 per cord that is $1,125 for the season.
Firewood is sold by volume, and the terms are confusing by design in some markets. A full cord is the legal standard: a stack 4 ft high × 4 ft wide × 8 ft long, totaling 128 cubic feet. A face cord (also called a rick) is 4 ft high × 8 ft long but only one log deep, usually 16 in, which is about one third of a full cord or 43 cubic feet. The word rick varies by region and log length, so it can mean 32 to 64 cubic feet depending on the seller. A pickup truck bed heaped with logs is not a cord: an 8 ft bed filled to the rails holds roughly half a cord. Always confirm stacked dimensions before paying, and be wary of anyone selling a face cord at full-cord prices.
Typical winter needs for primary heating: under 1000 sq ft needs 2 to 3 cords in a cold climate or 1 to 2 in a mild one; 1000 to 2000 sq ft needs 3 to 5 cords cold or 2 to 3 mild; over 2000 sq ft needs 5 to 7+ cords cold or 3 to 5 mild. For occasional fireplace or fire pit use, a single cord can last the whole season, and a fire pit burns roughly 1 cubic foot (about 15 lb) per hour. As a concrete example, a 1500 sq ft house in a cold climate with wood as primary heat needs about 3.75 cords (see the worked example in the formula section). Supplemental wood-stove use on cold evenings runs about 40% of the primary-heating figure. These are planning estimates: insulation quality, stove efficiency, wood species, and how severe the winter turns out all move the real number.
A cord of seasoned, split hardwood typically costs $150 to $600 depending on region, species, and season, with prices peaking in fall and early winter. Buying in spring or summer is almost always cheaper and, more importantly, gives green wood 6 to 12 months to season. Burn only seasoned wood under 20% moisture: it burns hotter, and wet wood wastes energy boiling off water while coating your chimney in creosote. Dense hardwoods like oak deliver far more heat per cord than softwoods like pine: oak rates around 24 to 28 million BTU per cord versus about 17 million for pine, roughly 64% more heat from the same stack. Stack wood off the ground on pallets, cover the top but leave the sides open for airflow, and burn the oldest, driest logs first.
For primary wood heating in a cold climate, plan on 2 to 3 cords per 1000 sq ft of heated space: a 1500 sq ft home needs roughly 3.75 to 5 cords for the winter. In a mild climate, 1 to 2 cords per 1000 sq ft is typical. This calculator applies your home size, climate, and heating use to give an exact planning figure.
A full cord is a stack of wood 4 ft high, 4 ft wide, and 8 ft long, totaling 128 cubic feet of tightly stacked wood including the air gaps between logs. It is the legal US measurement standard for firewood sales, so buying by the full cord protects you from vague measures like truckloads.
A face cord (often called a rick) is a stack 4 ft high and 8 ft long but only one log deep, usually 16 in, which is about one third of a full cord or 43 cubic feet. The term rick varies by region and log length, so always ask for the log length. Three face cords of 16 in logs equal one full cord.
Nationally, a full cord of seasoned firewood runs $150 to $600 depending on region, wood species, and time of year. Prices are highest in fall and early winter when demand peaks; buying in spring or summer can save significantly. Hardwoods like oak cost more than softwoods but deliver far more heat per cord.
Supplemental or occasional wood-stove use typically needs about 40% of the wood required for primary heating, though it varies with how often you actually burn. Even occasional use on cold nights adds up over a full winter, so do not assume near-zero need just because wood is not your main heat.
Buy in spring or summer. Fresh-cut (green) wood needs 6 to 12 months to season down below 20% moisture, and buying early is also cheaper because demand is low, which is why this seasonal buying guide recommends ordering months ahead. Burning unseasoned wood wastes energy, produces little heat, and increases dangerous creosote buildup in your chimney.
Stack it off the ground on pallets or runners so soil moisture cannot wick up, cover the top with a tarp or roof to shed rain and snow, and leave the sides open for air circulation. Stack rows with space between them, choose a sunny, ventilated spot, and burn the oldest, driest logs first.
Wood species matters a lot: dense hardwoods like oak produce far more heat per cord than softwoods like pine (oak rates about 64% higher in heat value). Always choose seasoned hardwoods such as oak or maple for heating; they burn hotter and longer, which directly reduces how many cords you need.
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