I'm sure if I didn't live in a million+ city I could get it for less. Split, seasoned pine is around $400 a cord. Maybe I should move to Italy. Actually I should. I want to. I hate being cold. Spruce is only 200. Poplar maybe 150. It's dumb. They basically looked at the BTUs of the wood and priced it to match natural gas because that's how much people are willing to pay to not die in winter, rather than based on labour logistics and space.
Interesting. I guess it’s a supply and demand thing but poplar is far more expensive around here since it’s a hardwood. I was taught not to be burn pine in a fireplace or stove because of the resins and the creosote can stop up the flue or cause fires inside the flue. It also burns hotter and spits flaming stuff out onto the floor which can be another hazard. Poplar burns more slowly and can make some really nice furniture. I use pine in my fire pit outside because there are limbs laying all over the ground and I can just drag them over to the fire, but it takes a lot of fuel as they burn so fast. It makes great kindling until the hardwood catches up.