Someone had a thread going a or discussion on solar kilns, but I can't find it. I have a simple question pertaining to the plastic wrap. Is clear plastic better then black? I understand clear will allow more sun light in, but I thought black attracts the sun light and/or gets hotter, thus creating more heat for the solar kiln. What's your take on this, clear or black plastic?
Here you go http://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/threads/solar-kiln-firewood-drying.6041/page-10#post-223374 I think the general consensus is that clear is better.
He'd be the guy. My shrink-wrap is kicking backside, but it's about as scientifically verified as bigfoot.
Clear plastic lets sunlight in, and when the sunlight is converted to heat on the wood then to infrared radiation and radiated back, it doesn't pass through the clear plastic and is largely trapped inside. This is the greenhouse effect and the main driver of a solar kiln. With black plastic, the sunlight is converted to heat but the heat is largely on the outside of the black plastic, and it is easily radiated away from the outside of the plastic. So black plastic gets hot, but actually protects the wood from heat to some degree. So, black plastic gets hot but more on the outside than inside. Clear traps heat inside. You want clear.
