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Firewood heat value

Firewood BTU Chart & Calculator

Heat per cord for 146 North American species, softwoods included — both the heat in the wood and the heat your stove actually delivers, and what burning it green costs you.

A cord of seasoned firewood contains from 11.6 million Btu (northern white-cedar) to 33.1 million Btu (live oak). The usual hardwoods sit in between: northern red oak and sugar maple 23.7, white oak 25.5, shagbark hickory 27.0. A wood stove delivering half of that heat to the room gives half those numbers — which is why two BTU charts can disagree by a factor of two while both being right.

Your wood

Quantity, moisture and stove

Moisture is a percentage of the dry weight, as a wood moisture meter reads it on a freshly split face. The EPA says wood burns best below 20 %. Efficiency is the share of the heat that reaches the room: the University of Arkansas Extension puts current wood-burning equipment at 50 % in ideal conditions, old box stoves at 30 % and open fireplaces under 10 %. Brochures usually quote a higher figure. Quantity accepts 1,000, 0.5 or 1/2.

Firewood BTU chart: all 146 species

One cord of each species, seasoned to 20 % moisture. In the wood is the energy the cord contains, the kind of figure Penn State publishes; delivered is what a stove passing half of it to the room gives you, the kind Arkansas publishes. The last column compares each species with the single 20 million Btu the EIA uses for every cord.

