Cord of Wood Calculator · Firewood Volume, Weight & Cost

Cord of Wood Calculator

Work out how many cords your firewood stack contains plus weight, heat value and fair price

Currency
Units
Stack dimensions
cm
cm
cm
A standard full cord = 4 ft × 4 ft × 8 ft = 128 ft³ = 3.62 m³. Measure the stacked pile — not the loose wood.
Stacking method
Neat — bark-up, hand-stacked firewood. About 65% solid wood by volume. Standard for a delivered cord.
Wood type & condition
Seasoned wood (20% moisture) gives more heat and burns cleaner. Green wood weighs ~55% more because it's full of water.
Price
$
$
Enter the price per full cord to see the value of your stack. Or enter the total you paid to check whether you got a fair deal.
Volume & Value
🪵 Full Cord
Total cords of wood
—
—
Stacked volume
—
Stacked volume (ft³)
—
Face cords
—
Solid wood content
—
Weight estimate
—
Heat value (BTU)
—
Value of stack
—
Real cost per cord
—
Measurement & value summary
ItemValueNotes
Weight and BTU assume seasoned wood. Green (freshly cut) wood weighs ~55% more and gives less heat until dried.
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Faiq Ur Rahman

Founder & CEO, Toolraxy

Faiq Ur Rahman is a web designer, digital product developer, and founder of Toolraxy, a growing platform of web-based calculators and utility tools. He specializes in building structured, user-friendly tools focused on health, finance, productivity, and everyday problem-solving.

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Firewood pricing runs on a unit most people never measure: the full cord. A cord is 128 cubic feet of stacked wood, about 3.62 cubic metres. Sellers quote prices per cord, but the pile in your driveway rarely matches what you paid for. This calculator sizes the stack properly, subtracts the air gaps based on how it’s stacked, and converts to cords, face cords, weight, and BTU. It also checks whether your price per cord landed at, above, or below the going rate. Useful when a delivery looks lighter than promised, when you’re comparing two suppliers, or when you’re splitting and stacking your own wood.

 

How to Use the Cord of Wood Calculator

  1. Pick your currency from the top dropdown.

  2. Choose Metric or Imperial for your measurements.

  3. Measure the stack’s length, width (the depth from front to back), and height.

  4. Pick the stacking method. Tight, neat, or thrown.

  5. Select the wood species from the dropdown.

  6. Set the condition: seasoned, green, or kiln-dried.

  7. Enter the price per cord if you know it.

  8. Add the total paid to check the real cost per cord.

  9. Read the total cords in the hero panel.

The output refreshes on every keystroke.

 

How the Cord of Wood Calculator Formula Works

Six formulas chain together to produce cords, weight, heat, and value.

Formula: Volume (m³) = length × width × height ÷ 1,000,000
Formula: Volume (ft³) = volume (m³) × 35.3146667
Formula: Full cords = volume (ft³) ÷ 128
Formula: Face cords = volume (ft³) ÷ 42.6666667
Formula: Solid wood (ft³) = volume (ft³) × stacking factor
Formula: Weight (kg) = solid ft³ × (species lb per cord ÷ 96) × condition multiplier × 0.45359237
Formula: BTU = solid ft³ × (species BTU per cord ÷ 96)
Formula: Value = cords × price per cord

The stacking factor reflects how much of the pile is actual wood versus air. Tightly stacked and bark-up comes in at 75% solid. Neatly stacked hand-stacked wood is 65%, which is the industry standard for a delivered cord. Loosely thrown wood is 50%. That’s a big swing: 128 ft³ of thrown wood contains just 64 ft³ of solid wood.

Species data comes from published BTU and weight-per-cord tables. Oak runs 26 million BTU per cord. Hickory hits 27.7 million. Pine drops to 15.5 million. Seasoned wood is the reference point. Green wood weighs 55% more because of water content. Kiln-dried loses another 12% versus seasoned.

Validation requires positive dimensions. Price and paid default to zero and don’t break the result. The badge classifies the stack: under a quarter cord is tiny, up to 0.9 is nearly a full cord, and above 1.15 shows the actual number.

 

Worked Example

A homeowner takes delivery of a stack measuring 250 cm long, 125 cm wide, and 120 cm tall. The seller calls it “a full cord of oak, seasoned.” The price was $340.

Volume: 250 × 125 × 120 ÷ 1,000,000 = 3.75 m³
Volume in ft³: 3.75 × 35.3147 = 132.4 ft³

Full cords: 132.4 ÷ 128 = 1.03 cords

That’s just over a full cord, which checks out against the seller’s claim.

Stacking method: neat (65% solid)
Solid wood: 132.4 × 0.65 = 86.06 ft³
Wood species: oak (26M BTU, 4,200 lb per cord)

Weight: 86.06 × (4,200 ÷ 96) × 1.00 × 0.45359237 = 1,708 kg
Heat value: 86.06 × (26,000,000 ÷ 96) = 23.3 million BTU

Value at $340 per cord: 1.03 × 340 = $350.20
Real cost per cord: 340 ÷ 1.03 = $330.10

The real cost sits below the advertised $340 per cord, so the deal is slightly in the buyer’s favour. The badge reads “1.03 cords.”

