Is Kiln Dried Worth the Extra $$$ ?

[Woodsplitter67]

I was pondering the same question. There was seasoned outside wood for $350 and kiln dried for $500. Both of these piles of wood were on display outside in a dumped pile in the elements. Rain, snow, fog.

I concluded that kiln dry wood water content will eventually equalize to the regular seasoned wood water content by being out in the elements. Because of this I don't think it is worth the extra to buy kiln dried wood. If it was covered when stored I might think differently.

Your correct. The kild dried wood will regain mousture even if not exposed to rain. It will regain mousture from humidity also. So if the qood was say at 9% it will start to creap up to say 14% the additional cost of kiln dried is not worth the money as as soon as it gets outside the kiln its moisture will increase. Thats not to say that kiln drying your own wood is a waist of time or resources. A solir kiln would be able to take a harwood species from say the mid to upper 30% MC to the low teens easy in the corse of the summer. You could take any species from CSS in the spring to burning in the fall, 6 months and have it as low as 10%. I actually left some in the kiln to long and had large cherry splits down to 2% one year...

 

[bholler]

I have to add allot of the kiln dried stuff isnt kiln dried it is only heat treated to kill bugs so it can be transported freely. It can still be pretty wet. You need to split a peice open and test it still.