One thing I didn't hear you mention is that if the wood is 32* or less, the drying process stops because the water in the wood is frozen and will not vaporize till the temp rises above freezing. Good information and you presented it well.
Hi RIchard, Last year was the first winter for the solar kiln. What happened was that I was afraid to leave the dehumidifier in the kiln because I thought it might freeze, but the temp in the kiln never went below 50 all winter. I am not sure of why, I mean we did have a lot of sunny days last winter compared to the recent catastrophe of this summers rains. So I believe the wood mass as well as the solar affect made those temps stay above freezing in the kiln. Thank you sir.
I wish I had seen this video back in the 80's when I lived in Texas. I discovered that the Texas cedar trees produce beautiful multi -shades of brown, purple, gold, etc. when you carefully peeled some of the "bark" off, and the knots were an added attraction. So, I cut quite a bunch of 2 to 4-inch straight cedar trees and proceeded to make floor and table lamps for the house, about a dozen all told. I peeled the bark to get interesting color variations, drilled them for the electrical cord (lots of fun on 5 +foot floor lamps) attached appropriate size rounds to make the bases, and then sprayed them with clear polyurethane. 5 or 6 months later I started repairing lamps, dealing with bases that had split all the way across, etc. A lesson learned the hard way. Thanks for the video, I really enjoyed it.
Hello Joe! Thank you so much for your time and patience and sharing your experience. This is most valuable information with the cold months ahead of us and temperatures going as low as minus 49 at night with the wind chill and you got us all talking and thinking...always a good thing to get those brain wheels spinning...over our Canadian maple syrup toast! Best regards to Mrs Sally !
Thank's for sharing Mr. Joe being in Michigan,we are surrounded by the 3 major lakes and are constantly fighting humidity fluctuating , Hope you and Sally have a great day..Take care..
Good morning, with al the crazy weather we get just from lake erie you must have to be very diligent with things involving weather. Have a good one to you and yours.
So if you completely close up your kiln, how does the moisture escape from the kiln? Seems to me that the moisture removed from the wood would still be circulating inside of the kiln if it’s completely sealed.
thank u joe. i think it is a good idea to take notes from week to week month to month and year to year on this. just like the 1st day i ran my mill i had some wavy boards etc. until i got to know the machine and trail and era. 1 more question the people u told to put a dehumidifier under there house when they put a humidifier in and ruined their house did they blame u??
They did not blame me, They tried to say " we thought you said humidifier". But in my contract was a clause for new homes and consulting of problems that other homeowners may have inquired about. It said these words: (Due to the nature and phenomenon of water vapor it is not possible to predict the level of humidity in a crawlspace, basement, or building that is closed to ventilation. Therefore the use of dehumidifiers is recommended as needed.) All my company did for these people was hang a screen door. But they still had to sign the same contract.
Josaljo Won i only asked because i have had issues sort of like that thu the years. by trade i am a roofer and theres been times i would try to find and fix someone elses mistake. most of the time i did. but every once in a while i would try to help someones nightmare and all of a sudden it became MY ROOF STILL LEAKS!!
If you were a roofer then you know about the old problem of the insulation guys blocking off the eave venting only to have moisture in the corners of the walls at the ceiling levels inside the house." My roof leaks" is the same scenario. When in reality it was the owner of the house who thought more and more insulation was better until he choked the air from escaping through the ridge vent. The houses I built came with a 10 year warranty. I heard it all and seen almost all of the nonsense. That is the only thing in construction I don't miss. But if the owner did any of the work my warranty went to the manufacturers warranty on appliances period. That solved a lot of my problems. Being a nice guy trying to help is not always so nice. Have a good one.
Hi Joe.... Are your fans set up on a thermostat that turn on and off to adjust to the humidity level in the kiln? I have a telescope observatory on my roof and I have a humidity thermostat set up in my attic to turn a fan on when the relative humidity reaches a certain level to help keep moisture from building up in the observatory. Good class on the kiln.
