Interesting study about kiln dried wood

[agz124]

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplrn/fplrn254.pdf

 

[backpack09]

Soooo....

I guess we all need to build ourselves a kiln. Maybe not, but I think a homebrew solar kiln is in my near future.

 

[Robbie]

Looks like you could almost make this work with black plastic surrounding the wood pile.

My only concern would be some sort of vent system up high to allow the moisture to escape.



Robbie

 

[mtarbert]

Looks like you could almost make this work with black plastic surrounding the wood pile.

My only concern would be some sort of vent system up high to allow the moisture to escape.

Robbie

Robbie,
I'm thinking an enclosed wooden structure with re-cycled sliding glass doors with a solar powered exhaust fan. I have seen a design somewhere on this list.
Mike

 

[babalu87]

Besides the savings a reason for burning wood is to stick it up the ass of the energy companies, big oil or the middle east.
How are these kilns powered?
If its wood then it is a waste of the resource used for heating. If its oil, gas or electric......... DUH.
The only kiln for firewood that I could ever get behind would be a solar powered kiln.

Wood for building a home is different but as far as fire wood I cant see the point of a kiln, all you have to do is plan ahead and stack it.
If I was buying wood I wood always be a season ahead. ONE its alot cheaper, locally $160 for green and $250 for "ready to burn", thats a HUGE savings if one has the foresight to plan for 09 in 08 and so on.

 

[Gooserider]

Well, it looked to me like the kilns used in the original paper were heated w/ some sort of fuel, it sounded like they were using units really designed for regular lumber. I would agree that the use of a fuel powered kiln is questionable economy at best, especially for the home burner, maybe less so for the guy making that $2K/cord stuff they sell in the grocery store.

However I could see advantages for making a solar kiln - at least some of the plans I've seen looked like minimal cost to build, and given the many folks in damper climates that have trouble getting wood to season completely in only 9-12 months (many of them hardwood burners) it seems like a good idea to accelerate the drying process. I suspect it would also help "debug" wood that was infested w/ wood munching bugs. It might be especially helpful for those with space limitations that keep them from being able to store 2-3 years ahead - build a structure that can function as both kiln and woodshed, and fill it w/ green wood in the spring time, have dry in the fall...

Gooserider

 

[G-rott]

Goose I like the wood shed /soalar kiln idea... two birds and all that. The design could be like many large comercial kilns with roling cars/carts for the wood. Roll the full cart out to the wood shed area and fill a new one in the kiln for later, use the dry wood then repeat. Quicker tur on the drying process.

On a side note some solar kilns don't require any power, they are slower but work on air flow and keeping the wood out of the elements.

Garett

 

[Nofossil]

I've contemplated the idea of putting baseboard radiators under my boiler room woodpiles. With a little cleverness, I think I could get some additional drying effect as well as heating a pile of thermal mass in the basement. I have two piles, each with a weeks worth of wood. I don't know how hot I could get the wood, but it wouldn't be wasted energy.

Any thoughts?

 

[Gooserider]

I've contemplated the idea of putting baseboard radiators under my boiler room woodpiles. With a little cleverness, I think I could get some additional drying effect as well as heating a pile of thermal mass in the basement. I have two piles, each with a weeks worth of wood. I don't know how hot I could get the wood, but it wouldn't be wasted energy.

Any thoughts?

Initial reaction to the thought of a heater under the wood was not positive, but a baseboard doesn't get that hot, so I don't think ignition would be a problem. OTOH, I don't know how much good it would accomplish - hopefully your wood is pretty dry before you start, so I don't know how much additional drying you'd get. I also don't think it would make a great deal of difference in terms of ease of ignition, at least I don't notice any real difference between loading the stove w/ wood that I've just dragged in from outside and wood that's been inside for long enough to be up to room temp.

The only possible issue I could see is that if you do start getting significant drying is that most units are designed to optimally burn wood that's around 20% - if you get it down to a lot less you may start running into the overfire hazard people mention when burning pallets and construction wood. This might be possible with the wood on the bottom of the stacks, which would be seeing the most heat and sitting the longest...

Bottom line is that I don't think it would do a lot of good, and might possibly do harm from overdrying.

However this is just my gut reaction, I haven't tried it so I can't say for sure.

Gooserider

 

[Nofossil]

Initial reaction to the thought of a heater under the wood was not positive, but a baseboard doesn't get that hot, so I don't think ignition would be a problem. OTOH, I don't know how much good it would accomplish - hopefully your wood is pretty dry before you start, so I don't know how much additional drying you'd get. I also don't think it would make a great deal of difference in terms of ease of ignition, at least I don't notice any real difference between loading the stove w/ wood that I've just dragged in from outside and wood that's been inside for long enough to be up to room temp.

The only possible issue I could see is that if you do start getting significant drying is that most units are designed to optimally burn wood that's around 20% - if you get it down to a lot less you may start running into the overfire hazard people mention when burning pallets and construction wood. This might be possible with the wood on the bottom of the stacks, which would be seeing the most heat and sitting the longest...

Bottom line is that I don't think it would do a lot of good, and might possibly do harm from overdrying.

However this is just my gut reaction, I haven't tried it so I can't say for sure.

Gooserider

I've not seen the overfiring phenomenon, but it's something to think about. My hope is that I would alternate woodpiles, so each pile gets to sit on top of 180 degree baseboard units for a week before being burned. Wouldn't dry would that was green, but so far I've always wanted the wood to be dryer than it has been.

Kiln drying is an interesting alternative, but I'd have to figure out how to minimize extra handling.

 

[seaken]

Initial reaction to the thought of a heater under the wood was not positive, but a baseboard doesn't get that hot, so I don't think ignition would be a problem. OTOH, I don't know how much good it would accomplish - hopefully your wood is pretty dry before you start, so I don't know how much additional drying you'd get. I also don't think it would make a great deal of difference in terms of ease of ignition, at least I don't notice any real difference between loading the stove w/ wood that I've just dragged in from outside and wood that's been inside for long enough to be up to room temp.

The only possible issue I could see is that if you do start getting significant drying is that most units are designed to optimally burn wood that's around 20% - if you get it down to a lot less you may start running into the overfire hazard people mention when burning pallets and construction wood. This might be possible with the wood on the bottom of the stacks, which would be seeing the most heat and sitting the longest...

Bottom line is that I don't think it would do a lot of good, and might possibly do harm from overdrying.

However this is just my gut reaction, I haven't tried it so I can't say for sure.

Gooserider

I've not seen the overfiring phenomenon, but it's something to think about. My hope is that I would alternate woodpiles, so each pile gets to sit on top of 180 degree baseboard units for a week before being burned. Wouldn't dry would that was green, but so far I've always wanted the wood to be dryer than it has been.

Kiln drying is an interesting alternative, but I'd have to figure out how to minimize extra handling.

Wood that is too dry will off-gas quickly and load the burn chamber with too much volatile gas. This can cause all sorts of problems, one of which is overfiring/overheating of interior or exterior panels. The best wood is about 20% moisture content in the modern wood stove. The moisture content is important to the balance inside the stove. Any kiln dried wood should be monitored with a moisture meter if the wood is being dried for a modern wood stove. Some commercial applications/appliances allow for drier wood sources. The old fashioned method of seasoning firewood is still the most effective for our consumer market appliances. Cut, split, stack and air-dry for one year, on average.

Sean