When buying bulk firewood for a home, many people can’t tell the difference between the face cord vs. cord of firewood. For starters, the terms are often used to describe the size of a pile of firewood. Now, what exactly does a cord of firewood mean? A cord refers to a unit for measuring firewood’s dry volume. The size of a cord is often 4-feet wide, 8-feet long, and 4-feet deep.
There are different types of cords of firewood, depending on their sizes. It can either be a full cord, a bush cord, or a face cord of firewood. The latter is usually smaller in size. A cord of firewood can take many names, and in this guide, we’ll talk about face cord vs. cord. We’ll also look at all types of cords in detail for better understanding. Let’s get started.
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Face Cord vs Cord
Here’s everything you should know about face cord vs. cord, including other types of cords of firewood.
What Is A Cord Of Firewood?
Most of the time, firewood gets supplied in the form of a cord of firewood. This is a standard yet official unit of measurement for the amount of firewood offered for sale. It is usually an extensive collection of firewood. The standard sizes of a cord of firewood are often 4-feet high by 8-feet wide by 4-feet deep. It makes a total of 128 cubic feet in volume.
A stack of firewood may have plenty of different sizes and shapes. So, a cord is simply a stack of logs packed together pretty tightly. Therefore, it offers the most significant amount of firewood in a particular area. The most volume of the stack will constitute firewood. But, the rest of the space will be the gaps that exist between the firewood pieces.
If you buy a cord of firewood, you’ll be paying for a specific size. Regardless of the size of logs, you’ll always get the same amount of firewood. So, purchasing a cord can be quite the best option if you want to get an accurate volume of wood. It’s way much better than opting for a general stack of firewood as such tend to vary in volume and size.
A cord is best described using two common ways, the Full cord and Face cord.
What is a Full Cord?
A full cord of wood refers to a cord of firewood with logs that fill the entire 4-feet space. This means that it only comes with a single pile of firewood. Essentially, it is another term for describing a cord of firewood. It is often 4-feet high, 8-feet wide, and 4-feet deep.
With the 4-feet length, a full cord of wood may not be the best choice for homeowners’ most stoves and fireplaces. Sometimes, this cord of firewood is termed a bush cord.
What is a Face Cord of Firewood?
A face cord is a load of cut and split firewood that measures 4-feet high by 8-feet wide by 16-inch deep. For this reason, a face cord is often smaller in volume, about a third full cord of firewood.
However, the 4-feet width may not be the ideal size of a log for most homeowners. That’s because such logs need further splitting for use in a typical stove or fireplace. A face cord of firewood is an excellent choice as the logs come with already reduced lengths to 16 inches. Not 4-feet as in full cord.
But, depending on the vendor, this stack of firewood may have a similar volume as a full cord. It implies that you’ll find three piles of logs that are 16-inch long to make a complete full cord. Sometimes, you can find the face cord of wood having logs with varying lengths from 16 to 18-inches.
A Rick of Firewood
Rick of firewood is yet another name for a face cord of firewood. The measurement of this stack includes 4-feet high by 8-feet wide by 16-feet deep.
Generally, a face cord, full cord, and rick of firewood tend to boast similar size frontage of the pile of logs. They all measure 8-feet wide and 4-feet high. However, the chore difference between the face cord and the pull cord is the depth.
A full cord usually has a pile of logs that fits in the whole 4-feet of depth. On the other side, a face cord or rick cord of firewood comes with a reduced depth of 16-inches. So, the rick or face cord of firewood is relatively smaller than the entire stack.
Such logs are cut and split for use in typical home stoves and fireplaces. For this reason, a face cord or rick of firewood are perfect options for use by an average homeowner.
Cord of Firewood
The standard size of a cord of split firewood is 4-feet high, 8-feet wide, and 4-feet deep. This gives a total volume of 128 cubic feet.
Half cord of firewood
This stack of cut and split firewood has half the total volume of a full cord. That will be half of 128 cubic feet, which is 64 cubic feet. So, a 1 2 cord of wood refers to a pile of chopped and split firewood that fills in an area measuring 4-feet wide by 4-feet high by 4-feet deep.
Bush cord of firewood
It’s a common term used to refer to a full cord of wood. And this means that it is a stack of firewood with a volume of 128 cubic feet. It also measures 4-feet high by 8-feet wide by 4-feet deep.
Loose-thrown cord
This is a standard 8-feet cord of cut and split firewood stacked inside a bin. A typical pile of firewood split 16-inches long placed on a truck has a volume of about 150 cubic feet. If you stack the 150 cubic feet loose cord, you’ll get about 2.5 face cords of 16-inch logs. So, the three face cards are equivalent to 178 cubic feet.
Ultimately, this method tends to reduce the efforts of dealing with wood by the producer. Plus, it helps lower the cost of the firewood.
What Is the Weight of A Cord Of Firewood?
The overall weight of a full stack of firewood can be up to 5000 pounds. However, the total weight may vary due to the following factors:
- Wood’s moisture content. If the firewood has a higher moisture content, the wood will be heavier and vice versa.
- Wood type: Hardwoods are often denser and heavier than softwoods.
- Packing style: If the logs are tightly packed together, the stack will be heavier and vice versa.
Cost of a cord of firewood
The overall price of a cord of firewood varies from one seller or place to another. Besides, the cost may be determined by:
- Type of wood: hardwoods are stronger and take longer to dry out than softwoods. Thus a stack of hardwoods is more expensive than the softwood counterparts.
- Method of drying the woods: The kiln-dried firewood is pretty costly than a seasoned one.
- Moisture content: Firewood with lower moisture content tend to be lighter and beneficial. Woods with higher moisture content take a longer time to dry and reach lower moisture levels. And charging highly can compensate for this additional time.
- Wood quality: A well and clean-cut firewood may be high priced.
How many Face Cords or Ricks does a Full Cord of Firewood have?
A full cord of firewood has three face cords or rick cords of firewood. That’s because a face cord is often smaller with a depth of 16 inches that three rows can perfectly fit into the full cord with a depth of 4-feet.
How long does a cord of firewood last?
A cord of wood can generally last for 6-10 weeks. It may also last for about three months. But, this may depend on the following:
- Main source of heat in the home
- Size of the space that needs heating
- How frequent the stove or fireplace gets used
How to store a cord of firewood
After purchasing a split and dried firewood, the next thing to do is store it in a suitable spot. But if the firewood is still wet or green and not split, you’ll have a lot of work to do. In such a case, consider our cord of firewood storage tips below:
- Split the woods into small manageable pieces for convenient carrying and even burning
- Get a spot with incredible airflow to pile the woods for air drying. Do not stack the wood between trees since wind can sway the trees and topple over the stack.
- Facilitate an efficient drying process. This may depend on how you arrange the firewood. To properly stack the wood, stack the wood off the ground using either bricks, pallets, or logs.
- You can find a suitable rack to pile the wood perfectly and prevent it from falling. After that, arrange the wood in rows with stakes at each end. If you want to pile the wood in several rows deep, leave some space amongst the rows to allow for excellent airflow.
- Place the driest firewood on top of the stack for easy access. If you have old wood, make sure you use it first to prevent rotting.
- Cover the pile’s top part using a tarp to keep it dry and safe from other elements. Still, it offers enough airflow.
Conclusion
Getting the right size and shape of firewood for your stove or fireplace is vital. It’s a comforting way of generating heat and ambiance for your home.
With lots of stacks of firewood, finding one that’s best for your needs can be pretty intimidating. To this end, we believe that you now know more about the face cord vs. cord of firewood. Make sure you always check for these storing cords of wood when buying firewood in large piles.
