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Pellet Stove & Firewood Heating Cost Calculator

How much a season of pellet or wood heat costs next to propane, oil, gas, a heat pump or baseboard heat — and how many tons, bags or cords you'll burn. Enter your prices to see which is cheapest and the pellet price where each fuel breaks even.

Pellet & Firewood Heating Cost

The floor area the stove actually keeps warm. A stove in an open living area often heats less than the whole house.
100% if the stove is your main heat. Lower if a furnace or heat pump carries part of the load.
A ton is 50 bags of 40 lb. At $7 a bag that's $350.
A full cord is 4 × 4 × 8 ft (128 cubic feet). A "face cord" or "rick" is often a third of that.

One Heating Season

Heat content from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory Fuel Value Calculator: 16.4 million BTU per ton of premium pellets and 20 million BTU per cord of seasoned firewood. Stove efficiencies are EPA's default values for certified heaters. Furnaces: gas and propane 80%, oil 85%; heat pump COP 2.5 (2.2 cold, 2.0 very cold). Annual heat need uses the same climate figures as our heating cost calculator.

The Break-Even Pellet Price

Pellets are a good deal only against some fuels. With a 78%-efficient pellet stove, a ton of pellets delivers about 12.8 million BTU into the house. That makes the price at which pellets tie each alternative easy to work out:

  • vs propane at $2.50/gal (80% furnace): pellets win below about $437 a ton; at $3.30 propane, below $577.
  • vs heating oil at $3.80/gal (85%): below about $413 a ton.
  • vs electric baseboard at 18¢: below about $675 a ton — almost always.
  • vs natural gas at $1.70/therm (80%) or a heat pump at 18¢: below about $270 a ton, which most buyers don't see.

That's why pellet and wood stoves are popular where homes run on propane, oil or electric heat, and rare where there's a gas line. The calculator works out these break-even prices for your own fuel prices.

Firewood: Cheapest When the Price Is Right and the Wood Is Dry

A cord of seasoned firewood holds about 20 million BTU, a little more than a ton of pellets, but most wood stoves burn it less efficiently. At $300 a cord in an EPA-certified non-catalytic stove, firewood costs about $24 per million BTU of heat, a bit cheaper than pellets at $350 a ton ($27) and far below propane ($34) or oil ($32).

Two things move that number more than the price. Wet wood: firewood that hasn't dried to about 20% moisture wastes a big share of its heat boiling off water. And the stove: EPA uses a default of 72% for certified catalytic stoves and 63% for non-catalytic ones, while old uncertified stoves can run far lower. Moving from an old stove to a certified one can cut your wood use by a fifth to a third for the same warmth.

Zone Heating Changes the Math

Most stoves heat the room they're in best and the far bedrooms least. If your stove carries the living area while a furnace or heat pump covers the rest, enter the area it really heats, or a share below 100%. The savings then come from the fuel the furnace no longer burns, which is what the "saves vs" figures show.

To see how many tons or cords to stock for winter, by house size and climate, see how many tons of pellets (or cords of wood) you need.

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Quick Facts

  • Ton of pellets: 16.4 million BTU
  • Cord of seasoned wood: ~20 million BTU
  • Pellets beat $2.50 propane below: ~$437/ton
  • Full cord: 128 cubic feet

Glossary

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a pellet stove cheaper than propane?

Usually, yes. With a 78% efficient pellet stove and an 80% propane furnace, pellets are cheaper whenever they cost less than about 175 times the propane price per gallon — about $437 a ton at $2.50 propane. At $350 a ton, pellets cost about 20% less than $2.50 propane for the same heat.

Is heating with pellets cheaper than natural gas?

Rarely. Pellets would need to cost under about $270 a ton to match natural gas at $1.70 a therm in an 80% furnace, and a high-efficiency gas furnace raises the bar further. Where there's a gas line, pellets save money mainly as zone heat for a room the furnace heats poorly.

Which is cheaper, pellets or firewood?

Firewood, if you can buy seasoned hardwood at a fair price. At $300 a cord in an EPA-certified non-catalytic stove, wood costs about $24 per million BTU of heat versus about $27 for pellets at $350 a ton. Pellets are cleaner, need less handling and burn more steadily, which is what people pay the premium for.

How much does it cost to heat with a pellet stove per month?

For a 2,000 sq ft home in a mixed climate heated entirely by pellets, a season takes about 2.8 tons, roughly $985 at $350 a ton. About a fifth of that falls in January, so expect around $200 for the coldest month and much less in fall and spring.