Does the sharp climb in heating oil prices—now above $2.20 a gallon, with no end in sight— have you dusting off that old wood stove in the corner or researching the latest wood stove technology?

If so, then you will also want to spend some time contemplating where you are going to get your firewood. As a rule of thumb, a cord of dry hardwood fuel yields about the same usable heat as 200 gallons of heating oil, a ton of hard coal, or about 4000 kilowatts of electricity. By comparing the cost of other fuels with cordwood, you can figure out the savings you’ll realize by burning wood to heat your home.

Fuelwood needs time to dry
Don’t expect to go out in the backyard when the weather turns cold to cut down a few trees to saw up and throw into the new stove. It takes time to cure and dry firewood. Burning green firewood is very inefficient, and it can be unsafe. The moisture content of green wood averages 60 percent to 80 percent by weight, depending on when it was cut.

Evaporating all that water in your stove will use as much as 15 percent of the potential heat in your firewood, so you are better off letting nature do it for you by air-drying your wood before you burn it. Burning green wood also promotes a buildup of creosote in the chimney, increasing the risk of a dangerous chimney fire.

It will take about six months to air-dry a cord of cut and split wood to 30 percent moisture content and a year or more to reach 20 percent moisture content. So if you haven’t started cutting and splitting your wood pile, you won’t catch up before cold weather arrives this fall. That means you’ll probably need to buy dry cordwood this year and plan on using any wood you cut now during the 2006-2007 heating season.

Brace for higher prices
If you haven’t bought a cord of cut-and-split firewood in a few years, you might be surprised by the prices. A quick perusal of your local weekly newspaper or “shopper” will show advertised prices exceeding $200 for a cord of dry wood.

Don’t be too quick to assume the high price of dry firewood is a reaction to the sudden surge in demand. The firewood business is labor-intensive and requires a lot of transportation. During the 1990’s, when oil was cheap and firewood profits where thin, most large firewood dealers started to automate the production of firewood through the use of firewood processors in an effort to stay competitive. These processors are designed to cut and split log-length wood (16-foot logs).

In response, many firewood dealers started to buy in log-length wood by the truckload from local loggers. This strategy worked well until demand for hardwood pulp surged two or three years ago. Suddenly, firewood dealers who were used to paying $30 to $40 a cord for log length had to pay $80 to $100 per cord for the same wood. They had to pass these costs along to their customers. Add surging prices for insurance (especially workman’s compensation) and fuel to run the equipment, and the old standard of $120 to $140 cord of firewood quickly rises to $200.

If you’re still balking at paying $200 a cord for firewood, don’t delay too long, because prices are bound to increase as winter gets closer and supplies disappear. Dry firewood has been very difficult to purchase the past couple of winters because demand exceeded supply.

Wood-buying saavy
If you’re in the market to buy three or four cords of dry wood for the winter, I suggest you look in your local newspaper or “shopper,” or ask your neighbors and friends about dealers they might know. Be sure you are buying dry wood. Ask the dealer how long the wood you plan to buy has been drying since it was cut and split. Learn the species mix of the dealer’s wood, too. The denser the wood, the longer it will take to dry. Oak, for example, may take more than a year to dry to 20 percent moisture content.

Be sure to clarify what measure of wood you are buying. By state law, a cord of wood is 128 cubic feet of air, bark, and wood. That’s a pile of wood 8 feet long by 4 feet high by 4 feet wide. A vendor may legally sell a fraction of a cord, but must represent it accurately as such (e.g., a half-cord). Remember that stacking a cord is an imperfect skill, so the cord will vary in slightly in size every time it is stacked.

Receiving and storing firewood
It’s a good idea to meet the delivery truck before the load is dumped to make sure you are satisfied by the mixture of species and cleanliness, and to tell the driver where you want the wood dumped. Most firewood dealers don’t want to return to your house to reload their truck.

Unless you’ve arranged otherwise, it’s up to you to restack the pile. Stack it outside in a well ventilated area off the ground (used pallets make a good platform if you don’t have a woodshed). Don’t cover your stacked wood until about a month or so before you begin to use it, to encourage natural air circulation to drive the moisture from the wood.

Even if you’re buying your firewood, the work of stacking it, loading your stove all winter, and removing the ashes will enable you to understand the old adage “wood warms you twice.”

By Tim Fleury, MerrimackCountyForest Resources Educator

For more information:

• Estimating Firewood from Standing Trees Describes a simple technique for woodlot owners who cut firewood on their own land.
• Fuel Value Calculator Compares the cost of different home heating fuels.
• Guide to N.H. Timber Harvesting Laws - Important to know the laws, if you are going to cut your own trees.
• NH Arborists Association - This site contains a list of certified N.H. Arborists, professionals who remove unwanted or hazard yard trees and may have fuelwood for sale.
• Safe Timber Harvesting - Read this if you plan to cut your own trees.
• The Warmth of Wood More on the benefits of burning native wood.
• Where Does Firewood Come From? Learn more about New Hampshire’s commercial firewood suppliers.
• Woodburning Saavy Please download our fact sheet to review or improve your knowledge of how to burn wood safely in your home.