Firewood Kiln

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Qball

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Anyone on here have one? I’m thinking of getting or building one just for my own firewood.
 
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I have wood kilns, but not necessarily firewood kilns. Whatcha wanna know?
 
Scsmith42 said:
I have wood kilns, but not necessarily firewood kilns. Whatcha wanna know?
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I was really just wondering if anyone here had a firewood kiln that they use for drying their own firewood. A small one and if it was purchased or diy built.
 
Most people have just used time and mother nature instead of the extra work putting it in and out of a kiln with firewood. Plus added cost to run unless your doing a solar but you still have to handle the wood more times.
 
I pondered on this at my old property and decided and old box style tobacco bulk barn would work! You could connect the electrical or gas up if you want a real good dry. I also thought of just ducting air in kind of a windmill effect. Just my 2 cents!
 
hp468 said:
You talking about one of those solar kilns like a greenhouse with ventilation or one with heaters?

I’m curious to hear/see if anyone as built anything as well.
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Either one. I’m leaning towards just building something non-powered, like a shed for instance, to store and dry my firewood.
 
MacEntyre said:
You havin' a creosote problem in yer chimbleys, Dave?
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Nope. I was just curious if anyone dried their firewood in something.

I always think about this around this time of year when I start seeing the ridiculously expensive bagged kiln dried firewood for sale in the stores.
 
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Webster1967 said:
I pondered on this at my old property and decided and old box style tobacco bulk barn would work! You could connect the electrical or gas up if you want a real good dry. I also thought of just ducting air in kind of a windmill effect. Just my 2 cents!
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^^^ this as a great option for firewood.
 
I have just used a mono-sloped style shed and had good success and it keeps well. One year i split and stack on one side of the shed and burn off the other side and rotate sides the next year that way it has time to season naturally.
 
A shed style with a tin roof and plenty of ventilation would be the best low cost option
 
There is a friend of mine that kiln dries firewood as a business.
He can't make it fast enough with a small one. He made a small one and is looking to enlarge it.
He dries it, loads it on his truck and sells and delivers it to high end restaurants, they order weeks in advance. He is making a killing.
Looks like an excellent business opportunity for a young industrious person, like someone on here that has the will.
 
hp468 said:
You talking about one of those solar kilns like a greenhouse with ventilation or one with heaters?

I’m curious to hear/see if anyone as built anything as well.
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OK - several comments. First, I currently own 5 lumber kilns - four of which are solar and one is a commercial dehumidification unit. I don't typically dry firewood, but am reasonably knowledgeable about the subject of drying lumber.

Firewood is kiln dried primarily for two reasons. First, to accelerate the seasoning of the lumber so that it burns easier, hotter, and with less creosote buildup.

Second, in order to sterilize the wood and kill any insects, eggs, larvae, etc present. To sterilize, all portions of the wood must be heated to 133F or higher. The biggest concern in terms of pests in firewood would be 1 - lyctid powder post beetles, 2 - drywood termites, and 3 - old house borers. The reason these three are of concern is that they will stay in dry wood, and potentially infect other wood that it comes in contact with (such as the floor or furniture in your house). Other pests - such as the ambrosia powder post beetle, will not stay in dry wood or infect dry wood (furniture, etc) so they are not as much of a concern.

Depending upon the species, around 35% of the weight of green wood is water. Hardwood typically has a moisture content of 60% - 80% when green, and when fully air dried it will be around 15%.

Air drying is certainly the least costly option for firewood, but it will not result in a sterile product. However, if you sterilize firewood and then store it with unsterilized firewood, in all likelihood the sterilized firewood will become reinfected.

Most kilns use a combination of heat, airflow, and humidity control in order to dry lumber. Wood does not dry much once it's below 50 degrees F.

Dedicated firewood kilns usually use high temperatures to rapidly dry the lumber. As air is heated, it's ability to hold moisture is increased, so a typical firewood kiln will get the kiln temps very hot, and then exchange the hot air with outside air in order to get rid of the moisture. They repeat this cycle a few times in order to dry the wood.

When lumber gives up moisture, the evaporation can have a cooling effect upon the temps, which factors into the engergy costs. It costs less to dry lumber from 25% MC to 15% MC, versus from 60% MC down to 50% MC because of the cooling affect.

If you want to accelerate the wood drying process but want to keep your operating expenses low, then a solar kiln may be a solution. With most solar kilns you leave vents open in order to slowly exchange the humid kiln air with outside air that has a lower moisture content.

OR - you can simply place some high flow fans blowing across your wood stacks in order to accelerate the air drying process.

Most solar kilns may not get hot enough to sterilize firewood, so if sterility is a concern then repurposing a bulk tobacco drying barn would, IMO be your best option.

Hope this helps.
 
bondjamesbond said:
There is a friend of mine that kiln dries firewood as a business.
He can't make it fast enough with a small one. He made a small one and is looking to enlarge it.
He dries it, loads it on his truck and sells and delivers it to high end restaurants, they order weeks in advance. He is making a killing.
Looks like an excellent business opportunity for a young industrious person, like someone on here that has the will.
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That sounds like an incredible idea.
 
Something to be careful of is with the new EPA stoves now required by federal law you are not supposed to use kiln dried wood as it will burn WAY to hot which can and will damage the combustor i.e. catalytic convertor. I just installed one of the new stoves and once you engage the combustor the temperature can rise above 1000F. They recommend a 20 to 25% moisture. These stoves do NOT have the slow burn control that the older stoves did but they put out some amazing heat. They are more trouble to use and you have to really pay attention to the stove before you slide in the combustor.
 
Qball said:
Nope. I was just curious if anyone dried their firewood in something.

I always think about this around this time of year when I start seeing the ridiculously expensive bagged kiln dried firewood for sale in the stores.
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Kiln dried commercial wood is not dried to burn better. You really think they care about that? It's dried to kill invasive species so it can be transported and sold anywhere. All wood carried into GSMNP has to be kiln dried now to kill pine beetles and other borers that are killing the trees in the park.
 
chiefjason said:
Kiln dried commercial wood is not dried to burn better. You really think they care about that? It's dried to kill invasive species so it can be transported and sold anywhere. All wood carried into GSMNP has to be kiln dried now to kill pine beetles and other borers that are killing the trees in the park.
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Also makes it lighter, so you can ship more for less
 
chiefjason said:
Kiln dried commercial wood is not dried to burn better. You really think they care about that? It's dried to kill invasive species so it can be transported and sold anywhere. All wood carried into GSMNP has to be kiln dried now to kill pine beetles and other borers that are killing the trees in the park.
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Well I already knew that’s why the commercially sold firewood is kiln dried. But since it makes great kindling wood, I was just wondering if anyone on here did it on a smaller scale for themselves.
 
Jp8819 said:
I have just used a mono-sloped style shed and had good success and it keeps well. One year i split and stack on one side of the shed and burn off the other side and rotate sides the next year that way it has time to season naturally.
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this solution has worked well for us.
 
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