Heated shed?

[Josh Carmack]

I have been toying with the idea of building a shed large enough to hold a chord or two at a time that is totally insulated and sealed. After building said shed, I would then use a heat exchanger and a fan to bring the temperature of said shed up to as high as I could get it to maintain itself. I would then use a small exhaust fan to slowly draw air off the top of the shed to exhaust outside. My thinking is if I could insert green wood into the shed, and heat for a week or four I may have usable firewood in much less time than allowing it to sit under the barn for an entire year. Any thoughts, tips ideas comments?

 

[Oldman47]

I think you are being way too optimistic but forget what I think. I am definitely pessimistic.

 

[JR4AL]

I am doing something simmilar with a small green house. I cut soffet vents in the front and added an attic fan in th middle of the back wall. I felted the floors and set crates on topof the felt. There are built in shelves running verticalwith the walls that I have log cabin style stacks on the shelves and standard stacks on the pallets. Roof is tin, sides, back and front are fiberglass. I added a pull swich light to see at night and an outlet for whatever I may need. I hope this set up becomes a virtual kiln in the 95+ degrees days we have here in July and August. We shall see.

 

[beatlefan]

My son wants to build a wood shed with a dehumidifier in it. He thinks he could season a cord in a fraction of the time it normally takes. I think it might actually work.

 

[blades]

But running that dehumidifier would negate the fire purpose in the first place on a cost basis.

 

[billb3]

That would end up being some awful expensive firewood.
Pretty much negating the (generally universal ) purpose of burning wood to save money.

 

[TedyOH]

Sounds like a lot of work and a lot of money for an experiment, now if you're retired, loaded and bored go for it.

 

[BoiledOver]

I have been toying with the idea of building a shed large enough to hold a chord or two at a time that is totally insulated and sealed. After building said shed, I would then use a heat exchanger and a fan to bring the temperature of said shed up to as high as I could get it to maintain itself. I would then use a small exhaust fan to slowly draw air off the top of the shed to exhaust outside. My thinking is if I could insert green wood into the shed, and heat for a week or four I may have usable firewood in much less time than allowing it to sit under the barn for an entire year. Any thoughts, tips ideas comments?

The same affect can be achieved (with a creosote issue created) by burning the wood immediately after it is felled, bucked and split. Burning firewood to dry firewood, IMO, is a silly thing to do. Our environment will give us great results over time at no cost in dollars or firewood. Being that some folks who heat with wood do not have sufficient storage space for 15 cords, the solar kiln option would be a good consideration. Less financial outlay than a shed, no cost to run and has a proven track record.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Do you not have enough space to store a few years worth of wood outside?

If you get fully seasoned wood in a years time "under a barn", if you put it outside, it would be much quicker.

 

[Josh Carmack]

Well, it was very usable in a year, obviously the longer the better. My current problem is this. I have burned wood in a fisher stove or similar all my life.We burned anything from 4 years old to freshly cut. Due to collar failure and resulting house fire, I'm on my first season burning wood in an OWB. Wood that would have burned fine in my fisher tends to cause massive amounts of buildup in my furnace. I'm down to about 3 or four weeks worth of somewhat dry wood, and after that I'm on to wood that has been split for less than 2 months. It's so green the simple addition of two or three pcs to my furnace will cause the creosote to stick the gravity damper shut. If it weren't for that, I'd simply toss it in with some dry and let er rip. I currently have about 10 cord under the barn. 6' high 50' long stacked 3 rows deep, it's actually more than that because i typically cut 18" to 20" long. I'm not big on stacking outside. Does the drying effectiveness outside outweigh the weather exposure?

 

[Josh Carmack]

I should add that before we installed the OWB we burned about 2 or 3 cords a winter. Now, the boiler is powering our domestic water, clothes dyer, and house heat, and has already burned through what would have lasted most of our winter. Granted, a decent amount has been dumped into the basement and atmosphere through uninsulated piping runs. I have around 8000' sqft of barn, but I rather enjoy parking tractors and trucks under it vs stacking wood in there. The barn is open on three sides. I stack my wood in the middle of the open section, from one end to the other. While the wood is stacked in three tight rows, that stack of three rows is otherwise open on all 4 sides.

 

[beatlefan]

Sounds like a lot of work and a lot of money for an experiment, now if you're retired, loaded and bored go for it.

It was just a comment guys. I've got 12 cords c/s/s and have no plans to build a shed with a dehumidifier.

 

[Jags]

Does the drying effectiveness outside outweigh the weather exposure?

Yes. Sun and wind are the two biggest factors in drying firewood. Stack that stuff outside till it is dry. Then move a years worth into the shed or barn for this years fuel to keep the elements off of it.