Sun or Wind?

[Standingdead]

Ok I gotta an idea. I'll place an old two side blackboard outside on a sunny calm day. One side facing the sun the other not. I'll wet both sides. On the shady side I'll ask my grandson to keep blowing on it till it dries. My son and I can referee to see what wins sun or wind. Course we will need some chairs and a beverage or two. Might also be a good idea to do this away from the house as my daughter in law will certainly over react to this experiment.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

And yet his wood seems dry enough to burn... Find someone who only gets sun and no wind to compare against ? Hmm... you could put tarps around a pile to block the wind perhaps, but I don't think anyone here will volunteer their pile for this experiment eh?

Ha! Yeah it sure is dry, he probably has a 25 year supply...... . Now why wood I wrap my stack with a tarp? that would keep the awesome hot sun off of it and keep it from drying.....Dennis is the man when it ones to having dry wood, but there is more than 1 way to skin a cat and every location on this globe is different from the rest, that is why there are so many variables and answers.......

 

[Corey]

Having my stacks basically in the shade, yet still having dry wood, I guess I'd be forced to choose wind. Though you're basically asking the same question as which is better...torque or horsepower...peanut butter or jelly...cookies or milk, etc.

Obviously you need air to dry a piece of wood, but the only way drying will take place is if that air is lower in humidity than the wood. The only way that will happen is if the sun creates air currents, causes clouds to form and rain to fall. Once the moisture is out of the air, it can heat up, attain lower humidity and dry the wood. So you really can't have one without the other.

 

[Paul L]

Split some fresh ponderosa pine this spring and piled it in two different places. One got more sun, one got more wind. I was shocked at how much more quickly the windy spot dried out. Of course we get howling winds here in the mountains and very low humidity.

 

[Applesister]

Im convined airflow is more critical in the evaporation equation.

Wind

 

[Gunny]

My god there is enough wind on these two pages to dry a serious amount of wood. Oh, yes Standingdead don't tell the daughter in law. Best part of the story!

 

[Lumber-Jack]

I'm sure a lot of firewood dealers believe that exposing the wood to a good wind will season it, that's why they leave the wood exposed in the back of the truck and drive so fast on their way to deliver it.

 

[tsquini]

My votes is for moving dry air.

1. Low humidity
2. Wind

 

[olddawgsrule]

My wood is in the shed, never sees sun.
It gets wind because of how it's orientated.

MHO.. neither really..
Humidity is our friend or enemy.

I have an old 'whole house fan' setup to move air when the days are dry.
This has served me well.

My intention, each season, is to setup ductwork under the pallets to move air evenly.
One season hopefully soon, I'll get around to doing it...
Ya, I'm hoping to build a simple kiln.

 

[cptoneleg]

Years try 3 wind no wind sun no sun 3 yrs

 

[TreePointer]

Years try 3 wind no wind sun no sun 3 yrs

Lots of experience with 3 years no sun here.

 

[PapaDave]

I tried stacking in a non-sunny area, and it didn't get a whole lot of wind either.
It dried, but not well.
That's when I came up with the plan to put it all out in the field where it gets sun and wind.
Oak dries well enough in 2 years or so to burn w/o sizzling (shhhh, don't tell Dennis).
More is gooder though.

 

[Kenster]

The hand driers in public bathrooms often have lost their heating elements but they will still dry your hands with moving air.
Now, try holding your hands under a heat lamp and see how long it takes to dry.

Moving air will win every time. If you have wind AND hot sun, so much the better. Two years ago, my big stack of fresh, wet, green water oak went to about 18% in eight months vs the usual three years thanks to placement that caught our brutal hot summer sun (over 100 days of 100+ degree temps that year AND strong prevailing winds out of the southwest.