A cord is 128 ft³, fixed by law. Enter what you were quoted to see how many face cords that comes to at the standard cut.
Two sellers, two units, two species. Price per cord is not enough — oak carries nearly twice the heat of white pine. This compares dollars per MMBtu (one million British Thermal Units — a fixed unit of heat, not a brand or a volume).
A cord is a fixed 128 ft³. Dividing it into face cords means slicing that 4 ft × 4 ft × 8 ft block into 3 slabs, each 16 in deep. Because the depth is whatever the saw decided, a face cord is the one unit here whose volume you cannot know from the name alone.
This is the split most buyers meet first: a supplier prices by the cord but delivers, and advertises, in face cords. The "one third" figure everybody quotes holds only at a 16 in cut, and a great many sellers cut to 18 or 20 in because it fills a truck bed more neatly. Confirm the length before you accept the thirds.
A cord and a half arrives: 4.5 face cords at a 16 in cut. If the seller stacked to 20 in instead, the same wood is only 3.6 face cords — fewer units, identical firewood.
Common log lengths against a 4 ft × 8 ft face. Your pair is highlighted.
| Sold as | Stack | Cubic feet | Cords | Defined by law |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cord | 4 × 8 × 48″ | 128 | 1.000 | Yes |
| Bush cord | 4 × 8 × 48″ | 128 | 1.000 | Yes |
| Stove cord, 16″ cut | 4 × 8 × 16″ | 42.7 | 0.333 | No |
| Face cord, 16″ cut | 4 × 8 × 16″ | 42.7 | 0.333 | No |
| Rick, 16″ cut | 4 × 8 × 16″ | 42.7 | 0.333 | No |
| Face cord, 12″ cut | 4 × 8 × 12″ | 32 | 0.250 | No |
| Cubic feet (1) | Any | 1 | 0.00781 | n/a |
A cord, if the price is comparable. The cord is the enforceable quantity; three face cords is three chances for the cut length to be shorter than you assumed. Buy in face cords only when the ad states the cut length in inches.
Three faces 4 ft high and 8 ft long — 24 linear feet of wall in a single row, or 8 ft of wall stacked three deep at 16 in each. Leave a hand-width behind the stack so air can move through it.
One cord equals 3 face cords at the standard 16 in cut. A cord is a fixed 128 cubic feet; a face cord is 42.7 ft³ of that.
Only at a 16 in cut. At 12 in it is a quarter, at 24 in a half. Because the depth is whatever the saw decided, a face cord is the one unit here whose volume you cannot know from the name alone.
The cord. The cord is the only firewood measure most states will enforce. NIST Handbook 130, which nearly every state weights-and-measures office adopts, fixes it at 128 cubic feet of ranked and well-stowed wood. Ask for the quantity in cords on the receipt. That is the wording a state inspector can act on.