Douglas Fir Drying

Drying Douglas fir lumber and timber need no longer pose problems or dictate high costs.  Trials have ben conducted in Melbourne- a solar environment only slightly better than Vancouver, Canada.  Drying douglas fir lumber in 50mm thickness from green sawn state in 7 days was achieved in February 2009, using “solarkilns” technology using less than 0.5 gj of heat energy per cubic metre.
The Douglas fir lumber was sourced from Chermainus, BC mills and was regrowth material. High quality outcomes were experienced with negligible “wets” rejected. Total cost of drying Douglas for lumber to exceptional quality standards was around $AU15 per cubic metre.

Photo: Regrowth Douglas Fir before superior solarola drying
Drying Douglas fir whether it be regrowth or otherwise, can now be done quickly and at a fraction of he cost of conventional drying methods.