About 25 yrs ago I had a woodmizer lt40hd and built my own solar kiln. I used greenhouse hoops. I used black plastic first over the North half of the greenhouse kiln, and then clear over all of it. I then made a double layer over the South half leaving the outer laye a little bit loose. Clear plastic over the ends with a plywood door on one end. Also black plastic on the floor. Then, cutting a smaller hole towards either end of the inside of the double bubble layer to allow air to circulate from the inside of the kiln through inside of the double bubble space. I attached a smaller low speed fan to a piece of plywood and attached it to one of the little end holes in the inside layer of the double bubble layer and just left the other little 6 x 6" hole open. Then, stacking my green hardwood lumber in on the appropriate 4 x 4"s and with 1 x 1" drying sticks 16"s apart between layers right on top of the layer below. Then laying 1/2" osb on top of the stack. I had attached a 2 ft. plywood by the length of the kiln from the top of the hoops hanging down with three evenly spaced attic fans through it. I had a smaller sheet of black plastic attached to the bottom of this plywood as to lay on top of the lumber stack. These attic fans and the little fan to ciculate air through the double bubble layer facing South ran all the time while drying. The purpose of the double bubble layer with the fan circulating air through it is, when the sun is out the inside of the kiln will get to about 160 degrees and the attic fans will blow the air through the lumber pile around and around it goes, but, when evening comes the air is still hot, but as the little fan blows air through the double bubble layer the hot air inside of the double bubble condensates and runs down and out through the bottom of the attached plastic. What this does is moderates the amount of of moisture taken out in a more even timeframe as to not crack or warp the lumber. Pine or poplar take about 2 weeks in summer time to reach 7% moisture content. Cherry and Walnut take about 3 weeks and red oak about 4 weeks. The above kiln dried about 3,000 bd. ft. of 1 1/8th inch lumber. Hard and soft maple is a little more difficult to dry without drying stick sap wood marks. Message me if you would like more info. on drying hard maple. Best to you's that love working with the wood.
but they wont. good for small scale but completely moronic for large scale. which is where humanity is at. large scale wood usage. because fun fact cube law is still a thing and will take a massive dump on any direct volume to surface area formula because as surface is increased in a ratio of 2, volume increase in a ratio of 3. so from a surface of 4 ft to 8 ft the volume goes from 8 to 64. whats worse is that ware houses are generally taller than a cube so theirs more volume to roof surfaces that normal compounding this issue even more so. so making a large solar kiln would more than likely just take so long the wood would rot away.
Genius Idea! I must have it!!! It will my private money printer. And what's most interesting: absolutely legal. :)))) Zero energy consumption, zero pollutants, zero problems, clear and elegant backyard and finally many profits. How can I dislike it?
I just called !1201 Sawmill in Midwest City Oklahoma and they said they sell green oak for $5/ board foot. That's insane. I should have asked how much dried but I hung up
LOGAN! Long time no see! Last time may have been when you were at the yellow house. Anyways, we live on Pineview Drive and, needless to say, have many huge pines in the neighborhood. We had one fall and take out the power lines and block the road and it was a mess. I wanted to keep some of the wood just because it would be neat to use it to build some stuff---I'm thinking a picnic table. I got an Alaskan Sawmill and a 92cc saw to cut some slabs and came across this video trying to figure out how to properly dry the stuff. Keep up the good work and thanks for representing NC in such a valuable way!
Nemat! Hey old friend. Great to hear from you. Sounds like a fun project. Have you already Milled the slabs? Air drying with stickers for air flow will be adequate for building a picnic table. Make sure to seal the hell out of the end grain on the legs to prolong the life, since pine will only last a few years before starting to rot.
The fans directly wired to the solar panels is actually very clever. Here was I over thinking it as usual and wanted batteries, a thermostat, delay circuitry, thermostatic vents etc etc. I'm going to do it your way but still might go passive heat sensitive vent hinges.
Awesome kiln! For the record, Many industrial sawmills use heat from their wood chip/sawdust incinerators to kiln dry their lumber, along with powering the whole mill and often, the local community as well.
If you calculate how much air the tree purified before it was big enough to be harvested, while using the scraps to heat the kiln, you would find the “carbon foot” is negative.
@@thomasmcfeely8869 you being alive is having a carbon foot print . I bet your triple vaxed, double masked and want to go to war with Russia. Be honest.
@@neelonghunglow Agreed. If you're going to make lumber, the waste will either rot, releasing the CO2 anyway, just much slower or you burn it and get it over with. Anything from on top of the ground should be allowed to be burned as, one way or another, the waste will boil down to CO2 regardless of what you do with it. It's the stuff being pulled out of the ground that's causing the CO2 imbalance.
have you considered using a Shipping container painted flat black with louvers on one end and solar powered fans on the other end? maybe a fan in the meddle to create some air turbulence? Black shipping containers do get really hot in the sun.
great kiln! contrary to popular belief, many large scale kiln operators use a wood fire boiler to fuel their kilns. They use sawdust and chips from the sawmill to fuel the boiler. Nothing goes to waste. Its cost effective and environmentally sound.
@@gaborraczjr.5764 unlikely seeing its kinda a fire/explosive hazard. fine in a kiln place because at most theres 200 people and no local housing. where as in a house in the middle of a town or city.... as for solar kilns they are too inefficient for large scale usage. because while power can increase for the amount of wood needed, solar kilns need both size of building but also time. because the cube law is still a thing that everything follows. his 100ft to 1ft might work in a small scale but when youre talking about massive warehouses where the roof square footage is a fraction of volume. where his drying time is completely worthless. so were back at square one where a controlled heating source is used. the best solution is the one we have seeing it uses the most amount of waste there is. the only better solution is create better electric heaters and build more nuclear power plants.
@@Thekilleroftanks I know nothing about solar, relatively speaking. but would it be possible to use a shitload of solar panels to dry wood using electricity from the panels? bigger up front cost but a fraction of the operating cost. especially as panels are rapidly increasing in efficiency and decreasing in cost? thanks!
