Heat value by species
Firewood BTU chart
How much heat a cord of air-dried wood holds, species by species, from university extension and state forestry tables. Switch to kWh or gigajoules, compare two woods, and add your price to see what a million BTU of heat really costs.
Compare two woods
A cord of red oak holds about 55 % more heat than a cord of white pine: 0.65 cord of red oak gives the heat of a full cord of white pine. To match $300 a cord for red oak, white pine would have to cost $194 a cord or less.
Heat per cord of air-dried firewood
Click a column heading to sort. Where both tables list a species, the Missouri figure is shown under the Utah State one.
| Splitting | Sparks · coals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Osage-orangeMaclura pomifera · hardwood | 32.9Missouri table: 30.7 | 4,728 lb | Easy | ManyExcellent coals | $9.12 |
| Oak, GambelQuercus gambelii · hardwood | 30.7 | – | – | – | $9.77 |
| Oak, whiteQuercus alba · hardwood | 29.1Missouri table: 27.0 | 4,200 lb | Medium | FewExcellent coals | $10.31 |
| HickoryCarya spp. · hardwood | 29.1Missouri table | – | – | – | $10.31 |
| Locust, blackRobinia pseudoacacia · hardwood | 27.9Missouri table: 28.1 | 4,016 lb | Difficult | FewExcellent coals | $10.75 |
| BeechFagus grandifolia · hardwood | 27.5 | 3,760 lb | Difficult | FewExcellent coals | $10.91 |
| PinyonPinus edulis · softwood | 27.1 | 3,000 lb | Easy | Many | $11.07 |
| AppleMalus spp. · hardwood | 27.0 | 3,888 lb | Medium | FewGood coals | $11.11 |
| HoneylocustGleditsia triacanthos · hardwood | 26.7 | 3,832 lb | Easy | FewExcellent coals | $11.24 |
| Oak, burQuercus macrocarpa · hardwood | 26.2 | 3,768 lb | Easy | FewExcellent coals | $11.45 |
| MulberryMorus spp. · hardwood | 25.8 | 3,712 lb | Easy | ManyExcellent coals | $11.63 |
| Maple, hard (sugar and others)Acer spp. · hardwood | 25.5 | 3,680 lb | Easy | FewExcellent coals | $11.76 |
| Oak, redQuercus rubra · hardwood | 24.6Missouri table: 25.3 | 3,528 lb | Medium | FewExcellent coals | $12.20 |
| Ash, whiteFraxinus americana · hardwood | 24.2Missouri table: 23.6 | 3,472 lb | Medium | FewGood coals | $12.40 |
| Walnut, blackJuglans nigra · hardwood | 22.2 | 3,192 lb | Easy | FewGood coals | $13.51 |
| Larch (tamarack)Larix spp. · softwood | 21.8 | 3,330 lb | Easy | ManyFair coals | $13.76 |
| Juniper, Rocky MountainJuniperus scopulorum · softwood | 21.8 | 3,150 lb | Medium | ManyPoor coals | $13.76 |
| Coffeetree, KentuckyGymnocladus dioicus · hardwood | 21.6 | 3,112 lb | Medium | FewGood coals | $13.89 |
| HackberryCeltis occidentalis · hardwood | 21.2 | 3,048 lb | Easy | FewGood coals | $14.15 |
| Pine, lodgepolePinus contorta · softwood | 21.1 | 2,610 lb | Easy | ManyFair coals | $14.22 |
| Elm, SiberianUlmus pumila · hardwood | 20.9Missouri table: 21.4 | 3,020 lb | Difficult | FewGood coals | $14.35 |
| BirchBetula spp. · hardwood | 20.8 | 2,992 lb | Medium | FewGood coals | $14.42 |
| Douglas-firPseudotsuga menziesii · softwood | 20.7 | 2,970 lb | Easy | FewFair coals | $14.49 |
| CherryPrunus spp. · hardwood | 20.4 | 2,928 lb | Easy | FewExcellent coals | $14.71 |
| Elm, AmericanUlmus americana · hardwood | 20.0Missouri table: 21.4 | 2,872 lb | Difficult | FewExcellent coals | $15.00 |
| Ash, greenFraxinus pennsylvanica · hardwood | 20.0Missouri table: 23.6 | 2,880 lb | Easy | FewGood coals | $15.00 |
| Sycamore (American)Platanus occidentalis · hardwood | 19.5 | 2,808 lb | Difficult | FewGood coals | $15.38 |
| HemlockTsuga spp. · softwood | 19.3 | 2,700 lb | Easy | ManyPoor coals | $15.54 |
| Pine, shortleafPinus echinata · softwood | 19.0Missouri table | – | – | – | $15.79 |
| Maple, silverAcer saccharinum · hardwood | 19.0 | 2,752 lb | Medium | FewExcellent coals | $15.79 |
| BoxelderAcer negundo · hardwood | 18.3Missouri table: 17.5 | 2,632 lb | Difficult | FewPoor coals | $16.39 |
| Redcedar, westernThuja plicata · softwood | 18.2 | 2,632 lb | Medium | ManyPoor coals | $16.48 |
| Aspen, quakingPopulus tremuloides · hardwood | 18.2 | 2,160 lb | Easy | FewGood coals | $16.48 |
| ChestnutCastanea spp. · hardwood | 18.0 | – | – | – | $16.67 |
| WillowSalix spp. · hardwood | 17.6 | 2,540 lb | Easy | FewPoor coals | $17.05 |
| AlderAlnus spp. · hardwood | 17.5 | 2,540 lb | Easy | ModerateGood coals | $17.14 |
| CatalpaCatalpa spp. · hardwood | 16.4 | 2,360 lb | Difficult | FewGood coals | $18.29 |
| Pine, ponderosaPinus ponderosa · softwood | 16.2 | 2,336 lb | Easy | ManyFair coals | $18.52 |
