Firewood is sold by the cord, the bundle, and the pallet, and the difference between a clean-burning load and a smoky mess is moisture plus honest measurement. Peak season runs October through November, when prices climb and local supply thins. Ordering in late spring costs less. Here is where to buy firewood online and in store, and what to check before paying.
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Who Actually Needs Firewood
Firewood is split, dried lumber burned as fuel, whether the end use is home heating, an outdoor fire pit, or cooking. Four buyer types cover almost everyone.
- Home heaters. A fireplace or wood-burning stove needs cords of dense hardwood to clear a winter.
- Backyard hosts. Fire pits and chimineas, where a clean burn beats raw heat output.
- Campers and RV travelers. Certified packs approved for the region being visited.
- Cooks. Flavored chunks for a smoker, a barbecue, or a pizza oven, where the wood changes how food tastes.
The EPA’s Burn Wise program, the federal effort promoting cleaner residential wood burning, puts the target under 20% moisture for the cleanest burn and the least creosote in a chimney. That number matters more than the price tag beside it. Wood fuel is renewable, and a sustainably harvested cord from a nearby supplier keeps transport short.
Buying Criteria: What Separates Good Firewood From Bad
Good wood reads under 20% on a moisture meter, comes from a dense hardwood, and arrives in a stated cubic-foot count you can verify.
Moisture content. Dry splits crack across the end grain, feel light for their size, and knock together with a hollow ring rather than a dull thud. Cornell Cooperative Extension suggests weighing a boxful against a known-dry sample if you have no meter.
Species and heat output. Oak, hickory, sugar maple, ash, beech, and locust burn longest and hottest, which is why they dominate home heating. Softwood like pine and fir lights fast and makes good kindling, but it burns out quickly and leaves more creosote. Apple and cherry are the standard for smoking meat.
Seasoned or kiln-dried. Seasoning is wood drying in open air: six to twelve months for most types, 18 to 24 for the densest, longer in humid climates. Kiln-dried stock spends roughly 48 hours near 250 degrees Fahrenheit, which kills insects and mold and pulls moisture below 15%. It costs more and travels better.
Volume and piece size. A full cord is a stacked pile 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet, or 128 cubic feet. A face cord, also called a rack or a rick, is one row off that stack. Grocery-store bundles hold 0.75 to 1.0 cubic feet. Pieces 14 to 18 inches in length fit most fireplace inserts.
Three checks before you hand over cash:
- Ask what dominates the pile by name. “Mixed woods” with nothing named usually means softwood filler.
- Get the cubic feet, or the cord fraction, written on the receipt.
- Measure the stack after delivery, not the loose heap in a truck bed. Thrown wood takes far more room than the same amount stacked.
What People Are Saying About Firewood
Reviews of the shipped boxes divide along two lines: buyers love how the wood lights, and they argue about what they get for the money. On Home Depot, the Cutting Edge box averages 4.8 stars across 25 reviews, with easy ignition and low smoke as the repeat praise. Family Handyman, which tested the same company’s subscription boxes, found that same lighting advantage over air-dried splits.
The complaints are consistent too. Home Depot and Amazon buyers say box volume has shrunk while pricing has not, and that popular items such as the hickory rack sit out of stock for long stretches. The bigger grievance is not brand-specific. Cornell Cooperative Extension and UGA Extension both report that most dealers move green stock, and that buyers unfamiliar with cord measurement routinely overpay. Which is why those three checks earn their two minutes.
Buying Firewood Online: Retailer Comparison
Online is where you go for a named wood type, a published moisture number, and delivery without owning a truck. Cost per cubic foot runs higher than local bulk.
| Seller | What ships | Best for | Practical note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | Bundles, totes, chunks, pallets | Speed | Mixes compressed logs with real wood |
| Cutting Edge | Heat-treated boxes, 16-inch | Smokers, pizza ovens | Premium price, consistent product |
| Woodchuck Firewood | Barbecue wood by type | Cooking | Every box labeled |
| OneLogFire | Single-type boxes | Fireplace use | Narrower range |
| Regional shippers | Bulk and cord orders | Large orders | Cheaper freight, ZIP-dependent |
Amazon
Shop the Amazon selection for bundles, totes, cooking chunks, fire starters, and full pallets. Prime members usually see two-day delivery on smaller packs. Sort by cubic feet per pack rather than by price, because listings mix manufactured fuel in with real splits.
Specialty and Bulk Shippers
Cutting Edge ships kiln-dried oak, hickory, cherry, and pecan nationwide in 16-inch lengths, which suits smokers and pizza-oven owners who want the same wood every time. Order a box direct. Woodchuck Firewood focuses on barbecue wood, and OneLogFire sells single-type boxes for fireplace use. Tinderpro and a bulk-order specialist handle the big stuff. Searching by ZIP code turns up regional suppliers that beat national brands, since you are not paying freight on heavy wood.
Buying Firewood Locally: Store by Store
Local buying wins on cost per cubic foot, and it is the only realistic route to a full cord of hardwood firewood in a driveway.