@@coppulor6500 It would be POSSIBLE, but not very cost efficient. The design in the video uses solar thermal and a solar PV (photovoltaic) uses DC current and a DC powered heating element. A better use of solar PV would be to run an electric sawmill, like the Wood-Miser LT40 with 18.5 kW electric motor. No fumes, no trip to the pump.
Question: What if you built this on top of a passive solar radiant heated concrete slab? (use a solar collector with a solar pump to circulate liquid from the collector through the slab) Would it dry lumber too quickly and cause damage to the wood?
I’ve thought about doing that, but couldn’t justify the cost. If I was further north, it would probably make more sense to add the hydronic radiant heat.
I need one… use it for a kiln in the summer and in the winter when wood would have to be there for months, storage, area to start plants, house chicken ect. Or just a warm sunny room to sit in
The university of Maine made a solar kiln using a greenhouse. A plastic sheet is placed on the ground to keep moisture from coming up. The lumber was kept 2’ off the floor and stickered into piles. The long sides of the greenhouse were open from 2’ down to the ground and the gable ends had open 4’ triangles at the peak. Convection alone pulls air through the boards and dries them thoroughly. I can’t remember how fast or to what percentage of moisture
This is so cool. Have been thinking of getting a mill because I have a couple hundred trees on my property that I want to clear, but building a kiln seemed out of reach. This seems much more doable.
No exaggeration, this is the best solar kiln video I’ve seen to date. I’ve got a small shop and chainsaw mill lumber during downtime to save on costs. I’m definitely going to build a scaled down version of this kiln.
I have a lot of 2.5 inch oak slabs that I cut last summer in central Europe. Do I really need to air dry them for 2 years before I put them into the kiln? I would love to put them in spring into the kiln so I can make some table tops out of them.
No. You won’t need to air dry for that long. They are probably ready to go into a solar kiln now. Make sure they are 25% moisture content or less before loading into the kiln.
Have you thought of adding a couple more solar panels and batteries so on cloudy days your fans can still work, or add small windmills to make energy for your kilns...
I hadn’t thought of that. Seems to be just the right amount of air movement, but I could imagine it would help to have a little more airflow on cloudy days.
@@HeirloomBuilders the windmill is to make electricity on cloudy days and pump extra juice to batteries for days when neither would make electricity to run your fans.
@@HeirloomBuilders Hey dude good stuff. 👍 Quick questions: 1. Is there air circulation into kiln from outside air; 2. Is your air humidity constantly falling/getting less % inside kiln; and, 3. Do you do this only in a specific season or year 'round? Thx ✌
@@lanceferguson7159 good questions. I should make a follow up video to answer these better. In short, the fresh air comes in mostly at the top vent in the doors, as the fans push the hot air down and through the lumber and out the bottom vent. Humidity is always gradually dropping inside the kiln, but during the night hours some moisture from latent air makes its way back into the kiln (which helps the wood dry at a slower rate with less defects). We use the kiln year round. It’s just takes twice as long to dry lumber in the winter.
Almost skipped this vid as from the vid selection screen it looked like some kind of sales pitch money making thing. Glad I didn't because it is really well done with good info. My big question is will a solar kiln work in Northern Pennsylvania? I can see it working down south, but wonder if it an option for us northern sawyers?
Having my own kiln is definitely a dream of mine and solar would be so nice. Unfortunately i don’t think it would be efficient during winter, days are so short here in Quebec. But I might try anyway someday. Great video, thanks for all the info.
I was already thinking about a home kiln for my own tree cuttings when a buddy sent me this. Thanks for posting. Most likely, I will go with a design of this type now.
Appreciate the rundown of how the kiln operates, produces and the parts that make it work. In the process of building one here in South Carolina. Made the rookie mistake of being so excited about milling, but found out quickly that the lumber needs to dry for a number of reasons. Been looking at fans to put in that run on solar. Our home is a ways away for say power and the kiln will be in direct sunlight from 7am to dark in the back of our field. I’m trying to reach out to someone with experience so that we don’t go through the work of getting fans and cutting out for them etc and they are too small or too much. My base is 12 by 20. Those fans in this video seem like there right on for that size with a baffle. Would you pass along the size of those fans and make/model. The idea of running when the suns up is right on time. Appreciate it if reply. Thanks again for all the insight and info, it’s educational. Appreciate ya.
I apologize in advance if my idea makes no sense: since hot air goes up, I believe your lumber would dry faster if you stacked it vertically, to allow more humidity to go up, every day. The space between pieces of drying lumber would act like chimneys, allowing more moisture to evaporate. If you try that, please let me know if you noticed any improvement. Thank you and good luck!
That sounds like a good idea. One issue is that lumber needs to be held flat when it's drying to minimize warppage, the weight of the stack acts like a clamp to keep things straight.
Where are you located? How long is the typical lumber you want to dry? Ours dries 12’ lengths easily it’s 9’x15’ outside dimensions. Plans are available at www.heirloombuilders.com/designs-for-sale
It would also function well As a greenhouse. We have used this kiln to dry firewood and herbs. But we have a greenhouse attached to our home for starting vegetables in the winter months.
Kinda reminds me of Jethro Bodine smoking Crawdads with Ellie Mae at the cement pond. "Kumbaya Y'all. But, he's not drying stacks of 10 ft. 2X6 pine studs, or using new 750W panels with built-in inverters. To power the fans and a dehumidifier, or banding his stickered material. But, we do have some in the community that do use his kiln to buy 5 plus cords of fresh split firewood to dry for the next season.
I'm just gonna go out on a limb here coz I like your knowledge. I'm thinking about building spice shelves (for a living) because I want to work for myself. I'm not real experienced and have $300 to get started. I bought saw, clamps, drill, and wood yesterday. What advice would you have for me?
