Solar Wood Dryer

[mopar969]

Do you want to dry your firewood faster? I found this one day from the University of Cornell, I have yet to build the Wood Dryer but I want to share this with everyone since so many have helped me on this forum. I never thought to use clear plastic as a tarp instead of a regular tarp. Please keep this post going about what you think and if you build one and how well it works.

http://www2.dnr.cornell.edu/ext/info/pubs/Harvesting/CC%20Accelerated%20Seasoning%20of%20Firewood.pdf

 

[stihly dan]

There not kidding about deteriorating. I did this and thought it was working well. But then it would fall apart and let rain water in. I would not do it again unless there was a uv resistant version.

 

[FLHX Storm]

Instead of using plastic, why not use these nylon reinforced clear tarps. Or for that matter, why not just use some heavy duty black tarps? If the idea is to raise the temperature black does tend to make things substantially hotter. It attracts light as well as heat where white reflects the same. Clear may have it's magnifying effects, but doesn't raise the temperatures enough without compromising the structural integrity of the plastic. Sure, if you had an application that required light like a greenhouse, then I could see using clear. Otherwise for this application, I would think black would be a better bet.

Of course you wouldn't have the same patina on the firewood as the firewood left out to dry naturally in the sun/wind/rain. But how important is having that patina anyway?

 

[7sleeper]

Has anyone ever stood in one of those green houses in summer? I'm sure it would be very easy and cheap to use one of those.

7

 

[greendohn]

My woodshed is wrapped in black. I can roll the sides up or down about 1/2 way.
I'm still working on the venting for the top of the walls. I've got the lumber together, needing the barn metal for the roof which I hope will allow it to breath better.
I use a tarp material that is used on the 'ground bins" at the local CO-OP. The stuff is very durable, showing no sign of breaking down. Very, very hot inside that shed when the sun shines on that black tarp.

 

[zogger]

I bet you could hit 150F (or more) easy in anything like a greenhouse structure in full sun in the summer. I know ours has pegged a 120 thermometer before when the power was out and no fans running. You could only stand a few minutes in there.

 

[haveawoody]

If you can find a cheap one a hoop house with clear plastic is the way to go.
Cover the floor with pallets and stack it to the rafters.
With just a small vent hole on each end of the hoop house, one near the bottom of one end and one near the top of the other end to naturally vent the temps will still get very hot and suck moisture out of the wood fast.

It's shocking how fast wood cures up in a hoop house as compared to drying stacks outdoors.
It's reliant on sunny days though so if you have a cloudy season wood in the hoop house will be only a little drier than outdoor stacks, but an average season of sunny days and outdoor wood will be on the way to dry but hoop house wood will be cured like it's been outdoors for years.

Down side to a solar wood kiln is yep you can make the wood to dry, sounds silly but try burning kiln dried anything and it burns way to fast and somewhat out of control.
Simple solution though is a month or so before you use your hoop house wood take both ends off the hoop house and let the natural moisture % back into the wood.

 

[mybowtie]

In the early 70's my dad had 6 cord of red oak cut off on our land in mid March. The wood was cut to 18" and stacked in two rows side by side with a little
air space between each stack. He then made a frame with 2x2's that had 4" of clearance on the top and 6" on the sides. The sides came half way down the stacks which were 6' high. Basically he made a tent around the stacks which were about 40" wide 6' high and around 20' long.

On one end he had one of those barn fans blowing thru the stacks. He would move the fan every other day to a different stack. Think there was 3 of them. He would only run the fan during sunny warm days. That red oak was so dam dry by fall, we had to mix it with some just cut maple to keep the stove from turning cherry red

 

[haveawoody]

mybowtie,

I had a similar experience with wood almost to dry to use in one of those car covers garageless Canadians use in the winter.
The mini hoop house had been used to park in for winter so the chore of removing car snow departs for years but one year the tarp on it finally broke down and was replaced with clear plastic since a new tarp set was almost the cost of a new entire set.

That winter it was also used to park cars is but wow did it ever get hot inside even in winter, snow melted for feet around it.
The next spring it became a solar kiln and in 6 months made about 1 1/2 cords of green sugar maple so dry it was crazy stove melting wood.
Since then it has become a place my wife starts garden veg for spring and get a month jump on the season outdoors.
I still think about filling it back up next time I need something like Black Locust in a hurry, then the wife says it's my little hoop house NO. LOL

 

[Bill Terry]

roof sheets

I use this sheeting in the uk..... Clear PVCu Corrugated Sheet 2.4m - PVC Corrugated Sheets & Trims - Roofing -Building Materials - Wickes

as mentioned the wood can be to dry and burns to fast, I have to mix the wood to slow it down in the burner.
my wood store is open all round, made from pellets,as well as the floor.Then i have clear corrugated sheets on the roof so the sun can see the pile. It does dry the wood pretty fast.

 

[mopar969]

Okay so since I am behind on cutting wood for this season, I decided to cover the wood with a dark colored tarp to heat it up to cure faster. I covered the wood completely however my friend told me to only just cove the top and maybe the back otherwise the moisture will get trapped and it wont cure faster instead it will remain wet. Is he correct? and should I cover the back or just the top of the wood if my friend is correct?

 

[dave_376]

Basically he is correct. Most of the moisture that comes out of the wood will condense on the tarp and then drip back onto your firewood. If you could completely suspend the tarp off the wood in a way that the water rolled down the inside of the tarp and to the ground it may dry faster. I would leave the windy side open along with the opposite end so the air can flow through. SO you would have 2 sides and the top covered and the front and back open.

 

[NSMaple1]

It will get hotter under something clear rather than something black.

And there needs to be room between the covering and the wood for some air circulation, and condensation to run off. dave_376 has some good thoughts re. open ends.

 

[philoshop]

Heat will get the water out of the wood. Air circulation gets it away from the wood so that it'll dry.

 

[Hddnis]

Use greenhouse film in place of clear plastic sheeting. It will last for years. I've had three year rated film that lasted seven years.




Mr. HE

 

[RiverRocket]

Here's what I built...Works great and it's inexpensive and durable..
I made mine 8'wide x 12'long x 8'high..Covered it with clear plastic...you can't stand in it for more than a couple minutes on a summer day...
How to build My 50 Dollar Greenhouse » The Door Garden

 

[sb47]

With summer temps hitting the century mark for about 4 months a year and little rain fall, I don’t need something like that.lol :cool2:

 

[Doug Fir]

Here's a collection of plans for solar firewood kilns:

Solar Wood Drying

The first one--from Virginia Tech--looks quite good to me. :msp_thumbup:

Doug