AG offers reminders on sale of firewood

AUGUSTA – With the heating season here once again, Maine’s attorney general is reminding consumers of regulations pertaining to the sale of firewood. Under state law, firewood must be sold in one of three allowable units: standard cord, cubic foot, or loose-thrown wood.

A standard cord is a unit of measure of wood products 4 feet wide, 4 feet high and 8 feet long, or its equivalent, containing 128 cubic feet when the wood is well-stacked. A cubic foot is simply a unit of volume measuring 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 foot.

A cord of loose, unstacked wood occupies 180 cubic feet if the wood averages 12 or 16 inches in length, and 195 cubic feet if the wood averages 24 inches in length.

Maine law also requires a delivery of firewood to be accompanied by a delivery ticket that states the name of the seller, name of the purchaser, the delivery time, the quantity delivered, and the quantity upon which the price is based. The delivery ticket must always show whether the wood is sold by the standard cord, the cubic foot, or the loose-thrown cord