I am building a solar kiln now, and up front, no pro here, but: As I look at your fans, the intake side shares space with the output side (same volume of air). It might help to have the fans mounted on an inside wall such that air is pulled from the wet side and exhausted on the dry side. A return air plenum that acts as a feedback so heat is not vented until a working temperature is reached. I plan on setting up a schedule to open vents to outside air only when relative humidity reaches the calculated drying schedule.
That is an excellent suggestion! I will make sure Chuck and Christian ( the masterminds behind the kiln) read this and take it into consideration. Your help is much appreciated!
I see the same thing as dantco, I don't see the much needed drop down partition to separate your heated air from the moisture laden air. This partition also forces the air to pass through the lumber stack to remove moisture. the fans should be mounted in the drop down, tarp attached to the bottom of the drop down and it should cover the top of your lumber stack.
I really feel bad for you guys, its a shame this didnt work out. There are really so many things wrong with it but it is salvageable I think. It wont work as a strict solar kiln, there is too much space for the amount of solar generator (window). The fans arent isolating dry air from moist air, as there is no barrier between zones. It needs to be insulated much more. Aside from the bad, here is the good. Insulate it, seal it very well with a black roofing material, and put in a few dehumidifiers. I think this will work well as a dehumidification kiln to be honest. The solar will generate enough heat for that and the dehumidifier will add to it. Good luck, I really hope this works out for you.
Great suggestions, thank you! I am thinking of spray foam (depending on cost). We need more power (than current solar) for dehumidifiers but think that will be necessary as well. Much appreciated!
@@chuckanderson1770 if you use spray foam, be certain it is the closed cell variety. Open cell foam will take on water and you will loose insulating value. You don't want a damp sponge in your kiln :)
I went back to look for an update video, did yall figure it out? I bet if your roof continued down at that 45-degree angle nearly to the ground it would be warm enough to get the wood dry.
We decided it would be better served as a chicken coop and a green house. All our wood (well, most of it) has been used in the cabin and elsewhere and is doing great!
Want to put some sheet metal on that back wall there instead of the roofing paper paper so it has a little bit of reflection inside the room. I see other people who have done that style and they have sheet metal against the wall could cause more heat. Just my suggestion. 🙏🏻
Heat problem? Not enough insulation - use EPS sheet set between studs and joists. 4" thick will work. Fiberglass looses it's insulation value when it gets wet. No good for this application. To much air infiltration - put battens over shrinkage cracks in siding. If solar heat alone isn't cutting it for you - increase your solar/battery capacity to run a dehumidifier. Solar, dehumidification and fans will definitely do the job for you. Your choice of glazing is sketchy. You'd be better off with double layer of greenhouse poly film. But single pain glass is best. Your air deflector curtain needs to drape all the way down to the top of the stack You're short cycling your air flow and heat right out the vents rather than through the sticker slots. Always sticker your lumber all the way to the end and weight the top layer with concrete blocks to manage twist. Take a look at San tan solar's used panels. Best all around value for your application.
Thank you for the awesome suggestions. We definitely learned a ton of how to better improve on what we built. This large kiln no longer houses wood, but now our chickens reside in it. The next kiln we build will definitely be on a smaller scale and will take into consideration your suggestions!
I suppose we could, but we are now using the building as our chicken coop. All the logs we needed dried are now used in the log home so the kiln is no longer needed. We might try to build a smaller scaled one for future projects though!
