Price for a cord of wood

Pete Simmons

Member
Messages
546
Location
Melbourne, FL
I am researching for a little energy project.

How much is a cord of firewood in your area?

And if you heat 90+% with wood tell me a little about how big your house is and how much wood you expect to use for a season?

Thanks

I live in Florida so not much of a reference point to use.

Is 4 - 6 cord a winter for an average 2000 sq foot house in the northern third of the USA a decent guess??
 
it seems high to me now, although I dont have my wood burning stove anymore.
I see it advertised locally here on LI for 225, 250 stacked. Im sure if you bought 4 or 5 cords the price would go down slightly.
 
We pay 165 a cord and ! cord will heat our 1800 sq ft home. It all depends on the insulation and how air tight your home is though. When i lived up north in my home there before the reno's I was using 3 cords a winter and that winter was from Oct- April. After the reno I was using 1 cord and that was a 2400 sq ft home. with old pearson windows. A cord cost me my time and labor back then as we went out and cleaned up logging sites.
 
Its kind of hard to say. Going by BTU's gets problematic because it is hard to maintain a set temp when heating with wood. Around here if a house uses say 700 gallons of oil a year, it will therefore use about 7 cords of wood. In other words; 100 gallons of oil equals 1 cord. It is surprisingly accurate.
 
Thanks

Thanks for all the great answers.

Craigslist to look at prices --- never thought of that.

Good idea.

The price and amount answers are just what I was looking for.

Travis - I hoped you would respond. The 1 cord = 100 gallons is exactly what I wanted to here.

You can take all the fancy calculations and trash them. Real world info from someone who has been there and knows lotza others who also burn wood is worth much much more!

Thanks
 
1860 sq. ft. home- More wood than I'd care to admit. But of course The house is a sieve and the wood costs me the saw gas and time to git it. A face cord can go for as low as $45 and as high as $75 around here. I probably burn 6-7 full cords. Keep in mind that the efficiency of the stove is a major factor in the equation. I also heat my wood shop and the domestic hot water. I also have 11 kids cycling in and out the doors all day. :wave: I am thinking about building a wood gasification boiler and that should cut the wood usage down to around 3 cords per average season. This year has been one cold bummer. I had to switch over to natural gas because it was too cold for my particular stove to keep up and the snow was deep, making wood harder to collect.
 
We buy 8 cords of 16" blocks and split is ourselves. We burn about 6 and the rest is a reserve and to gradually get us a year's supply ahead.
The forced-air furnace is the main source of heat, with some baseboard electric in the renovated extremities of the house (about 3000 sq ft).
I've heard Travis formula before, and it's probably a good rule of thumb.

Brain cramp, sorry, didn't answer your main question.
A cord of 16" wood, delivered, in rural Nova Scotia (45N, 63W) is $125-140.

I'm thinking about upgrading in the next few years, considering a Tarm boiler in an outbuilding. The wood gets heavier every year, we handle it about eight times and my helpers are off to college. A massive, central masonry heater/fireplace is also a consideration, but would not do the whole job, due to the layout of the house.

By the way, FWIW, I think the term "face cord" was concocted by some shady dealers to scam unwitting suburbanites in the Greater Toronto Area.

Have a great day.
Peter
 
Last edited:
I use wood to heat the shop only. Total size of building is around 5500 sqft. Average use is around 7 full cord a year(pending temp outside). Cost is free around$10 each as I have my own woods. Price otherwise can be anywhere from $55 to $105.
 
Its kind of hard to say. Going by BTU's gets problematic because it is hard to maintain a set temp when heating with wood. Around here if a house uses say 700 gallons of oil a year, it will therefore use about 7 cords of wood. In other words; 100 gallons of oil equals 1 cord. It is surprisingly accurate.

That is interesting Travis. Do you have some formula that gives you that figure? I wonder how a cord of wood stacks up against electric base board heaters and KWH ? Anyone know?
 
Wood heat - nice and warm

I have been heating about 90% wood heat for 25 years.

I buy it mostly - but get maybe 10-15% free wood.

I burn 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 cords per year. 2 cords is a REAL heavy year.

I pay 250 per cord seasoned, cut and split.

House is well insulated, small (about 1200 sq ft) with vaulted ceilings.

New stove this year - Jotul Oslo 500

Past 24 years I used a Tempwood II
 
That is interesting Travis. Do you have some formula that gives you that figure? I wonder how a cord of wood stacks up against electric base board heaters and KWH ? Anyone know?

No real formula other then people over the years have come to the conclusion that it used to cost them700 gallons of oil a year to heat their home and with wood it would take 7 cord. Over time it just has always worked out that way.

I agree with the face cord...it always seemed like a scam to me too. 90%of the wood I cut is actually done via weight, not scaled measurements which is far more accurate.

As for the electric heat...it depends where you live. North Dakota has the cheapest electric rates at 7 cents a kwH while Maine has the highest at 17 cents a KWH. Could you imagine what our electrical bill would be if we used electric heat during those -45.2º (f) days!! :eek:
 
wood weight

Travis - I know they do not need it for heat but in Hawaii a KWH I believe is over $0.20.

Tell me more about wood weight.

I know a cord would weigh different depending on many factors but what would you say a cord would weigh? Does 4000 lbs sound like a good average?
 
Last edited:
Travis - I know they do not need it for heat but in Hawaii a KWH I believe is over $0.20.

Tell me more about wood weight.

I know a cord would weigh different depending on many factors but what would you say a cord would weigh? Does 4000 lbs sound like a good average?


Is the weight of a cord of wood measure green or seasoned?
HUGE difference there.

Green wood cut in springtime (oak) will not float, but seasoned wood will.
 
Top