146 species

Million Btu per cord of seasoned firewood for 146 species
SpeciesIn the wood, million BtuDelivered at 50 %Seasoned weight, lbvs EIA's 20
1. Live oakhardwoodQuercus virginiana33.116.54,610+65 %
2. Osage-orangehardwoodMaclura pomifera31.916.04,460+60 %
3. Pignut hickoryhardwoodCarya glabra28.214.13,930+41 %
4. Canyon live oakhardwoodQuercus chrysolepis27.813.93,880+39 %
5. Common persimmonhardwoodDiospyros virginiana27.813.93,880+39 %
6. Flowering dogwoodhardwoodCornus florida27.413.73,830+37 %
7. Mockernut hickoryhardwoodCarya alba27.013.53,770+35 %
8. Oregon white oakhardwoodQuercus garryana27.013.53,770+35 %
9. Shagbark hickoryhardwoodCarya ovata27.013.53,770+35 %
10. Swamp white oakhardwoodQuercus bicolor27.013.53,770+35 %
11. Utah junipersoftwoodJuniperus osteosperma27.013.53,770+35 %
12. Eastern hophornbeamhardwoodOstrya virginiana26.313.13,670+31 %
13. Black locusthardwoodRobinia pseudoacacia25.913.03,620+30 %
14. Cherrybark oakhardwoodQuercus pagoda25.913.03,620+30 %
15. Shellbark hickoryhardwoodCarya laciniosa25.913.03,620+30 %
16. Willow oakhardwoodQuercus phellos25.913.03,620+30 %
17. White oakhardwoodQuercus alba25.512.83,560+28 %
18. Pacific yewsoftwoodTaxus brevifolia25.212.63,510+26 %
19. Post oakhardwoodQuercus stellata25.212.63,510+26 %
20. Scarlet oakhardwoodQuercus coccinea25.212.63,510+26 %
21. Swamp chestnut oakhardwoodQuercus michauxii25.212.63,510+26 %
22. Bitternut hickoryhardwoodCarya cordiformis24.812.43,460+24 %
23. Chestnut oakhardwoodQuercus prinus24.812.43,460+24 %
24. PecanhardwoodCarya illinoinensis24.812.43,460+24 %
25. Winged elmhardwoodUlmus alata24.812.43,460+24 %
26. HoneylocusthardwoodGleditsia triacanthos24.412.23,410+22 %
27. Pacific madronehardwoodArbutus menziesii24.412.23,410+22 %
28. Sweet birchhardwoodBetula lenta24.412.23,410+22 %
29. American beechhardwoodFagus grandifolia24.012.03,350+20 %
30. Bur oakhardwoodQuercus macrocarpa24.012.03,350+20 %
31. Cedar elmhardwoodUlmus crassifolia24.012.03,350+20 %
32. Gambel oakhardwoodQuercus gambelii23.711.83,300+18 %
33. Laurel oakhardwoodQuercus laurifolia23.711.83,300+18 %
34. Northern red oakhardwoodQuercus rubra23.711.83,300+18 %
35. Overcup oakhardwoodQuercus lyrata23.711.83,300+18 %
36. Pin oakhardwoodQuercus palustris23.711.83,300+18 %
37. Rock elmhardwoodUlmus thomasii23.711.83,300+18 %
38. Sugar maplehardwoodAcer saccharum23.711.83,300+18 %
39. Water oakhardwoodQuercus nigra23.711.83,300+18 %
40. Pacific dogwoodhardwoodCornus nuttallii23.311.63,250+16 %
41. TanoakhardwoodLithocarpus densiflorus23.311.63,250+16 %
42. Water hickoryhardwoodCarya aquatica23.311.63,250+16 %
43. Yellow birchhardwoodBetula alleghaniensis23.311.63,250+16 %
44. Black oakhardwoodQuercus velutina22.911.53,200+15 %
45. Kentucky coffeetreehardwoodGymnocladus dioicus22.511.33,140+13 %
46. Nutmeg hickoryhardwoodCarya myristiciformis22.511.33,140+13 %
47. White ashhardwoodFraxinus americana22.511.33,140+13 %
48. Longleaf pinesoftwoodPinus palustris22.211.13,090+11 %
49. Slash pinesoftwoodPinus elliottii22.211.13,090+11 %
50. Southern red oakhardwoodQuercus falcata22.211.13,090+11 %
51. Blue ashhardwoodFraxinus quadrangulata21.810.93,040+9 %
52. California white oakhardwoodQuercus lobata21.810.93,040+9 %
53. American hollyhardwoodIlex opaca21.410.72,990+7 %
54. Black maplehardwoodAcer nigrum21.410.72,990+7 %
55. Green ashhardwoodFraxinus pennsylvanica21.010.52,940+5 %
56. Pond pinesoftwoodPinus serotina21.010.52,940+5 %
57. River birchhardwoodBetula nigra21.010.52,940+5 %
58. Black walnuthardwoodJuglans nigra20.710.32,880+3 %
59. California black oakhardwoodQuercus kelloggii20.710.32,880+3 %
60. California-laurelhardwoodUmbellularia californica20.710.32,880+3 %
61. Oregon ashhardwoodFraxinus latifolia20.710.32,880+3 %
62. Paper birchhardwoodBetula papyrifera20.710.32,880+3 %
63. SourwoodhardwoodOxydendrum arboreum20.710.32,880+3 %
64. Red maplehardwoodAcer rubrum20.310.12,830+1 %
65. AilanthushardwoodAilanthus altissima19.910.02,7800 %
66. HackberryhardwoodCeltis occidentalis19.910.02,7800 %
67. Monterey pinesoftwoodPinus radiata19.910.02,7800 %
68. Slippery elmhardwoodUlmus rubra19.910.02,7800 %
69. Pitch pinesoftwoodPinus rigida19.59.82,730−2 %
70. Pumpkin ashhardwoodFraxinus profunda19.59.82,730−2 %
71. SweetgumhardwoodLiquidambar styraciflua19.59.82,730−2 %
72. Table Mountain pinesoftwoodPinus pungens19.59.82,730−2 %
73. Western larchsoftwoodLarix occidentalis19.59.82,730−2 %
