seasoning times?

[soxfan13]

Does wood season quicker during summer or winter months? In the summer you have the hot sun baking the wood but in the winter the air is so dry, at least it is here.

Just curious what people think.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Summer. No question in my mind. Water evaporates at a much higher rate (especially in warm weather) than ice sublimes- and water does not migrate from the middle to the edge very well when frozen and with little energy to drive it out.

 

[LLigetfa]

I think you will get as many different answers as there are different areas on the planet. A lot of it will depend on how you lay up your wood, how well it is protected, how much air movement there is, the length and severity of the seasons, and the relative humidity both summer and winter. I have no scientific evidence but my gut feeling is my wood dries best in the coldest part of winter.

 

[pinewoodburner]

95 degrees, 90% humidity,
45 degrees, 30% humidity.

Summer day vs winter day, both sunny days. Which one do you think will dry out the wood more.

 

[smokinj]

95 degrees, 90% humidity,
45 degrees, 30% humidity.

Summer day vs winter day, both sunny days. Which one do you think will dry out the wood more.

Good point so I still got a chance!lol

 

[billb3]

I'm a non-discriminatory wood seasoner.
I prefer mine to have three months of each season to be granted entrance to my stove.



Hang a heavy cotton wet towel out to dry in August(99% humidity) and then in january(20% humidity) and tell us which dries quicker. (if at all)

 

[cannonballcobb]

Here is my scientific comparison.

Laundry hung on the line in Summer = 2 hour drying time.

Laundry hung on the line in Winter = 2 day drying time.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Cannonball- Prexactly. Evaporation vs. sublimation.

 

[ansehnlich1]

yep, summer, for sure.

I called God and asked him

For real, aquifier recharging happens here in PA in winter expressly due to the fact that there is much, MUCH, less evaporation. Look at the ground when it rains an inch in summer, in a day or two of 90 degrees its dry as can be, caked hard as a rock.

....an inch of rain in November, and the ground stays wet for weeks, months even....

mud puddles, do they disappear quicker in March....or July?

 

[Rockey]

95 degrees, 90% humidity,
45 degrees, 30% humidity.

Summer day vs winter day, both sunny days. Which one do you think will dry out the wood more.

95 degrees and 90% humidity??? That is probably one of the most extreme weather conditions I have ever heard of and I doubt many of us have experienced it in nature.

The facts are that at any given humidity measurement wood dries to a lower moisture content at higher temperatures .. period.

 

[smokinj]

95 degrees, 90% humidity,
45 degrees, 30% humidity.

Summer day vs winter day, both sunny days. Which one do you think will dry out the wood more.

95 degrees and 90% humidity??? That is probably one of the most extreme weather conditions I have ever heard of and I doubt many of us have experienced it in nature.

The facts are that at any given humidity measurement wood dries to a lower moisture content at higher temperatures .. period.

sw ohio and you never seen 95 degrees and 90 percent humidity iam north of you and seen 30 days of it just last year globle warming i think they called it! but iam with you on the rest!

 

[pastera]

95 degrees, 90% humidity,
45 degrees, 30% humidity.

Summer day vs winter day, both sunny days. Which one do you think will dry out the wood more.

95 degrees and 90% humidity??? That is probably one of the most extreme weather conditions I have ever heard of and I doubt many of us have experienced it in nature.

The facts are that at any given humidity measurement wood dries to a lower moisture content at higher temperatures .. period.

You haven't been anywhere near the east coast have you %-P

90's and near 100% humidity is very real and all too common in Se Mass

Was even worse when I was in Augusta, GA

Aaron

 

[Rockey]

95 degrees, 90% humidity,
45 degrees, 30% humidity.

Summer day vs winter day, both sunny days. Which one do you think will dry out the wood more.

95 degrees and 90% humidity??? That is probably one of the most extreme weather conditions I have ever heard of and I doubt many of us have experienced it in nature.

The facts are that at any given humidity measurement wood dries to a lower moisture content at higher temperatures .. period.

You haven't been anywhere near the east coast have you %-P

90's and near 100% humidity is very real and all too common in Se Mass

Was even worse when I was in Augusta



Aaron

Aaron 90 degrees and 100% humidity converts to a heat index of 131 degrees - truly a brutal and rare envirnment. 95 degrees and 90% hunidity is a heat index of 146.6 which is record setting anywhere in north america.

Actually, can you show me proof of any day in modern history where the heat index was over 125 in Georgia. These are facts that are kept up to date by NOAA and I will be happy to eat some crow pie if I'm wrong.

 

[Jeb1heat]

That is a somewhat common weather scenario here in jersey in summer. I am trying to will some oak to dry that I did not get around to splitting until late september, so while I was rooting for winter to be as good, that summer sun can bleach wood dry in a hurry.

 

[Bryan53]

NJ state record is 110*F recorded in Runyon, NJ 1936.

I know it is 100 heat index plenty of days in the summer here. Argue what you will. I am a weather hawk I am a PE teacher that teaches 12 months a year, I have a gym without heat or air conditioning. I need to know when it is safe to be outside and when we need to be inside.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Seasons faster in summer, but it definitely also seasons during winter, at least in a dry climate. Last year, I had some wood that was essentially unburnable in early winter and left it outside. By early spring, I was running out, so tried some of the driest-looking stuff I'd left out, and darn if it didn't do pretty well.