Your heating bill is up this year mostly because the delivery side of the bill keeps rising, not because fuel got scarce: residential electricity is up 11.1% in New York and 10.4% in Pennsylvania over the last 12 months as of September 2026, and the Northeast pays the highest power rates in the country. A wood fire will not replace your furnace, and we are not going to pretend it will. What it does is let you heat the one room you sit in, set the thermostat back for the rest of the house, and lock in a price in September that no rate case can touch.
🔥 Fix this winter's firewood price today: kiln-dried, palletized, delivered
Kiln-dried hardwood, under 15% moisture, USDA certified heat-treated. Free local pallet delivery across New Jersey, Connecticut, NYC, Long Island, Westchester, eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and the Baltimore area. Enter your ZIP on the product page to confirm your address.
Outside the pallet zone? Firewood Boxes ($39.60) and Mega Bags ($49.50) ship free to 11 Northeast states.
What actually went up on your bill
Between Maryland and New Hampshire you are in the most expensive electricity region in the country. As of September 2026 the Northeast averages 25.49 cents per kilowatt-hour, 39% above the national average of 18.34 cents. The US average rate rose 5.0% year over year. Every state in the table rose faster.
| State | Residential electricity, 12-month change (as of September 2026) |
|---|---|
| New Hampshire | +14.9% |
| Maryland | +13.2% |
| New York | +11.1% |
| Pennsylvania | +10.4% |
| Delaware | +6.2% |
| US average | +5.0% |
New York is the sharpest case: 29.93 cents per kWh as of September 2026, 62% above the US average and up 72.5% since 2019. Gas customers are not spared either. Residential natural gas in New York is $22.74 per thousand cubic feet as of September 2026, up 62.5% since 2019.
Wholesale natural gas is not spiking right now. The cost that keeps rising is the delivery side of the bill: poles, wires, pipes and rate cases. Utilities across the Northeast have filed new rate increase requests for 2026-27. That is why your bill can go up in a year when the fuel under it did not.
If you heat with oil, do the 400-gallon math
An average heating-oil household burns about 400 gallons a winter. At the 2026 average of $3.65 a gallon that is roughly $1,460 for heat alone, before a cold December. And last winter was a cold one: the EIA revised its Winter Fuels Outlook upward twice because December ran about 8% colder than the 10-year average. The 2026-27 outlook comes out in October.
What a wood fire actually saves (and what it does not)
Nobody heats a whole house with a fireplace, and we will not tell you that a cord of wood costs less than running your furnace. Firewood is a comfort spend that happens to lower the furnace bill, not a replacement for the furnace.
The saving comes from where you put the heat. You heat the room you actually live in, and you turn the thermostat down for the rest of the house. The US Department of Energy says turning the thermostat back 7 to 10 degrees F for 8 hours a day saves up to 10% a year on heating and cooling. On its own that setback is a sweater-and-blanket compromise. With a fire in the living room it is just a comfortable evening. The fire makes the setback livable, and the setback trims the bill. If you run a stove rather than an open fireplace, zone heating around it is worth a separate read.
Three things the utility cannot sell you
A fixed price
A cord of firewood bought in September is a fixed price. There is no rate case, no fuel surcharge and no surprise on the January bill. You know on order day what the winter's fires cost.
Heat when the grid is down
Wood heat works when the grid does not. Every ice storm that knocks out power in NJ, PA or CT is a night when a stove or fireplace is the only heat in the house. A furnace with an electric blower goes quiet with the lights. A rack of dry wood does not. Our storm prep page covers what to keep on hand.
Wood that is actually dry
Our mixed hardwood (oak, hickory, ash, maple, birch) leaves the kiln in Levittown, PA at under 15% moisture, heat treated to 160 F at the core for 75 minutes. Green or "seasoned" wood at 25 to 40% moisture wastes a large share of its heat boiling off water before it can warm the room, so you burn more of it for the same warmth. Kiln-dried wood lights in minutes, burns hotter and cleaner, and leaves less creosote in the chimney. It is also USDA-compliant for transport, with a phytosanitary certificate on every order, which is why it can ship across state lines and green wood cannot. The full comparison is in our kiln-dried vs seasoned guide.