Theres several ways to fix these issues tho. Youre far from defeated! There is a way to fix this . If it isnt getting hot enough is it directional proportional to sun intake? Increase the insulation r value. Paint the entire inside black or actually a dark blue. Decrease the load. Bring a darker color to the outside . You should be able to solve this issue easily tho. Also yhe thicker the lumber the longer the dry. Its much different drying a 8x8 than it is a 1 xwhatever plank or a 2 inch thick plank even
Heres a heck of an idea if you want to extend your heat inside there over night and maybe even increase your heat. 1 paint everything inside dark even the floor. 2 line the back wall with old dark bricks. The reason for that is that bricks tend to have an extremely high hold of heat and it releases that heat much much slower due to its thermal properties. . On your logs youre gonna want to either treat those guys with something heavily or youre gonna want to bring them up to 140 degrees for 24 hrs and then let cool naturally for 24 hrs in the same spot. The reason for that is sterlization of pests! I have sawmill here in tn. When i do my wood in the kiln that is my process. That temp will kill everything in there including powder post beetles which are far more destruction than termites if allowed to expand colony. Most of my products here i produce are thick slabs. It does take me longer to dry those especially this year it seems due to humidity levels have been insane this year. So you just about need to run heat and a dehumidifier on all your stuff until this humidity checks out or you can better control the humidity in your structure. This may be part of what youre experiencing. If thats the case your stuff will still dry it will just take double the time which is unfortunate when your trying to build.
Anthony, Thank you very much for such a detailed and thoughtful response! There are some great suggestions in here! We have a lot to learn, but loving every minute of our homestead journey. Cheers
@@chuckanderson1770 oh there’s a bunch of companies out there. Some American. Most Chinese. But they work really well for the kilns. I have a couple of mine set onto a thermostat they kick on and off when needed those are wired to a deep cycle battery and inverter. I also have a couple that are on very low just for some movement when the sun is out they go on. Relatively cheap as well. But nice video thank you for some insight 👍🏼
I was planning on doing a huge timber frame in my backyard and I think I'm going to try and do what you ended up doing. Build it, then repurpose later. I'll have to adjust my building plans a bit, but should be easy enough to figure out with a few buddies helping me out. Kiln first then greenhouse/workshop
I am building a solar kiln now, and up front, no pro here, but:
As I look at your fans, the intake side shares space with the output side (same volume of air). It might help to have the fans mounted on an inside wall such that air is pulled from the wet side and exhausted on the dry side.
A return air plenum that acts as a feedback so heat is not vented until a working temperature is reached.
I plan on setting up a schedule to open vents to outside air only when relative humidity reaches the calculated drying schedule.
That is an excellent suggestion! I will make sure Chuck and Christian ( the masterminds behind the kiln) read this and take it into consideration. Your help is much appreciated!
I see the same thing as dantco, I don't see the much needed drop down partition to separate your heated air from the moisture laden air. This partition also forces the air to pass through the lumber stack to remove moisture. the fans should be mounted in the drop down, tarp attached to the bottom of the drop down and it should cover the top of your lumber stack.
Thank you for the input!!
I really feel bad for you guys, its a shame this didnt work out. There are really so many things wrong with it but it is salvageable I think. It wont work as a strict solar kiln, there is too much space for the amount of solar generator (window). The fans arent isolating dry air from moist air, as there is no barrier between zones. It needs to be insulated much more. Aside from the bad, here is the good. Insulate it, seal it very well with a black roofing material, and put in a few dehumidifiers. I think this will work well as a dehumidification kiln to be honest. The solar will generate enough heat for that and the dehumidifier will add to it.
Good luck, I really hope this works out for you.
Thank you for the great suggestions! Once we get out yurt livable we might try to tackle getting the kiln to work.
Great suggestions, thank you! I am thinking of spray foam (depending on cost). We need more power (than current solar) for dehumidifiers but think that will be necessary as well. Much appreciated!
@@chuckanderson1770 if you use spray foam, be certain it is the closed cell variety. Open cell foam will take on water and you will loose insulating value. You don't want a damp sponge in your kiln :)
I went back to look for an update video, did yall figure it out?
I bet if your roof continued down at that 45-degree angle nearly to the ground it would be warm enough to get the wood dry.
We decided it would be better served as a chicken coop and a green house. All our wood (well, most of it) has been used in the cabin and elsewhere and is doing great!
Want to put some sheet metal on that back wall there instead of the roofing paper paper so it has a little bit of reflection inside the room. I see other people who have done that style and they have sheet metal against the wall could cause more heat. Just my suggestion. 🙏🏻
Excellent suggestion!! I will definitely make sure Chuck and Christian take this into account!
