A cord is 128 ft³, fixed by law. Enter what you were quoted to see how many stove 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 stove cords means slicing that 4 ft × 4 ft × 8 ft block into 3 slabs, each 16 in deep. It is the one term on this list that describes an intended use rather than a fixed shape, which is exactly why it carries no legal weight.
Buying a full cord and asking for it cut to stove length is usually the cheaper route, since you are paying for the enforceable quantity and treating the cut as a service. Work out how many stove cords that yields before you agree a stacking space — a cord at 16 in fills three 4 ft × 8 ft faces.
A cord and a half arrives: 4.5 stove cords at a 16 in cut. If the seller stacked to 20 in instead, the same wood is only 3.6 stove 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 |
Three stacks 4 ft high and 8 ft long, each 16 in deep — 24 linear feet of wall if you stack in one row, or 8 ft of wall three rows deep. Leave a few inches behind the stack for airflow.
Usually, if the wood arrives in longer rounds and you have a saw. The saving is the seller's cutting time, typically $25 to $75 per cord. Buying pre-cut to stove length is worth it if you are storing indoors or lack the space to work.
One cord equals 3 stove cords at the standard 16 in cut. A cord is a fixed 128 cubic feet; a stove 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. It is the one term on this list that describes an intended use rather than a fixed shape, which is exactly why it carries no legal weight.
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.