Cord vs Face Cord vs Rick: How Much Wood You Get
A full cord is 128 cubic feet of stacked firewood: 4 feet high, 4 feet deep and 8 feet long. A face cord, also sold as a rick or stove cord, is the same 4-by-8-foot face but only one piece deep, so how much wood you get depends on the piece length. With 16-inch pieces a face cord is one third of a full cord; Utah State University Extension puts face cords anywhere from 32 to 48 cubic feet.
The three units side by side
| Unit | Stack | Volume |
|---|---|---|
| Full cord | 4 ft × 4 ft × 8 ft | 128 cu ft |
| Face cord, 16-in pieces | 4 ft × 8 ft × 16 in | 42.7 cu ft |
| Half-cord pickup load (USU) | Level with the bed | 64 cu ft |
A "cord" is a volume of stacked wood and air. University of Maryland Extension notes that the solid wood in a cord is roughly 65 to 90 cubic feet, about 80 on average in Maryland, depending on how straight and how big the pieces are; wet wood takes up about 8% more space than the same wood dry.
Comparing two quotes
Turn every quote into a price per full cord before you compare. Maine's state survey priced seasoned, delivered wood at $355 a full cord on September 21, 2026; as face cords of 16-inch wood that is $118 each. A face-cord quote above that is dearer than Maine's full-cord price. Ask three questions:
- Full or face? If "cord" is quoted for a single row, it is a face cord.
- How long are the pieces? A face cord of 24-inch pieces holds half again as much as one of 16-inch pieces.
- Seasoned or green? Green wood is cheaper but needs months to dry (see how to season firewood). New Hampshire's Department of Energy, for example, quotes green log-length wood; Maine's survey quotes seasoned wood with delivery.
How many cords for a winter
With the volume settled, the calculator turns your state, floor area and house age into cords. For a 2,000 sq ft house built in the 1970s, a normal winter takes 3.9 cords in Oregon and 6.9 in North Dakota, or 11.8 and 20.7 face cords. Dense wood such as white oak packs more heat into the same 128 cubic feet than white pine; compare them on the firewood BTU chart.
Sources
- Utah State University Extension Forestry, Wood Heating: cord and face cord volumes, pickup load.
- CMHC, A Guide to Residential Wood Heating: full cord 4 × 4 × 8 ft; face cord one third with 16-in pieces.
- University of Maryland Extension, FS-937: solid wood per cord.
Questions
How big is a cord of firewood?
A full cord is a stack 4 feet high, 4 feet deep and 8 feet long: 128 cubic feet of wood and air, per Utah State University Extension and the CMHC wood-heating guide.
How much is a face cord?
A face cord (also called a rick or stove cord) is a stack 4 feet high and 8 feet long but only one piece deep. With 16-inch pieces it is one third of a full cord; Utah State puts face cords at 32 to 48 cubic feet depending on piece length.
How much wood fits in a pickup?
Utah State Extension says a full-size pickup with a standard bed holds about half a cord, 64 cubic feet, loaded level with the top of the bed.