Wood Drying Topics > Dry Kiln Maintenance

If you had a smaller volume dry kiln would your drying quality improve?

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PhilM:
Do you think that if you had a smaller volume dry kiln your drying quality would improve?  Possible reasons for improved drying quality could include:

* less time required to build a complete kiln load of same species, thickness, and length (and less need to mix species, thicknesses, or initial moisture contents)
* less time would mean less chance of developing the precursors of stain in lumber before the kiln during summer months
* less time might mean lumber packages spend a similar amount of time on air drying yard, hence have similar initial moisture contents so that the starting kiln schedule is right for all the lumber
* a smaller kiln should be able to achieve more uniform drying conditions in terms of heat, humidity and air flow, resulting in a more uniform final moisture content
Obviously having multiple smaller kilns (as opposed to a single larger kiln) would be a larger capital investment.  Do you think there is enough demand for lumber having a high drying quality that would support the increased price due to increased costs?

TILLAMOOK:
Yes, possibly.  Having smaller kilns could help the operator control the species or dimension mix better and also help to keep the inventory rotated.

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