Face Cord Firewood Cost Calculator
The national estimate is adjusted by your state's overall price level (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2022, U.S.=100). This is a cost-of-living proxy applied to the national face cord firewood price — not a per-state face cord firewood quote. Always get local quotes before buying.
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A face cord of mixed hardwood, delivered, runs $100–$200. Order the default three face cords and you land at $300 to $600 before delivery or stacking.
Three face cords cut at 16 inches equal one full cord, since a face cord is 0.33 of a full cord at that log length per Maine's heating fuel survey. Softwood is cheaper at $50–$120 and burns faster.
Price covers the wood only, stacking, splitting, and delivery are billed separately. Log length...
"Face cord" is the term suppliers use most and buyers understand least. It is a fixed height and length but a variable depth, which is exactly where fair quotes and rip-offs diverge. This page checks your face-cord quote against the full-cord price it should be one-third of.
Ways to save on this project
The face cord premium exists because it is a smaller, more convenient quantity.
Suppliers charge proportionally more per unit of wood for every smaller measure they sell.
Bring a tape measure to the delivery.
A short rick — 12-inch pieces, loosely stacked — holds 30–40% less wood than a standard face cord. Refuse face-cord pricing for a sub-standard stack.
| Species | Face Cord Price (est.) | BTU/face cord (USDA FPL) | Approx. $/MMBTU |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oak | $150-$250 | ~8M BTU | $19-$31 |
| Mixed hardwood | $100-$200 | ~7-8M BTU | $13-$29 |
| Ash | $120-$220 | ~7.9M BTU | $15-$28 |
| Softwood (pine/fir) | $50-$120 | ~5M BTU | $10-$24 |
The one question to ask before you agree to a price
"What length are the logs cut to?"
If the seller cannot answer, walk. Log length is the depth of a face cord and therefore the entire volume you are buying. A seller who does not know it is either careless or counting on you not asking.
Price a full cord of your preferred species with the firewood cord cost calculator.
Prices here are estimates, not a live feed
The face cord figures on this page are market estimates, not surveyed prices. Only the 0.33 face cord to full cord conversion comes from a government source, Maine's Division of Energy Resources.
Firewood is a hyperlocal cash market with no national price index. Call three suppliers in your county and treat these ranges as a sanity check on their quotes.
Quotes worth hanging up on
A price near the bottom of the softwood range for wood advertised as seasoned hardwood is not a deal. It is wet wood, a short stack, or both.
Same for "cord" used without dimensions. That word does most of the work in face cord substitution, where you order a cord and receive roughly a third of one.
The number that decides what you actually bought: log length
A face cord is 4 feet tall by 8 feet long by whatever the logs are. That third dimension is the whole ballgame. At 16 inches, a face cord is 0.33 of a full cord, the ratio Maine's state energy office publishes for its fuel price survey.
Cut the logs to 12 inches and the stack looks identical from the driveway. You get roughly a quarter less wood for the same money. Ask for log length before you ask for price.
| Log length | Share of a full cord | What it means for the quote |
|---|---|---|
| 16 in (standard) | 0.33 (Maine DOER) | Baseline. Three face cords = one full cord. |
| 12 in | Less than standard | Same face, less wood. Price should drop. |
| 24 in | More than standard | Fewer stacks needed, often heavier delivery minimum. |
Why the cheap face cord costs more per unit of heat
Sticker price lies. What you are buying is heat, and heat comes from dry wood fiber. The USDA Wood Handbook, the federal data standard for wood fuel properties documents how species density and moisture content drive usable energy.
Softwood at $50–$120 looks like a bargain next to hardwood at $100–$200. Pine is light. You burn through it faster and reload more.
Oak sits higher at $150–$250 and is worth it if you heat nightly. Run the species math on our BTU calculator before you commit to a species on price alone.
Three face cords, mixed hardwood: what the bill looks like
Default order is three face cords of mixed hardwood. At $100–$200 each, the wood alone is $300 to $600. That is the calculator output above.
Delivery and stacking ride on top and are quoted separately by most suppliers. Ask whether delivery is per load or per cord, because a three face cord order may or may not fit one truck.
Also ask about the minimum. Plenty of yards will not roll a truck for a single face cord, so a one-cord test order becomes a pickup job.