Word of mouth is the best marketing. Make sure your customers are happy and sing your praises. Get creative and use live edge wood from a local sawmill.
So as you stated in this video that the kiln has fans to circulate air but I was wondering if it had any additional ventilation top or bottom to circulate new air in and old air out, or is it a sealed until that only circulates air around inside it’s self? Thanks for you time
I built an 12' x 16' solar kiln back in about 1994, it has produced 10's of thousands of board feet of Oak, Walnut, Maple, Poplar, and pine over the last 25+ years!
Great video! I'm not trying to poke holes in it, but I'm finding it hard to believe the blue absorbs light better than black. Is there a study somewhere to support this? Or is it based solely on the lack of an energy star rating? Everything I've ever seen indicates that black absorbs the most solar energy.
K. M. Someone smarter than me told me that blue was better at absorbing infrared heat, years ago, and when I saw the energy star rating, I figured that must be true. Might as well go with black, but blue seems equally good if you have it lying around.
@@HeirloomBuilders I was thinking it might have something to do with absorbing blue light, but I can't seem to find anything to support. Probably splitting hairs. Thanks for all the info!
@@HeirloomBuilders Actually, the more I think about it, wouldn't a reflective material like aluminum foil technically be best, to reflect as much of the light as possible toward the lumber (which is ultimately what absorbs most of the heat in the shed)? I would think the roofing panels are better conductors of heat as opposed to radiators of heat. So my thought is that the optimal setup might be reflective walls and a black panel on top of the pile.
Great video, I just bought a Woodmizer LT15 Wide saw mill and after seeing this video, I'm going to start building a solar kiln! Thanks for the great info and inspiration!
Thanks! Glad to hear you’re making moves on building a kiln. You will be glad you did. If you’re interested, plans are available for cheap at www.HeirloomBuilders.com/designs-for-sale
This really hits note with me and really exciting. I want to do on smaller scale.. But building materials currently so high decided to wait and I am going to miss this summer.. I know you said you receive and commission off an amazon purchase.. But curious how have you solar fans held up over time? I'm just west of you in Tennessee.. Great job btw and thanks for posting.
@@HeirloomBuilders Ok, pretty much finished with a smaller scale kiln..about 6' wide, 12' long and ~8.5' tall. 1st off you said in you video it was a pretty easy build.. It kicked my butt, I did 100% alone which is a factor, but it wore me out..Hat tip to you real builders. Physically it was a drain on me, and I was constantly thinking...opps, wish I had checked that "fill in the blank" about 3 or 4 steps earlier and now have to work around "whatever it was this time". heh heh 2nd. building materials still being so high.. I started to refer to it as the money pit..(g). The pit of despair, the never ending project... I couldn't believe the cost of some of the materials. e.g. 1/2 plywood. 1 and 2 not withstanding.. It's pretty much done and ready to load..I've got a thermometer in it, out of the sun so it's not in direct sunlight and on the floor.. It got down to 22 degrees here last night and it was 34 at 1 pm today but sunny.. I went down let myself in and shut the door behind me.. It as 84 degrees in there! Only have 1 solar fan so far, trying to keep the cost down, (see item 2)and it wasn't plugged in.. I hooked it into the solar panel and it kicked off and running like mad.. I was expecting the temp to fall a little.. Instead it went up to 96 degrees.. Obviously must have moved heat off from along the plexi.. wow.. I just need to get the wood in there.. On cloudy days it stays about 12-15 degrees warmer than outside so far this month in Jan. But truly wanted to say thank you for the video.. It was the inspiration to get this going.. I had pondered it years before but thought I don't even know if it really works.. You being relatively close to me in NC we'd have similar weather and you sounded pretty convincing.. Plus seeing it in action..So I took the plunge . now that the work is behind me(mostly still have few odds and ends like painting the outside) maybe this thing can work for me, unattended, for free.. For years to come.
Right around the 10:10 mark, he talks about the possibility of fuel inflating in price...a comment that is a lot more relevant in 2022. I don't have the need to dry as much at one time, but I am definitely looking at building a smaller version of this for myself.
I wonder if I could use the attic area above my garage in central California to dry at least a little lumber (for table tops and small projects). It gets HOT up there in the summer, but in spring and fall it's probably just warm. Has a tile roof with eave venting. I recently installed a folding stair to get up there. Hmmmm. I just read some comments below about bugs. Maybe I don't want fresh lumber INSIDE my garage area after all.
Thanks HB! Glad you enjoyed it. Plans are available at www.heirloombuilders.com/designs-for-sale Hardware is linked in the video description at the bottom. Cheers!
Thank you for the video! I know you all are in NC, but do you or does anyone in the comments know about how effective solar kilns are in northern winters? I am up in New Hampshire and am sure that it would work from April to October, but not sure how it would do when we have highs in the 30s from Dec to Feb
@HeirloomBuilders I had about half the size in mind as its more for personal use than selling. We're in a solid lumber producing area so it's not too profitable-for now. How many fans would you reccomend?
The sawmills where I go to use there wood waste to heat there kilns. It would be extremely foolish to do otherwise. Nice Video. I'll have to look more into kiln drying my own.
This is the only place online that says blue metal roofing absorbs more heat than any other color. Could somebody please explain? I always though it was related to a lighter or darker roof, not specific colors.
Does this get hot enough to take care of sterilization or would that require augmented heat? I've seen where 150F for 8 hours is an acceptable rule of thumb for sterilizing bugs/insects.
Trying to. I wanna do live edge and epoxy pours. And small crafts in between..thanks again. I like your straight to the point and hard fact videos💯🍻👏👏👏
Zero Emissions sounds good to me.. I'm not a tree hugger obviously but love the idea of saving money and helping reduce cost and environmental impacts when possible nice job
I’ve air dried pine before putting it in the kiln and had good success that way. But I don’t put much pine in the kiln. I use pine mostly for framing, trim and other stuff that can handle a little shrinkage once it’s inside the home.
do you offer a set of plans for your kiln free or what do you charge for your plans if available. I have an IDry Vacuum Kiln now but need another kiln Thanks for any help
It was funny I was thinking the whole video that while i have no use for high grade lumber, that this would dry my firewood perfectly and then at the very end you mention that too. Could make a small fortune selling my excess well seasoned firewood at 12 or 14% moisture.
