Cord Calculator

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
  • Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
In Oklahoma, it seems the only "measure" of wood is the "rick"-- very few sellers here will sell wood by the cord. At lunch today, a coworker said they'd never even HEARD of the cord. Is this an Oklahoma thing? One would think the firewood industry in Oklahoma would be more regulated than that, as this particular "measure" doesn't seem to be standard. It complicates my search for a good firewood provider, at least so far looking at Craigslist and seeing seller after seller offering "ricks" but not cords...
 
Last edited:
That's a few days of 24/7 burning, TOPS.
I do 5-6 cord a year burning 5 months 24/7.
A cord is measured 4 ft wide x 4 ft high x 8 ft deep. (or the equivalent)
Not one row across a pickup bed.
 
We were told this was a cord of pine. Thoughts? Sorry for the double picture.
That's about 1/5 of a cord. Five loads like that and you would have a full cord.
 
how tightly are you supposed to stack your wood for this calculator?
I had a load delivered that filled a truck that was 8 ft long 6 feet wide and 5 feet tall loaded with a bucket loader. When I staked it, fairly tightly, it measures about .8 by this calculator.
 
how tightly are you supposed to stack your wood for this calculator?
The wording of a cord, with which I am familiar, has the words “tightly stacked” right in the definition.

Most government and other estimates I’ve seen for cord weight use 85 cu.ft. of solid wood for a 128 cu.ft. cord. That implies a stacking density of 66%, but I’m not going to try measuring that, myself.
 
No 1/2 TON pu can hold Cord of Wood. It would end up 5ft high. Too heavy.

A face cord of firewood, also called a rick of firewood, is different than a cord. The common dimensions for a face cord or rick of wood is 8 feet long x 4 feet high x any length of wood. Although the common length of wood is typically 16 inches, there is no exact length requirement.

https://www.firewood-for-life.com/firewood-measurements.html
 
No 1/2 TON pu can hold Cord of Wood. It would end up 5ft high. Too heavy.

A face cord of firewood, also called a rick of firewood, is different than a cord. The common dimensions for a face cord or rick of wood is 8 feet long x 4 feet high x any length of wood. Although the common length of wood is typically 16 inches, there is no exact length requirement.

https://www.firewood-for-life.com/firewood-measurements.html

You’re new here, right? Where’s @Manly?
 
Using the calculator the 3x3x5 pallet stack of almond that the local feed store here sells for $180 would actually be 0.35 of a cord (1/3). Not the 0.50 (1/2) of a cord that they claim it to be. In real cord terms that almond is over a half a grand per cord. ... no they don't deliver. ha ha.

This is why I gave up buying firewood. All of the firewood sellers in my area are like this. Its frustrating.
 
I'm gonna go buy a pallet of Almond from them Monday... At least the wood is seasoned unlike most of the other scammers in our area.

I usually cut all of my own wood but a new baby kinda hampered my cutting time...


Using the calculator the 3x3x5 pallet stack of almond that the local feed store here sells for $180 would actually be 0.35 of a cord (1/3). Not the 0.50 (1/2) of a cord that they claim it to be. In real cord terms that almond is over a half a grand per cord. ... no they don't deliver. ha ha.

This is why I gave up buying firewood. All of the firewood sellers in my area are like this. Its frustrating.
 
I’ve been burning wood for about five years now and I basically base my usage on length of wood stack that I have/use. My stacks are between 4 and 5 feet tall, pieces are cut approximately an average of 17” for my Country Hearth/US Stove 3000 stove. Typically use about 90’ of wood stack a year, which usually is around 4-5 cord.
 

Attachments

  • [Hearth.com] Cord Calculator
    5D7B0DF1-59DD-49A8-93AD-753687E65E05.webp
    297.2 KB · Views: 479
  • Like
Reactions: hawkeye4771
We were told this was a cord of pine. Thoughts? Sorry for the double picture.
Some people improperly call a face cord a cord... maybe this was a "loose" face cord. Depending on what you paid, it might not have been a complete ***** job...
 
I’ve been burning wood for about five years now and I basically base my usage on length of wood stack that I have/use. My stacks are between 4 and 5 feet tall, pieces are cut approximately an average of 17” for my Country Hearth/US Stove 3000 stove. Typically use about 90’ of wood stack a year, which usually is around 4-5 cord.
I consider a face cord to be 8 ft long , 4 ft high , and my pieces to be 17 inches long to fit in my Regency stoves. Seeing as the pallets I stack my wood on to be 4ft x 4ft. Wood stacked on two pallets laid end to end works out to be 2 rows of wood 8 ft long, 4ft high, and 17 inches in length. All ready to put in the stoves and burn.
I’ve been burning wood for about five years now and I basically base my usage on length of wood stack that I have/use. My stacks are between 4 and 5 feet tall, pieces are cut approximately an average of 17” for my Country Hearth/US Stove 3000 stove. Typically use about 90’ of wood stack a year, which usually is around 4-5 cord.
 
Forget "Face Cords" there really is no such thing. It's just smoke and mirrors.
Real Cords for Real Burners.

4'x4'x8'. Standard Stacked
No more guessing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ashful
So the reality check on how much wood you need is (according to the calculator)-
18" splits at 5' high and 20' long is ONLY 1.17 cords.
That's 52' of stacked 18" splits for just 3 cords!

156 Feet of stacked 18" splits for 3 years of 3 cords per year.