Firewood units, moisture, delivery disputes, and how the states that regulate cord sales handle it.
Exactly 128 cubic feet of stacked wood — a pile 4 feet high, 8 feet long and 4 feet deep, measured including the air gaps between the splits. That figure is written into weights-and-measures law in most US states, which is why it is the only unit worth pricing against.
Usually, but not by rule. A face cord keeps the 4 by 8 foot face and takes its depth from the log length. At the common 16 inch cut it is 42.7 cubic feet, or one third of a cord. At 12 inches it is a quarter, and at 24 inches it is a half. Always ask the seller for the cut length before comparing prices.
None, in practice — rick is a regional word for the same stack, common through the Midwest and South. Neither term has a legal definition, and neither implies a depth, so a rick from one seller can hold half again as much wood as a rick from the next.
The same 128 cubic feet as a standard cord — "bush cord" is simply the name used in parts of Canada and the northern US. It converts 1:1 with a cord.
Because a cord of black locust holds roughly twice the usable heat of a cord of white pine. Dollars per cord tells you what you paid for volume; dollars per million BTU tells you what you paid for heat, which is the only thing your stove converts into a warm room.
It changes the heat, not the volume. Green wood can run 50 percent moisture, and much of its energy goes into boiling that water off rather than heating the room. The species figures here assume wood seasoned to about 20 percent, which is what you should be buying.
Restack it into one tight pile against a wall or fence, then measure 4 ft high by 8 ft long — whatever the depth reads is the fraction of a cord you received. Loose or round-stacked wood measures larger than it actually is until it is restacked.
Use them to spot a problem, then take it to your state weights-and-measures or agriculture office — they enforce firewood sales and can inspect a delivery. This site is a reference, not a legal document, and the BTU figures are averages that vary with moisture content and how tightly a load is stacked.
Most states require firewood to be sold by the cord or a fraction of a cord and require the seller to state the quantity in writing at time of sale. Terms like rick, face cord, truckload, and pile are legal only when tied to a stated cubic-foot equivalent — check your state’s weights-and-measures office for the exact rule.
Run the exact figures through the converter — it takes any quantity and unit and shows the cord-equivalent instantly.