How this instrument works
A cord is a precisely defined volume of stacked firewood: 128 cubic feet, the amount contained in a well-stacked pile measuring 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 4 feet high. It's one of the few firewood units with an exact legal definition rather than a vague regional custom — which matters, because firewood sellers also use looser terms like "face cord," "rick," or "truck load" that vary widely by region and seller, and comparing a price against one of those instead of a true full cord is a common way buyers get shorted.
This calculator applies the definition directly: multiply your stack's length, width, and height in feet, then divide by 128 to get the number of full cords, and multiply that by your local price per cord for the total cost. Doubling any one dimension doubles the cord count in exactly the same proportion, since it's a pure volume calculation.
One caveat worth knowing: this measures the stack's outer volume, not the solid wood inside it. Round logs never pack perfectly — a well-stacked pile typically runs somewhere around 60-70% actual wood by volume, with the rest being unavoidable air gaps between the pieces. That's the same convention every cord measurement in the firewood trade uses, so it doesn't distort price comparisons between sellers, but it does mean a "cord" is always somewhat less solid wood than its 128 cubic feet might suggest.
- Measure the stacked woodpile's length, width (often the log length), and height, all in feet.
- Enter those three dimensions.
- Enter your local price per full cord.
- Read the number of full cords and the total cost.
Worked example — the textbook 8×4×4 stack
A woodpile stacked to the standard cord dimensions — 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, 4 feet high — occupies exactly 128 cubic feet (8 × 4 × 4). Dividing by 128 gives exactly 1.000 full cord, and at $300 per cord that's $300 exactly — the defining example the whole unit is built around.
Double the length to 16 feet while keeping width and height the same (16 × 4 × 4 = 256 ft³) and the pile works out to exactly 2.000 cords — $600 at the same $300-per-cord price. The relationship is perfectly linear: any dimension you scale up scales the cord count and cost by the same factor.
Questions
What's the difference between a full cord and a face cord?
A full cord is the legally defined 128 cubic feet (4 ft × 4 ft × 8 ft). A "face cord" or "rick" is an informal, regionally inconsistent unit — typically a stack 4 ft high and 8 ft long, but only as deep as the individual logs are cut (often 16-18 inches rather than a full 4 ft), which works out to roughly a third to a half of a true full cord. Always ask a seller whether they're pricing by the full cord or a face cord before comparing prices.
How much does a cord of firewood weigh?
It varies substantially by wood species and moisture content, but a cord of dense hardwood like oak or hickory typically weighs somewhere around 4,000-5,000 pounds when seasoned (dried), while lighter softwoods can weigh notably less. Green (unseasoned) wood weighs meaningfully more than seasoned wood of the same species, since it still holds a large amount of water.
How long does a cord of wood last in a wood stove?
It depends heavily on how often you're burning and how efficient your stove is, but as a rough planning figure, a household heating primarily with wood through a cold winter might burn through somewhere around 3-5 full cords over the season, while occasional weekend or supplemental fireplace use could stretch a single cord across much of the winter.
Does this calculator account for air gaps between logs?
No — it calculates the stack's total outer volume (length × width × height), which is exactly how a cord is legally defined and exactly how firewood is bought and sold. The stack always contains some unavoidable air gaps between irregularly shaped logs, typically leaving somewhere around 60-70% solid wood by volume, but that's built into the definition of a cord itself, not something this calculator needs to separately correct for.
Why do cord prices vary so much between regions?
Local wood availability, species mix, delivery distance, and demand all shift firewood pricing significantly from one region to another — a cord of oak in a heavily wooded rural area can cost a fraction of the same cord delivered in a wood-scarce urban market. This calculator only converts your stack's dimensions into a cord count and multiplies by whatever local price you enter; it doesn't estimate what a fair regional price should be.