Is this crazy???

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Binny

New Member
Sep 26, 2011
26
Hudson Vally NY
In my backyard I have started my woodpile. 4ft high x 4ft wide. It goes on for about 60-70 ft and i have a bunch more to stack. Right now I have the top covered with black 6mil plastic open on all sides. I was thinking in may I would wrap the whole thing( Sides and Top ) in black plastic and put 8 in vent ( used round ductwork I have left over ) every 10 feet to act like a chimney so moisture could escape. I figure if this baked in the sun from may till sept I would have bone dry wood. The temps in there would have to get to 150 easy right? Like a sun Kiln? Or am I just bat chit crazy?
 
In my backyard I have started my woodpile. 4ft high x 4ft wide. It goes on for about 60-70 ft and i have a bunch more to stack. Right now I have the top covered with black 6mil plastic open on all sides. I was thinking in may I would wrap the whole thing( Sides and Top ) in black plastic and put 8 in vent ( used round ductwork I have left over ) every 10 feet to act like a chimney so moisture could escape. I figure if this baked in the sun from may till sept I would have bone dry wood. The temps in there would have to get to 150 easy right? Like a sun Kiln? Or am I just bat chit crazy?
Well, I think you are a bit crazy, but then most of us on this forum are;lol If you can, just wait 2 years with it top covered and it will be fine. If you are in a hurry, then, well, hell, give a try.......that's new a one on me, so I'm sure as heck not going to say that it won't work.
 
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Im thinking yes. LOL I think as long as I have the vents it wouldnt be an issue with moisture. Anyone know anyone who has done this.
 
Im thinking yes. LOL I think as long as I have the vents it wouldnt be an issue with moisture. Anyone know anyone who has done this.
I can't picture it working but what do I know, if you try it let us know.
 
I don't think it would work. Actually think it'd be counter productive unless you had some sort of exhaust fans on those vents to pull the moisture out. Maybe create two stacks, 10ft long each, and try one simply covered and the other with one of your vents and take a moisture measurements. Tenting with vents would probably work though...similar to having a ridge vent on a house.
 
Actually I was just reading posts in another room on this forum and people said it worked. Hmm I might try it.
 
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Take some apple or banana peel and put it in a zip lock bag and set it in your window sill for a few weeks and then decide if this is a good idea.
 
Moisture would condense inside the plastic.
You would have to set it up similar to a dry kiln, with an airspace, and exhaust blowers, which could possibly be solar powered.
Unless you had exhaust fans , and an airspace I doubt it's going to work .
If you built a platform three or 4 feet off the ground on stilts , and let air flow in the bottom, and airspace around the sides, and top , vents at the top , it would probably work .
That's how you would air dry lumber , but of course the lumber would be stickered .

Oh, forgot to mention, you would need a vapor barrier on the ground, with good, run off
 
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In my backyard I have started my woodpile. 4ft high x 4ft wide. It goes on for about 60-70 ft and i have a bunch more to stack. Right now I have the top covered with black 6mil plastic open on all sides. I was thinking in may I would wrap the whole thing( Sides and Top ) in black plastic and put 8 in vent ( used round ductwork I have left over ) every 10 feet to act like a chimney so moisture could escape. I figure if this baked in the sun from may till sept I would have bone dry wood. The temps in there would have to get to 150 easy right? Like a sun Kiln? Or am I just bat chit crazy?
You are on here obsessing about your woodstack, so yes, you are CRAZY just like the rest of us....

This is an interesting idea, I'm not sold on it completely but it does kinda sound like it could possibly work. You'd need a ton of sun exposure, and lots of hot weather too. I still think that (short of an actual solar kiln) the "split and sit fer two to three" works the very best for me.........but if you do try it out, start a post and take pics, and readings, and keep us informed on how it works out.
 
Instead of wrapping tight, why not do a close system where you could still use your vents, but tent the plastic and allow pooling pockets where condensation run off would end up. Put some small perforations in the plastic at those sags and weight it down with some small rocks so the wind won't be too much of a factor. Then you're removing the vapor and the condensation. I've attached a laughable diagram to illustrate what I'm talking about. Of course, you could just use a dark tarp and tie it to stakes allowing some air to get in. Wind would be an issue then and you'd like recapture some of the evaporation from the ground.
 

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I think you'd be better off not covering the sides. Covering will increase the temperature, but will also increase the humidity in the stacks. Vents will allow some of the humidity out but not as much as would get out with no plastic covering the stacks. On balance, I think covering tightly, even with vents, will do more harm than good.
 
If you vented the entire stack while closed (air push one end, air pull the other end), you would have to provide a PRT (pulse recurrent time) of about 50% and on time of 20 minutes. Then off time of 20 minutes, which would allow the sun to re-heat the stack. Good luck. Or just leave the sides open for two years and forget the venting thing.
 
If you want it to dry real fast, throw some gas on it and light it ;)
 
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condensation...
 
We are an obsessed crew here.... talking about vents, kilns, etc... for our firewood stacks. Holy cow! Just split it, stack it, wait a couple years, burn it. Repeat.
 
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Crazy,obessed, etc. ??? I don't know about that.
We ask questions here because we want input from ,others
 
Crazy,obessed, etc. ??? I don't know about that.
We ask questions here because we want input from ,others


My input.. your efforts would be better spent cutting and splitting and scrounging MORE so as to be further ahead. TIME since split will cure all wood.
 
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Well it is clear that an experiment is in order. I Will deff not use any kind of fans or gadgets. Black plastic and a small piece of round duct work is cheap and would be the only things to be used. I will do this win a 4x4x4 pallet - maybe a full cord and see what happens. I will start it may first. As far as being crazy, obessesd, etc well its funny because wood burning is new to me. I just got a Kumma Vaporfire furnace and those are the words my girl seem to use when describing the relationship between me and my furnace to people. Along with " unnatural "
 
I should clarify my prior comment, I include myself in the "obsessed" crew
 
I'm not obsessed, I can quit any time I want...
 
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Binny, you are on a good track with your ideas, but........... What I do is leave the stacks open to the air for about two years. Then I get a 5 ft. wide piece of 6 mil black plastic Tack staple with a hammer stapler about one and half ft at bottom on one side, then up and over and tack staple the bottom of the other side. This seems to work fine. I don't think you need to vent the top or wrap the whole stack in plastic. Air drying for a couple of years in enough. I have found with certain woods like red oak leaving the whole stack open to the atmosphere indefinitely is bad for sure. Rot in the sap wood starting after two or three years. Just my two cents but the 6 mil black plastic does work. And I have had it last at least 5 + years without ripping etc. Staple it good on eack side.
 
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