Cost of Heating Difficult Calculation

[John Skinner]

13 hours ago, Billhook said:

As my father used to say “. ‘tis an ill wind that blows nobody any good “ and the Lockdowns were painful but at least they made me look for something to do so the Lockdown Splitter and a good heap of split Ash and Sycamore are drying nicely in the old grain store.  
The great thing about wood is that the work has been done and you can really enjoy the heat without having to keep monitoring dials and thermostats

 

So ..... is woodpile envy a thing? Because i think i have it right now.

 

 

[marktownend]

1 hour ago, John Skinner said:

 

So ..... is woodpile envy a thing? Because i think i have it right now.

 

 

Absolutely. And you're not the only one who's got it. 

[Vedhoggar]

15 hours ago, Billhook said:

As my father used to say “. ‘tis an ill wind that blows nobody any good “ and the Lockdowns were painful but at least they made me look for something to do so the Lockdown Splitter and a good heap of split Ash and Sycamore are drying nicely in the old grain store.  
The great thing about wood is that the work has been done and you can really enjoy the heat without having to keep monitoring dials and thermostats

Is that a heated grain drying floor? Do you leave the split logs like that or do you turn the pile from time to time? How long is it taking from fresh cut to get to <20% MC?

[GarethM]

Tho shall not covet a neighbours log pile, if I had a wife she'd be fair game tho.

[Billhook]

18 hours ago, Vedhoggar said:

Is that a heated grain drying floor? Do you leave the split logs like that or do you turn the pile from time to time? How long is it taking from fresh cut to get to <20% MC?

I ran out of one ton potato boxes when I reached 150!  The Challow floor is ventilated by a large three phase fan and in the old days of grain we could indeed put a propane heater in front of the inlet but even in those days it was too expensive.  The only time we used heat was if we wanted to avoid a penalty when we sold it. 

Heating wet grain can be tricky as you can produce a wet layer which moves up through the heap and prevents airflow and results in rotted grain.  The best way to dry stuff is to wait till the moisture in the air  falls to a point where to blown air starts to take moisture out of whatever you put in there.  For that we have a relative humidity meter which switches the fan on and off according to the RH. 

I do not turn the pile, it would be easier just to run the fan for a day.

A fan is necessary with densely packed grain or oilseeds  but leaving the split wood on a dry floor with the shed door wide open to the West wind seems to do the job after a year or even shorter.  Same with the old potato boxes which are stacked in an open fronted shed and the air can flow easily through the slats in the boxes.  Whatever the theory it works well in practice.

Edited December 10, 2022 by Billhook

[John Skinner]

22 hours ago, GarethM said:

Tho shall not covet a neighbours log pile, if I had a wife she'd be fair game tho.

 

Well if you get one ... keep me updated 😉

[GarethM]

At 40 it's starting to look like slim pickings, but I'll give you first dibs.

 

But, touch my log pile and it might turn into something of a "Taken" franchise.

 

I do have are a very particular set of skills and a woodchipper 🙂.

[John Skinner]

My wood order turned up yesterday, about a week before i was expecting it and i didn't have the area cleared for the wood to go into. It was dropped (loose) at the front of the house. So i spent about 5hrs moving it round the back of the house, piling and loading into both cube bags and the wood shed.

 

So after all that i am no longer coveting that massive woodpile ... unless it came with the barn. Which is what i could be doing with 👍

 

 

[John Skinner]

1 minute ago, GarethM said:

I do have are a very particular set of skills and a woodchipper 🙂.

 

 

Understood 👍

[GarethM]

We've all been there, especially when you're filling an IBC cage by hand. It just seems to swallow up a tree and your left wondering am I selling it for enough.