74. Alligator junipersoftwoodJuniperus deppeana19.29.62,670−4 %
75. Gray birchhardwoodBetula populifolia19.29.62,670−4 %
76. Loblolly pinesoftwoodPinus taeda19.29.62,670−4 %
77. Shortleaf pinesoftwoodPinus echinata19.29.62,670−4 %
78. American elmhardwoodUlmus americana18.89.42,620−6 %
79. BlackcherryhardwoodPrunus serotina18.89.42,620−6 %
80. BlackgumhardwoodNyssa sylvatica18.89.42,620−6 %
81. Southern magnoliahardwoodMagnolia grandiflora18.89.42,620−6 %
82. Water tupelohardwoodNyssa aquatica18.89.42,620−6 %
83. American sycamorehardwoodPlatanus occidentalis18.49.22,570−8 %
84. Bishop pinesoftwoodPinus muricata18.49.22,570−8 %
85. Black ashhardwoodFraxinus nigra18.49.22,570−8 %
86. Bigleaf maplehardwoodAcer macrophyllum18.09.02,520−10 %
87. CucumbertreehardwoodMagnolia acuminata18.09.02,520−10 %
88. Douglas-firsoftwoodPseudotsuga menziesii18.09.02,520−10 %
89. Sand pinesoftwoodPinus clausa18.09.02,520−10 %
90. Virginia pinesoftwoodPinus virginiana18.09.02,520−10 %
91. Eastern redcedarsoftwoodJuniperus virginiana17.78.82,460−12 %
92. Silver maplehardwoodAcer saccharinum17.78.82,460−12 %
93. BaldcypresssoftwoodTaxodium distichum17.38.62,410−14 %
94. Black sprucesoftwoodPicea mariana17.38.62,410−14 %
95. BoxelderhardwoodAcer negundo17.38.62,410−14 %
96. Red pinesoftwoodPinus resinosa17.38.62,410−14 %
97. SassafrashardwoodSassafras albidum17.38.62,410−14 %
98. Striped maplehardwoodAcer pensylvanicum17.38.62,410−14 %
99. SweetbayhardwoodMagnolia virginiana17.38.62,410−14 %
100. Fremont cottonwoodhardwoodPopulus fremontii16.98.52,360−15 %
101. Mountain hemlocksoftwoodTsuga mertensiana16.98.52,360−15 %
102. Western hemlocksoftwoodTsuga heterophylla16.98.52,360−15 %
103. Alaska yellow-cedarsoftwoodChamaecyparis nootkatensis16.58.32,310−17 %
104. Southern redcedarsoftwoodJuniperus virginiana16.58.32,310−17 %
105. Spruce pinesoftwoodPinus glabra16.58.32,310−17 %
106. American chestnuthardwoodCastanea dentata16.28.12,250−19 %
107. Jack pinesoftwoodPinus banksiana16.28.12,250−19 %
108. Pacific silver firsoftwoodAbies amabilis16.28.12,250−19 %
109. Port-Orford-cedarsoftwoodChamaecyparis lawsoniana16.28.12,250−19 %
110. Jeffrey pinesoftwoodPinus jeffreyi15.87.92,200−21 %
111. Knobcone pinesoftwoodPinus attenuata15.87.92,200−21 %
112. Limber pinesoftwoodPinus flexilis15.87.92,200−21 %
113. Yellow-poplarhardwoodLiriodendron tulipifera15.87.92,200−21 %
114. Lodgepole pinesoftwoodPinus contorta15.47.72,150−23 %
115. Northern catalpahardwoodCatalpa speciosa15.47.72,150−23 %
116. Red alderhardwoodAlnus rubra15.47.72,150−23 %
117. Eastern cottonwoodhardwoodPopulus deltoides15.07.52,100−25 %
118. Eastern hemlocksoftwoodTsuga canadensis15.07.52,100−25 %
119. Ponderosa pinesoftwoodPinus ponderosa15.07.52,100−25 %
120. Red sprucesoftwoodPicea rubens15.07.52,100−25 %
121. White sprucesoftwoodPicea glauca15.07.52,100−25 %
122. Bigtooth aspenhardwoodPopulus grandidentata14.77.32,040−27 %
123. Black willowhardwoodSalix nigra14.77.32,040−27 %
124. Noble firsoftwoodAbies procera14.77.32,040−27 %
125. White firsoftwoodAbies concolor14.77.32,040−27 %
126. ButternuthardwoodJuglans cinerea14.37.11,990−29 %
127. California red firsoftwoodAbies magnifica14.37.11,990−29 %
128. Giant sequoiasoftwoodSequoiadendron giganteum14.37.11,990−29 %
129. Quaking aspenhardwoodPopulus tremuloides14.37.11,990−29 %
130. RedwoodsoftwoodSequoia sempervirens14.37.11,990−29 %
131. Western white pinesoftwoodPinus monticola14.37.11,990−29 %
132. American basswoodhardwoodTilia americana13.96.91,940−31 %
133. Grand firsoftwoodAbies grandis13.96.91,940−31 %
134. Incense-cedarsoftwoodCalocedrus decurrens13.96.91,940−31 %
135. Sitka sprucesoftwoodPicea sitchensis13.56.81,890−32 %
136. Sugar pinesoftwoodPinus lambertiana13.56.81,890−32 %
137. Yellow buckeyehardwoodAesculus flava13.56.81,890−32 %
138. Balsam firsoftwoodAbies balsamea13.16.61,830−34 %
139. Black cottonwoodhardwoodPopulus balsamifera13.16.61,830−34 %
140. Eastern white pinesoftwoodPinus strobus13.16.61,830−34 %
141. Engelmann sprucesoftwoodPicea engelmannii13.16.61,830−34 %
142. Balsam poplarhardwoodPopulus balsamifera12.86.41,780−36 %
143. Atlantic white-cedarsoftwoodChamaecyparis thyoides12.06.01,680−40 %
144. Subalpine firsoftwoodAbies lasiocarpa12.06.01,680−40 %
145. Western redcedarsoftwoodThuja plicata12.06.01,680−40 %
146. Northern white-cedarsoftwoodThuja occidentalis11.65.81,620−42 %