Buy in June, burn in January
Firewood is a seasonal market and you are on the wrong side of it in November. Spring and summer suppliers are sitting on inventory and motivated. Fall buyers compete for whatever seasoned stock is left.
The other reason to buy early is drying time. Wood bought green in May has all summer to come down in moisture. Wood bought green in December is firewood for next year, not this one.
The EIA tracks residential wood as a real heating fuel, and like every heating fuel, the worst time to shop is when you need it.
Measure the stack before the truck leaves
Do this in the driveway, not after the driver is gone. It takes two minutes and a tape measure.
- Stack it or watch them stack it. A loose thrown pile reads bigger than it is.
- Measure height and length. You want 4 feet by 8 feet, or 32 square feet of face.
- Measure a dozen random logs end to end. Average them. That is your real depth.
- Multiply: 32 square feet times depth in feet gives cubic feet delivered.
- Divide by 128 to get your share of a full cord. Compare it to the 0.33 standard.
If the average log is short of what was quoted, say so before you pay. After payment you have no standing to dispute.
The moisture check that separates seasoned from repainted green
Buy a pin moisture meter. They are cheap and they end the argument.
- Split a piece open. Test the fresh inside face, not the weathered outside.
- Under 20 percent is ready to burn. That is the standard the USDA Forest Products Laboratory moisture guidance points to for dry fuel wood.
- No meter? Knock two pieces together. Dry wood cracks, wet wood thuds.
- Check the ends for radial cracks and gray color. Bright, damp end grain means recent cutting.
- Lift one. Green wood is startlingly heavy for its size.
A supplier who says "cut this spring" is telling you it is green. That is fine for next winter and useless for this one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is buying a full cord cheaper than three face cords?
Generally the full cord wins on price per cubic foot, and you pay one delivery fee instead of stacking up trips.
The argument for starting with a single face cord is testing the supplier. One face cord tells you whether their log length is honest and their wood is actually dry.
Do the test order in spring when the stakes are low, then buy volume from whoever passed. Compare against full-cord pricing on the cord cost calculator.
How many face cords make a full cord?
Three face cords equal a full cord when the logs are cut to 16 inches. That comes from the 0.33 conversion Maine's energy office uses in its fuel price survey.
The catch is that the ratio only holds at 16 inches. A supplier cutting 12-inch logs is selling you thinner stacks, and three of them fall short of 128 cubic feet.
Always convert quotes to full-cord equivalents before comparing suppliers. Our full cord calculator does that side of the math.
Was I shorted, or is that really a face cord?
Stack it tight and measure. You are looking for 4 feet high by 8 feet long, which is 32 square feet of face.
Then average a dozen logs end to end. Thirty-two square feet times that depth in feet gives you actual cubic feet delivered. Divide by 128 for your fraction of a full cord.
The two ways buyers get shorted are short logs and loose stacking. Both look fine from the kitchen window and both show up on a tape measure.
Is one face cord enough for the winter?
One face cord covers ambiance. Weekend fires, a night or two a week, a fireplace that is not doing real work.
Running a stove three or four nights a week puts you around three face cords, which is one full cord. That is the default in the calculator above.
Heating a cold-climate house primarily with wood is a multiple-cord season, and you should be buying it in spring. See the wood heating cost calculator for whole-season numbers.
Should I pay extra for seasoned wood or buy green and wait?
It depends entirely on when you plan to burn it.
Buying in May for next winter? Green is the smart buy. It has a full summer to dry and you pay off-season prices.
Buying in October for this winter? Pay for seasoned. Green wood under a tarp in November is still green in January, and it will smoke, hiss, and load your chimney with creosote.
Verify with a meter rather than trusting the word "seasoned" on an ad.
How does firewood compare to propane on cost?
There is no single answer because propane is a regional market. High-cost states like Massachusetts run close to double the national average, while parts of the upper Midwest sit well below it.
Wood competes hardest where propane is expensive and where you have access to local hardwood. It competes worst where propane is cheap and wood has to be trucked in.
Run your own state's numbers on the firewood versus propane calculator, which uses current EIA energy pricing.
Content Sources
- EIA -- Annual Energy Review Table 10.3: Wood Energy by Type (as of June 2026)
- Maine DOER -- Heating Fuel Price Survey (as of June 2026)
- USDA Forest Products Laboratory -- Wood Handbook (as of June 2026)