A face cord is any stack of wood that measures under the size of a full cord. A full cord of wood measures 128 cubic feet of wood.
The official standard measure of a full cord is 4-by-4-by-8-feet (being 4 feet high, by 4 feet wide, by 8 feet long). A log 4-foot long equals 48 inches.
Most fireplaces and wood stoves can only use up to 16-inch logs. Because of this problem smaller measurements were required, hence the term face cord. Face cords are usually 1/3 the width of a full cord; therefore it takes three face cords to equal one full cord of wood.
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