How Much Is a Cord of Wood?

One term is fixed. The other isn't

A cord is 128 cubic feet of tightly stacked wood — a legal definition in most US states, not a convention. The classic stack is 4 ft high × 4 ft deep × 8 ft long, because 4 × 4 × 8 = 128.

A "face cord" — also a rick or a run — is 4 ft high × 8 ft long × whatever the logs happen to be. Only two of the three dimensions are fixed.

Log length	A "face cord" is	Fraction of a cord
12 in	32 cu ft	0.25
16 in	42.7 cu ft	0.333
24 in	64 cu ft	0.50

Same phrase. Same confidence. Twice the wood between the top and bottom rows — and the log length is the only thing deciding it.

The three questions

Don't ask "is that a cord?" Ask:

1. How long are the logs?
2. How high is the stack?
3. How long is the stack?

Those settle it completely, and none of them are matters of opinion. Then work the volume out yourself — that's what the calculator is for.

A seller who won't give you log length and stack dimensions isn't selling a measurable quantity, whatever they're calling it.

Compare on price per full cord. Nothing else compares

At $150, a 16-inch face cord works out at $450 per full cord. The same $150 for 24-inch logs is $300 per cord.

That's the only figure that lets you compare two sellers, and it's why the calculator leads with the fraction and then the per-cord price.

Terms that mean nothing precise

Truckload. Pile. Rick. Bush cord. Stove cord.

Some are regional, some are simply vague, none are volumes. A pickup bed isn't a standard size, and even where a term has a local meaning it won't survive a phone call to the next county.

If a quantity isn't expressed in feet, it isn't a quantity.

A heap is not a stack

128 cubic feet means tightly stacked — pieces parallel and touching.

The same wood thrown loose occupies substantially more space, commonly a third or more extra for identical wood. So buying by the size of a heap is buying air.

If it arrives dumped, stack it before deciding whether you got what you paid for — and agree how it'll be measured before delivery rather than after, when your leverage is gone.

A cord measures space, not heat

Two things volume can't capture, and both matter more than the last 5% of the measurement:

Species. Dense hardwoods — oak, hickory, maple — carry substantially more heat per cord than pine or spruce. Same volume, same price, very different value.

Seasoning, which matters most of all. Green wood can be half water by weight. Burning it gives less heat, more smoke, and far more creosote in your chimney — which is a fire risk, not just an inefficiency.

Properly seasoned wood is usually under 20% moisture, and that takes most species six months to a year, split and stacked under cover with the sides open.

Ask when it was split, not when it was cut. A log that's been lying whole in a yard for two years is barely seasoned at all — and a cheap cord of green wood is not cheap.

Print the buying card — it has a table for comparing sellers on price per full cord, which is the only comparison that means anything.