Hi John, I think the purpose for your situation and mine are slightly different. My fans are used to keep air moving across the faces of the wood so that the moisture gets absorbed into the air. For the wood it is a two phase thing, were we want the Relative Humidity low so it can absorb moisture but we want the air to move so it does a thorough job of absorbing moisture, hence the stickers. Where you want to evacuate the humidity. Now I can evacuate humidity only if the outside air is less humid by opening the vents. But it could be built to do what you are doing. John this is going to freak you out, I just designed an observatory that seats 2 people and rotates like a ball turret on a WW2 plane for on my roof. I am not sure Sally wants it, but I do.
Oh wow.... when I designed my house I planned on an astronomical observatory on my roof because I am an amateur astronomer. We moved in the house in '86 and in '87 I designed and built my observatory in the basement, then disassembled it and carried it up to the roof and reassembled it in place. My dome originally rotated on 100 golf balls in a track, and the dome doors are motorized and open just like the ones on Mt. Palomar. Took me a few months to do but it came out great. Since then I found that the golf balls were slowly indenting the masonite track so I changed them to six in rollers. I have an 8" Celestron Cassigrain telescope mounted on an anti-vibration base which weighs in at about 400 pounds. The anti-vibration mount allows me to take long exposure shots of the sky. I haven't used it in a few years but when I did it was a lot of fun. I'll send you a couple of photos of it via email later tonight. Are you sure the same milk man didn't visit both our houses??
I dont remember telling you this but when I would have a bad day at work, I would wind my window of the truck down and holler out the window "beam me up Scottie".
Me too.... I got serious about it in the early eighties. We brought up our son with the thoughts of being the first person to set foot on Mars.... The way he's going in college, the opportunities are endless, we couldn't be more proud of him. I've filmed Halley's Comet, most of the planets and a ton of other things up there.... it really is fascinating. Does your observatory plans include an optical device or is it strictly for sitting back and watching the sky? You don't have to write me here, wait until I send those photos later and you can let me know in an email. What a coincidence!
I plan on builing one of these soon, and would like to dry lumber in the summer and fall. Do you think it would be possible to use this kiln in a dual purpose, as a greenhouse in the spring, and drying lumber in the summer and fall? Thanks Joe.
Good morning Joe, Hope All is well. I know what you're saying is true, but it will take me a while to truly understand all of the variables well enough to make the right adjustments throughout the ever changing climates. Do you know if there is a "Standard" on square footage of solar kiln space to square footage of poly carbonate? I am wondering what I might encounter if I doubled the depth of your kiln, with the same size poly carbonate.
Johnny Turner < I believe this was the foundation for Joe’s kiln. Design and Operation of a Solar-Heated Dry Kiln Brian Bond, Assistant Professor Virginia Tech pubs.ext.vt.edu/420/420-030/420-030.html
Hey Joe, great class on humility. I have a few questions. Obviously as you run the dehumidifier evacuating the kiln you also evacuate heat, which is the solar aspect of drying. Does the end product, justify the energy you have to pay for to dry lumber in ( off season) using dehumidifier.
I will answer this in reverse. The energy needed to run the dehumidifier is pennies compared to the $12,000 dollars worth of lumber in a full kiln. So it does not affect the outcome like letting the wood mold would. On your first question you made an assumption then asked a question. Dehumidifiers do not remove heat. In fact the energy needed to power the dehumidifier actually comes back into the room warmer than the air that went into the dehumidifier. Have a good one.
One thing I didn't hear you mention is that if the wood is 32* or less, the drying process stops because the water in the wood is frozen and will not vaporize till the temp rises above freezing. Good information and you presented it well.
Hi RIchard, Last year was the first winter for the solar kiln. What happened was that I was afraid to leave the dehumidifier in the kiln because I thought it might freeze, but the temp in the kiln never went below 50 all winter. I am not sure of why, I mean we did have a lot of sunny days last winter compared to the recent catastrophe of this summers rains. So I believe the wood mass as well as the solar affect made those temps stay above freezing in the kiln. Thank you sir.
Professor Joe, thank you for another great session on drying lumber in your solar kiln!