Love this idea. I bought your design; however my sawmill has an extension and can create 18’2” boards. What is yourcecommendayion to adapt the design the extra amount… I’m assuming 19 to 20’ width?
It may be nice to have the extra length if you need it, but I’ve found that most of my hardwood sawlogs that I’m putting in the kiln are 12’6”. I would have lots of unused space if mine was 20’ long most of the time. But you could easily adapt the design to Make the ridge longer and add a few more rafters. You may need to gusset with plywood or diagonal sheating to the ridge if you don’t have any material that’s 20’ long. Probably a good idea to add the gusset to resist the lateral load on a 20’ span anyway.
This was a Master Class delivered in 12 minutes....
Nice! Thanks for saying so
I made mine on a boat trailer. Also, I put the 3 solar panels from harbour frieght inside to power 3 computer fans to circulate the air inside.
About 25 yrs ago I had a woodmizer lt40hd and built my own solar kiln. I used greenhouse hoops. I used black plastic first over the North half of the greenhouse kiln, and then clear over all of it. I then made a double layer over the South half leaving the outer laye a little bit loose. Clear plastic over the ends with a plywood door on one end. Also black plastic on the floor. Then, cutting a smaller hole towards either end of the inside of the double bubble layer to allow air to circulate from the inside of the kiln through inside of the double bubble space. I attached a smaller low speed fan to a piece of plywood and attached it to one of the little end holes in the inside layer of the double bubble layer and just left the other little 6 x 6" hole open. Then, stacking my green hardwood lumber in on the appropriate 4 x 4"s and with 1 x 1" drying sticks 16"s apart between layers right on top of the layer below. Then laying 1/2" osb on top of the stack. I had attached a 2 ft. plywood by the length of the kiln from the top of the hoops hanging down with three evenly spaced attic fans through it. I had a smaller sheet of black plastic attached to the bottom of this plywood as to lay on top of the lumber stack. These attic fans and the little fan to ciculate air through the double bubble layer facing South ran all the time while drying. The purpose of the double bubble layer with the fan circulating air through it is, when the sun is out the inside of the kiln will get to about 160 degrees and the attic fans will blow the air through the lumber pile around and around it goes, but, when evening comes the air is still hot, but as the little fan blows air through the double bubble layer the hot air inside of the double bubble condensates and runs down and out through the bottom of the attached plastic. What this does is moderates the amount of of moisture taken out in a more even timeframe as to not crack or warp the lumber. Pine or poplar take about 2 weeks in summer time to reach 7% moisture content. Cherry and Walnut take about 3 weeks and red oak about 4 weeks. The above kiln dried about 3,000 bd. ft. of 1 1/8th inch lumber. Hard and soft maple is a little more difficult to dry without drying stick sap wood marks. Message me if you would like more info. on drying hard maple. Best to you's that love working with the wood.
That’s brilliant. Thanks for sharing!
These things should be all over the planet, great idea and mostly made from scrap, Brilliant just brilliant. Cheers
Thanks, Darryl.
but they wont. good for small scale but completely moronic for large scale. which is where humanity is at. large scale wood usage.
because fun fact cube law is still a thing and will take a massive dump on any direct volume to surface area formula because as surface is increased in a ratio of 2, volume increase in a ratio of 3.
so from a surface of 4 ft to 8 ft the volume goes from 8 to 64.
whats worse is that ware houses are generally taller than a cube so theirs more volume to roof surfaces that normal compounding this issue even more so.
so making a large solar kiln would more than likely just take so long the wood would rot away.
I wondered what Mike Wolfe from American Pickers has been up to
I put green timber in my loft /roof space for 12 months .
Do they warp?
@@leonardodtc4847 no I just pulled one down that’s been there for three years and it’s still pretty straight
6:59 those are gate hinges not strap hinges
Genius Idea! I must have it!!!
It will my private money printer. And what's most interesting: absolutely legal. :))))
Zero energy consumption, zero pollutants, zero problems, clear and elegant backyard and finally many profits. How can I dislike it?
I just called !1201 Sawmill in Midwest City Oklahoma and they said they sell green oak for $5/ board foot. That's insane. I should have asked how much dried but I hung up
It would be great to show the before and after 1-2 months via a moisture meter readings.
LOGAN! Long time no see! Last time may have been when you were at the yellow house.
Anyways, we live on Pineview Drive and, needless to say, have many huge pines in the neighborhood. We had one fall and take out the power lines and block the road and it was a mess. I wanted to keep some of the wood just because it would be neat to use it to build some stuff---I'm thinking a picnic table. I got an Alaskan Sawmill and a 92cc saw to cut some slabs and came across this video trying to figure out how to properly dry the stuff.
Keep up the good work and thanks for representing NC in such a valuable way!
Nemat! Hey old friend. Great to hear from you. Sounds like a fun project. Have you already Milled the slabs? Air drying with stickers for air flow will be adequate for building a picnic table. Make sure to seal the hell out of the end grain on the legs to prolong the life, since pine will only last a few years before starting to rot.
Does it get hot enough to kill any bugs in the wood? Thanks for the video!
Yes it does
@@HeirloomBuilders such a quick response. Thanks so much!!!
The fans directly wired to the solar panels is actually very clever.
Here was I over thinking it as usual and wanted batteries, a thermostat, delay circuitry, thermostatic vents etc etc.
I'm going to do it your way but still might go passive heat sensitive vent hinges.
Good idea on the vent hinges
Awesome kiln! For the record, Many industrial sawmills use heat from their wood chip/sawdust incinerators to kiln dry their lumber, along with powering the whole mill and often, the local community as well.
