Sunshine is good for drying but the infra red energy it produces does not significantly heat air. It heats the wood and the moisture inside. Moisture turns to vapor as the heat energy it contains transfers to the air provided moisture content of air is low enough. With this mechanism in mind you can design a very effective shed.
A well designed shed will dry wood as quickly as sun alone by putting the energy to work over all the wood. Temperature differentials on warm days cause air to move across the ends. The stack temperature changes slower than air temperature which can cause air movement and if the air is dry enough, evaporation. As long as the relative moisture content is low enough, the wood dries. Drying in a shed has the added advantage of keeping the wood from picking up moisture from rain &etc, from rot due to leaf accumulation, from having to pick up a stack that's blown over. When I had one shed I would have it refilled by beginning of June, often working through weeks of rainy weather, and would begin burning by the end of October. I mix all sorts of hardwood from Birch to Oak to Ash to Maple so the results aren't species specific. On average we get more annual rainfall than Seattle but my firewood dried in time to burn.[/QUOTE]
Yep. "sun on the wood" is overrated. The sun only hits one end and the top layer, air movement gets everything
Harry K.
