If your supply of firewood is running low as we near the midpoint of winter, make sure it’s the logs that get burned after your next order. All kinds of firewood scams occur every winter, perpetrated by vendors who take advantage of homeowners whose only connection to a “cord” might be the one that supplies power to their appliances and electronic gear.

“Anyone with a pickup truck and a chain saw can call himself a firewood dealer,” warns John E. Meyer Jr., director of the Bureau of Weights and Measures for Oneida County, New York. For advice on buying firewood, read our tip of the day.