That’s Good to know!
That's still a carbon footprint
If you calculate how much air the tree purified before it was big enough to be harvested, while using the scraps to heat the kiln, you would find the “carbon foot” is negative.
@@thomasmcfeely8869 you being alive is having a carbon foot print . I bet your triple vaxed, double masked and want to go to war with Russia. Be honest.
@@neelonghunglow Agreed. If you're going to make lumber, the waste will either rot, releasing the CO2 anyway, just much slower or you burn it and get it over with. Anything from on top of the ground should be allowed to be burned as, one way or another, the waste will boil down to CO2 regardless of what you do with it. It's the stuff being pulled out of the ground that's causing the CO2 imbalance.
have you considered using a Shipping container painted flat black with louvers on one end and solar powered fans on the other end? maybe a fan in the meddle to create some air turbulence? Black shipping containers do get really hot in the sun.
A printable set of plans would be a nice feature for this video! I’ve got the space and the interest......
You are in luck! They are available at www. HeirloomBuilders.com/designs-for-sale
Does this have all of the information in it about the solar panels in the fans and everything you need to purchase to build this?
@@rickeykelley4909 yes. Most of the items are linked in the video description as well
@@HeirloomBuilders thank you. Just want to try to get pretty much the same set up you had or I didn’t really think it would work properly.
Nice job..
great kiln! contrary to popular belief, many large scale kiln operators use a wood fire boiler to fuel their kilns. They use sawdust and chips from the sawmill to fuel the boiler. Nothing goes to waste. Its cost effective and environmentally sound.
But saving it you could use that waste to heat your house up.
@@gaborraczjr.5764 unlikely seeing its kinda a fire/explosive hazard.
fine in a kiln place because at most theres 200 people and no local housing.
where as in a house in the middle of a town or city....
as for solar kilns they are too inefficient for large scale usage. because while power can increase for the amount of wood needed, solar kilns need both size of building but also time. because the cube law is still a thing that everything follows. his 100ft to 1ft might work in a small scale but when youre talking about massive warehouses where the roof square footage is a fraction of volume. where his drying time is completely worthless.
so were back at square one where a controlled heating source is used. the best solution is the one we have seeing it uses the most amount of waste there is. the only better solution is create better electric heaters and build more nuclear power plants.
@@Thekilleroftanks I guess you put the solar kiln idea to rest lol
@@Thekilleroftanks I know nothing about solar, relatively speaking. but would it be possible to use a shitload of solar panels to dry wood using electricity from the panels? bigger up front cost but a fraction of the operating cost. especially as panels are rapidly increasing in efficiency and decreasing in cost? thanks!
@@coppulor6500 It would be POSSIBLE, but not very cost efficient. The design in the video uses solar thermal and a solar PV (photovoltaic) uses DC current and a DC powered heating element. A better use of solar PV would be to run an electric sawmill, like the Wood-Miser LT40 with 18.5 kW electric motor. No fumes, no trip to the pump.
Question: What if you built this on top of a passive solar radiant heated concrete slab? (use a solar collector with a solar pump to circulate liquid from the collector through the slab) Would it dry lumber too quickly and cause damage to the wood?
I’ve thought about doing that, but couldn’t justify the cost. If I was further north, it would probably make more sense to add the hydronic radiant heat.
Thanks for sharing this great idea.
I need one… use it for a kiln in the summer and in the winter when wood would have to be there for months, storage, area to start plants, house chicken ect. Or just a warm sunny room to sit in
The university of Maine made a solar kiln using a greenhouse. A plastic sheet is placed on the ground to keep moisture from coming up. The lumber was kept 2’ off the floor and stickered into piles. The long sides of the greenhouse were open from 2’ down to the ground and the gable ends had open 4’ triangles at the peak. Convection alone pulls air through the boards and dries them thoroughly. I can’t remember how fast or to what percentage of moisture
Simplicity is king! That’s a great way to keep it simple and repurpose a greenhouse
do you have a video of the build, I would love to see that.
This is so cool. Have been thinking of getting a mill because I have a couple hundred trees on my property that I want to clear, but building a kiln seemed out of reach. This seems much more doable.
Just plain excellent !
Probably be good for firewood too
Definitely so
No exaggeration, this is the best solar kiln video I’ve seen to date. I’ve got a small shop and chainsaw mill lumber during downtime to save on costs. I’m definitely going to build a scaled down version of this kiln.
John Gay sweet! I spent a lot of time researching solar kilns before I built mine, and glad I did. It’s a beast. Good luck building yours.
Do you have plans for it?
Katie Kelley roughly yes. It’s been 6 years since I built it and the drawings were basic, but send me an email for them to logan@heirloombuilders.com
Man you speakin truth! I love it. I want to build one... Thanks a bunch!!!!!
I did a test run in my hundred foot greenhouse in northern California drying some madrone it worked great!!
That is awesome! Stacking functions is always the best way to go. Good work.
I have a lot of 2.5 inch oak slabs that I cut last summer in central Europe. Do I really need to air dry them for 2 years before I put them into the kiln? I would love to put them in spring into the kiln so I can make some table tops out of them.
No. You won’t need to air dry for that long. They are probably ready to go into a solar kiln now. Make sure they are 25% moisture content or less before loading into the kiln.
@@HeirloomBuilders awesome thanks!
My mind is made up on building one I'm in the Pacific Northwest so I won't generate much sunlight in the winter but you said it all in the video
Do you have plans for the kiln?
www.heirloombuilders.com/designs-for-sale/solar-kiln-construction-drawings
Have you thought of adding a couple more solar panels and batteries so on cloudy days your fans can still work, or add small windmills to make energy for your kilns...
I hadn’t thought of that. Seems to be just the right amount of air movement, but I could imagine it would help to have a little more airflow on cloudy days.
@@HeirloomBuilders the windmill is to make electricity on cloudy days and pump extra juice to batteries for days when neither would make electricity to run your fans.
