# Would one of these speed up seasoning?



## XJma (Nov 13, 2012)

I have access to a few portable propane forced air heaters.  Wondering if it would be worth it to set them up next to some stacks of fresh wood to get the seasoning process working?  or would it just be a waste of propane? 






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## TreePointer (Nov 13, 2012)

I imagine if you get the convection and placement of log stacks right, it will do a lot to speed up seasoning. 

Personally, I'd put the heater and propane money toward buying seasoned wood for burning this year and let this year's green wood season until next year.


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## gzecc (Nov 13, 2012)

XJma said:


> I have access to a few portable propane forced air heaters. Wondering if it would be worth it to set them up next to some stacks of fresh wood to get the seasoning process working? or would it just be a waste of propane?
> 
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> 
> ...


 If the propane is free, it will help.


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## jackofalltrades (Nov 13, 2012)

If you can afford to use propane like that just put the heater in your house and let the wood season on its own. It would help some but not nearly as much as you might think.


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## zzr7ky (Nov 13, 2012)

Propane will bump up the humidit as well.  The first year I was buring as fast as I cut.  Damn need ran out ecxept a buddy dropped a face cord of Hickory for my birthday since he saw the crib was bare ; )

You mght arrange aswap with someone who burns in your area. 

I just split everthing a bit on thesmall side and kept the topof the pilecovered ans it burned well enough.  No issues with the chimney when I cleaned it.

All the best,
Mike P


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## XJma (Nov 13, 2012)

Well I have the heaters and more propane than I can use in my grill.  If it's not going to make much of a difference, then I won't bother.


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## Adios Pantalones (Nov 13, 2012)

This will speed up drying, but you'd be buying silver by paying in gold and it would take a long time to have an appreciable effect.

This will not bump up the RH- it will put moisture in the air, but because the air is so much hotter, it will hold a lot more water. Also- the wood comes to an equilibrium based on the RH of the air; this happens faster at higher temps.


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## Delta-T (Nov 13, 2012)

propane heater maybe not the best idea, but still better than expecting the wood to climb up on the treadmill and sweat the moisure away....wood can be so lazy.


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## ScotO (Nov 13, 2012)

That's a waste of fuel and work IMO. There are methods that may help speed up wood seasoning, but nothing really substitutes having it C/S/S'ed for a year to three years, depending on species of wood. I'll second jackofalltrades' post. Save the propane and heat your house, you'll benefit more from the propane heat than your wood will....


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## Backwoods Savage (Nov 13, 2012)

Perhaps a better trick to speed up the drying is to stack in single rows and stack it really loose so air can move through. Don't stack it very high else it will be falling over from stacking loose. Stack it in the windiest area you have and let Mother Nature do her thing. And yes, wood will still dry outside this time of the year and into the winter months too.


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## ScotO (Nov 13, 2012)

Backwoods Savage said:


> And yes, wood will still dry outside this time of the year and into the winter months too.


yeah, sometimes the sub-freezing weather pulls that water out better than anything!  That's a fact.


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## bogydave (Nov 13, 2012)

XJma said:


> I have access to a few portable propane forced air heaters. Wondering if it would be worth it to set them up next to some stacks of fresh wood to get the seasoning process working? or would it just be a waste of propane?


 
Would help, but not much. 
Use the propane to heat the house while letting nature season the wood for next year. More efficient


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## corey21 (Nov 13, 2012)

I would just let it do it on its own if it is stacked right.


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## Adios Pantalones (Nov 13, 2012)

Scotty Overkill said:


> yeah, sometimes the sub-freezing weather pulls that water out better than anything!  That's a fact.


I disagree. It will dry, but all that freezing does is makes the water less mobile. It will dry slower (and that is a fact).


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## ScotO (Nov 13, 2012)

Adios Pantalones said:


> I disagree. It will dry, but all that freezing does is makes the water less mobile. It will dry slower (and that is a fact).



OK, you got me there....it may not dry as fast, but it can and does season (sometimes quite well) during sub-freezing conditions via sublimation.........I've seen green wood that we cut and split in the winter steaming off on freezing cold days when the sun hits and warms the stack up.......

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclesublimation.html


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## cptoneleg (Nov 13, 2012)

XJma said:


> Well I have the heaters and more propane than I can use in my grill. If it's not going to make much of a difference, then I won't bother.