Thank you for watching sir.
Hey Joe I made a ASSumption 😳. Good class!! Enjoyed it!
Hey don't say that, I actually went out and made a video because I wanted to make sure I was right. I think it will go up tonight. lol
I made kiln and work very good. Greetings from SLOVENIA
Greetings Slovenia, I am glad your kiln works good. Thank you.
Good explanation. Interested in what numbers will be in South Georgia. 70 degs today (2-2-22)🙂. About to start building my kiln.
I wish I had seen this video back in the 80's when I lived in Texas. I discovered that the Texas cedar trees produce beautiful multi -shades of brown, purple, gold, etc. when you carefully peeled some of the "bark" off, and the knots were an added attraction. So, I cut quite a bunch of 2 to 4-inch straight cedar trees and proceeded to make floor and table lamps for the house, about a dozen all told. I peeled the bark to get interesting color variations, drilled them for the electrical cord (lots of fun on 5 +foot floor lamps) attached appropriate size rounds to make the bases, and then sprayed them with clear polyurethane. 5 or 6 months later I started repairing lamps, dealing with bases that had split all the way across, etc. A lesson learned the hard way. Thanks for the video, I really enjoyed it.
Hello Joe! Thank you so much for your time and patience and sharing your experience. This is most valuable information with the cold months ahead of us and temperatures going as low as minus 49 at night with the wind chill and you got us all talking and thinking...always a good thing to get those brain wheels spinning...over our Canadian maple syrup toast! Best regards to Mrs Sally !
Stop tempting me, maple syrup toast. That is good eating there. Yum
Thank's for sharing Mr. Joe being in Michigan,we are surrounded by the 3 major lakes and are constantly fighting humidity fluctuating ,
Hope you and Sally have a great day..Take care..
Good morning, with al the crazy weather we get just from lake erie you must have to be very diligent with things involving weather. Have a good one to you and yours.
So if you completely close up your kiln, how does the moisture escape from the kiln? Seems to me that the moisture removed from the wood would still be circulating inside of the kiln if it’s completely sealed.
What’re do you set it at
I'd like see you do this video over without the background noise.
thank u joe. i think it is a good idea to take notes from week to week month to month and year to year on this. just like the 1st day i ran my mill i had some wavy boards etc. until i got to know the machine and trail and era. 1 more question the people u told to put a dehumidifier under there house when they put a humidifier in and ruined their house did they blame u??
They did not blame me, They tried to say " we thought you said humidifier". But in my contract was a clause for new homes and consulting of problems that other homeowners may have inquired about. It said these words: (Due to the nature and phenomenon of water vapor it is not possible to predict the level of humidity in a crawlspace, basement, or building that is closed to ventilation. Therefore the use of dehumidifiers is recommended as needed.) All my company did for these people was hang a screen door. But they still had to sign the same contract.
Josaljo Won i only asked because i have had issues sort of like that thu the years. by trade i am a roofer and theres been times i would try to find and fix someone elses mistake. most of the time i did. but every once in a while i would try to help someones nightmare and all of a sudden it became MY ROOF STILL LEAKS!!
If you were a roofer then you know about the old problem of the insulation guys blocking off the eave venting only to have moisture in the corners of the walls at the ceiling levels inside the house." My roof leaks" is the same scenario. When in reality it was the owner of the house who thought more and more insulation was better until he choked the air from escaping through the ridge vent. The houses I built came with a 10 year warranty. I heard it all and seen almost all of the nonsense. That is the only thing in construction I don't miss. But if the owner did any of the work my warranty went to the manufacturers warranty on appliances period. That solved a lot of my problems. Being a nice guy trying to help is not always so nice. Have a good one.
What if your relative hum is to low all the time like 15%
Hi Joe.... Are your fans set up on a thermostat that turn on and off to adjust to the humidity level in the kiln? I have a telescope observatory on my roof and I have a humidity thermostat set up in my attic to turn a fan on when the relative humidity reaches a certain level to help keep moisture from building up in the observatory. Good class on the kiln.
