Hi Steve
It could be that you're a robot ... in that case
beep boop boop bee boo boop
EDIT - Steve is definitely a robot, but I love heating with wood so I'm not going to delete
But if not, I would suggest that you not invest too much time burning soft woods in your furnace.
Perhaps take into consideration the following BTU/Species charts
Utah State University
NCSU Repost of ChimneySweep data
The idea that soft woods leave better quality residuals than hardwoods is patently bullshit. Excuse me.
Also the idea that a quickly consumed cord wood is what you want for a wood heated home is also bullshit. Excuse me again.
For a small stove or temperate climate this would be acceptable as you wouldn't need to heat all that much.
Our furnace is run into the middle of the burn zone at least once a day and fueled on a steady diet of hardwoods with softwood kindling (carpentry scraps) and paper / cardboard from the mailbox to get things going. We rarely light a match between the months of December and March as our hardwood coals persist through the night and make easy lighting the next morning.
Ultimately the issue with softwoods is that, regardless of their cost, they produce poor to middling quality coals and (in addition to their soft nature and often resinous qualities) can drastically accelerate creosote buildup within a wood heating system.
Hardwoods create more heat per pound / per log load and create better quality longer lasting coals which, in turn, are able to keep flues and chimneys at a more constant temperature and dissuade condensation and creosote buildup.
Anyone who cuts you a wicked deal on softwood firewood is likely just trying to off product on you.
Don't burn a whole winter of soft woods, unless you want to make good friends with your local chimney specialist.