Having talked about it at length last year - mostly after we found ourselves power and heating-less after the ice storm - but got by on bundles of rather expensive wood from Lowes and Stewarts, we finally ordered a decent amount of firewood last week.We ordered a half cord. A cord is a pile of stacked firewood sized 4 x 4 x 8 feet. It must be one of the strangest measurements ever devised. It is also far from an exact science - how you stack it and measure it is likely to affect significantly how much you have. I did two back-of-the-envelope calculations of this pile (it is two pieces deep) and one suggested we had 10% less than we ordered and another that we had about 40% less. Like I said, measurements are problematic. In any case, it was a lot cheaper than our previous purchases and it was delivered by a very nice man who managed to tip it within a few feet of where we wanted to stack it - so we are quite happy. Exile #3 and in the last stages Exile #4 helped me to make this rather pleasing arrangement ready for easy access (as long as I remember not to pile a huge pile of snow in front of it).
We had our first fire since then tonight - still burning the last of last year's firewood. We are now ready for winter (in this one respect at least) and with snow back in the forecast for the end of next week - we may not have too long to wait.
Presumably not be be confused with a length of rope, or a pair of trousers (pants) made from a ribbed cotton material. 4'x4'x8' does seems rather large for half a pair though. Would that be a trouser, or a trous? ;-)
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Is a half cord the same as a full cord, or indeed two half chords?
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Our half-cord should have been 4'x4'x4' or (more likely) 4'x8'x2'. Instead it's actually 2xbig-vaguely-triangular-stack-under-tree.
ReplyDeleteIt would be 'a pant' here - a bit scratchy though.
A fire of tree cords is not easily smokin'...
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