Dehumidifier for wood drying, check my math?

[dougstove]

Hello;
I am thinking through a firewood puzzle, for the next 10-15 yrs
The parts:
-wood lot with perennial supply of maple & yellow birch, 13 km from house, last 5 km up a steep, tricky logging road
-house in town with no good option for outside wood drying (by law officer watching me )
-in-garage wood rack for ~ 2 cords
-PE stove using ~ 2-2.5 cords /y to heat the house, keeping family happy
- no pickup truck
- surplus PV solar power April to September.
-lots of time, reasonably fit

Wood Species - Moisture Content and Weight

Weight of green and air-dried fire wood.

www.engineeringtoolbox.com

1 cord of cut maple ~ 1800 kg
1 cord of 20% water content maple ~ 1200 kg
So loose 600 kg = 600 l to season 1 cord to 20%

Options:
1) Cut, buck, split, stack & dry 2 years at windy , sunny, woodlot; rent truck to bring pieces to house & restack in garage
Drawback: extra handling, need splitter etc at remote woodlot.

2) Cut to ~ 48 or 64" lengths (metric/imperial inconsistencies, sorry), rent truck to bring to house to buck, split, stack in garage to dry with dehumidifier
Drawback: electricity, feasibility

Small dehumidifier draws ~ 400 W to remove ~ 14 l per 24 h
Run only 6 h/d during surplus sunshine; 3.5 l/solar day

Say ~ 50% water removal efficiency, ~ 1.8l/solar day
2 cords x 600 l/cord x 1 solar day/3.5 l = 342 solar days.
Not practical, even with 2 dehumidifiers, or bigger dehumidifier, even though electricity is 'free'.
Am I missing something?
cheers Doug

 

[Eman85]

If you're serious about burning wood with all of that work option 1 makes more sense to me. You'll have a few years waiting for your wood to dry to save for a truck. By then if you live in a restricted area they'll probably not let you have a stove. Drying wood in a structure doesn't make sense to me.

 

[dougstove]

For woodlot improvement, I should be doing the cutting in any case; the firewood is a possible by-product. I doubt there is a burn restriction on the horizon here; small rural town.

 

[gthomas785]

For drying wood "indoors" I think you'd be better off installing a few ventilation fans and running those than a dehumidifier. Depends on your climate though I know some parts of eastern Canada are pretty foggy

 

[Slimdusty]

Is having a stack of wood outside in your back yard or similar illegal or something? Trying to understand why law enforcement has an issue regarding firewood storage?

 

[EbS-P]

Hello;
I am thinking through a firewood puzzle, for the next 10-15 yrs
The parts:
-wood lot with perennial supply of maple & yellow birch, 13 km from house, last 5 km up a steep, tricky logging road
-house in town with no good option for outside wood drying (by law officer watching me )
-in-garage wood rack for ~ 2 cords
-PE stove using ~ 2-2.5 cords /y to heat the house, keeping family happy
- no pickup truck
- surplus PV solar power April to September.
-lots of time, reasonably fit

Wood Species - Moisture Content and Weight

Weight of green and air-dried fire wood.

www.engineeringtoolbox.com

1 cord of cut maple ~ 1800 kg
1 cord of 20% water content maple ~ 1200 kg
So loose 600 kg = 600 l to season 1 cord to 20%

Options:
1) Cut, buck, split, stack & dry 2 years at windy , sunny, woodlot; rent truck to bring pieces to house & restack in garage
Drawback: extra handling, need splitter etc at remote woodlot.

2) Cut to ~ 48 or 64" lengths (metric/imperial inconsistencies, sorry), rent truck to bring to house to buck, split, stack in garage to dry with dehumidifier
Drawback: electricity, feasibility

Small dehumidifier draws ~ 400 W to remove ~ 14 l per 24 h
Run only 6 h/d during surplus sunshine; 3.5 l/solar day

Say ~ 50% water removal efficiency, ~ 1.8l/solar day
2 cords x 600 l/cord x 1 solar day/3.5 l = 342 solar days.
Not practical, even with 2 dehumidifiers, or bigger dehumidifier, even though electricity is 'free'.
Am I missing something?
cheers Doug

The wood will dry without the dehumidifier. It will just take longer. How much is burning wood saving you? Could you get a utility trailer up and down the logging road with your current vehicle?

Could you get short logs delivered? How much would a cord of spit firewood delivered cost?

Dying is the easiest part. It only takes time or money. Seems like getting the firewood is your biggest hurdle. Solve that one first.

 

[dougstove]

Thanks all.
Town lot and house access (except garage) are oddly shaped, and I need to keep the streetside tidy.
Utility trailer is possible, but the logging road is not trivial; 10-15% grades, narrow and rough.
I get split, clean, kiln dried hardwood firewood delivered for ~$400/cord, but I now have time free.
I will probably connect with a more equipped person to help move my wood. cheers Doug

 

[EbS-P]

Thanks all.
Town lot and house access (except garage) are oddly shaped, and I need to keep the streetside tidy.
Utility trailer is possible, but the logging road is not trivial; 10-15% grades, narrow and rough.
I get split, clean, kiln dried hardwood firewood delivered for ~$400/cord, but I now have time free.
I will probably connect with a more equipped person to help move my wood. cheers Doug

So parking a cheap wood wagon on/next to house is probably out? I’d be keeping my out for one. Even an old Subaru could haul a seasons worth of wood as close as you are without a trailer. if it’s decently straight wood I don’t mind hand splitting.

 

[dougstove]

I had a nice woods wagon (AWD CRV)...but ripped the rear end out with some ill-advised log skidding. Live & learn. Slowly.
I split cords by hand for years with a Fiskars but can no longer take the jolting; yellow birch is very tough to split.

 

[EbS-P]

I had a nice woods wagon (AWD CRV)...but ripped the rear end out with some ill-advised log skidding. Live & learn. Slowly.
I split cords by hand for years with a Fiskars but can no longer take the jolting; yellow birch is very tough to split.

So you know what you need. I tried in a garage with a dehumidifier as an emergency. It worked. I’d give it a try. I’d probably add an oscillating fan too.