I have one to and it work very good
That's a great idea! Thank you for sharing.
What a no-brainer, this just makes way too much sense. Awsome video Bro!
Thanks, Harry!
@@HeirloomBuilders Hey dude good stuff. 👍 Quick questions: 1. Is there air circulation into kiln from outside air; 2. Is your air humidity constantly falling/getting less % inside kiln; and, 3. Do you do this only in a specific season or year 'round? Thx ✌
@@lanceferguson7159 good questions. I should make a follow up video to answer these better. In short, the fresh air comes in mostly at the top vent in the doors, as the fans push the hot air down and through the lumber and out the bottom vent. Humidity is always gradually dropping inside the kiln, but during the night hours some moisture from latent air makes its way back into the kiln (which helps the wood dry at a slower rate with less defects). We use the kiln year round. It’s just takes twice as long to dry lumber in the winter.
Can you put whole branches in there with the end grain sealed?
Almost skipped this vid as from the vid selection screen it looked like some kind of sales pitch money making thing. Glad I didn't because it is really well done with good info. My big question is will a solar kiln work in Northern Pennsylvania? I can see it working down south, but wonder if it an option for us northern sawyers?
It will definitely work in PA, year round.
Having my own kiln is definitely a dream of mine and solar would be so nice. Unfortunately i don’t think it would be efficient during winter, days are so short here in Quebec. But I might try anyway someday. Great video, thanks for all the info.
Boom!!! Been looking for solar fans that work....you nailed it. Building the exact kiln as we speak.
H&H Off Grid hell yeah! Good luck
I’m making plans right now as well! Great info and instructions. This video helped a ton!!
I was already thinking about a home kiln for my own tree cuttings when a buddy sent me this. Thanks for posting. Most likely, I will go with a design of this type now.
Nice! This design works really well. Plans are available for $25 at www.HeirloomBuilders.com/designs-for-sale if you’re interested.
great info.thanks.ive started mine after watching this video.
Cool! Probably would only work in Canadian summers. Does it get rid of insects in 1 month of summer heat?
It has to get to 130 deg F for 6 hours after the lumber is fully dried to kill beetles and larvae.
Great info, thanks for sharing. I've bookmarked your plans and intend to build one in a couple years. Gota retire first before the fun starts.
Appreciate the rundown of how the kiln operates, produces and the parts that make it work. In the process of building one here in South Carolina. Made the rookie mistake of being so excited about milling, but found out quickly that the lumber needs to dry for a number of reasons. Been looking at fans to put in that run on solar. Our home is a ways away for say power and the kiln will be in direct sunlight from 7am to dark in the back of our field. I’m trying to reach out to someone with experience so that we don’t go through the work of getting fans and cutting out for them etc and they are too small or too much. My base is 12 by 20. Those fans in this video seem like there right on for that size with a baffle. Would you pass along the size of those fans and make/model. The idea of running when the suns up is right on time. Appreciate it if reply. Thanks again for all the insight and info, it’s educational. Appreciate ya.
Hey Keri! You’ll probably want three fans. There’s a link to the fans and solar equipment in this video description…
North Carolina. You must be near the outer banks because I don't see any of the hills I have here in Denver NC. Beautiful piece of land there.
Thanks! We are near Liberty, NC
I apologize in advance if my idea makes no sense: since hot air goes up, I believe your lumber would dry faster if you stacked it vertically, to allow more humidity to go up, every day. The space between pieces of drying lumber would act like chimneys, allowing more moisture to evaporate. If you try that, please let me know if you noticed any improvement. Thank you and good luck!
That sounds like a good idea. One issue is that lumber needs to be held flat when it's drying to minimize warppage, the weight of the stack acts like a clamp to keep things straight.
I need one of this so bad
Building plans are available for cheap at www. HeirloomBuilders.com/designs-for-sale
@@HeirloomBuilders what is the medium waiting time until one full kiln is fully dried?
1-2 months depending on the season and weather.
Would like to get some specks like a drawing if that's possible
Sure enough. A full set of plans is available for $35 at www.heirloombuilders.com/plans-for-sale
I'd love to figure out how mine needs to be built. I just don't understand how to come up with the roof pitch and how big I need to go.
Where are you located? How long is the typical lumber you want to dry? Ours dries 12’ lengths easily it’s 9’x15’ outside dimensions. Plans are available at www.heirloombuilders.com/designs-for-sale
Did you design that kiln or did you follow a set of plans? It's a project I've been researching for some time. Plan on building in the spring
Hey Darien, I spent many hours of research designing this kiln. Plans are available at www.HeirloomBuilders.com/designs-for-sale
Would you be able to share where you bought your fans
Dude, come on. Just use google for solar fan...
Nice kiln!! Has anybody used it for a dual purpose green house during the winter months? Thoughts?
It would also function well As a greenhouse. We have used this kiln to dry firewood and herbs. But we have a greenhouse attached to our home for starting vegetables in the winter months.
Kinda reminds me of Jethro Bodine smoking Crawdads with Ellie Mae at the cement pond. "Kumbaya Y'all. But, he's not drying stacks of 10 ft. 2X6 pine studs, or using new 750W panels with built-in inverters. To power the fans and a dehumidifier, or banding his stickered material. But, we do have some in the community that do use his kiln to buy 5 plus cords of fresh split firewood to dry for the next season.
What about putting a dehumidifier in a shed with the wood
That will probably take a lot longer, and use a lot of energy, but it would definitely work. You'd need to monitor the moisture content to be sure
@@HeirloomBuilders does the wood you cut come out better quality than store bought
@@michaeld954definitely
I'm just gonna go out on a limb here coz I like your knowledge. I'm thinking about building spice shelves (for a living) because I want to work for myself. I'm not real experienced and have $300 to get started. I bought saw, clamps, drill, and wood yesterday. What advice would you have for me?
