A quarter cord of firewood is 32 cubic feet of stacked wood, about 4 feet high, 6 feet long and 16 inches deep. It’s one fourth of a full cord (128 cubic feet). For a household that burns once or twice a week, it’s a comfortable amount. For someone heating with a stove every day, it won’t last long.
Here’s what that looks like in real life, how long it lasts, and when you should buy a bigger order.
Quarter Cord Dimensions
A full cord is a stack 4 feet high, 4 feet wide and 8 feet long: 128 cubic feet. A quarter cord is a quarter of that volume, 32 cubic feet. The way we build ours, it measures roughly 4 feet high by 6 feet long and 16 inches deep, made mostly of 16-inch pieces. Do the math (4 x 6 x 1.33) and you get 32 cubic feet.
| Measure | Volume | Typical stack |
|---|---|---|
| Full cord | 128 cu ft | 4′ x 4′ x 8′ |
| Half cord | 64 cu ft | 4′ x 4′ x 4′ (with 16″ pieces, depth varies) |
| Quarter cord | 32 cu ft | about 4′ x 6′ x 16″ |
If those terms get confusing, our post on face cord vs. full cord clears up the usual mix-ups. A “face cord” is the one most often sold and also the one most often misunderstood, because its depth changes with the length of the logs.
How Long Does a Quarter Cord Last?
It depends on how you burn, how big your space is, and how well your stove or fireplace is built. We can’t give you a single number, and anyone who does is guessing. But here’s how it tends to play out:
- Occasional fireplace use, once or twice a week: A quarter cord can carry you through a good part of the season, sometimes all of it if you only light it on weekends and holidays.
- Supplemental heat in the evenings: Expect it to cover a stretch of weeks, not months.
- Primary heat: A quarter cord is a top-up, not a plan. Look at a half cord, a face cord or more. Our winter firewood guide walks through how to estimate your total.
Our product page puts it simply: if you burn once or twice a week, a quarter cord is plenty.
What Affects How Fast You Burn It
Your climate
A South Carolina winter and a Minnesota winter are different animals. Colder weather means more burning, and more burning means smaller stacks vanish faster.
Your appliance
A modern EPA-certified stove gets more heat from each log than an open fireplace, which sends a lot of heat up the chimney. Same wood, very different results.
The wood itself
Dry wood burns hotter and cleaner. Kiln-dried firewood is under 20% moisture, so you’re paying for wood, not water. If you’re comparing options, read kiln-dried vs. seasoned firewood. Species matters too. Dense hardwoods like hickory pack more heat into the same volume, which we cover in is hickory good firewood.
How you burn
Burning a small hot fire in the evening uses a lot less than keeping a stove running around the clock. How often you light it is the biggest factor of all.
Quarter Cord, Half Cord or Face Cord?
Here’s how we’d steer a customer:
| If you… | Consider |
|---|---|
| Light a fire a few times a month | Bins or a Quarter Cord |
| Burn once or twice a week | Quarter cord |
| Burn most evenings | True Half Face Cord or Face Cord of Kiln Dried Wood |
| Want to try before committing | A single bin |
The True Half Face Cord is stacked 4 feet wide and 4 feet tall, 12 to 16 inches deep depending on wood size. It’s a good middle step if a quarter cord is likely to run out in midwinter.
Where Do You Put a Quarter Cord?
A stack 4 feet tall and 6 feet long fits against a garage wall, along a fence, or on a rack on the patio. Keep it off the ground and covered on top, with the sides open so air moves through. We cover the details in how to store firewood outside. If you’d like a rack made for it, the Woodhaven 4 ft Firewood Rack is listed as holding a quarter cord, and our firewood rack size guide helps with other sizes.
Is Buying by the Quarter Cord Good Value?
Price per cubic foot usually drops as the order gets bigger, so a bigger order is generally cheaper per unit of wood. The reason to buy a quarter cord is practical: you get a real stack, delivered, without having to store a lot or spend a lot at once. It’s the right size for plenty of households. Current pricing is on the Quarter Cord product page. Shipping is free during our seasonal sale.
Beware of anything sold as a “quarter cord” without dimensions. Ask for the stack size. If the seller can’t tell you, the number means nothing.
A Few Tips to Make a Quarter Cord Go Further
You can stretch any stack with a few habits. Burn smaller, hotter fires instead of letting logs smolder; a smoldering fire wastes wood and builds up creosote in the chimney. Use the right size split for the job, with smaller pieces for quick evening fires and bigger ones only when you want a long burn. Keep the wood dry, because damp logs spend their energy boiling off water instead of heating your room. And close the damper or air control when the fire is out, so warm air isn’t pulled up the chimney all night.
It also helps to keep a few bundles of kindling next to the stack. Lighting a fire quickly means you waste fewer logs coaxing it along. If you’re new to this, we wrote up how much kindling you need and what works best.
Who Buys a Quarter Cord?
In our experience, it’s usually one of a few kinds of customers. There’s the fireplace family that lights up on weekends and holidays and doesn’t want to store a big pile. There’s the person with a small yard, a townhouse patio or limited storage. There’s the new stove owner who wants to learn how their stove behaves before ordering a season’s worth. And there’s the backup-heat customer who burns during cold snaps and power outages. If that sounds like you, a quarter cord fits.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many cubic feet are in a quarter cord?
32 cubic feet, one fourth of a 128 cubic foot full cord.
How many logs are in a quarter cord?
It varies with split size, so there’s no honest single number. A quarter cord of mostly 16-inch pieces is a real stack, much more than a few bundles.
How big is a quarter cord of wood?
Ours is roughly 4 feet high, 6 feet long and 16 inches deep.
Is a quarter cord the same as a face cord?
No. A face cord is 4 feet high and 8 feet long with a depth equal to the log length, so with 16-inch logs it’s one third of a full cord. A quarter cord is smaller than that.
How much space do I need to store a quarter cord?
About 4 feet of height by 6 feet of length, and about 16 inches of depth. Leave a little extra room around it for airflow.
Can a quarter cord heat a house for the winter?
Not for most homes. It suits occasional fires and supplemental heat. If wood is your main heat, you’ll want more.
Can I order more later?
Yes, and many customers do. Starting with a quarter cord is a good way to see the wood quality before you buy a bigger stack.
Bottom Line
If you burn a couple of times a week, a quarter cord is the right-sized order. If you’re not sure, start there. You can always add more. Browse our Heating Firewood or go straight to the Quarter Cord of Kiln Dried Wood.