Computed for every species from its density in USDA Forest Service Research Note NRS-38, with 8,600 Btu per ovendry pound and 70 ft³ of solid wood in a 128 ft³ cord. Weight is for a normally stacked cord, as on the Cord Weight Calculator. Estimates for ordinary split firewood, not a guarantee for a given delivery.

Firewood BTU Chart, https://sawrule.com/calculators/firewood-btu/ — species data from USDA Forest Service Research Note NRS-38.

Which firewood has the highest BTU?

The densest woods, because heat per pound barely changes from one species to another. These are the ten highest in the dataset, per cord of seasoned wood:

  1. Live oak (Quercus virginiana) — 33.1 million Btu in the wood, 16.5 delivered at 50 %
  2. Osage-orange (Maclura pomifera) — 31.9 million Btu in the wood, 16.0 delivered at 50 %
  3. Pignut hickory (Carya glabra) — 28.2 million Btu in the wood, 14.1 delivered at 50 %
  4. Canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis) — 27.8 million Btu in the wood, 13.9 delivered at 50 %
  5. Common persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) — 27.8 million Btu in the wood, 13.9 delivered at 50 %
  6. Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) — 27.4 million Btu in the wood, 13.7 delivered at 50 %
  7. Mockernut hickory (Carya alba) — 27.0 million Btu in the wood, 13.5 delivered at 50 %
  8. Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) — 27.0 million Btu in the wood, 13.5 delivered at 50 %
  9. Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) — 27.0 million Btu in the wood, 13.5 delivered at 50 %
  10. Swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor) — 27.0 million Btu in the wood, 13.5 delivered at 50 %

Two surprises sit near the top. Utah juniper, a softwood, holds 27.0 million Btu per cord, more than northern red oak's 23.7. And Osage-orange, first in Penn State's chart, comes second here to live oak, a southern species that northeastern charts leave out. Among northeastern and midwestern species, the hickories, black locust and the white oaks lead.

Which firewood has the lowest BTU?

The lightest woods: the cedars, the true firs, the spruces and the poplars. The five lowest are northern white-cedar (11.6), western redcedar (12.0), subalpine fir (12.0), Atlantic white-cedar (12.0) and balsam poplar (12.8). A cord of northern white-cedar holds 11.6 million Btu, about 35 % of a cord of live oak. It is not useless wood: it lights fast and burns out fast, which suits a shoulder-season fire. It simply takes 2.8 cords of it to do the work of one cord of live oak, and roughly twice the stacking and hauling.

How many BTUs are in a cord of wood?

It depends on the species more than on anything else. The U.S. Energy Information Administration uses a single figure, 20 million Btu per cord, which is fine for national statistics. Across the 146 species here, only 40 come within 10 % of it. Hardwoods average 21.6 million Btu per cord (93 species) and softwoods 16.6 (53 species).

Applied to the wood in your own shed, the flat figure overstates a cord of northern white-cedar by 72 % and understates a cord of live oak by 40 %. To turn the heat of your own species into the number of cords a winter takes, use the Firewood Consumption Calculator, which starts from your state's climate and your house.

Why do firewood BTU charts disagree?

Put two charts side by side and the "same" oak can show 24 or 12 million Btu. Four reasons, in order of size:

  1. Heat in the wood versus heat delivered. Penn State Extension lists the energy a cord contains; the University of Arkansas Extension lists the heat delivered by a stove burning at 50 % efficiency. For the same species the two tables differ by a factor of almost exactly two:
    The same species in two extension tables, million Btu per cord
    SpeciesPenn State (in the wood)Arkansas (delivered at 50 %)Ratio
    Red oak24.012.20.51
    White oak25.712.80.50
    Shagbark hickory28.014.20.51
    Hackberry20.810.50.51
    A chart that does not say which of the two it shows can be off by 100 % without a single wrong number.
  2. How much wood is in a cord. A cord is 128 ft³ of wood, bark and air. How much of it is solid wood is an assumption, and the charts rarely state theirs. This page uses 70 ft³, the value that reproduces Penn State's table across nine species; Minnesota's statute uses 79 ft³ when firewood is sold by weight. Switching from one to the other moves every figure by 13 %.
  3. Which tree "red oak" means. Charts list "red oak" or "white oak" as if each were one tree. In the USDA data, the eastern red oaks run from 22.2 to 25.9 million Btu per cord (southern red oak to cherrybark oak and willow oak), the eastern white oaks from 23.7 to 27.0. The chart above lists each species separately for that reason.
  4. Moisture. Some tables assume air-dried wood, some ovendry wood, and some do not say. A pound of wet wood is partly water, which adds weight and no heat.

