Units of Measurement

The amount of wood showing in the picture can be measured and defined by comparing its value with other fuels.

Units and Abbreviations

The amount of firewood is usually reported as solid cubic metres, stacked cubic metres or loose cubic metres which all have their own abbreviations. Loose cubic metre is sometimes called bulk cubic metre.

It is important to understand the units of measurement, so that no unnecessary misunderstandings occur when trading wood. Below are the units of measurement and their abbreviations.

Solid cubic metre

The amount of wood is reported differently in different situations. Solid cubic metre is used in statistics and in wood trading. Solid cubic metre means full load of wood matter. One solid cubic metre is 1 000 litres in liquid.

Stacked cubic metre

Stacked cubic metre is tightly stacked, 1m x 1m x 1m sized unit. It is usually used with wood chips.

Loose cubic metre

Chips and logs are usually sold in loose cubic metres. As the name suggests, in this case the wood is stacked loosely.

Read more here.

On the left side one stacked cubic metre of wood, and on the right side one loose cubic metre of wood.