Kiln-dried wood is dried in a special chamber to reduce moisture content for use as fuel or construction material. Kiln drying is faster and more controlled than air drying, but the cost of building and maintaining a kiln can be a disadvantage. Solar ovens are a cheaper alternative.
Kiln-dried wood is lumber that has been roughly cut from logs and then dried in a special chamber built for that purpose. There are two reasons why wood is kiln dried. The first is to reduce the moisture content to a level where the wood can be used as fuel and won’t lose much energy by evaporating the moisture. The second reason for kiln drying wood is to prepare it for use in construction, structural or furniture, in which case the drying process will be highly controlled and regulated.
When wood is to be used as fuel, too high a humidity content will make it difficult to light and keep the wood alight, and a good amount of the heat produced will be dispersed by evaporating the residual humidity. Green wood generally contains 60% or more water, but wood used for fuel should be dried to 25% or less. Allowing firewood to air dry to that humidity level once it is cut and split will take three to four months, while kiln drying can accomplish the same task in days or even hours, depending on the temperature. used. Firewood merchants, therefore, often dry their firewood before distribution. Kiln-dried wood is also much lighter than green wood and is therefore cheaper to transport.
Wood intended for construction must be dried before use because wood shrinks as it dries and if it is used while still green, the structural and aesthetic integrity of the object to be built will be compromised. Wood that dries in air often has a tendency to dry unevenly, resulting in uneven shrinkage that will twist, roll, or otherwise warp the wood. Also, air drying wooden planks is a process that can take many months. Kiln-dried lumber for construction allows for careful regulation of the drying process, generally preventing the more severe warping and twisting that can occur when wood is air-dried. Kiln drying is also much faster than air drying, allowing for faster delivery of lumber batches. Finally, kiln-dried wood usually produces less waste in the milling process, thus reducing overall costs.
The biggest disadvantage of kiln-dried wood is the cost of building, maintaining, and operating a kiln. While there is no question that a commercial sawmill requires a kiln, many hobbyists who own portable sawmills find the cost of a kiln too expensive and air drying too unreliable. An alternative is to build and operate a solar oven, somewhat resembling a greenhouse in concept and construction. While solar kilns are not as flexible as powered kilns in terms of their ability to control temperature and humidity, or as fast in producing kiln-dried wood, they do provide a much more stable drying environment than any indoor drying method. ‘air. They are also much cheaper to operate than an electric kiln, reducing the cost of kiln-dried wood.
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