What is the Firewood Cord Calculator?
The Firewood Cord Calculator is a crucial consumer protection tool. Firewood is notoriously sold in vague, unregulated terms like "a truckload" or "a face cord." This calculator uses the physical dimensions of your wood stack to prove exactly how much legal cordage you received, ensuring you weren't ripped off. It supports full international metric and imperial units for complete flexibility.
How to Calculate a Cord of Firewood (Formulas)
A "cord" is a legal, standardized measurement of volume in the United States and Canada.
- Volume Formula: Length (ft) * Width (ft) * Height (ft) = Total Cubic Feet.
- Cord Formula: Total Cubic Feet / 128 = Number of Cords.
- Total Value Formula: Number of Full Cords * Price per Cord.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the exact dimensions of a full cord of wood?
A legally defined, full cord of firewood must equal exactly 128 cubic feet when tightly stacked. The traditional dimensions for a full cord are 4 feet wide, 4 feet high, and 8 feet long.
What is the difference between a Face Cord and a Full Cord?
A "face cord" is a stack of wood that is 4 feet high and 8 feet long, but the width is only a single log deep (usually 16 inches). Therefore, a face cord is exactly one-third (1/3) the volume of a true, full cord of wood. If you pay full cord prices for a face cord, you've been scammed.
Should I measure the wood loose or stacked?
Firewood must be neatly and tightly stacked with the logs parallel to each other before measuring. A massive pile of loosely tossed logs in the back of a dump truck contains a huge amount of dead air space and will measure significantly smaller once properly stacked against your house.