Permies Poll: How many cords of wood do you burn a year?

I, unfortunately, do not have a wood burning contraption in my home. There is a desire however to have one!

I burn 1-2 cords a year, in a regular 'ol wood burning fireplace. Super inefficient, I know. But its nice and warm to sit by, and it looks good too. It's not our main heat source, of course. We have a boiler with cast iron radiators for that.

Should that 0 be 0-1?

Or is this referring to how many cords of wood you BUY?

Burra Maluca wrote:Should that 0 be 0-1?

Good point! I updated the poll.

Burning approximately 10 chords per year, this includes 365 days of using the cast iron kitchen range,  a Lopi Endeavor woodstove for the main heat in the cold months. And also a cast iron, what was called a laundry stove in the barn / shop during the days below freezing.
All of the wood is from dead trees on the property, cut with a chainsaw and split with an ax.
Monetary outlay per year, for chainsaw parts and gas less than $100,  considering the saws have paid for themselves since they're from the 1970s and '80s

Not sure what happened at the pool Booth but I gave it an apple plus and a thumbs up, it's showing the exact opposite.

Not really sure. I cut and stack enough wood for 2 winters, so each stack has a full year to dry. We burn most nights from late November through March, depending on the weather. It's in a fireplace that has a blower, so once the walls get hot it puts out pretty good heat. Makes the lower level of the house usable in winter.
Today I split some green wood for next year's fires.

A true cord is 4'x4'x8' = 128 cubic ft.
I think some of the higher consumption values must be 'face cords' or 'bush cords'?
We burn just under 2 cords per year to heat a large (2900 sq ft) 2 level stick built house.
We keep it warm over a ~6.5 month burn season in Nova Scotia, but it is well insulated.

You are correct about the cord of wood being 4'x4'x8', but a very large number of people here burn wood, and when they say a "cord", they mean a face cord.  If you buy wood, it is nearly always sold by the face cord here.  My first thought when I saw this poll was "I wonder which "cord" people will mean when they answer."  This is like the oatmeal thread :)

I do not burn wood, but if I did it would be around 12 full cords per year.

A full cord of firewood is equal to about 100 gallons of heating oil. Since I burn 1100 gallons of oil and a little propane, if I switched to firewood I would consume about 12 cord.

Just adding this in case someone wants to do the conversion.

I'm burning wood in Minnesota, and when I say cord I mean full cord!! ,😄  The folks around here don't even recognize the term face chord. We have had 20° below zero fahrenheit for the last three nights in a row, some days it doesn't get above zero at all. It is not uncommon for wood burners in Minnesota to go through 10 to 15 cords of wood depending upon the size of their house, and that is including those people that use outside boilers and are running hot water into there homes for heat.
On cold nights such as last night you can hear the trees exploding like cannon fire throughout the night.

It's the start of autumn now in the southern hemisphere and we have already ordered our wood for this winter, (9m3) 2.5 cords.

Have already had the fire going.

I cut and split about two cords each year for our house. Georgia winters are not arduous. Often we have extra, i can take that to a neighbor in need.  It's all a good workout. This might not save us much money,  but keeps me grounded and happy.

All trees are eased into retirement...or I should say converted from vertical orientation to a horizontal one.....from our land or nearby.  All wood seasoned for at least a year, a mixture of oak, wild cherry, wild pear, locust, pecan, privet, and a few others.  A standing dead pine is nice to drop once in a while, but I leave most as woodpecker entertainment is important too.  Of course dense wood like pecan, privet and Hackberry need to dry a lot longer.  

My teenager helps with limbing and splitting , it helps to keep his two feet firmly on the ground. No real pushback, as he knows that reading good books , gardening and some sweaty swinging buys him a bit of time online , swimming with his team, etc.  Win-win situation.  

Newest stack of mostly oak....growing too close to our barn for comfort.  With no firewood touching the ground and a minimalist three foot strip of plastic on top, it seasons well in summer sun.  

Last vote in apple poll was on April 13, 2025