🪵 Firewood Cord Calculator

What This Calculator Does

This calculator converts a firewood stack's measurements into cords — the unit wood is legally sold by. Measure the stack's length, height, and depth in feet, enter them, and it returns the cords (and cubic feet). It is the tool for both sides of a wood transaction: sizing what you have, and verifying what you bought.

Firewood is one of the last commodities routinely sold by eyeball, and the gap between “a cord” claimed and a cord delivered is a perennial consumer complaint. The fix is not suspicion — it is a tape measure and this division.

The Cord, Defined and Measured

A cord is 128 cubic feet of stacked wood — historically an 8 × 4 × 4 ft pile, though any tidy stack qualifies: cords = length × height × depth ÷ 128. A 12-ft stack, 4 high and 2 deep, is 96 cubic feet — 0.75 cords. “Stacked” does real work in that definition: the measurement includes the normal air between well-ranked logs, but not the cavernous voids of a thrown pile, which is why loose-dumped wood occupies roughly one and a half times its stacked volume and why no pile can be honestly measured before stacking.

Most US states write the cord into law as the required unit for firewood sales (with rules against vague terms in advertising), which makes the arithmetic here more than convenience — it is the check the regulation anticipates buyers doing. The procedure after delivery: stack the wood snugly, measure the three dimensions, divide by 128, and compare against the invoice. Sellers of good faith welcome it; the other kind is precisely whom the measurement exists for.

Face Cords, Ricks, and the Depth Problem

Much retail firewood trades in fractions with slippery names. A face cord (or rick) is a stack 8 ft long and 4 ft high but only one log deep — and since logs are cut anywhere from 12 to 24 inches, a face cord's actual volume floats between a quarter and half of a true cord. Sixteen-inch logs, the common stove length, make a face cord exactly one-third of a cord (8 × 4 × 1.33 = 42.7 cu ft). The term itself fixes nothing; the log length does.

The buyer's translation is straightforward: ask the log length, compute the face cord's true fraction, and convert the price to a per-full-cord basis for comparison — a $120 face cord of 16-inch logs is $360/cord wood, which may or may not beat the $300 full cord across town. Bundled convenience wood at gas stations runs the same math to absurd conclusions (often over $1,000 per cord equivalent), which is fine for one campfire and instructive at scale. Whatever the package, cubic feet ÷ 128 is the universal solvent, and this calculator applies it to any stack you can measure.

Seasoning: The Other Half of Value

A cord's worth depends on what is in the logs besides wood. Freshly cut “green” wood is roughly half water by weight; burning it wastes heat boiling that water off, smolders, and coats chimneys with creosote — the buildup behind chimney fires. Properly seasoned wood, split and stacked off the ground with air flow for 6-12 months (longer for dense oak), drops below about 20% moisture, lights readily, and delivers its actual heat. A $300 cord of green wood is not a $300 cord of seasoned wood arriving early; it is next year's fuel at this year's price, needing a year of your storage.

Field checks are quick: seasoned wood is grayer, lighter, shows radial end-cracks (“checks”), sounds hollow when two pieces knock, and a $20 moisture meter on a fresh split face settles arguments instantly. Hardwoods (oak, maple, hickory) pack more heat per cord than soft pines — which burn fine but faster — so species, seasoning, and honest volume together define what a cord is worth. Two of those are judgment; the volume is arithmetic, and it is the one this page makes effortless.

Quick Tips

• Cords = L × H × D (feet) ÷ 128; the classic cord is 8 × 4 × 4.
• A face cord of 16″ logs is one-third of a cord — always ask the log length.
• Verify deliveries after stacking; loose piles read ~1.5× their stacked volume.
• Seasoned = under ~20% moisture: gray, checked ends, hollow knock, light weight.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a cord of firewood?

A stacked volume of 128 cubic feet — the classic 8 ft long x 4 ft high x 4 ft deep stack. It is the legal unit firewood is sold by in most US states, and any stack's cords are its cubic feet divided by 128.

What is a face cord or rick?

A stack 8 ft long and 4 ft high but only one log deep — usually 16-24 inches. At 16-inch logs that is a third of a full cord. 'Face cord' and 'rick' have no fixed depth, which is why honest sellers quote the log length and fair buyers do this math.

How do I check a firewood delivery?

Stack it and measure: length x height x depth in feet, ÷ 128. A dumped pile cannot be verified — loose thrown wood occupies roughly 1.5x its stacked volume, so a 'cord' pile should look like about 180 loose cubic feet. Measuring after stacking is the only real check.

How much wood does a winter take?

Heavily dependent on climate, house, and stove: occasional-fire homes burn 1-2 cords a season, while wood-primary heating in cold climates runs 4-6+. Track one season and your own number becomes the estimate.

Fair-Measure Math, Free to Use

This calculator runs entirely in your browser, converting stacks to cords the moment you type. It needs no account or download and works on any device. Like every tool here, it is free to use as often as you like.

Related Tools

For related measuring, the length converter switches feet and meters, the kg to lbs converter handles wood weights, and the BTU calculator speaks the heating language.