Cord Calc / Firewood
Utah State and Kentucky extension tables · checked 2026-10-20
Firewood BTU chart by species
Heat per cord for 52 species, from gambel oak at 30.7 million Btu down to buckeye (horsechestnut) at 13.8. The median species holds 20.75 million Btu; hardwoods average 22.1 and softwoods 18.9. Each species page shows the weight, splitting, smoke and sparks, and the cords a winter takes.
- 1Highest Gambel oak, 30.7
- 2Median 20.75 million Btu
- 3Lowest Buckeye (horsechestnut), 13.8
- 4Species 52
| Species | Million Btu per cord | Other table | Dry lb/cord | Splitting | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gambel oak | 30.7 | – | – | – | – |
| Osage-orange | 30.5 | 32.9 (USU) | 4,728 | Easy | Excellent |
| Hickory | 29.3 | – | 3,560 | Good | – |
| Black locust | 28.3 | 27.9 (USU) | 4,016 | Difficult | Excellent |
| White oak | 27.9 | 29.1 (USU) | 4,200 | Medium | Excellent |
| Pinyon | 27.1 | – | 3,000 | Easy | – |
| Apple | 27 | – | 3,888 | Medium | Excellent |
| Beech | 26.3 | 27.5 (USU) | 3,760 | Difficult | – |
| Bur oak | 26.3 | 26.2 (USU) | 3,768 | Easy | Excellent |
| Pin oak | 25.9 | – | 3,144 | Fair | – |
| Red oak | 25.9 | 24.6 (USU) | 3,528 | Medium | Excellent |
| Sugar maple | 25.9 | – | 3,144 | Good | – |
| Mulberry | 25.8 | – | 3,712 | Easy | Excellent |
| Honey locust | 24.6 | 26.7 (USU) | 3,832 | Easy | Excellent |
| White ash | 24.6 | 24.2 (USU) | 3,472 | Medium | Excellent |
| Blue ash | 23.8 | – | 2,896 | Excellent | – |
| Black walnut | 22.6 | 22.2 (USU) | 3,192 | Easy | Excellent |
| Rocky Mountain juniper | 21.8 | – | 3,150 | Medium | Fair |
| Tamarack (larch) | 21.8 | – | 3,330 | Easy-med | Fair |
| Hackberry | 21.7 | 21.2 (USU) | 3,048 | Easy | Good |
| Slippery elm | 21.7 | – | 2,640 | Poor | – |
| Kentucky coffeetree | 21.6 | – | 3,112 | Medium | Good |
| Sweetgum | 21.3 | – | 2,592 | Fair | – |
| Lodgepole pine | 21.1 | – | 2,610 | Easy | Fair |
| Siberian elm | 20.9 | – | 3,020 | Difficult | Fair |
| Birch | 20.8 | – | 2,992 | Medium | Fair |
| Douglas-fir | 20.7 | – | 2,970 | Easy | Good |
| Virginia pine | 20.7 | – | 2,400 | Good | – |
| American elm | 20.5 | 20 (USU) | 2,872 | Difficult | Fair |
| Black cherry | 20.5 | 20.4 (USU) | 2,928 | Easy | Good |
| Eastern redcedar | 20.2 | 13 (USU) | 2,060 | Easy | Fair |
| Sycamore | 20.2 | 19.5 (USU) | 2,808 | Difficult | Good |
| Green ash | 20 | – | 2,880 | Easy | Excellent |
| Silver maple | 19.3 | 19 (USU) | 2,752 | Medium | Fair |
| Sassafras | 18.9 | – | 2,296 | Good | – |
| Boxelder | 18.3 | – | 2,632 | Difficult | Fair |
| Quaking aspen | 18.2 | – | 2,160 | Easy | – |
| Western redcedar | 18.2 | – | 2,632 | Medium | Fair |
| Chestnut | 18 | – | – | – | Good |
| Alder | 17.5 | – | 2,540 | Easy | – |
| Hemlock | 17.3 | 19.3 (USU) | 2,700 | Easy | – |
| Yellow-poplar | 17.3 | – | 2,096 | Good | – |
| Catalpa | 16.4 | – | 2,360 | Difficult | Fair |
| Ponderosa pine | 16.2 | – | 2,336 | Easy | Fair |
| Willow | 16 | 17.6 (USU) | 2,540 | Easy | Poor |
| Cottonwood | 15.8 | – | 2,272 | Easy | Fair |
| Spruce | 15.5 | – | 2,240 | Easy | Fair |
| Basswood | 15.2 | 13.8 (USU) | 1,984 | Easy | Fair |
| Engelmann spruce | 15 | – | 2,070 | Easy | – |
| White pine | 15 | 15.9 (USU) | 2,250 | Easy | – |
| White fir | 14.6 | – | 2,104 | Easy | Fair |
| Buckeye (horsechestnut) | 13.8 | – | 1,984 | Medium | Fair |
How to read the chart
Heat per cord depends mostly on density: a cord is a fixed 128 cubic feet of stacked wood and air, so heavier wood packs more fuel into the same stack. Two university tables are used. The University of Kentucky table states its heat values at 20% moisture content and covers 28 mostly eastern hardwoods; Utah State University Extension's table covers 43 species, many of them western, for air-dried wood. Where both list a species, the calculator uses Kentucky's figure because it states the moisture basis, and the species page shows both. The gaps can be large: eastern redcedar is 13 in one table and 20.2 in the other.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration uses 20 million Btu for a cord when the species is unknown. All the figures assume seasoned wood below 20% moisture; see how to season firewood and how to use a moisture meter. To turn a species into cords for your house, use the calculator or your state's page.
Sources: Utah State University Extension Forestry, Wood Heating (Kuhns and Schmidt), Table 1 Firewood Facts; University of Kentucky Forestry, Comparison of Properties Affecting Firewood. Checked 2026-10-20. Left out: Dogwood (USU lists its heat per cord as the word "High", not a number.); Poplar (USU lists its heat per cord as the word "Low", not a number.); Maple, Other (USU) (A mixed group of maples other than silver maple; not one species, so it has no page. Its figure (25.5 million Btu) is left out of the comparisons.)