How Much Firewood Do You Need for an East Tennessee Winter?

It's the first question most folks ask us: how much wood do I actually need? The honest answer is that it depends on how you burn. But East Tennessee winters are mild compared to up north, and the heating season around Rogersville usually runs from about November through March, so most households land in one of three ranges.

A rule of thumb by how you burn

• Weekend and holiday fires (ambiance): about half a cord to one cord for the season.

• Supplemental heat (the stove runs most evenings, but a heat pump or furnace does the rest): about 1 to 2 cords.

• Primary heat (the wood stove heats the house): about 3 to 4 cords for an average home, and more for a big, older or drafty house.

These are starting points, not guarantees. Treat them as a planning range and adjust after your first winter.

What pushes the number up or down

• House size and insulation. A tight, well-insulated house burns noticeably less than an older farmhouse.

• Your stove or fireplace. A modern wood stove gets far more heat out of a cord than an open fireplace, which sends much of it up the chimney.

• The wood itself. Dense hardwoods like oak pack more heat into every piece than softwoods. Our loads are mostly oak and ash.

• The winter you get. A couple of hard cold snaps in January can eat into a woodpile fast.

What a cord actually looks like

A full cord is a stack 4 feet high, 4 feet deep and 8 feet long: 128 cubic feet. A face cord (what a lot of folks around here call a rick) is one 4 by 8 foot row, typically about a pickup bed full. With 16-inch pieces, three ricks make about one cord. If someone quotes you a price "per rick," multiply by three to compare it with a cord price.

Order before the first cold snap

Demand jumps the first week it gets cold, and that's when everyone calls at once. Getting your wood in during the fall gives you time to stack it off the ground with the top covered and the sides open so air can move through it.

Need wood this winter? We deliver about a full cord of seasoned mixed hardwood, mostly oak and ash, cut and split to your length, for $450 plus $50 delivery within 50 miles of Rogersville. Order a load here or call or text 423-236-0813.