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Cordwood - Firewood
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With increasing prices for heating, firewood provides an alternative to
electric, gas, and oil heat. Cordwood is sold by the "cord"
which is a stack of wood equal to 128 cubic feet, minus a small
allowance for airspace between the logs.
Pennsylvania requires that all cordwood be sold as a specific
volume in cubic feet and designated as a portion of a cord. In other
words, 32 cubic feet of firewood is ¼ of a cord. Since wood burner
and fireplace logs aren't sold in 4-foot
lengths, volume calculations can be a bit difficult.
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FULL CORD OF WOOD
1 cord of tightly stacked firewood =
4 feet x 4 feet x 8 feet =
128 cubic feet
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Firewood is also sold by the face cord - a stack of wood 8 ft long
and 4 ft high, with logs of different lengths. The length
of the individual logs will determine the actual volume contained in the face cord
of wood.
If logs are 24 inches long, a face
cord contains ½ cord of wood. And if logs are 16 inches long, a face
cord contains 1/3 cord of wood. Therefore, a full cord with 16-inch
long logs would be a firewood stack 4
feet high x 24 feet long. Air space in most piles averages
twenty-five to thirty percent.
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Heat value
Hardwoods (beech, hickory, oak, and locust)
are much denser than softwoods and have better heat value.
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HEAT VALUE RANK OF CORDWOOD
1.
White Oak
2. Black Locust
3. Shagbark Hickory
4. Sugar Maple
5. Beech
6. Red Oak
7. White Ash
8. Red Maple
9. Black Walnut
10. Cherry
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Firewood characteristics
Ash is often called the "Firewood of
Kings" since it burns well even when it's green (freshly cut). Some
types of wood are just nicer to burn since they're easier to catch
on fire, they burn slowly and don't pop or spark.
Most woods high in resin content (like pine, spruce, and fir)
aren't used in the fireplace or woodburner, since resin build-up inside a chimney
can lead to a chimney fire. But no matter what type of wood is burned, it's important to
practice good maintenance by having your chimney periodically swept
and inspected.
Applying ratings to the overall quality of firewood is open to debate, but
the categories below will give you a good idea of how firewood
rates.
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Split log of cherry cordwood
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| Rating |
Cordwood |
EXCELLENT |
Oak, beech, sugar maple, hickory, ash |
GOOD |
Black locust, black cherry, black walnut, red maple |
FAIR |
White pine, sweet gum, elm, poplar |
POOR |
Spruces |
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