| Pine, whitePinus strobus · softwood | 15.9 | 2,250 lb | Easy | ModeratePoor coals | $18.87 |
| CottonwoodPopulus deltoides · hardwood | 15.8Missouri table: 16.1 | 2,272 lb | Easy | FewGood coals | $18.99 |
| SprucePicea spp. · softwood | 15.5 | 2,240 lb | Easy | ManyPoor coals | $19.35 |
| Spruce, EngelmannPicea engelmannii · softwood | 15.0 | 2,070 lb | Easy | FewPoor coals | $20.00 |
| Fir, whiteAbies concolor · softwood | 14.6 | 2,104 lb | Easy | FewPoor coals | $20.55 |
| Buckeye, horsechestnutAesculus spp. · hardwood | 13.8 | 1,984 lb | Medium | FewPoor coals | $21.74 |
| Basswood (linden)Tilia americana · hardwood | 13.8 | 1,984 lb | Easy | FewPoor coals | $21.74 |
| Redcedar, easternJuniperus virginiana · softwood | 13.0Missouri table: 18.9 | 2,060 lb | Easy | ManyPoor coals | $23.08 |
How to read the chart
Each figure is the heat held in one full cord (128 cubic feet, stacked) of air-dried wood. Wood of every species holds roughly the same heat per pound once dry, so the difference between species comes from density: a cord of heavy oak or hickory weighs far more than a cord of pine or cottonwood, and holds more heat.
- Heat unit: million BTU is the usual US figure; kWh and GJ suit metric energy bills. 1 million BTU = 293 kWh = 1.055 GJ.
- Per: a full cord, or one stacked cubic metre (a stère) for buyers in Europe. A cord is 3.62 stères.
- Your price: per full cord, face cord or stère. The last column turns it into the price of a million BTU (or a kWh, or a GJ) of heat in the wood, so you can see whether cheaper, lighter wood is really cheaper.
- Splitting, sparks and coals: notes from the Utah State table. Woods that spark throw embers from open fireplaces; woods that coal well hold a stove overnight.
Worked example
At 300 a cord, red oak (24.6 million BTU) costs about 12.20 per million BTU, and white pine (15.9) about 18.87. Pine would have to sell for about 194 a cord to give the same heat for the money.
These are heat contents, not what reaches the room. An open fireplace sends most of it up the chimney; a modern certified stove keeps far more.
Sources
- Utah State University Extension, M. Kuhns & T. Schmidt, Wood Heating, Table 1 "Firewood Facts" (weights per cord, heat per cord, splitting, sparks, coals), based on the University of Nebraska fact sheet "Heating With Wood: Species Characteristics and Volumes".
- Missouri Department of Conservation, Home Heating, table "Heat Values of Various Woods" (hickory, shortleaf pine and the comparison figures).
- University of Maryland Extension, Buying a Clean Burning Wood Stove, FS-939 (PDF): conventional fireplaces are around 10 % efficient at best.
- Unit conversions: International Table BTU (1,055.056 J); a cord of 128 cubic feet is 3.6246 m³.
Firewood heat questions
Which firewood gives the most heat per cord?
The densest hardwoods. In the Utah State table Osage-orange leads at 32.9 million BTU per cord, followed by Gambel oak, white oak, black locust and beech; the Missouri table puts hickory at 29.1. At the bottom are eastern redcedar, basswood and buckeye at about 13 to 14 million BTU.
Why do firewood BTU charts disagree?
Each table rests on its own assumptions about moisture, how much solid wood a cord holds and which trees were sampled, and some list a genus such as "ash" or "elm" rather than one species. White oak is 29.1 million BTU per cord in the Utah State table and 27.0 in the Missouri one; eastern redcedar is 13.0 and 18.9. Treat any single figure as a guide, not a measurement.
Is softwood bad firewood?
No, but you need more of it. Dry softwood holds about as much heat per pound as hardwood, yet a cord weighs less, so it holds less heat per cord and burns down faster. It lights easily, which suits kindling and mild weather. Resinous species such as pines and spruces tend to spark, so keep a screen in front of an open fire.
How do I convert million BTU per cord to kWh?
Multiply by 293.07 to get kWh per cord, or by 1.055 for gigajoules. To get a figure per stacked cubic metre, divide by 3.6246, the number of cubic metres in a cord. Red oak at 24.6 million BTU per cord is about 7,210 kWh per cord, or about 1,990 kWh per stacked cubic metre.
How much of that heat reaches my room?
It depends on the appliance. University of Maryland Extension puts a conventional open fireplace at around 10 % efficient at best, while modern certified stoves keep a large share of the heat in the house. The chart shows the heat in the wood; the stove size page lets you set an efficiency to estimate how much wood a winter takes.