Which size to order
- Palletized 1/4 cord, 32 cu ft, $499 (was $555). Roughly 200 to 250 pieces, a whole winter of weekend fireplace fires in one drop.
- Palletized 1/2 cord, 64 cu ft, $799 (was $940). For a stove or insert that runs most evenings and carries real heating load.
- Mega Bag, 1.75 cu ft, about 60 lb, $49.50 with free UPS Ground. Roughly 3 to 4 fireplace evenings, about $12 to $16 per evening. The right first order before committing to a pallet.
- Premium Box, 1.33 cu ft, $39.60 with free UPS Ground. One-person carry, for an apartment or condo with a working fireplace.
Boxes and Mega Bags ship free by UPS Ground to 11 Northeast states, same day if ordered by noon ET. Pallets come by free scheduled lift-gate delivery, 2 to 3 business days off peak, across all of New Jersey, the New York metro, Connecticut and eastern Pennsylvania (ZIP checker on the pallet pages). The firewood calculator settles quarter versus half.
Ready to order? Kiln-dried, USDA certified, delivered.
1/4 Cord, $4991/2 Cord, $799Mega Bag, $49.50Free local pallet delivery in the zone, free UPS Ground on Boxes and Mega Bags to 11 Northeast states. All sizes and prices
FAQ
Why is my electric bill so high this year?
Because the delivery charges keep rising even when the fuel behind them does not. Residential rates are up double digits in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Hampshire over the last 12 months as of September 2026, against 5.0% nationally.
Does a fireplace actually save money on heating?
Not as a furnace replacement. It saves when it lets you set the thermostat back for the rest of the house: the Department of Energy puts a 7 to 10 degree setback for 8 hours a day at up to 10% a year. Treat the wood as a comfort spend that happens to lower the furnace bill.
How much firewood do I need for the winter?
A quarter cord is 32 cubic feet, roughly 200 to 250 pieces, which covers a winter of weekend fireplace fires for most households. A half cord covers a stove that runs most evenings. Our how much firewood guide goes through it by burn habit.
Do you deliver firewood to my area?
Free UPS Ground covers NJ, NY, PA, CT, MA, RI, NH, VT, DE, MD and DC. Free pallet delivery covers all of New Jersey and Connecticut, the NYC boroughs, Long Island (Nassau and western Suffolk), Westchester, eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and the Baltimore area. See the Morris County, Brooklyn and Westchester pages for local detail.
Sources and references
- ElectricChoice.com, Electricity Rates by State, September 2026: Northeast and state-level residential rates and 12-month changes.
- Empire Center, Energy Data Bulletin, August 2026: New York electricity and natural gas prices since 2019 (May 2026 EIA data).
- US EIA, Short-Term Energy Outlook, September 9 2026: wholesale natural gas expectations for 2026.
- US Department of Energy, Energy Saver, thermostat setback guidance: the up to 10% a year figure.
- PropaneCostPerGallon.com, 2026 heating oil and propane averages: the 400-gallon and $3.65 per gallon figures.
About the Firewood Flex Team
Written by the Firewood Flex operations team. We kiln-dry to USDA APHIS standard, log moisture content per batch, and ship from our Levittown, PA distribution facility with USDA APHIS phytosanitary-certified hardwood to 11 Northeast states. Founded 2025. USPTO Serial 99591611.
Kiln-dried firewood delivery from our Levittown, PA kiln: New Jersey · New York · Connecticut · Pennsylvania · Delaware · Maryland · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Washington DC
Pallet delivery areas: Short Hills · Denville · Morristown · Bergen County · Hunterdon County · Princeton · Manhattan · Brooklyn · NYC · Scarsdale · Westchester County · Long Island · Greenwich · Stamford · Hartford · Philadelphia