If the seller had claimed “seasoned” but the wood was actually green, the weight would jump to 2,647 kg and the useful BTU would drop by roughly 15% until the wood dried.

What Is a Cord of Wood?

A cord is a unit of volume for stacked firewood. One full cord measures 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet, which is 128 cubic feet. In metric, that’s about 3.62 cubic metres. The measurement includes both the wood and the air gaps between logs. A full cord of neatly stacked hardwood weighs between 2,000 and 3,000 kilograms when seasoned, depending on species.

 

How Do You Calculate a Cord of Wood?

Measure the stack’s length, width (depth), and height in feet, then multiply the three together. Divide by 128 to get the number of cords. A stack 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 4 feet tall is exactly one cord. Longer stacks scale linearly. A 16-foot stack at the same width and height is two cords. The calculator handles the conversion from centimetres or inches automatically.

 

What Is the Difference Between a Full Cord and a Face Cord?

A full cord is 128 cubic feet. A face cord is a stack of wood cut to a specific length and laid out in a single row. The most common face cord is 8 feet long, 4 feet tall, and 16 inches deep, which is 42.67 cubic feet. That’s one-third of a full cord. If the wood is cut to 24 inches, a face cord holds 64 cubic feet, or half a full cord.

 

How Much Does a Cord of Wood Weigh?

A seasoned cord of hardwood weighs 2,000 to 3,000 kg depending on species. Oak and hickory tip the upper end at 2,700 to 3,000 kg. Softwoods like pine and fir sit around 1,500 to 2,000 kg. Green wood weighs 50 to 60 percent more because of water content. Kiln-dried wood weighs about 12% less than air-dried because it’s dried further.

 

How Many BTU Are in a Cord of Wood?

Heat value ranges from 14 to 28 million BTU per cord depending on species. Hickory tops the table at 27.7 million. Oak sits at 26 million. Maple and mixed hardwood hit 24 million. Pine, fir, and spruce drop to 14 to 16 million. A typical home uses 20 to 30 million BTU per winter in a cold climate, so one cord of oak covers a season for many households. The calculator uses solid wood volume, not stacked volume, so it doesn’t overstate the heat.

 

What Wood Burns the Longest?

Dense hardwoods burn longest because they pack more energy per unit volume. Hickory, oak, and locust lead the pack. Ash and maple are close behind with better seasoning properties. Softwoods like pine burn hot and fast, which suits kindling or a quick warm-up but not overnight burns. Mixing a fast-burning softwood with a slow-burning hardwood gives the best of both: quick heat, then a long coal bed.

 

How Long Should Wood Season Before Burning?

Six months minimum for softwoods. Twelve months for hardwoods. Oak can take eighteen months. Seasoned wood has a moisture content below 20%. You can check with a moisture meter or by knocking two pieces together: seasoned wood sounds hollow, green wood thuds. Burning green wood wastes energy boiling off water, produces more creosote, and generates less heat per cord.

 

How Do You Stack Firewood Properly?

Stack bark-up in a single row if possible, with the ends exposed to air. Leave gaps between rows if you’re stacking multiple rows. Keep the pile off the ground on pallets or rails. Cover the top only, not the sides, so air can flow through. A neat stack with bark-up logs reaches 65% solid wood by volume. Throwing wood into a loose pile drops it to 50%, which means a “cord” holds far less actual wood.

 

What Is a Fair Price for a Cord of Wood?

Prices vary widely by region and species. In North America, seasoned mixed hardwood runs $200 to $400 per cord delivered. Oak pushes $300 to $500. Softwoods sit at $150 to $300. Kiln-dried premium wood can reach $500 or more. In Europe, prices in euros track similar bands but vary by country. Always ask whether the price is per full cord or per face cord. A “cord” at a suspiciously low price is often a face cord or a loose pile.

 

Common Mistakes When Buying Firewood

Paying per “truckload” instead of per cord. A pickup truck bed holds about half a cord, not a full one. Accepting green wood advertised as seasoned. Measuring only the front face of the stack instead of its full depth. Buying stacked wood that was thrown rather than neatly stacked. And trusting a seller who won’t let you measure before delivery. The calculator’s real cost per cord figure catches most of these issues after the fact.

 

Benefits of Using This Cord of Wood Calculator

  • Verify what you got. Measure the stack and check whether the delivered pile matches the seller’s claim.

  • Convert between units instantly. Full cords, face cords, cubic metres, and cubic feet all appear in one pass.

  • Get a weight estimate. Useful for planning transport, checking load limits, or comparing species.

  • See the real heat value. BTU figures show whether the wood will actually heat your home through winter.

  • Check the price per cord. Enter what you paid to see whether the deal was fair against the advertised rate.

  • Nothing leaves your device. Every calculation runs in the browser. No account, no tracking, no uploads.

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