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Wood vs Gas Pizza Oven Fuel Cost Calculator

Reviewed for 2026, updated September 8, 2026.

Compares what a cooking session and a full year of pizza nights cost in seasoned hardwood versus natural gas or propane, for buyers weighing a wood-fired, gas or hybrid oven.

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Results update as you type.

Your estimate

Wood cost per session...
Gas cost per session...
Wood cost per year...
Gas cost per year...

Estimates only. Assumptions are listed below, and you can change every input.

Fuel is the quiet line in the cost of owning a premium oven. Wood ovens burn for an hour or more before the first pizza, and every session after that consumes a box or an armful of hardwood. Gas ovens light in seconds but meter their consumption in therms for every minute the burner runs. Which one costs more over a season depends on how often you cook, how long you keep the oven hot, and what you pay locally.

This calculator prices each fuel from your own numbers: the pounds of wood you burn per hour and what you pay per pound, or the burner rating on the spec sheet and your price per therm. It multiplies those by session length and sessions per year, side by side, so you can see the difference per evening and per year. It does not account for flavor, convenience or the price of the oven itself.

How to use this tool

  1. Enter how many times a year you fire the oven and how many hours the fire or burner runs each time, heat up included.
  2. For wood, enter the pounds you burn per hour and your price per pound; for gas, enter the burner rating from the spec sheet and your price per therm.
  3. Compare the per session and per year totals, then adjust session length or wood price to see how the gap moves.

What the math assumes

  • Wood cost per session is pounds per hour times hours times your price per pound; the default 8 lb per hour and 0.35 USD per pound are placeholders, not measured averages.
  • Gas cost per session assumes the burner runs at its full rated input for the entire session; a burner turned down after heat up will use less.
  • One therm is defined as 100,000 BTU, which is the only fixed constant in the math.
  • The propane conversion in the help text assumes roughly 91,500 BTU per gallon; if your supplier quotes a different figure, adjust the per therm price yourself.
  • The comparison covers fuel only. It ignores the oven purchase price, gas line installation, wood storage, and kindling or fire starters.

Frequently asked questions

Why is wood usually the more expensive fuel per session?

A wood oven has to heat a heavy dome and floor from cold, and it keeps burning through service, so a session can consume a whole box of kiln-dried splits. Cordwood bought in bulk narrows the gap considerably, and a hybrid oven lets you choose per evening.

How do I find the burner rating for my gas oven?

It is printed on the rating plate near the gas connection and listed in the manual as BTU per hour or BTU/h. If the oven has two burners, add them together.

How do I convert a propane price per gallon to a price per therm?

Divide the per gallon price by 0.915. That reflects roughly 91,500 BTU in a gallon of propane against 100,000 BTU in a therm, so a 3.00 USD gallon works out to about 3.28 USD per therm.

Does a cheaper fuel make one oven type the better buy?

Not on its own. Fuel is a small share of ownership cost next to the oven and its installation, and many buyers choose wood for the flavor and ritual regardless. Use the annual figures here as one line in a fuller ownership budget.

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More free tools from Fornaluxe

  • Built-In Pizza Oven Installed Cost Estimator: Estimates the full installed budget for a built-in wood-fired or gas pizza oven, from the oven itself to base, venting, utilities, labor and a contingency, for homeowners planning an outdoor kitchen.
  • Pizza Oven Floor Size and Party Capacity Planner: Works out how many pizzas a given cooking floor can hold at once, how many it can turn out per hour, and how long it takes to feed your guest list, for buyers choosing between oven sizes.

The Fire at the Center of Every Evening

The artisan guide to wood-fired and built-in pizza ovens.

Read the complete guide