A cord is not always a cord - know what you are getting
Posted on Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Comparing the cost of firewood is much easier for consumers if they base the quantity they buy on a measurement known as the cord, according to a press release from Attorney General Dustin McDaniel.
The Arkansas Bureau of Standards has imposed precise regulations stipulating all firewood sold in the state must meet standard measurement requirements and must be sold only as a cord, fractions of a cord, or by cubic feet, McDaniel said. A cord is 128 cubic feet. Stack and measure the pile to be certain its a cord. Each of the two measurements below are cords. 4 feet wide, 4 feet high, and 8 feet long (4 X 4 X 8 = 128 ); or 2 feet wide, 4 feet high and 16 feet long (2 X 4 X 16 = 128 ).
Any combination of width times height times length (in feet ) that equals 128 cubic feet qualifies as a cord of firewood.
McDaniel said consumers should steer clear of ads that offer firewood in undependable terms, such as "by the truckload," "face cord, ""rack" or "pile."
Besides the attorney general, chimney sweep David Lewis also has some suggestions for fireplaces and stoves.
Hard woods such as hickory provide more heat, but pine will work, especially if someone has free pine, Lewis, owner of We Sweep in Rogers, said. The secret, he said, is to buy the wood ahead of time and let it dry for one year before burning it.
Well-seasoned, dry, logs will produce more heat and will also produce less creosote, a sticky substance that burns very easily and can cause chimney and house fires, he said.
Wet, unseasoned logs are 90 percent moisture. By waiting a year, they should dry to about 25 percent, the ideal moisture level, Lewis said. For every 5 percent of moisture above that level, you lose 10 percent of the heat value of the wood 50 percent can go up the chimney as steam.
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