A wood stove or furnace could be of immense help during the winter.
It will keep you warm during the cold nights, help you in cutting down the heating bill, and also come in handy if there’s a power outage due to the storm.
However, apart from a nice wood stove, you also need high-quality firewood to keep yourself warm.
But how much firewood should you actually buy?
Well, it’s a little bit difficult to answer.
For it depends on many things such as the size of your house, type of wood, how often you will use and a few other factors.
In this post, I’m gonna tell you which are the factors you need to consider before purchasing your winter supply of firewood.
Let’s get started.
Unit of Measurement
Outside North America, people usually use a metric called stère to measure the firewood. It is equivalent to 1 cubic meter.
However, in the U.S, we use “cords” as the standard unit of measurement for firewood, which is measured 4 x 4 x 8 feet.
A full cord will cost you around $200.
Nevertheless, you can even buy a fraction of full cords which is often termed as “face cords” or “stove cords”.
Is Your Fireplace Your Primary Heat Source?
The amount of firewood you will need in winter heavily depends on whether your wood furnace is your primary heat source or just a decorative fireplace.
If you live in the countryside, then chance are that your fireplace is the primary source of heat for you.
In this case, it’s important that you have enough firewood and will need to buy a larger amount of firewood then people who have a decorative fireplace.
The Frequency of Your Use
Do you use the fireplace all day along?
If the answer is yes, and you need to keep the fire burning most of the day, then you’d better stockpile a fair amount of firewood before the winter.
2 cords per season should be enough for you, but it’s better to buy a little more than necessary in the event that there’s a cold and long winter.
However, if you use the fireplace only in the evening or just to augment your primary heating system, then there’s no need to buy a large amount of firewood.
A single cord should be sufficient for the winter.
The Size of Your House
It’s the most vital factor that you need to keep in your mind while deciding how much firewood to buy for the winter.
For a 1000 square foot house, you are going to need an average of 3 cords per season.
If you have a large house which is around 4000 square foot house, then you’d approximately need about 12 cords for a regular winter.
While for a medium sized 2000 square foot house, 6 cords should be enough.
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Adequate Space
Before you purchase the firewood, it’s important to figure out exactly how much firewood you house can accommodate.
If your house isn’t big enough, then you shouldn’t purchase firewood for the entire season at one time. You can reorder when your supply is nearly over.
Type of Wood
Yes, the wood type matters.
The density and moisture of a wood can have a big impact on its conduct and effectiveness.
You should buy dense hardwoods such as oak and maple which contain higher energy content per cord and burn the hottest.
Moreover, Fire produced by dense wood tends to last longer than softwood such as spruce and birch.
If you decide to make your own firewood, then ensure that you split the woods into small pieces so that it can fit into your fireplace.
Shorter pieces are easier to handle and conducive to the effective fire building.
In contrast, large pieces are inappropriate for the wood furnace and can make fire stocking problematic and even impossible.
Thus, ensure that the diameter of your wood pieces is no longer than 6 inches.
Afterward, you will have to store the woods for a few months. For softwoods, 6 months will be sufficient, while hardwoods are required to be stored for about a year.
Final word
Now that you know which factors to consider before purchasing the woods, you can now easily determine the amount of wood you would need to survive the winter.
Let me know me know if you have any further questions. Gracias!