Still it rains. The soakaway that drains my patio is saturated and I have two inches of standing water over the paving. According to the met office, relative air humidity stands at 93% and has done all week. Will my fire logs ever dry out?
Well yes it seems that they will. Spurred on by Halfie last Monday I weighed and marked a couple of new ash logs still heavy with sap and I plan to re weigh them over the coming months to see how much water they lose. (I know that probably makes me an anorak, but it keeps me off the streets).
Even after only six days in my unheated conservatory the samples have lost about 4% to 5% of their weight. In fact about 30 grams, that's about 2 tablespoons of juice, from a short peice of log. At that rate they would be very dry in about five months. I suspect though that they will slow down because the moisture lost is mainly from the sawn ends. Water trapped deeper in won't find it so easy to evaporate.
If only we humans could lose weight so easily. Five years ago I dieted very successfully and lost a lot of weight, and whilst I'm still not back to my heaviest, I have put a lot back on. I need to take action, but I fear that lying about in the conservatory won't do the same for me as it does for the logs.
This week I plan to resume the manufacture of the cratch table. Stay tuned.
4 comments:
Thanks, Neil! Useful stuff, not anoraky at all. I have a pile of unprotected logs outside the house. I've been waiting for the rainwater to dry off them before I put them under cover - I've been waiting months, and the current weather indicates I'll be waiting many more! (My dry logs have almost run out. I'd thought I'd have had enough for three winters!)
Perhaps if you lay in your conservatory and didn't eat...
Have you considered doing the same test with a piece of split log? I suspect that the increased surface area and increase in grain exposure would speed up the rate of drying.
Fascinating.
I am hoping that you will weigh the log regularly and frequently so that you can produce a graph and a fullreport in a future posting.
When I was a kid, I was a Herbie, so I had to check out your blog. Enjoyed it.
Thanks
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