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How much is a cord of wood?

A cord of wood (sometimes misspelled “chord”, which is the spelling of a musical chord) is any dimension of stacked wood that will add up to 128 cubic feet. This measurement is derived from the common firewood dimension of a 4’x4’x8′ stack.

Wood that is not stacked, that is instead thrown into a loose pile has more air space between the spaces, it would require different measurements. This article assumes the firewood is neatly stacked.

To measure a stack of wood, get the height, width and depth in feet. Multiply these three numbers together. This will tell you how many cubic feet you have. Since a cord is 128 cubic feet, divide the number of cubic feet in your stack by 128. That will tell you how many cords you have.

height x width x depth ÷ 128 = cords

The common dimension to get a cord of wood is 4’x4’x8, but there are many dimensions that will add up to 128 cubic feet. Examples are 2x4x16 and 1x4x32.

Using full feet for the width can be a problem since standard length for pieces of firewood is usually 16 inches. So a stack of 16″ firewood can only be 16″ wide or a multiple of 16.

In other words when stacking standard 16″ firewood the width of your dimension will be based on the number of stacks or rows.

1 stack = 16″ wide

2 stacks side by side = 32″ wide

3 stacks side by side = 48″ or 4′ wide.

The standard 4x4x8 dimension would be 3 stacks 4′ high and 8′ long.

These measurements assume there is no space between the stacks. If you have space between the stacks, which a few inches of space is recommended for air circulation, these of course will have to be factored in.

Cord of wood dimensions will be different if the wood is not stacked. In a loose pile, wood pieces will be more random so they will take up more space than pieces stacked together tightly. It’s hard to get an accurate measurement with a heaping pile, consider around 180 cubic feet for the cord of wood dimensions of unstacked wood.

In any stack of wood there is going to be air space between the pieces. The more tightly stacked the wood is, the more solid wood you will have in a cord of wood. Some people like to criss-cross the wood when they stack it. This can sometimes help in drying and is a way to stabilize the ends. This is fine, except for when it comes to measuring the wood, there will be more air space between the pieces, with less solid wood in a cord. For a loose unstacked pile of wood the air space will be even greater. In this case you can figure around 180 cubic feet per cord.