CO ยท cold climate

Firewood in Denver

Winters in Denver are long enough that firewood is a primary heat source for many households rather than an occasional fire. Order early: local yards sell out of seasoned hardwood well before January.

200day heating season, typical
6,020heating degree days
6 to 12months to season hardwood

Suppliers in Denver

Mile High Firewood

Cord prices quoted by phone, as is standard in the firewood trade.

Delivery
$2 to $3 per mile
Verified
2026-08-01

What to ask a Denver supplier

  1. Is that a full cord, 128 cubic feet? If the answer is a face cord or a rick, ask the cut length before comparing to anything.
  2. What species? This changes the heat you get per cord by up to a factor of two.
  3. When was it split? Seasoned means split and stacked for months, not felled months ago.
  4. What does delivery cost to my address, and is stacking included?
  5. Where was it cut? Local sourcing is not just good practice here, it can be a legal requirement.

Seasoning in this climate

Conditions in Denver favour air drying, but only for a stack built to dry. Wood sitting on soil under a full tarp stays wet regardless of the climate.Split it, stack it single row off the ground, leave the sides open to the wind and cover the top only. Check it with a moisture meter on a freshly split face: under 20 percent is ready.

Check the quote before you accept it

Once you have two or three numbers, put them through thefirewood cost calculator. It converts face cord and half cord quotes to a price per full cord and adjusts for species, which is the only way to tell whether the cheap quote is genuinely cheap or just smaller.

Common questions

How much is a cord of firewood in Denver?

Firewood in Denver, CO is quoted per delivery rather than from a published price list, so any specific figure you see online is a guess. Call three yards within your delivery radius, ask each for a full cord price delivered, and ask what species and how long it has been split. Run the quotes through our cord calculator to compare them on the same basis.

Can I move firewood into Denver from elsewhere?

Denver issues mandatory no-burn advisories on high pollution days. At Denver's altitude, wood also burns with less available oxygen, so a hot dry load matters more than at sea level.

How long does firewood take to season in Denver?

Six months to a year for most species, split and stacked off the ground with airflow on all sides and cover on the top only. Dense oak takes closer to two years. Drier air in this region helps, but only if the stack is single row and off the ground.

How many cords will I burn in Denver?

With a heating season of roughly 200 days, a household using wood as its main heat source in this climate typically burns four to six cords a winter. Occasional evening fires use far less.