A Homemade Solar Lumber Kiln

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When it came time to close in the building, I topped it off with corrugated metal and two sheets of corrugated fiberglass that I happened to have on hand. (By the way, I soon discovered that there's no heat-gain advantage to using the translucent fiberglass. In fact, after I'd painted the metal roofing flat black, it actually seemed to transmit more heat to the inside of the kiln than did the fiberglass.) Finally, I shopped the Volunteers of America thrift store and a few local junkyards for storm windows to use as glazing for the solar panels.

I have about $210 invested in the kiln, all told—including hardware and two 21 " window fans that cost approximately $18 each—and needed only three days of construction time to complete the whole works!

RECYCLE AND SAVE

If you're thinking of building a kiln like mine, I strongly recommend that you take advantage of recycled materials. After all, the structure doesn't have to be fancy . . . old barn beams and secondhand lumber will do just fine. And if you're lucky enough to have a sunny, unused outbuilding of about the right size—or even a vacant southwest corner in the barn—it can easily be retrofitted with solar panels to become an "instant" lumber-drying kiln.

For example, I have a friend who—after seeing how well my kiln worked—converted his pole barn into a commercial-size dryer that's able to handle 50,000 board feet of lumber at a time! After painting the entire barn black, he nailed 2 X 4 furring strips vertically to the east, south, and west sides . . . then stretched heavy plastic film over the whole works. The air-space between the glazing and the dark metal siding acts as a huge solar collector. My buddy does use an electric dehumidifier during the final stage of the drying process, but it serves only to speed things up a bit. All in all, I'd have to say that his pole-barn solar kiln is a real success.

LET'S BUILD!

Once I'd gathered all the required materials, I chose a building site and set to work, using treated posts for supports and placing the kiln's floor 2 feet above the ground. A 12-1/2' X 16' working floor space seemed adequate to me (the extra 6 inches of width allows me a bit of maneuvering room when I'm handling 12' lengths of lumber), but those are the interior dimensions. The total floor size is 12-1/2' X 22' . . . the additional 6 feet of length extends beyond the south wall to support the bases of the solar panels.

After sinking the corner posts, I went on to finish the floor, wall studs, siding (I covered all but the bottom 5 feet on the south wall, where the solar panels are located), roof frame, and then the corrugated metaland-fiberglass roof to cap it all off. My solar panels, built into the south wall, went up last. (The Forest Service plans recommend fabricating the panels separately, then installing them after the building is completed. But I believe it's easier just to build the panels directly onto the kiln.)

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