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Firewood Buying Information for Consumers

By Ruthman Real Estate

Real Estate Agent with Accessibility & The Power to Advise

February 13, 2007 06:38 AM

I just purchased a woodburning insert for my friend. On a visit to my hometown, he admired my parent's insert and remarked on how it efficiently heated their home.

Since, he never bought firewood before and was not sure how much would be enough. I found this information to educate him and thought it may be handy for other consumers out there that are looking for an alternate heat source and were thinking of buying firewood.

What is a cord?

And how to avoid paying too much for one

Firewood quantities are sometimes difficult to estimate. The official measurement of firewood is a "cord". To help you make an accurate estimate, here is how some common units of firewood measurement compare to the full cord.

A full cord is a large amount of wood. It measures 4 feet high by 4 feet wide by eight feet long (4' x 4' x 8') and has a volume of 128 cubic feet.
A face cord or rick of wood is four feet high by eight feet long and is as wide as the individual firewood pieces, but averages 16 inches wide. A 16-inch wide face cord is equal to one-third of a full cord.
Face cord (16")	x times		3 three	= equals	One full cord

Two full-size pick-up truck loads (8 foot box) equals one full cord, whether the wood is stacked carefully so it is about level with the truck box sides, or is thrown into the truck box with the top of the pile about as high as the cab.
Full-size pick-up truck (8')	x times		2 two	= equals	One full cord

Four compact pick-up truck loads (6 foot box) equals one full cord of wood, whether the wood is stacked carefully so it is about level with the truck box sides, or is thrown into the truck box with the top of the pile about as high as the cab.
Compact pick-up truck (6')		x times	4 four	= equals	One full cord

A 'full' cord measures 4 ft. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. and is the official, standard firewood measure. But four foot pieces are never used for home heating, and dealers rarely sell four foot pieces. So firewood is not offered for sale in the form of its official unit measurement. This is why buying firewood can be confusing.

Other terms, such as face cord, stove cord or furnace cord are used to describe a stack of wood measuring 4 ft. high, 8 ft. long with a piece length shorter than 4 ft. The most common firewood piece length is 16 in., or one-third of a full cord, but other lengths are also available.

These various terms and cord measures can be confusing when you are purchasing firewood. If you want to compare prices from a number of suppliers, take a tape measure to the dealers' yards and measure the average piece length. If the dealer does not price the wood in the standard full cord measure, convert the price to this basic unit. Here are some examples to illustrate the conversion.

Forest Firewood sells what they call a 'face cord' for $75. You find that the pile is 4 feet high and 8 feet long, with an average piece length of 16 inches. Divide this length (16 in.) into the full cord length of 48 in. and multiply by the price.

48 ÷ 16 = 3 x $75 = $225.

Therefore, Forest Firewood sells firewood for $225 per cord.

Sparky sells what he calls a 'stove cord' for $60. It is a pile measuring 4 feet by 8 feet with an average length of 12 inches. The calculation is:

48 ÷ 12 = 4 x $60 = $240.

Therefore, Sparky sells firewood for $240 per cord.

Frontier Fuel sells a 4 foot x 8 foot x 18 inch 'face cord' for $85. The result is:

48 ÷ 18 = 2.67 x $85 = $227.

Therefore, Frontier Fuel sells firewood for $227 per cord.

If possible, avoid buying firewood in units that cannot be related to the standard full cord. Station wagon loads or other units are difficult to compare and can conceal a high price per cord measure.

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