 

Heat your house with the propane


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## weatherguy (Nov 13, 2012)

Scotty Overkill said:


> OK, you got me there....it may not dry as fast, but it can and does season (sometimes quite well) during sub-freezing conditions via sublimation.........I've seen green wood that we cut and split in the winter steaming off on freezing cold days when the sun hits and warms the stack up.......
> 
> http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclesublimation.html


 Someone put a chart up that measured seasoning each month of the year, turns out the 3-4 winter months do very little seasoning of your wood, it does season a little but just a fraction of what it does in the summer months.


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## Blue Vomit (Nov 14, 2012)

XJma said:


> I have access to a few portable propane forced air heaters.  Wondering if it would be worth it to set them up next to some stacks of fresh wood to get the seasoning process working?  or would it just be a waste of propane?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I think you are over thinking things... And this is coming from a guy who doesn't think too much about anything.


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## XJma (Nov 14, 2012)

Well I don't really have any way to heat my house with propane, unless using the forced air heater is kosher indoors....not sure that it is??  Even if it was alright indoors, I'm not sure that I would because I don't think I'd feel comfortable having good enough clearances for one of them to run indoors in the 87 year old cape! 

I know that CSS is the way to go, and I'm on my way there, have a couple of stacks going right now.  I have been lucky enough to get these sweet 4x8 pallets from a place that does sheetmetal work.  They have four what seem to be true cut oak 2x4s running the length, and then three or four sets of two 2x4s going cross wise.  Keeps the stacks up off the ground and forces you to have a good 8" or so between stacks! So what's more important, sun or wind?  I think I have a good supply of both. 

I really just felt the need to ask this dumb question that popped into my head when I was reading the thread about building your own kiln to dry wood in.


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## cptoneleg (Nov 14, 2012)

The answer to your question is Yes, that torpedo heater would dry some wood it blows hot air,  but it uses electricity and propane just to dry wood, just doesn't make much cents.  You will be OK your good at drinking BEER


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## XJma (Nov 14, 2012)

cptoneleg said:


> You will be OK your good at drinking BEER


 
Valid point.


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## Cross Cut Saw (Nov 14, 2012)

Delta-T said:


> propane heater maybe not the best idea, but still better than expecting the wood to climb up on the treadmill and sweat the moisure away....wood can be so lazy.


 
My wood just lies around all day, if I didn't stack it myself I bet it'd still be lying around right now looking for a free cell phone.


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## Sprinter (Nov 14, 2012)

Scotty Overkill said:


> OK, you got me there....it may not dry as fast, but it can and does season (sometimes quite well) during sub-freezing conditions via sublimation.........I've seen green wood that we cut and split in the winter steaming off on freezing cold days when the sun hits and warms the stack up.......
> 
> http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclesublimation.html


It's about relative humidity, not temperature. Raising temps will lower RH, but in some climates, sub-freezing temps can have very low RH. I've seen snow completely disappear overnight when it was -20F out from sublimation. (Won't happen around here, though!)

It's just not cost effective to use a heating device to dry wood (unless it's all indoors, of course) Or, as someone else said, the fuel is free.

Oh, and as someone else mentioned, a main combustion product of propane is water.


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## Backwoods Savage (Nov 14, 2012)

XJma said:


> Well I don't really have any way to heat my house with propane, unless using the forced air heater is kosher indoors....not sure that it is?? Even if it was alright indoors, I'm not sure that I would because I don't think I'd feel comfortable having good enough clearances for one of them to run indoors in the 87 year old cape!
> 
> I know that CSS is the way to go, and I'm on my way there, have a couple of stacks going right now. I have been lucky enough to get these sweet 4x8 pallets from a place that does sheetmetal work. They have four what seem to be true cut oak 2x4s running the length, and then three or four sets of two 2x4s going cross wise. Keeps the stacks up off the ground and forces you to have a good 8" or so between stacks! *So what's more important, sun or wind? I think I have a good supply of both.*
> 
> I really just felt the need to ask this dumb question that popped into my head when I was reading the thread about building your own kiln to dry wood in.


 
Wind is always more important than sun. This does not mean sun is not important but we have stacked wood in the shade many times and had no problems so long as it got wind.

I would also like to correct you. That was not a dumb question at all.


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