I have three spots to begin wood piles. None of them get full sun. My question is,,,,does anyone have an opinion, scientific or not on which is best. Morning sun afternoon shade or morning shade afternoon sun?
All day sun will get er done the quickest. I would guess,, morning would be better to get the temp up quicker in the day.
My guess is that afternoon sun would be best, considering that’s generally the hottest part of the day.
Looks like we have a split decision. I am just guessing here.......... Afternoon sun ? This way the wood would get warm later in the day and hold some of that heat after the sun goes down this might help keep moisture away during the night ?? Now if that isn't some scientific sort of BS answer nothing is.
Good question. I don't know if the day warms up that fast to benefit from the morning sun; at least not too many days around here. Always more of a slower rise to the afternoon highs. The afternoon sunshine is always the strongest. This is evident with all the heat the house gains........even with the blinds/curtains closed to help defeat the solar gain! I'll want to give this some more consideration although with the solar kiln threads on my plate already, it just may be awhile!
While that would be nice it’s mama’s field and she ain’t havin it. It’s a hayfield and if I mess with it the guy who cuts it for free may disappear. Hayfields not hayed turn to weeds. Been there done that already.
Afternoon sun for the heat and we get a predominant afternoon breeze from the SW off the ocean. Would be the bestest here although I tend to just stack wherever it is convenient.
I get the thinking behind getting the wood baking earlier in the day. Last I knew though, wood doesn't retain heat like asphalt does. It seems to radiate off rather quickly, once the sun moves on. At that point it drops to whatever the ambient air temperature is, or somewhere thereabouts. Speaking of asphalt, I can tell you from experience that stacking next to an asphalt driveway in the summer definitely does speed up the drying time
But then you take into account the ambient temperature is higher in the afternoon. So maybe getting the wood up to temp in the morning is better. More hours at temp compared to less hours at higher temps? Honestly my plan is to utilize all three spots eventually. As with most plans I’m just waffling on where to start LOL It would be nice if the first spot drys faster than the other two tho.
We have to be careful here. If we get too far into the weeds with this wood drying business, we'll likely scare away any potential newcomers
Does the difference in top cover color and heat retention, or reflection have a formula yet? I’m thinking brown and black covers work better for baking wood.
Jo, I guess if sun exposure is a wash, wind exposure would be the next factor to base location on. Then, visual appeal, convenience to paths of travel. Maybe if one stack needs to be expedited it can be 'kilned'. I use black plastic with the idea it will absorb heat, but I'm not sure how deeply into the top of the stax that really goes. Sca