Word of mouth is the best marketing. Make sure your customers are happy and sing your praises. Get creative and use live edge wood from a local sawmill.
So as you stated in this video that the kiln has fans to circulate air but I was wondering if it had any additional ventilation top or bottom to circulate new air in and old air out, or is it a sealed until that only circulates air around inside it’s self?
Thanks for you time
The fans pull fresh air in through the top vent in the door and push the hot air down through the lumber and out the bottom vent in the door
I built an 12' x 16' solar kiln back in about 1994, it has produced 10's of thousands of board feet of Oak, Walnut, Maple, Poplar, and pine over the last 25+ years!
M&L Woodworking 🤩you got maple too? Lucky dog. We have some wormy red maple down in NC, but not much hard maple.
@@HeirloomBuilders Yeah, up here in Ohio we have lots of Maple. Both Soft and Hard.
Great video! I'm not trying to poke holes in it, but I'm finding it hard to believe the blue absorbs light better than black. Is there a study somewhere to support this? Or is it based solely on the lack of an energy star rating? Everything I've ever seen indicates that black absorbs the most solar energy.
K. M. Someone smarter than me told me that blue was better at absorbing infrared heat, years ago, and when I saw the energy star rating, I figured that must be true. Might as well go with black, but blue seems equally good if you have it lying around.
@@HeirloomBuilders I was thinking it might have something to do with absorbing blue light, but I can't seem to find anything to support. Probably splitting hairs. Thanks for all the info!
@@HeirloomBuilders Actually, the more I think about it, wouldn't a reflective material like aluminum foil technically be best, to reflect as much of the light as possible toward the lumber (which is ultimately what absorbs most of the heat in the shed)?
I would think the roofing panels are better conductors of heat as opposed to radiators of heat. So my thought is that the optimal setup might be reflective walls and a black panel on top of the pile.
@@ElectricIguana i think you may be on to something!
@@ElectricIguana look up Solar furnaces, the science has been extensively tested and the concept is very similar.
I’ve seen much smaller sun kilns that hold a lot of lumber. Great video, thanks!
Great video, I just bought a Woodmizer LT15 Wide saw mill and after seeing this video, I'm going to start building a solar kiln! Thanks for the great info and inspiration!
Thanks! Glad to hear you’re making moves on building a kiln. You will be glad you did. If you’re interested, plans are available for cheap at www.HeirloomBuilders.com/designs-for-sale
Do you think this would work in a northern colder climate?
Truth Onhigh it absolutely does work in northern climates. Drying times are probably longer up north
@@HeirloomBuilders Awesome, thank you
How do you ensure the kiln gets hot enough to sanitize the wood?
Great addition, to a sawmill setup, maybe next year, my friends and I can find a space to do all this, if prices stay this way
Great job explaining you project!
Thank you! Cheers!
Awesome video
I’m gonna start building mine soon
I had no idea I needed a solar kiln.... but now I do. :-) Will be ordering your plans soon.
noticed you fixed the eaves trough that was coming off. lol
Hahaha! Yeah, that was looking pretty sloppy. Good eye!
I’m building this
What should the orientation of a solar kiln be
This really hits note with me and really exciting. I want to do on smaller scale.. But building materials currently so high decided to wait and I am going to miss this summer..
I know you said you receive and commission off an amazon purchase.. But curious how have you solar fans held up over time? I'm just west of you in Tennessee..
Great job btw and thanks for posting.
Thanks, Greg! The fans are great! They are direct wired and have worked flawlessly for the past 7 years.
@@HeirloomBuilders Ok, pretty much finished with a smaller scale kiln..about 6' wide, 12' long and ~8.5' tall.
1st off you said in you video it was a pretty easy build.. It kicked my butt, I did 100% alone which is a factor, but it wore me out..Hat tip to you real builders. Physically it was a drain on me, and I was constantly thinking...opps, wish I had checked that "fill in the blank" about 3 or 4 steps earlier and now have to work around "whatever it was this time". heh heh
2nd. building materials still being so high.. I started to refer to it as the money pit..(g). The pit of despair, the never ending project... I couldn't believe the cost of some of the materials. e.g. 1/2 plywood.
1 and 2 not withstanding.. It's pretty much done and ready to load..I've got a thermometer in it, out of the sun so it's not in direct sunlight and on the floor.. It got down to 22 degrees here last night and it was 34 at 1 pm today but sunny.. I went down let myself in and shut the door behind me.. It as 84 degrees in there! Only have 1 solar fan so far, trying to keep the cost down, (see item 2)and it wasn't plugged in.. I hooked it into the solar panel and it kicked off and running like mad.. I was expecting the temp to fall a little.. Instead it went up to 96 degrees.. Obviously must have moved heat off from along the plexi.. wow.. I just need to get the wood in there.. On cloudy days it stays about 12-15 degrees warmer than outside so far this month in Jan.
But truly wanted to say thank you for the video.. It was the inspiration to get this going.. I had pondered it years before but thought I don't even know if it really works.. You being relatively close to me in NC we'd have similar weather and you sounded pretty convincing.. Plus seeing it in action..So I took the plunge .
now that the work is behind me(mostly still have few odds and ends like painting the outside) maybe this thing can work for me, unattended, for free.. For years to come.
@@gregh3947 congratulations! That’s great. Thanks for sharing your story. I hope your hard work pays off for many years to come!
Right around the 10:10 mark, he talks about the possibility of fuel inflating in price...a comment that is a lot more relevant in 2022. I don't have the need to dry as much at one time, but I am definitely looking at building a smaller version of this for myself.
This is a great idea. I love to woodwork as a hobby. Looking to get some property in the Boone NC area and hopefully harvest some of my own wood.
TWC nice! I love Boone. I hope you find some land with good trees to work with
@@HeirloomBuilders i'm in NC as well...did you have to set the poly side facing south like a green house?
