A face cord and a stove cord are two names for the same 42.7 ft³ stack. Enter a quantity to confirm it, and see what it is worth in cords.
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).
"Face cord" is the most common informal term in firewood listings across the Northeast and Great Lakes states. It names only the face of the stack — 4 ft high, 8 ft long — and says nothing about how deep it goes. A stove cord names the same stack: 42.7 ft³ on a 4 ft × 8 ft face at a 16 in depth. The ratio between them is 1, which makes this page less a conversion than a translation.
The move from a face cord quote to a stove cord is really a request about cut length, not about volume. The face stays 4 ft × 8 ft; you are asking the seller to cut to your firebox instead of to their habit. Expect a small premium for the extra cuts, and expect the stack to shrink if the new length is shorter.
A seller quotes 3 face cords; a neighbour quotes 3 stove cords. Both are 128 ft³ — the same 1 of a cord. Whichever is cheaper is cheaper on price alone, not because one unit is bigger.
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 |
At the same advertised unit, yes. A 4 ft × 8 ft face at 14 in holds 37.3 ft³ against 42.7 ft³ at 16 in — the same name, 13 percent less wood. Price the shorter cut per cubic foot, not per face.
Then the same 4 ft × 8 ft face holds 53.3 ft³ rather than 42.7 — 25 percent more wood under a name that implies less. Longer cuts are the one case where the vague terminology works in the buyer's favour.
Yes. Both describe a stack of 42.7 cubic feet, so the conversion is 1:1 and the number you enter is the number you get back. "Stove cord" names the same 4 ft × 8 ft face, cut to whatever length fits a particular stove — usually 16 in, sometimes 14 in for smaller fireboxes.
Regional habit, mostly. "Face cord" is the most common informal term in firewood listings across the Northeast and Great Lakes states. It names only the face of the stack — 4 ft high, 8 ft long — and says nothing about how deep it goes. The wood is identical; the vocabulary travels with the seller.
It does. Neither term is defined in statute, so an inspector has nothing to enforce against either one. Get the cut length in the ad or the invoice. "Face cord" without a number beside it is not a quantity.