Whats a basic $ amount per day to charge to Kiln dry lumber in my KD150. Located in Central Texas.I know there are many variables. Labor, electricity etc........
I have a Nyle L200 kiln, but I'm definitely no expert on the art of drying wood or pricing it. I've never heard of a daily charge but it may be a common way to charge. I charge by the board footage of the load. Hopefully others with more expertise will chime in and offer their assistance to you.
Years ago Gene Wengert suggested $25 per day per 1K board feet as a reasonable price for a DH kiln when drying from green. So following Gene's guidance a fully loaded L200 with 4K bd ft of oak would be $100 per day, or $3000 minimum for a 30 day drying cycle. This would be $.75 per bd ft for green oak if it were in the kiln for 30 days.
However, I'm usually drying QS which takes longer, so that same 4K bd ft will be in the kiln for 5-6 weeks, not 4.
Today I charge $1.30 to dry green 4/4 oak due to the increased electric cost from when Gene made this recommendation.
If I'm only doing a finish off run, I charge more due to the fact that there is more electric consumption per day for a finish off run versus a dry from green run. This is because when drying from green I'm only paying to heat the kiln to 90F for 10 days, then 100F for 10 days, and finally around 120F for 10 days, and then 160F for 24 hours.
Versus a finish off run for AD oak usually will require 7 days at 120 plus the 160F.
Also, I'm absorbing the cost to sticker in only 7 days of revenue charging versus 30 - 40.
Why does quarter sawn take longer to dry?
Quote from: jpassardi on April 08, 2022, 08:02:33 PM
Why does quarter sawn take longer to dry?
QS shrinks twice as much in thickness during drying than FS. Milled green, it's at least 6% thicker than flatsawn and usually 8%-10% thicker for the same dry thickness.
We mill 5/4 QSWO at 1-7/16" green. 4/4 is milled at 1-1/4" green instead of 1-1/8" for FS. So not only are you drying a thicker board, your drying rate decreases slightly due to the increased thickness.
The normal drying rate here is 1 to 2 dollar per bdft. But nobody stays in business for long, as it's just a matter of time before they kill a load, and have to pay restitution to the customer to make up for the loss of the wood.
So be aware there are other costs and risks to drying other people's wood.
If I ever decided to farm out 3rd party drying in my two solar+DH kilns (1,500bf capacity each), I would give control of the ventilation to the customer (via phone app), offer my advice, but clarify contractually that I take zero responsibility for the result, and that over-cooking the load is their risk. Payment in advance obviously, for a least half the projected cost. And a distinct calendar deadline that the load is done, independent of MC, weather, etc. And any theft, fire, Acts of God are not my responsibility.