@@whineysnowflake8072 yes, absolutely face south if you are in NC (or anywhere in the northern hemisphere)
@@HeirloomBuilders thanks. Everyone is leaving that out of their videos. Figured as much but it would stink to build then move. Thanks for the reply
Thanks for sharing! Do you have a video on how to grade wood and how to price it for sale?
Would love to know where you got those hinges
Strap Hinges (need 4): amzn.to/3sKTRci
Bolt Hooks for strap hinge (need 4): amzn.to/3sMyXcJ
Thank you sir!
I wonder if I could use the attic area above my garage in central California to dry at least a little lumber (for table tops and small projects). It gets HOT up there in the summer, but in spring and fall it's probably just warm. Has a tile roof with eave venting. I recently installed a folding stair to get up there.
Hmmmm. I just read some comments below about bugs. Maybe I don't want fresh lumber INSIDE my garage area after all.
Bugs will probably die in your attic heat, but it may not be worth the risk!
Great build! Lots of good information and details of the kiln.
Does it decontaminate the wood? Or do you still have to cook the wood to kill all the bugs in a separate kiln?
Depends on how hot you get it. The kiln needs to reach temps of 130F to kill most bug infestations
Wow, I want one.
Oh wait I need land first.
Might be a good thing to build one as the first structure when you find some land. 😉
Great video on solar kilns. Thanks for all the info. Would it be possible to get your design and the hardware list? Thanks.
Thanks HB! Glad you enjoyed it. Plans are available at www.heirloombuilders.com/designs-for-sale
Hardware is linked in the video description at the bottom.
Cheers!
What is your recommendation of how much gravel under the 6"X6" footings?
2” minimum gravel layer on top of solid dirt
Thank you for the video! I know you all are in NC, but do you or does anyone in the comments know about how effective solar kilns are in northern winters? I am up in New Hampshire and am sure that it would work from April to October, but not sure how it would do when we have highs in the 30s from Dec to Feb
would it be worth buying a dehumidifier and adding another solar panel to supply power for it to operate
would that not help remove the moisture quicker and shorten the time it needs to stay in the kiln?
Hi! Would a smaller version of this still work in SC? New homeowner and woodcarver looking to utilize black walnut on the property.
Definitely. You may need to modify the number of fans you install based on how much sun collection area you build into your kiln
@HeirloomBuilders I had about half the size in mind as its more for personal use than selling. We're in a solid lumber producing area so it's not too profitable-for now. How many fans would you reccomend?
Awesome info, thank you for sharing!!
The sawmills where I go to use there wood waste to heat there kilns. It would be extremely foolish to do otherwise. Nice Video. I'll have to look more into kiln drying my own.
Thank you.
You're welcome!
This is the only place online that says blue metal roofing absorbs more heat than any other color. Could somebody please explain? I always though it was related to a lighter or darker roof, not specific colors.
Does this get hot enough to take care of sterilization or would that require augmented heat? I've seen where 150F for 8 hours is an acceptable rule of thumb for sterilizing bugs/insects.
Great video! I think even better than the blue color for your metal siding would be BLACK; I'm sure it would absorb even more heat from the sun.
Dude thank you for dropping so much knowledge...🙏
You are welcome, my friend. I hope it helps. You planning on building one?
Trying to. I wanna do live edge and epoxy pours. And small crafts in between..thanks again. I like your straight to the point and hard fact videos💯🍻👏👏👏
This is awesome so do you have any plans i could buy to build this kiln???
@@ajbialik6271 Yes! Plans are available at www.HeirloomBuilders.com/designs-for-sale
Zero Emissions sounds good to me.. I'm not a tree hugger obviously but love the idea of saving money and helping reduce cost and environmental impacts when possible nice job
Did you cover which way to have the glass? I believe south facing is most energy efficient for light and heat?
Face the clear polycarbonate (or glass panels) to the south (if you’re in the northern hemisphere). Face north if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere.
How does Pine Lumber do, green? Is it even worth it? or should I air dry for a bit before placing in the Kiln
I’ve air dried pine before putting it in the kiln and had good success that way. But I don’t put much pine in the kiln. I use pine mostly for framing, trim and other stuff that can handle a little shrinkage once it’s inside the home.
Could you stick wood in your attic and get the same result? Or would that not work?
It would be a bit slower, and harder to access, but yes that would work.
@@HeirloomBuilders I sense an attic rental business brewing
💰💰💰🤣
do you offer a set of plans for your kiln free or what do you charge for your plans if available. I have an IDry Vacuum Kiln now but need another kiln Thanks for any help
Plans are available for $35 at www.heirloombuilders.com/designs-for-sale
Very nice job man!
can you give info on 12 volt fans you used ?
Hey Byron! click on the video description and scroll to the bottom. You'll see links there for all the equipment we used to build this kiln.
Would the hunter green metal work? I have it on all my roofs and was wondering if it would work because it’s a dark green ?
Yes, hunter green will work pretty well. Might as well use what you’ve got!
It was funny I was thinking the whole video that while i have no use for high grade lumber, that this would dry my firewood perfectly and then at the very end you mention that too. Could make a small fortune selling my excess well seasoned firewood at 12 or 14% moisture.
Exactly, my friend. And once you build it, it’s free to operate. 🤑
Love this idea.
I bought your design; however my sawmill has an extension and can create 18’2” boards. What is yourcecommendayion to adapt the design the extra amount… I’m assuming 19 to 20’ width?
It may be nice to have the extra length if you need it, but I’ve found that most of my hardwood sawlogs that I’m putting in the kiln are 12’6”. I would have lots of unused space if mine was 20’ long most of the time. But you could easily adapt the design to
Make the ridge longer and add a few more rafters. You may need to gusset with plywood or diagonal sheating to the ridge if you don’t have any material that’s 20’ long. Probably a good idea to add the gusset to resist the lateral load on a 20’ span anyway.
A powered kiln unit will have a drain line to evacuate the moisture. What happens to the moisture in this solar kiln?
The moisture from wood becomes vapor that is blown out by the fans