Solar Kilns in Humid Climates

Solar kilns work well even in humid climates, because heating damp air lowers its relative humidity. April 30, 2006

Question
I am considering starting up a part time portable sawmilling business with hopes to go full time in a couple of years. My target customer will need kiln-dried lumber and I am considering the solar kiln described in the "Processing Trees to Lumber" article. I am in middle Georgia and we have hot and sticky summers. Given what I believe are typically high humidity conditions, would the solar kiln still be an effective method of drying my lumber?

Forum Responses
(Sawing and Drying Forum)
From contributor E:
You might want to consider a dehumidification kiln, like a Nyle 200 to begin with. I'm located in SW Alabama. You can control the drying process a lot better than with a solar kiln. I've had a Nyle for over 2 years and am well pleased with its performance and consistent results.

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From Gene Wengert, forum technical advisor:
It will work just fine. I have helped build them in tropical countries. The key is that when you heat air, the RH drops. Add about 25 F to 100% RH and you are under 35% RH.

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From contributor G:
I have been looking at the one the guy from Timbergreen Farms built. He has had a couple of articles in Independent Sawmill magazine lately. It looks like a good idea. It's set up in 3 sections so that you can air dry in 2 and solar dry in the 3rd one.