kiln drying

[jdboy9]

Anyone use a kiln to dry their firewood? I tend to find myself two years behind on firewood every year :monkey: I was thinking some kind of solar kiln type set-up I was going to build a wood shed anyway figured why not close it in all the way.

 

[ShoerFast]

Anyone use a kiln to dry their firewood? I tend to find myself two years behind on firewood every year :monkey: I was thinking some kind of solar kiln type set-up I was going to build a wood shed anyway figured why not close it in all the way.

Getting woods like maple elm and ash cut splite up and off the ground, covered but so air stihl passes through it should be well curred by fall.

Picking dead trees, cutting before they take on sap, or cutting them and splitting them as soon as you can should help season it by fall.

Oaks and other deanse hardwoods take a couple years.

 

[scottr]

Anyone use a kiln to dry their firewood? I tend to find myself two years behind on firewood every year :monkey: I was thinking some kind of solar kiln type set-up I was going to build a wood shed anyway figured why not close it in all the way.

jdboy9, these three threads from the search forum might help. http://www.arboristsite.com/search.php?searchid=1712537

 

[drmiller100]

I've been thinking on this a LOT.

clear plastic cover, like a greenhouse. Greenhouses don't have black covers. Black covers mean hot covers, not hot insides.

from there, you want higher temps, leading to lower relative humidities. which means at least some air flow.

I don't think there is really that much air in a pile of wood. So, it shouldn't take much of a breeze to move the air around.

 

[peterrum]

I was thinking the same thing however i would go with a solar kiln, no energy costs there, and put firewood in it when I don't have any lumber in it. It can't hurt, lower the MC and get a better burn in the woodstove.

 

[bassman]

as a greenhouse owner I can say that a simple poly inflated greenhouse will do this.
0c outside and plus 42c inside .
plus 30c outside and plus 56c inside

add a fan and you will bake out alot of moisture

 

[Zodiac45]

Getting woods like maple elm and ash cut splite up and off the ground, covered but so air stihl passes through it should be well curred by fall.

Picking dead trees, cutting before they take on sap, or cutting them and splitting them as soon as you can should help season it by fall.

Oaks and other deanse hardwoods take a couple years.

+1 The kiln idea is ok but you need too remember it's wind, more than heat that seasons the wood.
You need to get ahead of the heating curve. The wood I'm splitting now has been stacked and sitting for a year in quarters or halves. The stuff I'm cutting will be for 09-10. This gives you the seasoned wood, that burns hot and lasts, without excessive creosote buildup.

 

[joecool85]

as a greenhouse owner I can say that a simple poly inflated greenhouse will do this.
0c outside and plus 42c inside .
plus 30c outside and plus 56c inside

add a fan and you will bake out alot of moisture

You could even run the fan on a small 5w solar panel and it would only run when the sun is shining and the greenhouse is hot

I'm interested in building something like this eventually.

 

[drmiller100]

actually what dries wood is relative humidity, combined with absolute temperature.

for instance, if the relative humidity is 30 percent, and the temp is below freezing, limited drying will take place no matter how much air you blow around.

otoh, if RH is 30 percent, and temp is 125F, and you can get SOME air flow of any kind, it will dry fast.

 

[peterrum]

experiment

The effects of a solar kiln are another topic completely and have been covered by a number of threads on this site. What would be an interesting experiment though is to see if what you are proposing will work. I don't have a kiln but would try this if I did have one.

Cut two samples of wood from the same tree or trees. Leave some as rounds, some halved, some quartered. Lets say there is a face cord for each sample.

Sample one is left out to air dry and sample two is put in a kiln to dry. Lets check every month and see what the MC is.

After three months split the rounds or the halfs and see what the MC is inside.

This experiment could also be conducted in two stages, one during the summer months and one during the winter months.

Personally I think this would be a good experiment for someone. I believe that the kiln would will dry much faster for obvious reasons.

 

[joecool85]

The effects of a solar kiln are another topic completely and have been covered by a number of threads on this site. What would be an interesting experiment though is to see if what you are proposing will work. I don't have a kiln but would try this if I did have one.

Cut two samples of wood from the same tree or trees. Leave some as rounds, some halved, some quartered. Lets say there is a face cord for each sample.

Sample one is left out to air dry and sample two is put in a kiln to dry. Lets check every month and see what the MC is.

After three months split the rounds or the halfs and see what the MC is inside.

This experiment could also be conducted in two stages, one during the summer months and one during the winter months.

Personally I think this would be a good experiment for someone. I believe that the kiln would will dry much faster for obvious reasons.

I don't know about firewood, but I remember reading about someone drying wood in a month or two in a solar kiln to use it for making chairs and stuff, and that has to be dryer that firewood.

 

[jdboy9]

Well I'm going to try and construct one this summer which probably won't do me any good for this years wood but next year I would hope.

what I would really like to see happen is to take stuff I cut out of the woods in the spring usually all dead wood be able to be dry and ready to go by fall.

 

[joecool85]

Well I'm going to try and construct one this summer which probably won't do me any good for this years wood but next year I would hope.

what I would really like to see happen is to take stuff I cut out of the woods in the spring usually all dead wood be able to be dry and ready to go by fall.

That shouldn't be a problem at all. Dead wood that you cut in spring/summer can be ready by fall anyway if you have it stacked loosely in a shed to keep the water off but no walls so it still gets lots of wind.

If you build a good solar kiln with a fan setup and you split your wood and stack it loose, you should be able to take wet green wood in the spring and have firewood in 2-3 months (of good sunny weather, 3-5 months in maine). Of course, this is from the research I've done, not from personal experience, and nothing beats personal experience.

 

[Zodiac45]

actually what dries wood is relative humidity, combined with absolute temperature.

for instance, if the relative humidity is 30 percent, and the temp is below freezing, limited drying will take place no matter how much air you blow around.

otoh, if RH is 30 percent, and temp is 125F, and you can get SOME air flow of any kind, it will dry fast.

Yes you are correct Doc. My point was that you need airflow as much or more than just heat. Example: I began splitting this years wood over the weekend. It's been sitting in quarters and splits since fall with nothing more than a lumber tarp over the top. Many of the splits have seasoned quite nicely and are ready too burn. (which is a good thing because I just used the last of my barn wood). I'm sure those dry cold days along with the constant breeze around here turned the trick and with no heat (relatively) to speak of.

PS: and if it's not, I can just stick it in the oven of my cookstove for a spell before burning it! LOL