Is it cheaper to buy green firewood in spring and season it myself?
Yes, usually — buying green firewood in spring and seasoning it yourself is one of the cheapest ways to heat with wood, if you have the space, patience, and a dry place to stack it. Green wood costs less than seasoned, and prices are lower in the off-season. The catch is time: most hardwood needs six months to a year to dry before it burns right.
The savings are real — if you plan ahead
Green wood is cheaper than seasoned for a simple reason: the seller hasn't tied up their yard for a year drying it for you. Buy it in spring or early summer, when demand and price are both down, and you're paying the bottom of the market. Split it, stack it right, and by the time cold weather hits it's ready — for a fraction of what seasoned, delivered wood would cost you in October. For anyone burning a wood stove or fireplace regularly through a WNC winter, doing your own seasoning is where the real money's saved.
What it costs you instead of cash
The trade is time, space, and a little labor. Hardwoods like oak want a full year — sometimes more — to drop to a burnable moisture level; faster-drying species in a sunny, windy spot can be ready in about six months. You need somewhere to stack a cord or two off the ground, split, in single rows, top covered but sides open to the wind. If you don't have the room or the lead time, you've missed the window and you're back to buying seasoned wood at winter prices. Buy green in December and it won't be ready when you need it.
Making the seasoning pay off
Green wood only saves you money if it actually dries — burn it wet and you get low heat, heavy creosote in the flue, and a smoky, disappointing fire. Split it soon after you get it (bark-on rounds barely dry), stack it where sun and wind reach it, keep the top covered from rain, and check it with a moisture meter before you count on it — you want it around 20 percent or below. Season it right and it's the best fuel value going. If your chimney's building creosote or your stove's not drawing, that's our department — call (828) 545-0525.
Related questions
- How long does it take to season firewood?
- What does "seasoned" firewood mean?
- How much does a cord of firewood cost in Western North Carolina?
- Should firewood be split before it's stacked to season, or can whole rounds dry out?
- What is kiln-dried firewood and is it worth the extra cost?
- How do I know if my house has natural gas or propane?
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