Firewood BTU Chart by Wood Species
Not all firewood is equal. Dense hardwoods like oak, hickory and black locust pack far more heat into a cord than light woods like cottonwood, basswood or white pine. Use the calculator to turn a species and a price into a cost per unit of heat, so you can compare offers fairly.
Heat per cord by species
Values are for a full cord (128 cubic feet, stacked) of air-dried wood. Green (freshly cut) wood can be half water by weight, and much of its heat goes into boiling that water off.
| Species | Heat per cord (million BTU) | Weight per cord, dry (lb) | Weight per cord, green (lb) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Osage-orange | 32.9 | 4728 | 5120 |
| Oak, Gambel | 30.7 | — | — |
| Oak, White | 29.1 | 4200 | 5573 |
| Locust, Black | 27.9 | 4016 | 4616 |
| Beech | 27.5 | 3760 | — |
| Pinyon | 27.1 | 3000 | — |
| Apple | 27 | 3888 | 4850 |
| Honeylocust | 26.7 | 3832 | 4640 |
| Oak, Bur | 26.2 | 3768 | 4960 |
| Mulberry | 25.8 | 3712 | 4712 |
| Maple, other (not silver) | 25.5 | 3680 | 4685 |
| Oak, Red | 24.6 | 3528 | 4888 |
| Ash, White | 24.2 | 3472 | 3952 |
| Walnut, Black | 22.2 | 3192 | 4584 |
| Juniper, Rocky Mountain | 21.8 | 3150 | 3535 |
| Larch (Tamarack) | 21.8 | 3330 | — |
| Coffeetree, Kentucky | 21.6 | 3112 | 3872 |
| Hackberry | 21.2 | 3048 | 3984 |
| Pine, Lodgepole | 21.1 | 2610 | — |
| Elm, Siberian | 20.9 | 3020 | 3800 |
| Birch | 20.8 | 2992 | 4312 |
| Douglas-fir | 20.7 | 2970 | 3319 |
| Cherry | 20.4 | 2928 | 3696 |
| Ash, Green | 20 | 2880 | 4184 |
| Elm, American | 20 | 2872 | 4456 |
| Sycamore | 19.5 | 2808 | 5096 |
| Hemlock | 19.3 | 2700 | — |
| Maple, Silver | 19 | 2752 | 3904 |
| Boxelder | 18.3 | 2632 | 3589 |
| Aspen, Quaking | 18.2 | 2160 | — |
| Redcedar, Western | 18.2 | 2632 | 2950 |
| Chestnut | 18 | — | — |
| Willow | 17.6 | 2540 | 4320 |
| Alder | 17.5 | 2540 | — |
| Catalpa | 16.4 | 2360 | 4560 |
| Pine, Ponderosa | 16.2 | 2336 | 3600 |
| Pine, White | 15.9 | 2250 | — |
| Cottonwood | 15.8 | 2272 | 4640 |
| Spruce | 15.5 | 2240 | 2800 |
| Spruce, Engelmann | 15 | 2070 | — |
| Fir, White | 14.6 | 2104 | 3585 |
| Basswood (Linden) | 13.8 | 1984 | 4404 |
| Buckeye / Horsechestnut | 13.8 | 1984 | 4210 |
| Redcedar, Eastern | 13 | 2060 | — |
Source: Utah State University Extension — Wood Heating, Table 1 (Firewood Facts)
How to read the chart
- Heat per cord is what matters when you buy by volume. A cord of white oak (29.1) holds nearly twice the heat of a cord of cottonwood (15.8), so it is worth a lot more money.
- Dry weight tells you how heavy a cord is to haul. Dense woods are heavy — a cord of dry white oak weighs over 2 tons.
- Green weight is the weight before drying. The difference between green and dry is mostly water you will be waiting to evaporate.
Comparing two offers
Say seller A has red oak at $350 per cord and seller B has white pine at $220 per cord. Both into a 65% efficient stove:
- Red oak: 24.6 × 0.65 = 16.0 million BTU useful → $350 ÷ 16.0 = $21.90 per million BTU
- White pine: 15.9 × 0.65 = 10.3 million BTU useful → $220 ÷ 10.3 = $21.30 per million BTU
They cost almost the same per unit of heat — but you'll handle, stack and load about 50% more pine to get it.