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Firewood cord calculator
Put your stack length, height, depth and price per cord in: a 16 ft long, 4 ft high stack at 24 in deep holds 128 cu ft — exactly 1 cord, $300 at $300 a cord.
★ CONSTRUCTION · FIREWOOD · STACK
Firewood Cord Calculator: 1 Cord from a 16 ft Stack
On the defaults — a 16 ft long, 4 ft high stack at 24 in deep — you need 1 cord, $300 total. This is the firewood cord tool: measure the stack once, turn inches into feet, divide by 128, and price the cords once — a stack sold as a cord that measures short is the oldest firewood argument there is.
What does 1 cord, $300 total mean?
It means a stack 16 ft long, 4 ft high and 24 in deep holds 128 cu ft of stacked wood, and since a full cord is 128 cu ft, the stack is exactly 1 cord, worth $300 at $300 a cord. The depth converts from inches to feet first — 24 ÷ 12 = 2 ft — then length times height times depth gives the volume, and the volume divided by 128 gives the cords. The price only ever touches the final step.
Output · formula · meaning
| Output | Formula | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Depth in feet | depth in inches ÷ 12 | 2 ft — 24 ÷ 12. |
| Volume | length × height × depth | 128 cu ft — 16 × 4 × 2. |
| Cords | volume ÷ 128 | 1 cord — 128 ÷ 128. |
| Total cost | cords × price per cord | $300 — 1 × $300. |
Three things to check before you trust the number
First, check you are counting a full cord, not a face cord: a face cord is one row of a full cord — at 16 in log length it is a third of a cord, not a cord, and it is priced as a third. Second, measure the stack stacked, not loose: a loose pile thrown in a truck measures far more air than wood, and only a tight stack counts toward 128 cu ft. Third, measure the logs, not the space around them: bark, crooked lengths and air gaps all sit inside the stack, which is why a cord is a stacked measure and two stacks of the same outside size can hold slightly different wood.
Worked example
16 ft long, 4 ft high, 24 in deep, $300 a cord. Depth: 24 ÷ 12 = 2 ft. Volume: 16 × 4 × 2 = 128 cu ft. Cords: 128 ÷ 128 = 1. Cost: 1 × $300 = $300. In practice that means one full cord on the truck, one $300 payment, and a stack that should measure 4 ft high and 16 ft long when it is restacked at home — measure it there, before the wood is burned, if the count is ever disputed.
Every branch, checked
With an 8 ft stack instead of 16 ft, the volume halves to 64 cu ft, 0.5 cords, $150. With an 8 ft high stack instead of 4 ft, the volume doubles to 256 cu ft, 2 cords, $600. With 12 in depth instead of 24 in, the volume halves to 64 cu ft, 0.5 cords, $150 — depth is as powerful as length, because it multiplies the same volume. With $350 a cord instead of $300, the stack stays 1 cord but the cost rises to $350.
The reverses, worked backwards
The length behind 1 cord is 16 ft: at 8 ft the stack is 0.5 cords (8 ft long, 4 ft high, 24 in deep, 2 ft deep, 64 cu ft, $300 a cord, $150 total); at 24 ft it is 1.5 cords (24 ft long, 4 ft high, 24 in deep, 2 ft deep, 192 cu ft, $300 a cord, $450 total). The depth behind 1 cord is 24 in: at 12 in the stack is 0.5 cords (16 ft long, 4 ft high, 12 in deep, 1 ft deep, 64 cu ft, $300 a cord, $150 total); at 36 in it is 1.5 cords (16 ft long, 4 ft high, 36 in deep, 3 ft deep, 192 cu ft, $300 a cord, $450 total). The price behind $300 is $300 a cord: at $250 the total is $250; at $350 it is $350, with 1 cord in both cases.
What the defaults assume
The defaults assume a tightly stacked 16 ft by 4 ft pile of 24 in logs, priced per full cord. They do not assume loose loads, mixed log lengths, or face cords — a load that arrives loose or in short lengths needs restacking and remeasuring before it can be called a cord.
Who uses this
- A homeowner ordering winter wood: the 1-cord figure settles the order and the $300 payment before the truck arrives.
- A firewood seller pricing stacks: the volume, cord and cost figures off the calculator are the lines on the invoice, not a guess.
- A stove owner budgeting the winter: the same maths on every stack size gives the season’s wood and cost in one pass.
- A cabin caretaker restocking: the cord count turns a woodpile seen from the porch into a number worth ordering against.
Accuracy & limitations
The arithmetic is exact for the inputs entered; the judgement is the stack itself. Real stacks have air gaps, crooked logs and uneven ends, and a cord is a stacked measure, not a solid block of wood — the tape on the restacked pile overrides any planning figure. Treat 1 cord as the planning figure for a 16 ft by 4 ft stack at 24 in deep, and measure the delivered stack before paying if the count matters.
Cite this calculator
Bright Side Kit, “Firewood Cord Calculator: 1 Cord from a 16 ft Stack”, https://brightoolbox.com/firewood-cord-calculator/, accessed 3 November 2026. Students and researchers: cite the calculator name, the page URL and the date you used it, and quote the defaults (16 ft long, 4 ft high, 24 in deep, $300 a cord) so the result can be checked.
Frequently asked questions
What is a cord of firewood?
A full cord is 128 cu ft of tightly stacked wood — the classic stack is 4 ft high, 4 ft deep and 8 ft long. This calculator divides your stack’s volume by 128 to get the cords.
What is the difference between a cord and a face cord?
A face cord is a single row of a full cord: at 16 in log length it is 4 ft high and 8 ft long but only 16 in deep, about a third of a full cord. Price it as a third, not as a cord.
How many cords do I need for a winter?
That depends on the stove, the house and the winter, but most wood-heated homes burn several cords a season — measure what you burned last year and divide by cords, not by truckloads.
Does the type of wood change the cord count?
No: a cord is a volume, so oak and pine both measure 128 cu ft a cord. Species changes the heat per cord, not the cords in the stack.
Why does a loose load measure more than a stacked cord?
Because loose wood traps far more air: the same logs stacked tight fill less space. Always compare sellers on stacked volume, never on loose pile size.
How do I measure an uneven pile?
Measure the pile in sections, work out each section’s volume, and add them — or restack it into a straight-sided pile and measure that. A guess from the kerb is how short cords happen.