Hi John, I think the purpose for your situation and mine are slightly different. My fans are used to keep air moving across the faces of the wood so that the moisture gets absorbed into the air. For the wood it is a two phase thing, were we want the Relative Humidity low so it can absorb moisture but we want the air to move so it does a thorough job of absorbing moisture, hence the stickers. Where you want to evacuate the humidity. Now I can evacuate humidity only if the outside air is less humid by opening the vents. But it could be built to do what you are doing.
John this is going to freak you out, I just designed an observatory that seats 2 people and rotates like a ball turret on a WW2 plane for on my roof. I am not sure Sally wants it, but I do.
Oh wow.... when I designed my house I planned on an astronomical observatory on my roof because I am an amateur astronomer. We moved in the house in '86 and in '87 I designed and built my observatory in the basement, then disassembled it and carried it up to the roof and reassembled it in place. My dome originally rotated on 100 golf balls in a track, and the dome doors are motorized and open just like the ones on Mt. Palomar. Took me a few months to do but it came out great. Since then I found that the golf balls were slowly indenting the masonite track so I changed them to six in rollers. I have an 8" Celestron Cassigrain telescope mounted on an anti-vibration base which weighs in at about 400 pounds. The anti-vibration mount allows me to take long exposure shots of the sky. I haven't used it in a few years but when I did it was a lot of fun. I'll send you a couple of photos of it via email later tonight. Are you sure the same milk man didn't visit both our houses??
I dont know John, But as a kid I use to lay on this slope behind our house and just gaze at the skies thinking of all the possibilities.
I dont remember telling you this but when I would have a bad day at work, I would wind my window of the truck down and holler out the window "beam me up Scottie".
Me too.... I got serious about it in the early eighties. We brought up our son with the thoughts of being the first person to set foot on Mars.... The way he's going in college, the opportunities are endless, we couldn't be more proud of him. I've filmed Halley's Comet, most of the planets and a ton of other things up there.... it really is fascinating. Does your observatory plans include an optical device or is it strictly for sitting back and watching the sky? You don't have to write me here, wait until I send those photos later and you can let me know in an email. What a coincidence!
I plan on builing one of these soon, and would like to dry lumber in the summer and fall. Do you think it would be possible to use this kiln in a dual purpose, as a greenhouse in the spring, and drying lumber in the summer and fall? Thanks Joe.
I think the greenhouse would work good. With sunshine the temps in it get to 80 in the dead of winter as long as you keep the snow off of it.
Good morning Joe,
Hope All is well.
I know what you're saying is true, but it will take me a while to truly understand all of the variables well enough to make the right adjustments throughout the ever changing climates.
Do you know if there is a "Standard" on square footage of solar kiln space to square footage of poly carbonate? I am wondering what I might encounter if I doubled the depth of your kiln, with the same size poly carbonate.
Johnny Turner < I believe this was the foundation for Joe’s kiln.
Design and Operation of a Solar-Heated Dry Kiln
Brian Bond, Assistant Professor Virginia Tech pubs.ext.vt.edu/420/420-030/420-030.html
Judd _S ... Thanks, I will check it out.
Hi Johnny if you lengthen it along the poly side i believe the ratio would be the same. If you deepen it, I would not know the answer.
@@judd_s5643 he is right johnny, that is the basis, i just used an insulated concrete slab that doubles as a solar collector.
Hey Joe, great class on humility. I have a few questions. Obviously as you run the dehumidifier evacuating the kiln you also evacuate heat, which is the solar aspect of drying. Does the end product, justify the energy you have to pay for to dry lumber in ( off season) using dehumidifier.
I will answer this in reverse. The energy needed to run the dehumidifier is pennies compared to the $12,000 dollars worth of lumber in a full kiln. So it does not affect the outcome like letting the wood mold would. On your first question you made an assumption then asked a question. Dehumidifiers do not remove heat. In fact the energy needed to power the dehumidifier actually comes back into the room warmer than the air that went into the dehumidifier. Have a good one.