Firewood cord calculator
Measure the length, height and piece length of a stack, or enter an amount you are buying. The calculator gives the volume in cords and face cords and in stacked, solid and loose cubic measures. How much air a pile holds varies with the wood and how it is stacked; the two shares are rules of thumb you can change.
Runs in your browser: nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
How to use it
- Choose to start from a stack you can measure or from an amount you are buying.
- For a stack, enter its length, height and the length of the pieces. For an amount, enter the number and its unit.
- Check the two shares of solid wood and read the volume in every unit.
How it works
- stacked volume = length × height × piece length;
- cords = stacked volume ÷ 128 ft³ (3.6246 m³);
- face cords = length × height ÷ 32 ft² (a 4 × 8 ft face);
- solid wood = stacked volume × solid share of a stacked pile;
- loose volume = solid wood ÷ solid share of a loose pile.
Example
A stack 8 ft long and 4 ft high with 16-inch pieces:
- 8 × 4 × 16/12 = 42.7 ft³, or 0.33 cords;
- the face is 8 × 4 = 32 ft², so it is 1 face cord;
- at 70%, it holds 29.9 ft³ of solid wood, which would take up 59.7 ft³ thrown loose.
In metric, a stack 4 m long, 1.5 m high and 50 cm deep is 3 m³ stacked (3 stères), 2.1 m³ of solid wood and 4.2 m³ loose, or 0.83 cords.
Tips and common mistakes
- Measure a stack, not a heap: a loose pile looks bigger than the same wood stacked.
- Crooked or knotty wood stacks with more air; straight, split, evenly cut pieces pack tighter.
- Compare offers by price per stacked or solid volume, not per “load” or “truck”.
Frequently asked questions
How big is a cord of wood?
A full cord is 128 cubic feet of neatly stacked wood, usually a pile 4 ft high, 4 ft deep and 8 ft long. That is 3.62 cubic meters of stacked wood.
What is a face cord?
A stack 4 ft high and 8 ft long with pieces of any length. With the common 16-inch pieces it is one third of a full cord. Ask the seller for the piece length, since a face cord of 12-inch pieces holds less wood.
What is the difference between stacked, solid and loose volume?
Stacked volume counts the air between neatly piled logs; solid volume is the wood alone; loose volume is wood thrown into a truck or a heap, which holds even more air. The calculator links them with two shares you can set: by default 70% of a stacked pile and 50% of a loose one is wood.
How much firewood do I need for a winter?
That depends on the stove, the house, the climate and the wood species. Keep a note of how much you burn in one season and use it as your baseline.