How neccessary is sun to dry firewood?

[Steve NW WI]

I think there's a trend here. It can be done, but it's better with sun.

Think of your lawn. The sunny areas burn off the dew in the morning sooner. That same dew is surface moisture on your wood stacks. Till the surface moisture burns off, the internal moisture ain't going anywhere.

I'll keep mine out in the sun, y'all can do what ya want. I'll also call BS when you tell me it takes years to season oak or whatever.

 

[chucker]

with out rain or high humidity, mine dries well at night with out any sun.. so its got to be the great north land's moon light that takes over for the sun and hurries the seasoning hey?? :msp_razz::biggrin:

 

[zogger]

I think there's a trend here. It can be done, but it's better with sun.

Think of your lawn. The sunny areas burn off the dew in the morning sooner. That same dew is surface moisture on your wood stacks. Till the surface moisture burns off, the internal moisture ain't going anywhere.

I'll keep mine out in the sun, y'all can do what ya want. I'll also call BS when you tell me it takes years to season oak or whatever.

Of course it is better in the sun, but can be done in the shade or a shed given air flow.

As to the lawn, yes, that is what happens, but your lawn isn't sitting six inches or more up in the air either. Not much wind underground....

 

[D&B Mack]

with out rain or high humidity, mine dries well at night with out any sun.. so its got to be the great north land's moon light that takes over for the sun and hurries the seasoning hey?? :msp_razz::biggrin:

Mine seasons at just about the same rate in the winter time as it does in the summer...as long as both comparable stacks are covered in the scenario.

 

[origionalrebel]

you use what you have!!!!! if you have a nice open area to stack your wood, use it. if you have to stack in the shade it will season, just not as fast. believe it or not i think rain helps season wood. for years i stacked in deep shade and wood cut from the same tree seasoned better and quicker than that same wood stacked inside an open barn. the wood in the deep shade was not covered in any way. humidity here rarely drops below 90% in the summer. as long as i have somewhere to stack out of the weather and don't have to add handling steps to my woodburning, i will stack mine in the barn. i'll just try to stay at least a year ahead so i don't have to fret about having time to season. cut when it's cool to burn next year.

 

[Steve NW WI]

As to the lawn, yes, that is what happens, but your lawn isn't sitting six inches or more up in the air either. Not much wind underground....

Speak for yourself. I've got plenty of foot tall grass. Been using my mower gas in the boat. Much more return on investment.

 

[RiverRocket]

Mine seasons at just about the same rate in the winter time as it does in the summer...as long as both comparable stacks are covered in the scenario.

:waaaht: Wait a minute...I live in PA...I guarantee you my wood seasons 10 times faster in the 85/deg summer sun and breezes then it does in the 25/deg winter winds.

 

[zogger]

Speak for yourself. I've got plenty of foot tall grass. Been using my mower gas in the boat. Much more return on investment.

bwahahaha, I meant *suspended* up in the air you silly willy!

Talk about lawns growing, geeeez loweez..like last week I mowed the yard (well, I mow a lot for my job, just talking my own personal yard, which I am sorta cavalier about...). yesterday I finished mowing again, I had near foot tall in a lot of places and had to take half bites with the mighty snapper to keep the wet stuff from clumping up and plugging up the chute. One week! I was mowing while it was still raining because I couldn't wait any longer.

this is has been the wettest, weed growing lawn growing year I can remember down here. Relentless. rained here twice today already, fixing to start again soon. It rained at least three times yesterday, once overnight so I don't know if that was one, twice, three times, etc, just "again" overnight.

I have no idea when we will get to haying again, but I ain't mowing hay with it raining everyday. I have been putzing with rearranging and rebuilding wood stacks, half from necessity, half from just wanting to do something with wood...getting antsy to go cut again, keep waiting for the typical summer dry season to get here.

I don't mind working in the wet, it is the driving the tractor in soup mud I don't like, leaving huge ruts.

 

[BP021]

1st post & I'll post it here. I stack all my wood on top of pallets outside of my garage directly in the sun (when it shines). We usually get winds from the South-South West & this is where my stacks face. I'll leave uncovered until the snow starts to fly. My wood seasons fairly quick like this.

 

[stihly dan]

Hung some laundry out on Saturday. 1 line was in the shade the other in the sun, about 20ft apart the lines where. The line in the sun dried 3 loads, line in the shade barely dried the 1. And it was pretty breezy. Doe's this relate 2 wood? I would think.

 

[stihly dan]

Here is my personal theory. The softer woods that season fast like silver maple, box elder, and the like. The have a less dense grain allowing easier moisture flow out, than the denser oak's and such. The denser woods over winter freeze, which creates split's in the wood, and fiber burst's. Allowing for the moisture to escape easier the next summer. Lastly, the warmer the air the more moisture it can hold. So if it's hotter with some sort of breeze, that's when the most moisture escapes. I could be way wrong, but that's what it seems to me.