Home Depot
Home Depot carries seasoned bundles, heat-treated packs, cooking chunks, and sometimes half-pallet quantities. Check the outdoor garden area year-round, or the front-entrance display once the weather turns.
Lowe’s and Walmart
Lowe’s stocks bundled splits and compressed logs at similar pricing, so confirm stock on their site first; supply swings hard between shoulder season and peak. Walmart runs the budget end, on the shelf and through the Walmart selection online, where some listings are pickup-only.
Ace Hardware, Grocery, and Gas Stations
Ace Hardware, Kroger, Publix, Safeway, and most large gas station chains sell single-night bundles near the entrance from fall through winter. Convenient, and the priciest way to buy by the cubic foot. Check any bundle left outside for dryness, and grab a fire starter or lighter fluid while you are there.
Tree Services and Farms
Tree removal outfits and family farms sell seasoned hardwood by the cord or half cord well under big-box pricing, advertised on community boards, Facebook Marketplace, and Craigslist. Many farms that sell real Christmas trees move split cords the rest of the year. Call ahead after the first cold snap, because stock turns over in days. Cutting your own? Keep ethanol-free gas on hand and check your splitting tools early.
Red Flags When Shopping for Firewood
Green stock sold as seasoned. Fresh-cut lumber can sit above 40% moisture. It hisses, wastes heat boiling off water, and packs creosote into the flue. Pale, tight end grain and unusual weight are the tells.
A price that beats the local market by half. A cord at $80 where the going rate is $250 is short-measured, partly rotted, or mostly softwood. Ask what dominates the load, and see a sample first.
Hauling wood far from home. Moving unprocessed logs more than 50 miles spreads emerald ash borer and spotted lanternfly, and most states restrict movement across county lines. Buy local, or buy certified kiln-dried firewood.
Treated or painted scrap. Never burn pressure-treated decking, MB-stamped pallets, railroad ties, or painted lumber. Combustion releases arsenic, methyl bromide, or lead.
Volume judged by eyeball. A loose heap in a truck bed looks bigger than it stacks. Store what arrives on a pallet or rack, 20 to 30 feet from the house, tarped on top with the sides open.
Best Firewood Right Now
These five were picked on labeling, published moisture, and cost per cubic foot rather than brand recognition.
Best overall: Cutting Edge Ultra Kiln-Dried Hardwood Box. White oak and hickory dried near 10% moisture, consistent 16-inch length. Around $80 to $160 depending on box size. Order direct from the company.
Best budget: Duraflame Firelogs 6-Pack. Compressed sawdust and wax that lights with one match and burns up to three hours per log. Not real wood, but easy for casual fire pit nights. Typically $15 to $25. Check the Amazon listing.
Best for camping: Pine Mountain Traditional Firelogs. USDA-certified blocks accepted at national park campgrounds, in sealed packaging that packs easily in an RV. Roughly $5 to $9 each, about $30 per case of six. Browse Pine Mountain options.
Best real-wood bundle: Timber Tote Kiln-Dried Tote. A reusable mesh tote holding about 0.75 cubic feet of mixed hardwood, carry handle included. The middle ground between a gas-station bundle and a full cord. Usually $25 to $40. See Timber Tote on Amazon.
Best for smokers: Western Premium BBQ Cooking Chunks. Post oak, hickory, mesquite, and apple chunks sized for offset smokers and kamado grills, where they sit on top of charcoal. Low ash, clear labeling. Typically $10 to $18 per 570-cubic-inch bag. View cooking chunks on Amazon.
Start with the use case, not the price tag. A stove wants dense wood by the cord, a fire pit wants bundles, a smoker wants labeled cooking chunks. Then confirm the moisture spec, get the cubic feet in writing, and buy firewood in late spring if you can wait, because the same cord costs less before the first cold night.
Firewood Questions, Answered
How much should a load of firewood cost?
A full cord runs $200 to $550 depending on type, region, and season. A “load” is not a measurement anyone can hold a seller to. Under NIST Handbook 130, the model law most state weights-and-measures programs adopt, firewood must be advertised and sold by the cord or a fraction of one, never by the truckload.
How much is a 1/2 cord of firewood?
A half cord is 64 cubic feet, a stack roughly 4 feet by 4 feet by 4 feet, and it commonly costs $120 to $300. Expect a higher price per cubic foot than a full-cord buyer pays, because the firewood delivery fee does not shrink with the order size.
Can I buy firewood at Costco or Sam’s Club?
Both warehouse clubs carry compressed logs and occasionally bundled hardwood in cold months, usually Duraflame and Pine Mountain. Selection is seasonal and varies by club, and neither is a dependable source for a full cord.
Is it legal to haul firewood across state lines?
It depends on the states involved, and several enforce quarantines against emerald ash borer and spotted lanternfly. The Don’t Move Firewood campaign, run by The Nature Conservancy, advises buying within 50 miles of where you will burn it. USDA APHIS-certified heat-treated bundles are the exception, and they are what most campgrounds accept.
In July 2026, our editorial team re-verified pricing, retailer availability, and the product picks in this guide. Retailer stock and shipping options were checked against live listings.