Firewood Cord Value Calculator

About this calculator

A standard (full) cord of firewood is a stack measuring 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet, equal to 128 cubic feet of stacked wood — including the air gaps between logs, not 128 cubic feet of solid wood. Firewood sellers frequently deliver a “face cord,” “rick,” or loosely stacked truckload that is only a fraction of a full cord, so calculating the actual stacked volume from measured dimensions and dividing the price paid by that volume reveals the true price per cord, which is the only number that lets you compare offers from different sellers on an apples-to-apples basis.

Buyers run this calculation because firewood pricing terminology is notoriously inconsistent from one seller and one region to another, and because different wood species carry very different heat values (measured in BTU per cord) — dense hardwoods like oak or hickory deliver roughly twice the heat output of a cord of soft woods like pine — so a “cheap” load of low-density wood can actually cost more per unit of heat than a pricier load of dense hardwood.

This calculator takes your stacked wood's measured dimensions, what you paid, and the wood species, and returns your actual price per full cord and the heat value of your delivery so you can judge whether it was a fair deal.