solar kilns

[firewood]

came across this site and this page inparticular:

 

Solar Wood Drying

 

might help reduce a few electricity bills:thumbup1:

[Big J]

I would struggle to get my head around such a variable power source such as the sun - difficult to control the drying I suppose. It only costs me about £1.90 a cubic foot in electricity to get my timber to 8% MC from green, so it's not a huge cost.

 

Thankyou for posting the link though - useful resource!

[tommer9]

There is a solar kiln in cornwall.....useless in the winter months. They are very effective in the summer, or in sunnier climes.

[renewablejohn]

If you design a polytunnel correctly you can get the same result without needing a fan.

[Farmerdowling]

Wouldn't a clear plastic roof and front on your wood store with slatted sides and back for airflow (for those of us without the space for a full ploytunnel) help the process along? I keep planning on putting one together but have not got around to it yet!

[hedgesparrow]

If you design a polytunnel correctly you can get the same result without needing a fan.

our polly tunnel gets very hot in summer so much so it will burn any plant in there unless you shade it so for drying timber make a good job and fairly cheap to make just needs some iron hoops and high grade plastic.

[Forest2Furniture]

I've used a solar kiln for the last 5 years, summer and winter drying.

If you angle the roof on the collectet to 45degrees then you get the benefit of the low winter sun.

 

I've dried oak, yew and sweet chestnut without problems.

[Rob D]

I sort of use my polytunnel now for drying but just let the air blow through... all timber I now cover with a black net to keep the UV away... seems to work well and cheap... but slow compared to a sealed unit.

[Daniël Bos]

Germany's biggest producer and seller of firewood use poly tunnels (rather big ones!) to dry their wood....