Cord (volume)

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The cord is a unit of measure of dry volume used in Canada and the United States to measure firewood and pulpwood. One cord, also commonly called a full cord, is defined as 128 cubic feet (3.62 m³), corresponding to a woodpile 4 feet wide × 4 feet high × 8 feet long. In the United States, the cord is defined by statute in most states. In the metric system, wood is usually measured in steres or cubic metres: 1 stere = 1 m³ ≈ 0.276 cords.

Another measure of wood volume is the sheldon cord (sometimes called a long cord), which usually does not have a legal definition, and its size varies regionally but is always larger than the regular cord.

Other non-legal definitions of firewood volume include standing cord, kitchen cord, running cord, face cord, fencing cord, and country cord. A face cord many times is defined as 1/3 of a full cord. It is therefore typically a pile of stacked wood with logs (split or unsplit) 16 inches in length x 4 feet high x 8 feet long. According to the Weights and Measures Act in Canada, the only true definable cord is a full cord and all other fractions thereof.