How to Use This Tool
Measure the stack you were offered — height, length, and the length of the logs, which is the depth. Enter the price and the tool converts everything to a comparable basis.
The definition, and the part that is never checked
A full cord is a stack 4 ft high, 8 ft long and 4 ft deep, which is exactly 128 cubic feet. Height and length are easy to eyeball. Depth is set by how the logs were cut, and almost nobody measures it.
A "face cord", "rick" or "run" is 4 ft by 8 ft, one log deep. With the 16 inch logs most domestic stoves take, that is 42.67 cu ft — exactly one third of a cord.
full cord 4 x 4 x 8 = 128.00 cu ft 100.0% face cord, 24 in logs 4 x 8 x (24/12) = 64.00 cu ft 50.0% face cord, 20 in logs 4 x 8 x (20/12) = 53.33 cu ft 41.7% face cord, 16 in logs 4 x 8 x (16/12) = 42.67 cu ft 33.3% $280 for a 16 in face cord = $840 per full cord equivalent
Species is worth as much as the measurement
Heat comes from mass, and dry wood density varies by more than two to one. A cord of shagbark hickory holds about 27.7 million BTU; a cord of white pine about 15.9. That is 74 per cent more heat from the same volume.
So pine at three quarters the price of oak is not a saving: per unit of heat it is more expensive. The cost per million BTU column is the only fair comparison, and it is what the tool reports.
Green wood is a discount you pay for twice
Freshly cut wood is around 50 per cent water by weight. Burning it spends a large part of the wood's energy boiling that water off, so useful output falls to roughly 60 per cent of seasoned value.
The second cost is creosote. Cool, smoky fires from wet wood deposit tar in the flue, which is the main cause of chimney fires. Wood under 20 per cent moisture is the target, and that means splitting and stacking under cover for six months to a year depending on species.
Thrown loose is not stacked
A pickup bed filled with tossed logs holds roughly 70 per cent of what the same space would hold neatly stacked, because the gaps are larger and randomly oriented. If the wood arrives thrown, the volume you are paying for is not the volume of the truck bed.
How to check before you pay
Ask two questions: how long are the logs, and is the price for a full cord or a face cord. Then when it is delivered, stack a section and measure it. A cord stacks to 4 ft by 8 ft by 4 ft; anything that ends up appreciably smaller than that is short, and it is much easier to raise before the truck leaves.
What is not included
Stove efficiency varies from about 30 per cent for an open fireplace to 80 per cent for a modern insert, which changes delivered heat by more than any species choice. This tool costs the fuel, not the appliance.