Heat problem? Not enough insulation - use EPS sheet set between studs and joists. 4" thick will work. Fiberglass looses it's insulation value when it gets wet. No good for this application. To much air infiltration - put battens over shrinkage cracks in siding. If solar heat alone isn't cutting it for you - increase your solar/battery capacity to run a dehumidifier. Solar, dehumidification and fans will definitely do the job for you. Your choice of glazing is sketchy. You'd be better off with double layer of greenhouse poly film. But single pain glass is best. Your air deflector curtain needs to drape all the way down to the top of the stack You're short cycling your air flow and heat right out the vents rather than through the sticker slots. Always sticker your lumber all the way to the end and weight the top layer with concrete blocks to manage twist. Take a look at San tan solar's used panels. Best all around value for your application.
Thank you for the awesome suggestions. We definitely learned a ton of how to better improve on what we built. This large kiln no longer houses wood, but now our chickens reside in it. The next kiln we build will definitely be on a smaller scale and will take into consideration your suggestions!
@@freedomranchhomestead7961 TH-cam is loaded with good videos. You'll be amazed by what you can learn about success and failure. :)
Could you replace the front wood wall with the clear panels? To let more heat in
I suppose we could, but we are now using the building as our chicken coop. All the logs we needed dried are now used in the log home so the kiln is no longer needed. We might try to build a smaller scaled one for future projects though!
Theres several ways to fix these issues tho. Youre far from defeated! There is a way to fix this . If it isnt getting hot enough is it directional proportional to sun intake? Increase the insulation r value. Paint the entire inside black or actually a dark blue. Decrease the load. Bring a darker color to the outside . You should be able to solve this issue easily tho. Also yhe thicker the lumber the longer the dry. Its much different drying a 8x8 than it is a 1 xwhatever plank or a 2 inch thick plank even
Thank you so much for your ideas! We will definitely take them into consideration.
Heres a heck of an idea if you want to extend your heat inside there over night and maybe even increase your heat. 1 paint everything inside dark even the floor. 2 line the back wall with old dark bricks. The reason for that is that bricks tend to have an extremely high hold of heat and it releases that heat much much slower due to its thermal properties. . On your logs youre gonna want to either treat those guys with something heavily or youre gonna want to bring them up to 140 degrees for 24 hrs and then let cool naturally for 24 hrs in the same spot. The reason for that is sterlization of pests! I have sawmill here in tn. When i do my wood in the kiln that is my process. That temp will kill everything in there including powder post beetles which are far more destruction than termites if allowed to expand colony. Most of my products here i produce are thick slabs. It does take me longer to dry those especially this year it seems due to humidity levels have been insane this year. So you just about need to run heat and a dehumidifier on all your stuff until this humidity checks out or you can better control the humidity in your structure. This may be part of what youre experiencing. If thats the case your stuff will still dry it will just take double the time which is unfortunate when your trying to build.
Anthony, Thank you very much for such a detailed and thoughtful response! There are some great suggestions in here! We have a lot to learn, but loving every minute of our homestead journey. Cheers
Make 12min video please.
Shall do!
Y’all didn’t look at the solar attic fan units as well ?
Sorry for the delayed reply! I am not familiar with solar attic fans. Who makes them? Thanks for commenting!
@@chuckanderson1770 oh there’s a bunch of companies out there. Some American. Most Chinese. But they work really well for the kilns. I have a couple of mine set onto a thermostat they kick on and off when needed those are wired to a deep cycle battery and inverter. I also have a couple that are on very low just for some movement when the sun is out they go on. Relatively cheap as well. But nice video thank you for some insight 👍🏼
@@techendeavor7827 cool thanks for the information!
god that kiln is huge
It is and it unfortunately didn’t work 😬
I was planning on doing a huge timber frame in my backyard and I think I'm going to try and do what you ended up doing. Build it, then repurpose later. I'll have to adjust my building plans a bit, but should be easy enough to figure out with a few buddies helping me out. Kiln first then greenhouse/workshop
@@jasonsejkora4578 That has worked great for us so far. We wish you the best of luck with it!
Nice try! I’m sad it didn’t work out the way you intended. It’s all over my head.
Believe me, it's all over mine as well...that's why I left it to the guys to figure it out 🤪