Poly plastic kilns

[Rougespear]

Hi all,

Did a quick search with no hits.  I saw a guy on YouTube wrap his skid of fresh-sawn framing lumber in plastic poly, and place it out in the sun as a solar kiln.  He poked holes in the bottom so the moisture could travel down the inside of the plastic and escape through the bottom.  He claimed it worked... any thoughts?  I have lots of sun and heat during portions of the year around where I am.

[beenthere]

I don't think it would work as I understand how you described it. 
I may have missed something that he did, or he may be all wet too. ;)

Put up the link to the YouTube video for us to take a look at it.

[Rougespear]

Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE7MTir_y0s

[Dan_Shade]

That looks like an experiment in growing mold.

[pineywoods]

might sorta work if you live in a dry desert, but would be mould city where I live..

[beenthere]

Might be a reason that he didn't finish the 2nd video he mentioned, and suspect the mold under the plastic wasn't very presentable for that video. I'd wager he doesn't do it that way again. ;)

Would be great if all our bright ideas always turned out right the first time.  ;D

[longtime lurker]

No reason it couldn't be done - I know guys who run hide dryers made of ridgid poly sheet that run on natural convection flows - but not like that dude does it.

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

In the summertime, each cubic foot of air can accept about 1/100 pounds of water before it is saturated.  A small pile of lumber might have 1000 pounds (125 U.S. gallons) or more of water to be evaporated, so we would have to have about 100,000 cubic feet of air pass through the load.  Of course, if we can condense the water in an enclosed unit, that will reduce the need for as much air, but condensation only will occur at 100% RH, which is great for mold growing.  So, if this works without air flow, it would seem that with air flow, the wood would dry much, much faster, as the relative humidity of outside air is so much lower.

With all the trees around this location, I do wonder about the amount of solar input.  Plus, if this is in BC, it is cloudy oftentimes and, being so far north, sunlight is quite limited for six months a year.