A stove cord and a face 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).
"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. A face 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.
Both terms describe a 4 ft × 8 ft face, but they imply different things about the depth. "Stove cord" at least signals that the cut was chosen to fit a firebox, which narrows it to roughly 14 to 16 in. "Face cord" carries no such hint and can arrive at anything from 12 to 24 in. The conversion is 1:1; the certainty is not.
A seller quotes 3 stove cords; a neighbour quotes 3 face 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 |
Stove cord, marginally — it implies a cut length chosen for a firebox rather than for a truck bed. Neither term is defined in law, so both still need the cut length stated in inches before the quantity means anything.
Often slightly, because a shorter cut means more cuts per log. You are paying for saw time, not for wood — so if the cut is also shorter, you are paying more for less volume. Compare on price per cubic foot.
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. "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.
Regional habit, mostly. "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. 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. Measure your firebox first, then ask the seller for that cut length in writing.