I think I know the answer, but do you feel that afternoon exposure is preferable to morning exposure for firewood racks, assuming you can only get sun from one direction?
Sun Exposure on Wood
- Thread starter svk
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
Shanen Mannies
ArboristSite Member
I will take afternoon over morning sun if I had to choose one. That is for my bee hives, I would assume firewood would be the same.
NSMaple1
Addicted to ArboristSite
In itself, afternoon sun is warmer. But if placing the pile to get that, throws of it's optimum exposure to prevailing winds, it might not be as good overall.
My prevailing winds are from the south. So as much as possible, I orient the stacks so the end of the stacks are facing south. They get early & later day sun on each side, and prevailing winds blow across both ends of the wood drawing the moisture out. And when the prevailing winds are carrying rain, it only hits the end of the stack. And top, which is covered. So doesn't get blown into the stack face.
My prevailing winds are from the south. So as much as possible, I orient the stacks so the end of the stacks are facing south. They get early & later day sun on each side, and prevailing winds blow across both ends of the wood drawing the moisture out. And when the prevailing winds are carrying rain, it only hits the end of the stack. And top, which is covered. So doesn't get blown into the stack face.
Gypo Logger
Timber Baron
Since wood has excellent insulating properties, I imagine it retains heat long after the sun has set.
Not really. Actually sun on a wood pile has only a minor effect on drying. The sun only hits the top and one end, and as you said wood is an excellent insulator. It just does not heat up much beyond the surface level. Air movement is the king and the last thing I look at is orientation to the sun.
James Miller
Addicted to ArboristSite
This is how mine is setup. The wind normally comes from the south so the splits are N/S. They do get sun light most of the day also for what its worth.
I have to respectfully disagree. In full sun with little wind I can fully dry split wood (oak not included) in two months. In another location, with much more wind but little sun it takes two full summers to dry wood out.
That's similar to my main area. I have stacks lined up north-south and we get west wind plus the stacks are far enough apart that they get full sun exposure and it works fantastic.
Reason for the OP is I'm moving one of my other piles and it's a compromise between carrying distance and sun exposure. Thinking since I'm already ahead on wood production I'm better having the wood close by.
James Miller
Addicted to ArboristSite
The stuff on the full racks is seasoned close to 2 years I'll use it next winter. The stuff on the one that's just started I just stacked today. There's other stuff on racks that don't get much sun never thought to see if there's a difference l.
hedge hog
ArboristSite Guru
In Kansas you can season oak east to west under the shade of hedge row in 1 year
Wind trumps all here
And I stack in cords or 2/3 cord segments
Or it will blow over a single rick
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Wind trumps all here
And I stack in cords or 2/3 cord segments
Or it will blow over a single rick
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Where's pdqdl when you need him?
From personal experience. I can tell you wood does hold heat.
The morning after a hot day, I can feel the heat in the wood when I split rounds that sat in the sun the day before.
I agree.
I cut split and sell wood year round. Wood does hold heat for a long time.
A lot of times when I split in the summer, I do it early in the morning when it's cooler.
I can feel the heat coming out of the rounds when I split them the next day.
So the answer is yes, wood does absorb and hold heat.
I agree sun is better then wind, though both are better together.
Got to a wooded hill, the side facing the afternoon sun will have more sparse dry vegetation than the side which gets the morning sun which will be more rainforest like.
jrider
Addicted to ArboristSite
Add me to the list of those who say wood does hold a lot of heat. When the day temps get into the upper 90's and low 100's, I tend to split at night and those logs are still almost hot inside past midnight.
I don't know what is better though, early day or late day sun. If the sun is out, my wood is in it.
I don't know what is better though, early day or late day sun. If the sun is out, my wood is in it.
Yep, that heat and steam coming from a fresh split tells the story.
Changing topic.
To save space I put a row of wood down my wood fence line. It's also shaded most of the time. I even put a plywood cover on top to keep the direct rain off.
There is plenty of wind in that spot but even with a lot of wind it didn't take long for the fungus and rot to set in.
Also I have discovered that a steel rack vs. a wood rack, (including the cover you use) makes a big difference in how long it takes to season.
Wood will season faster on steel racks vs. wood racks.
At least that's what I have experienced.
How many times have you driven down the road after a rain and seen the shaded spots still damp and the sunny spots dry?
All have equal wind but the sunny spots do dry faster.
All have equal wind but the sunny spots do dry faster.
I like to get the sun on in the mornings. It seems to get any dew or residual moisture dried faster so it doesn't soak in. But, I don't worry too much about my piles as they are all up on a big sand flat and that sand seems to radiate a lot of heat on to the piles.
it would be interesting...to have a heat probe..in the middle of the wood..to see what happened to the temp of the split wood,,as it got cooler at night......
Similar threads
