Are talking about mine? I don't and won't have a clue. That's just a curiosity question shouldn't even be entered as a variable. They will live there life of the experiment side by side. They will suffer the same clouds, sun, wind, and rain. That in effect is what this whole thing is about any ways. The effects of the "kiln" process vs. natural process in a set amount of time.
Are those 2 test subjects oak? If so, it will test the theory to it's full capacity. I'll still plan on doing my control stacks too.
Yes... Red Oak... We never fully identified it. There's a thread on here about it. But it was still soppin' wet when I split them this evening....I couldn't believe how much they weighed..
Red oak is pretty wet stuff on the stump. I would expect you to easily see a loss of weight by pct in the mid to high 30s. You are probably looking at a starting moisture content near or above 80%.
If I think about it tonight... I'll split one of the remaining pieces and see what it measuress out... Just for a "rough" ideal.
I find this to be true as well I have single row stacks 20 ft long 6 ft high and at least 18-23 inches of space between the rows. We had five inches of rain on Friday according to rain gage I went out sat morning after sun had come up for a couple hrs and only the top pieces had any damp feeling to them. Every thing below the top row was dry except maybe the very bottom row I didn't check it The wind and sun dried it up pretty fast my stacks get 8 plus hrs of sun but more importantly they have constant wind hitting them A couple years ago my father in law was bored and I had about 4 cords of bucked wood at his place he split it up and stacked it tight multiple rows basically one big mound of stacked wood and only the very top and front of that four cords dried. Middle was just as green as the day it was stacked plus had some mold. A lot of double work restacking it
Thats what I have found over the years, if the wood is getting direct sun it will dry out in a very short time, if in the shade a little it may take longer with just wind, its really nice to get at least 4 hours or so of sunlight every day.
Ok...understood... I thought you were going in a different direction with that question....... What is a kiln temperature? I've got access to a T/C controller. I'll see if I can get something arranged... But I won't be able to see highs & lows.... Just what it is when I'm around....
"Most softwood lumber kilns operate below 240 °F (116 °C) temperature. Hardwood lumber kiln drying schedules typically keep the dry bulb temperature below 180 °F (82 °C). Difficult-to-dry species might not exceed 140 degrees F." I find it interesting they use different temps for the different types of wood, this would be for building materials of course. I imagine the temp inside of your set up will be really high on some days.
Yea, I've had no issues with drying under single/double/ or covered cubed system in 2 or 3 years. I get east to west sun and I'm on top of the hill and get the wind.
It is fairly cheap to run. I have my new home in a relatively high priced electricity area and at 2500 square feet it is costing me less than $100/month to heat it while I work on finishing it. If all I cared about was cost I would not even consider wood heat. I have always liked a wood fire and now that I am building my own home I get to add in things like a stove for my preferences, not cost. My new house is way too spread out to ever heat it fully with a single wood stove but wood could be used as emergency heat when the power goes out and keep enough area warm for me to not panic.
Update on my pallet size solar kilns. F.Y.I. 77 degrees ambient. 5 PM . Calm All mulberry started at 34% . 1 Ash(19%) 4 stretch wrapped pallets running North to South Feb split temp 92.8 Dec Ash 116.6 Jan split 104 & 104 Pallets way in the background... Sorry will get better pics next time. Next 5 pallets Mulberry running mostly East West March split 34% 113.4 degrees each Sunny side pic Shady side pic Sloped top to shed rain. Interesting observations. 1. Little mold growing on wet wood ends. 2. Moisture condenses on cool, shady side & runs down. Sun side stretch wrap is dry. 3. Lower moister content wood seems to allow higher temps. I think that v. Moist wood perspires ( evaporation) so much more that it lowers the temps! What do you guys think? Lots more to do this summer!
I had some mold on the ends of the shady side. As the sun gets stronger/longer you should see some higher temps
Update from Uncle Augie. Condesed the couple of stacks I have including the Half a cord that has been in the solar kiln since last August. As of yesterday it was at 12% MC. I thought spring sun would be stronger, but never this strong. I have all my wood put up for this fall in the next 6 weeks. All of it should be under 15% with some of it under 10%