P.S I have no idea about the dry heat out west. Can't really fathom 110* feeling cooler than our 90*!!

 

[zogger]

Here is my personal theory. The softer woods that season fast like silver maple, box elder, and the like. The have a less dense grain allowing easier moisture flow out, than the denser oak's and such. The denser woods over winter freeze, which creates split's in the wood, and fiber burst's. Allowing for the moisture to escape easier the next summer. Lastly, the warmer the air the more moisture it can hold. So if it's hotter with some sort of breeze, that's when the most moisture escapes. I could be way wrong, but that's what it seems to me.

P.S I have no idea about the dry heat out west. Can't really fathom 110* feeling cooler than our 90*!!

It's freaky! I spent some months in socal before, and would go out running at over 100 degrees..no sweat! I mean, you probably sweat, but no discernible moisture, evaporates instantly. and you just don't feel as hot as your brain tells you it should be. It really does feel hotter out here in the southeast with much higher humidity.

 

[Whitespider]

Hung some laundry out on Saturday. 1 line was in the shade the other in the sun, about 20ft apart the lines where. The line in the sun dried 3 loads, line in the shade barely dried the 1. And it was pretty breezy. Doe's this relate 2 wood? I would think.

Yeah!! That relates to wood!! It requires energy to convert liquid water into water vapor... the more energy the more water-per-time-unit is converted.
Light, especially sun light, is as near to pure energy as it gets. Even in the dead of winter, at temperatures well below freezing, direct sun light will convert (frozen) liquid water into water vapor.

 

[Genius.]

Who needs sun dried firewood?

Whenever you do a oil change on something just throw the oil over your wood pile, you can get green wood to ignite in no time.

 

[zogger]

Who needs sun dried firewood?

Whenever you do a oil change on something just throw the oil over your wood pile, you can get green wood to ignite in no time.

All your firewood is single vertical stacked, in full sun and wind, no cover, for like 40 years or sumpin'....

 

[D&B Mack]

:waaaht: Wait a minute...I live in PA...I guarantee you my wood seasons 10 times faster in the 85/deg summer sun and breezes then it does in the 25/deg winter winds.

I stated before, all of my wood is stacked in the shade. I have mostly ash and cherry with some oak; I cover all my stacks. Wood I cut/split in April-May takes about 5 months, wood that I cut/split in November-December takes just under 6...only a little bit longer.

Due to the trees, I get a lot more wind in the fall/winter months along with lower humidity which, I am guessing, makes up for the cooler temps.

 

[Whitespider]

Depending on snow depth, I near always cut, split and stack some firewood during January-February... without leaves and undergrowth the work is easier and faster. Normally, except for a few rare days, we don't see temperatures above freezing until the last week of March; yet, the mid-winter splits I've stacked are seasoning noticeably by April... ends checked/cracked and the splits are lighter.

In late fall/early winter I put enough firewood in the basement to (hopefully) last me all heating season so I don't bother brushing the snow off my outside stacks... at times that snow is over a foot deep on the stacks. Between snow storms we'll sometimes get 7-10 days of bright clear days, yet temperatures stay in the teens or single digits. During those sunny periods the snow will disappear from the tops of the stacks... yet leave the wood bone dry. The snow (frozen liquid water) doesn't melt and drip... the energy from sun light has converted it into water vapor. We have extremely low relative humidity during winter, the dry air is looking for moisture and will greedily suck it up... all it takes is a bit of energy (sun light) to get the process started.

My grandmother used to hang her laundry out in the sun to dry during mid-winter, especially bed sheets... even at temperatures below zero. If the day was calm you could see the water vapor rising off those white sheets... man, those (freeze dried?) sheets had the freshest smell. Yeah, firewood seasons during winter, and faster than a person would think possible... especially if it's sitting where the sun can shine on it.

 

[slowp]

You can hang laundry to dry here in the winter, but it better be under a roof. Porches are sometimes used for that. The snow here? It has all the water content that the mideast snow is missing. We're on the west side of the Cascade Range and get the moisture straight off the Pacific.
The good thing is that the snow usually gets rained off in our lower elevations after a few days.

Visit here (don't move here) in the middle of November. That's the best time. :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Trx250r180]

i just cut into a couple fir logs that have been down for 2 years ,bark still on ,nice and dry inside ,so now i'm stacking the logs not the pieces ,i will just dig one out if i get cold ,iv'e found this to be much less work and don't need a shed


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[Mastermind]

You guys sure put lots of time and thought into your firewood.......