What Does Rick of Firewood Mean? And Much Do You Need?

Rick of wood: Fire has been, undoubtedly, the greatest invention of humanity ever. It is used in so many activities and so many ways that it becomes difficult to keep count.  From cooking to camping to turning unfit winter fit for drinking to protection from wild animals, you name it, and fire will be there. The most important among all the other uses, after cooking obviously, is using it for heating purposes.

Fire is used for heating purposes in camping and the fire berth of your halls. Wood is the primary requirement for fire, and a regular and healthy supply of wood is compulsory to make sure that your winters are warm and your camping is still in progress.

People living in cold regions or the winters must buy big lots of woods so that their fire does not die. There are many terms and measures of firewood prevalent in the market, and the whole market operates around these terms.

If you have been a consumer of firewood’s, then the chances are that you would be already aware of these terms, but if you are purchasing it for the first time, then you would not be aware of these measures, and these might confuse you a lot.

Today we will be diving deep into these terms and measures and will try to eliminate all the doubts you had previously about them.

After reading this article, you would be sure of one thing: how much wood to order and what terms to use.

Let us start, shall we?

What is a Cord of Firewood?

When we buy firewood from the firewood dealers, we generally pay for many kinds of wood arranged in a specific manner. But to know what we are paying for and how much we must pay, we need to understand some measurements. The first and the most important of these measurements is the cord of firewood.

A cord of firewood is the standard unit for the measurement of the stack of firewood. It is standard because it has fixed dimensions and thereby a fixed volume. Even if the dimensions are somewhat altered, the volume remains unchanged. This means that the volume is the standard to decide whether a lot of firewood can be called a cord of firewood or not.

A cord of firewood is any pile of wood with the volume being 128 cubic feet. Anything more than or less than that could not be called a cord of firewood. It is 4 feet wide, 4 feet high, and 8 feet long, making the total volume of 128 cubic feet. People generally prefer to buy firewood for their houses and camps in cords. The rates also of the firewood is set in terms of the cord.

What is a Rick of Wood?

A rick of wood or rick of firewood is also a unit of measurement of piles of logs. Most people, especially the firewood consumers, remain oblivious about this measurement of units even when they purchase them. Rick of wood is mostly known by the suppliers only. 

But what is a rick of wood? Rick of firewood is a measurement unit for piles of firewood, which is not a standardized unit. This means that firewood prices are first known in cords, and then prices of rocks are known.

Typically ricks of wood are 4 feet in height and 8 feet in length. Their width comprises only single logs, so their width equals the logs’ length, given that all logs are of uniform length.

Generally, the logs are cut in pieces of lengths of 12 inches, 18 inches, and 24 inches. This means that the rick’s width is either 12 inches, 16 inches, or 24 inches. Of all these variations in widths, a rick of wood with a width of 16 inches is the most common.

Rick of Wood V/s Cord of Wood

So, let us get into an even bigger and more confusing question that most people, especially consumers, do not happen to have any idea about. Let us know the difference between a rick of wood and a cord of wood.

Dimensions

A rick of firewood is not very different from a cord of firewood in terms of dimensions. Both units’ length and height are the same, i.e., 4 feet high and 8 feet long. What the difference is the width of both units.

While the cord’s width needs to be 4 feet, the width of the rick could be whatever the supplier feels like (generally 16 inches). The width of the rick of wood cannot exceed the width of the cord.

Volume

The volume of a cord of wood must be 128 cubic feet. But for a rick of wood, the volume can vary from 1/4th of the cord’s volume to 1/3rd of the cord’s volume to half of 128 cubic feet. But the volume of the rick of wood cannot exceed 128 cubic feet.

Weight

The weight of the cord of wood is greater than the weight of a rick. A cord of wood is generally 2750 lbs to 5000 lbs or more in weight (depending on how dense the wood is). Whereas the rick of wood is only 670 lbs to 2000 lbs in weight (depending on the length of the firewood and

its density).

Cost

A rick of wood would be less costly when compared to a cord of wood. The cost depends on the type of firewood, but the cord of wood of a type of wood would always be more costly than the rick of wood of that type.

Long-Lasting

Because the cord of wood contains more firewood than a rick of wood, it lasts for a longer duration than the rick of wood. But this also depends on the time of the year or your camping plans.

You might consume a full cord of wood in a few days in winter and be unable to finish a rick of wood in months in any other season. Also, your camping plans can result in your cord of wood getting finished within a short period.

We can conclude that a rick of wood is not a standard unit and that it is just a part of a cord of firewood. A cord contains several ricks, sometimes four, sometimes 3, or even 2.

What is a Face Cord?

A face cord is a rick with a width of 16 inches. Face cord means that it represents the face of the cord of wood. A face cord is one third in volume when compared to the full cord. This means that you must have three face cords to make one full cord. While a rick of wood is not a standard unit, a face cord is.

How Many Ricks of Wood Do You Require?

Again, it is a very subjective question, and everybody will have different answers to this. If you are a big household, you will certainly require more ricks for the same time compared to your requirement when you are a small one. 

If you have camping plans, then you will require more ricks of wood. And you would certainly need more wood if it is winter or lives in a freezing place. 

If you require three wood cords in winter, you will require nine ricks of wood (face cords). If you need only one cord of wood for your entire winter, you only require one face cord per month (e months of winter).

Storing rick of wood

It is easier to store a rick of wood than a cord of wood. This is because a cord of wood requires more space and may not fit into your house if you are a city dweller and do not have much space at your disposal. You can store them in the storeroom, the garage, or even out in the open.

Cost of a Rick of Wood

A rick of wood is cheaper than a cord of wood is easily accessible. You do not need to pay a hefty amount as you are required to buy a cord of wood. To own a cord of wood, you require anywhere between $120 to $180. To get rick of wood (face cord), you must pay $40 to $60.

The price of the ricks and the cords are dependent on the type of wood being purchased. If the wood being purchased is high in demand or is of high quality, you will have to pay more. Prices of a rick of wood (high-quality wood) can go as high as 133.3 dollars (for a face cord).

Conclusion

So today, we learned about some basic terms and measurements used in the firewood industry.

We got to know about what is a cord of wood, its dimensions, what is a rick of wood and also its dimensions, how a cord of wood is different from a rick of wood, how much do we have to pay for a rick of wood and many more things.

We got to learn about the face cord. It is the standard rick of wood in the market. I hope that after reading this article, all your doubts about the rick and cord of wood have been eliminated.