Lumber Sauna

chet · May 26, 2003, 08:02:49 PM

Son JeffS and I loaded up our new solar lumber sauna today with it's first load of wood. We were doing some big time sweating while loading it. It was 136° inside with the door open, outside temp was only 71°. It looks like as long as the sun shines we are in business. 8)

Paul_H · May 26, 2003, 09:02:55 PM

Chet,
I have heard a lot of good things about the solar kilns.I would have liked to have one up at the mill sight but we have no electricity there for the fans.When do you think the load will be dry if the weather stays normal?

Are there pictures coming soon?

biziedizie · May 27, 2003, 04:16:58 AM

Paul_H if you have no hydro at the mill to power the fans have you ever thought about solar power? We have a great company on Victoria island that sells solar powered products and it doesn't cost much to buy a system to run a few fans.

Steve

Paul_H · May 27, 2003, 06:44:48 AM

Steve,
Do you have the name of the outfit that sells them?Sounds interesting.

biziedizie · May 27, 2003, 10:41:20 AM

Paul I think the outfit is called solar energy plus....I think.
  Anyways I've used them in the past to convert cabins from hydro to solar power. Solar power is neat cause it's all low voltage and you can stick your finger in the light socket and not die. :D


   Steve

Neil_B · May 27, 2003, 03:23:26 PM

I hope you had someone else try it first Steve!!

ohsoloco · May 27, 2003, 08:06:00 PM

Awww, heck...110 only bites a little ;) Got bit by some heavier voltage than that before...kinda makes your arm twinge for a while :D

Jeff · May 27, 2003, 08:10:15 PM

More people are killed by 110 then the heavy stuff. Under the right conditions, High humidity, perhaps a moist floor, it has you and won't let you go.

ohsoloco · May 27, 2003, 08:18:51 PM

Guess I was lucky I was changing the light switch in the bathroom...not the bathTUB ;) ALWAYS TURN OFF THE POWER!!!

Frickman · May 27, 2003, 08:24:09 PM

I'm not much of an electrician, but I have learned over the years that it's the amps that hurts you, not volts. Our electric fencers operate at 50,000 volts, but the current is measured in miliamps. It will give you the desired shock, but will not harm you or livestock. As kids we used to grab onto the wires on purpose just to get zapped. If you touch 110 volts at 30 amps while standing in water you'll get more than just a jolt.

ohsoloco · May 27, 2003, 08:47:33 PM

I remember grabbing onto the electric fence as a kid to get zapped....of course, as little boys we used to do something else on the electric fence...OW

Neil_B · May 28, 2003, 04:55:56 AM

I think it's 1 amp that can kill you no matter the voltage. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I new a guy that did THAT on a fence but it wasn't me!!

Jason_WI · May 28, 2003, 10:38:34 AM

Actually it only takes a milliamp or two across the heart and your a gonner. If you do work on high voltage use only one hand if possible to prevent the path across the chest. The amount of shock you get depends on the humidity in the air, the resistance of your skin, and how well your grounded.

If you go solar you can still use AC fans in your kiln. Just add an inverter properly sized to run the fans. There is some loss in the inverter so size the solar panel with that in mind too.

Jason