There is a particular kind of peace in a full woodpile. Split rounds stacked tight under the eaves, the first snow on the way, and enough wood to keep the stove glowing until spring.
But how much is enough? Our free firewood calculator answers the three questions every wood-burning household asks: how many cords you need for the winter, how much wood is really in that stack, and whether the price you were quoted is fair.
Home & Ranch Living · Ranch Tools
The Firewood Calculator
Estimate how many cords you need for the season, measure a stack, or work out the price per cord. Your answer updates as you go, no button needed.
Firewood for the winter
Tell us about your home and your stove, and we’ll estimate a season’s worth of wood.
How much is in that stack?
Measure your woodpile, or the load that was delivered, to see how many cords you really have.
Depth is the length of each split piece, usually 16 inches. A full cord is a stack 8 feet long, 4 feet high and 4 feet deep.
Is it a fair price?
Firewood is sold by the cord, the face cord, the rick or the truckload. Turn any quote into a price per full cord, then see what you are really paying for the heat, since some woods burn far hotter than others.
What firewood costs on Colorado’s Front Range (fall 2026): seasoned hardwood like oak and ash runs about $600 to $650 a full cord, while local Douglas fir and lodgepole pine sell for around $325 a cord, often delivered. Hardwood is usually trucked in from out of state, which is why it costs more. Prices vary by region, so check two or three sellers near you.
Pickup loads assume the wood is stacked neatly, not thrown in loose. Loose wood holds far less.
Your season
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cords
These are estimates. Actual wood use depends on your stove, your weather, how dry your wood is and how you burn.
Firewood Questions, Answered
What is a cord of wood?
A cord is a neatly stacked pile of firewood 8 feet long, 4 feet high and 4 feet deep, or 128 cubic feet. It’s the standard legal measure for selling firewood in most states.
What’s the difference between a face cord and a full cord?
A face cord, often called a rick, is also 8 feet long and 4 feet high, but only one row deep. With 16-inch pieces, that’s one third of a full cord. Always ask how long the pieces are, because it changes how much wood you’re actually buying.
How much firewood do I need for the winter?
It depends on how you use your stove. As a rough guide, a home heated mainly with wood in a cold climate can burn four to six cords or more in a season, while evening fires might only take one. The calculator above gives you an estimate for your own home.
How long does firewood need to season?
Most firewood needs six months to a year after splitting to dry properly, and dense hardwoods like oak can take longer. Seasoned wood is lighter, has cracks on the ends and sounds hollow when two pieces knock together. Dry wood burns hotter and cleaner, so you burn less of it.
What’s the best firewood out West?
Piñon pine, Douglas fir and oak, where you can find it, burn hot and long. Lodgepole pine is a dependable all-around choice across the Rockies. Aspen, cottonwood and ponderosa pine burn quicker, so they’re best for kindling, shoulder seasons and campfires.
How much does a cord of firewood cost?
Prices vary widely by region, wood type and whether delivery and stacking are included. On Colorado’s Front Range in fall 2026, seasoned hardwood runs about $600 to $650 a full cord and local pine and fir around $325. Use the Is It a Good Deal? tab to compare quotes fairly, since a face cord and a full cord can be advertised at very different prices for very different amounts of wood, and some woods give far more heat per cord than others.
Want to know which wood burns hottest? Read Understanding Firewood: Which Wood Burns Hottest, Longest and Best.
Planning your woodpile? Read Firewood Season: The Splitter, the Saw and the Stack and The Best Wood Stoves for a Ranch Home.