None of this makes a chart wrong. It makes a chart that hides its assumptions impossible to compare with another. Every assumption on this page is in the method note at the bottom, and you can change the efficiency yourself.

Does green wood have fewer BTUs?

The wood itself holds the same energy wet or dry: drying removes water, not wood. What changes is how much of it reaches the room, because every pound of water in the firebox has to be heated and boiled off before it leaves up the chimney. That takes about 1,122 Btu per pound of water (152 to bring it from 60 °F to boiling, 970 to turn it into steam), and none of it warms the house.

Freshly cut northern red oak holds about 83 % water by dry weight, against 20 % once seasoned. That is 1,730 lb of extra water in a cord, and at least 1.9 million Btu spent boiling it off — 16 % of the 11.8 million Btu the same cord delivers seasoned, with a stove at 50 %. Quaking aspen, at 129 % water when green, loses 28 %.

That water is counted on the wood that makes one seasoned cord, because the comparison is the same wood burned wet or dry. A cord stacked while green holds a little less wood, since wood shrinks as it dries: the water that leaves a cord stacked green is about 1,540 lb, the figure the Cord Weight Calculator gives.

Those figures are a floor. Wet wood also burns cooler and less completely, which wastes more heat, but that extra loss depends on the stove and is not computed here. The EPA's advice is simple: wood burns best below 20 % moisture, checked with a meter. The calculator shows the floor for any species and moisture level; the weight of that water is on the Cord Weight Calculator.

Is softwood bad firewood?

Not per pound. A pound of ovendry pine and a pound of ovendry oak hold about the same 8,600 Btu. Softwood loses per cord, because it is lighter: 16.6 million Btu per cord on average against 21.6 for hardwoods. The spread inside each group is wider than the gap between them, though: Utah juniper (27.0), western larch (19.5) and Douglas-fir (18.0) all beat quaking aspen (14.3) and eastern cottonwood (15.0), which are hardwoods. Judge the species, not the label.

Is BTU per pound or per cord what matters?

Per cord, because that is how you buy and stack firewood. Per pound, the species are nearly interchangeable; per cord, they range from 11.6 to 33.1 million Btu because a cord of dense wood simply holds more pounds. That also means the price that matters is the price per million Btu, not per cord: the Face Cord Calculator compares two offers both ways, the Cord of Wood Price Calculator sets a cord against oil, propane and a heat pump, and the Firewood Cord Calculator checks that the pile you received is a full 128 ft³.

Frequently asked questions

How many BTUs are in a cord of oak?

A cord of seasoned northern red oak contains about 23.7 million Btu and white oak about 25.5. The oaks in the USDA data run from 20.7 (California black oak) to 33.1 (live oak). A stove delivering half the heat gives half those figures to the room.

What firewood burns the hottest?

Per cord, the densest: live oak (33.1 million Btu), Osage-orange (31.9), pignut hickory (28.2), then the other hickories, persimmon, dogwood and the dense oaks. Per pound, all species give about the same heat; density is what makes the difference.

How many BTUs are in a cord of pine?

It depends on the pine: eastern white pine holds about 13.1 million Btu per seasoned cord, ponderosa pine 15.0, loblolly pine 19.2 and longleaf pine 22.2. The dense southern yellow pines come close to the lighter hardwoods.

Is a cord of wood 20 million BTU?

That is the single figure the EIA uses for all wood. Real cords range from 11.6 to 33.1 million Btu depending on the species, and only 40 of the 146 species in the USDA data come within 10 % of 20.

How much heat do you lose burning green wood?

At least the heat needed to boil off the extra water, about 1,122 Btu per pound. For a cord of green northern red oak that is 1.9 million Btu, 16 % of what the same cord delivers seasoned with a 50 % stove. Wet wood also burns less completely, so the real loss is larger.

How many BTUs are in a face cord?

A face cord of 16-inch pieces is a third of a full cord, so it holds a third of the heat: about 7.9 million Btu in seasoned northern red oak. With 12-inch pieces it is a quarter of a cord. The Face Cord Calculator does the conversion for any piece length.

Sources