Cord of wood - Definition please

[TarmSolo30+Storage]

I'm new here. Been lurking for a week or so, finally decided to raise my head.
When you guys refer to X cords of wood are you referring to what we call a "bush cord" ie. 4' by 4' by 8' or a "face Cord" ie. 16" by 4' by 8' In other word 3 face cords equals 1 bush cord.
It just seems when I read annual consumptions of "13 Cord" or "20 Cord" it seems HUGE if the unit of measure is a Bush Cord.
BTW, my Tarm is not yet in operation so I have no personal experience on the consumption side of things.

 

[Nofossil]

I'm new here. Been lurking for a week or so, finally decided to raise my head.
When you guys refer to X cords of wood are you referring to what we call a "bush cord" ie. 4' by 4' by 8' or a "face Cord" ie. 16" by 4' by 8' In other word 3 face cords equals 1 bush cord.
It just seems when I read annual consumptions of "13 Cord" or "20 Cord" it seems HUGE if the unit of measure is a Bush Cord.
BTW, my Tarm is not yet in operation so I have no personal experience on the consumption side of things.

Welcome to the forum and to the boiler room. A cord is 128 cubic feet - 4x4x8. Some folks burn a lot of wood. I think you'll find that most with gasifiers are burning considerably less, although some of us get carried away and keep the house in a sauna-like temperature range and heat the entire outdoors as well, using a greenhouse as a heat exchanger. Some folks are also going through learning curve issues and getting things dialed in.

I think it's fair to say that a properly configured gasifier should deliver somewhere around 50-60% of the theoretical maximum fuel value as usable heat. That works out to something like 10-15 million BTUs per cord, or about what you'd get from burning 100 gallons of fuel oil. All rough figures here, but should get you in the ballpark.

 

[slowzuki]

Locally, farm houses with old wood central heat burn between 7 - 16 full cords, yes, I know, its crazy.

 

[mikeyny]

Someone please correct me if i am wrong here. The official cord measurement is 128 cubic ft of wood but there are many ways to stack it. The cord is actually measured with round log length wood. A stack of 4 ft long logs piled 4 ft high stacked in a row 8 ft long. No matter how many times you re-stack it , you may come up with a different amount of wood. If you split it, stack it and measure it you will be disapointed. I takes up much less space. So the actual measurement is quite inaccurate most of the time. I think I am right on this but, as my quote at the bottom says "I thought I made a mistake but i was wrong". So you figure that one out.

Mike

 

[wsurfer49]

Exactly! A cord of logs, even split is a relative measurement. Cut, split and carefully stacked might be a much greater amount of wood than round and loosely stacked.

I guess it is the best measure for now. I had heard proposals for selling firewood by weight but if you don't factor in moisture content then that would be even more inaccurate. I know how I stack my wood and that helps me judge my wood consumption and will give me some measure when I get my furnace installed. It is for now the accepted standard, 128 cubic feet. Now a face cord, there is a rather nebulous measurement. Rob

 

[webbie]

4x4x8 or 128 cubic feet loose stacked.....
However, that is meant to define 85 SOLID cubic feet or approx that....if such a thing ever existed!

The 85 corrects for all the air spaces and short logs.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

. . . some of us get carried away and keep the house in a sauna-like temperature range and heat the entire outdoors as well, using a greenhouse as a heat exchanger.

Maybe the reason Eric's neighbors are so happy with his gassifier is not the lack of smoke afterall! Maybe they are getting some 'second-hand heat' radiation off the greenhouse glass at night :bug:

Some folks are also going through learning curve issues and getting things dialed in.
.

When I was young, we burned 20 Full Cord a year in an old, unisulated farmhouse with two wood stoves. And there was still frost on the inside of my bedroom window many mornings! I've graduated to a wood fired hydronic that looks like it's about 10 Full cord the first year. I suspect as I move along the learning curve (quit over-filling/starving for air, better wood, solar&storage I will use less.

Bush Cord?? Never heard that before. NYS weights and measures says a full cord is 128 ft3, and if you sell by the face cord you must state the length of cut on a 4' X 8' face

Jimbo

 

[Eric Johnson]

I shut down and drained the greenhouse loop before the last deep freeze, and noticed a big drop in wood consumption. Finishing the insulation on the pipe run through the (now unheated) greenhouse made a big difference as well. No surprise there.

I have a complex relationship with firewood. Notwithstanding nofossil's disapproval, I think ten cords per season is a pretty reasonable goal for my situation. I like to cut and split about twice that much over the course of a summer, but I'm not going to sell firewood and my allocated space behind the barn is all full up.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

Hey, I'm here to help. You can store some at my place ;-)

 

[Eric Johnson]

Our woodlot is just south of town, Jimbo. Stop by anytime when the ground is clear I'll take care of you.