Looks like a kiln as others have said, that would be great to hear some results on how it works if we are right. Edit :dang you beat me by 1 minute. Looks cool and looking forward to results.
New house, not much wood and a need for innovation drove me to put this together. Certified, not sure if this will fly for next year, but put this together 6 weeks ago and have run two loads through it so far.. Red Oak started at about 32%. When compete with 3 weeks (split small) the outsides were in single digit moisture and the middle at about 25%.... Haven't done a weight test to determine just how much moisture was lost but it burns like gasoline.. Here's what I used in addition to the ductwork. It maintains 90-100 degrees in there when it's cranking..
Thanks Jack.. We don't run the stove all night because we don't have enough wood.. My stove is a Buck 81 that has a blower so the stove itself doesn't get as hot as others.. Check the drop cloth routinely with the IR thermometer and it seems to be at a safe distance.. Yeah.. Wife would kill me if I burned the house down..
I plan to do some tests in the future in which I actually weigh the wood to see what the moisture loss is... Not the best setup for the living room, but it's giving us some good wood for the coldest days/nights (although I let the fire go out around 2100). 3 week cycle seems to work for the small splits that I put in there.
It's a good idea, it should put some moisture in the house. The drop cloth does make me nervous, maybe a metal cabinet.
Yeah... this is kind of a beta test.. would be nice to have asbestos sides, but they don't make that chit anymore!!
I might do something like that.. Maybe in the future.. Also thought it might work for getting just a little more moisture out of my already seasoned wood to get that extra umph out of it in the future.. I think sealing it off all around the sides and top while leaving a six inch gap above the floor to allow for cooler moist air to escape will be the ideal way to do it. For the record, I've got 22 inches between my stove and the unit.. I could put it a little further away but it would obstruct the back door... Thanks to all who played along!!!
I seem to recall someone using a box made out of closed cell foam with a dehumidifier inside a while back. I can't remember who it was though.
