Ok. So I'm thinking about walling off a section of my basement and building a kiln. I'm thinking a 14x10 area should b good. I'm gonna build a rack on the wall that will go all the way up to the 12ft ceiling. I figure I can put a dehumidifier n there with a couple fans, but how much heat do I need? What is optimal temp? Any suggestions on an efficient source?
Here is some advice. Modify you post to say "kick butt" ASAP.
Is this for your own hobby use? Are you certain that the DH unit will never fail? If this is for business, this could invalidate homeowners insurance. If for business, you will maybe have a lot of carrying of lumber up and down stairs...normally we like to stack for air drying and then move the entire bundle to the kiln rather than unstack and then restock in the kiln. If the DH fails or the electric goes off for a long time, the moisture could damage the basement and other areas of the house. Bottom line is that there can be other locations that are more reasonable for some people.
My basement is a walkout. It's currently stacked in there now with a fan on it. I have NO MOISTURE problems in my basement. It's 3000 Sq ft with a double door on the room in question , also a 6ft opening to the rest of the area which has 4 garage doors which are opened daily.
No offense dude , but the moisture conditions in your basement are likely to change if you've got a DH unit in there sucking the moisture out of packs of timber. And the moisture that sucks out wont just be water ; it'll have tannins and acids that regular air does not.
I'm just a dumb old sawmiller, but the two guys that have responded to your post above are experts in the field of wood drying: One's written texts that are like "wood drying 101 reading material" that get cited in every research paper in the industry. The other is a world recognized designer of high tech kilns.
Pay attention to what they have to say.
You are going to need at least 150 degrees if you want to kill bugs and bug eggs. Definitely don't want to start that warm. You are going to get some smells wafting through the house unless you insulate and seal that thing like a refrigerator. Also a lot of household dehumidifiers are not up the task. High acid condensation, and higher than normal ambient temps can kill them. I've read about guys that buy them with the extended warranty, and get them replaced a couple of times, until the store sees that you are not using them in a normal application.
My first set up was in the basement of a commercial building my father owned. It worked very well other than carrying lumber in and out. The only other negative was the vibration the fans made on your feet above. Otherwise it worked very well. You'll need to be able to vent excess heat and of course the water than comes out of the wood.