One pound of wood is one pound of wood. The density of wood, pounds per cubic foot, will differ depending on the species you use as firewood. Wood density will vary at different moisture contents; unless you know at which moisture content it was determined, it is not helpful. To calculate the density, you need to know the "basic" specific gravity of the wood species. This is the specific gravity number where the wood is at its lightest weight, oven-dried and contains 0% moisture.
volume(cubic feet) x Specific Gravity(Basic) x weight of one cubic foot of water = weight in lbsIt is easy to Google what the basic specific gravity of a certain species is.
The weight of one cubic foot of water = 62.4 lbs What one pound of dry wood (0%MC) can produce = 8600 Btu's
85 * 0.41 * 62.4 = 2174.64 lbsSince this is all dry wood, this cord could potentially produce the following:
2174.64 * 8600Btu/lb = 18696400 Btu's 18.7 million Btu's
volume(c f) x Specific Gravity(B) x 62.4 *(1 + MC/100)Since, most likely, the firewood you are burning will contain approximately 20% moisture after being air dried:
85 * 0.41 * 62.4*(1 + 20/100) = 85 * 0.41 * 62.4 * 1.2 = 2609.568 lbsSo now you are thinking more pounds per cord = more Btu's!! Let's make it heavier by adding more water!!
8600 * 0.83 = 7138 Btu's @ 20% MC 2609.85 * 7138 = 18629109.3 Btu's = 18.6 MBtu's.That is close to the same as the previous result @ 0 MC of 18696400 Btu's = 18.7 MBtu's