All Heat vs Dry & Cool Grain Drying: Which Mode Is Better?

All Heat vs Dry & Cool Quick Comparison

Feature	All Heat	Dry & Cool
Heated dryer area	Maximum	Part of dryer
Cooling location	Bin or separate cooling system	Inside dryer
Typical dryer BPH	Higher	Lower
Grain discharge temperature	Hot	Cooler
Bin aeration requirement	High importance	Lower
Cooling management	Farm must manage it	Mostly handled by dryer
Wet-grain throughput	Higher	Lower
Storage readiness	Requires cooling after discharge	Closer to ready for storage
Best fit	Farms prioritizing throughput with strong bin aeration	Farms prioritizing simple storage management
Main risk	Cooling system cannot keep up	Dryer becomes harvest bottleneck

The correct mode depends on the entire grain system, not just the dryer.

What Is All Heat Grain Drying?

In All Heat mode, sometimes described as Full Heat depending on manufacturer and model, the dryer uses most or all of its active drying capacity for heated-air drying.

Grain moves through the dryer while heated air removes moisture.

Instead of spending part of the dryer residence time cooling the grain, the grain is discharged while still warm or hot.

It then enters a storage or cooling bin where aeration completes the cooling process.

The basic workflow is:

Wet grain → heated dryer → hot dried grain → aerated bin → cooled grain

This increases dryer throughput because valuable dryer space is not being used as a cooling section.

What Is Dry & Cool?

Dry & Cool keeps more of the entire drying and cooling process inside the dryer.

The upper portion of the system removes moisture using heated air.

A lower section then uses unheated or cooler air to reduce grain temperature before discharge.

The workflow becomes:

Wet grain → heated drying section → cooling section → cooler grain → storage

The result is grain that is much closer to storage temperature when it leaves the dryer.

The trade-off is capacity.

Part of the machine is cooling grain instead of removing additional moisture from new wet grain.

Why All Heat Produces More BPH

Think about a dryer as a limited amount of grain-column space.

If 100% of useful column capacity can contribute to drying, more wet grain can move through the system.

If a significant portion of that same column is reserved for cooling, less space remains available for moisture removal.

That is why All Heat generally has higher published throughput.

GSI’s current 1200 Series illustrates this clearly.

At five-point moisture removal, the current series is rated at approximately:

400 to 730 BPH in Dry & Cool

versus roughly:

680 to 1,160 BPH in All Heat

depending on model.

The dryer did not suddenly gain a larger burner.

The operating strategy changed.

A Real GSI Example

The GSI 1220S / 1220H provides an even clearer example using its published configuration.

At 20% to 15% moisture:

Full Heat: 990 BPH

Continuous Dry & Cool: 445 BPH

That is a difference of more than 500 bushels per hour.

Why?

In Full Heat, the dryer concentrates its capacity on moisture removal.

In Continuous Dry & Cool, part of its available process capacity is being used to cool the grain.

The important question is not whether 990 BPH is better than 445 BPH.

The question is whether the rest of the farm can safely manage nearly 1,000 bushels per hour of hot grain leaving the dryer.

Another GSI Example

The GSI 1222S / 1222H shows the same pattern.

Its Full Heat capacity is considerably higher than its Continuous Dry & Cool output.

The larger the dryer becomes, the more important the downstream cooling system becomes because more hot grain is entering storage every hour.

This is why choosing All Heat should never be based only on the higher brochure BPH.

All Heat Does Not Eliminate Cooling

This is the most important concept in the entire comparison.

All Heat does not mean:

the grain does not need cooling.

It means:

the dryer does not do the cooling.

The job has simply moved downstream.

Hot grain still needs to be brought to an appropriate storage temperature.

If the receiving bin cannot move enough air through the grain, the theoretical dryer-capacity gain can create an entirely new bottleneck.

Your Bin Becomes Part of the Dryer System

When operating in All Heat, the receiving bin is no longer simply storage.

It becomes part of the drying and conditioning process.

That means you need to think about:

• bin size
• fan capacity
• grain depth
• airflow
• roof ventilation
• temperature monitoring
• grain distribution
• cooling time
• bin switching

A powerful grain dryer connected to an inadequate cooling bin is an incomplete drying system.

Why Aeration Capacity Matters

Hot grain contains a substantial amount of sensible heat.

That heat needs to leave the grain mass.

Air moving through the bin removes heat and may also remove some additional moisture.

If airflow is too low:

• cooling takes too long
• temperature gradients develop
• moisture can migrate
• condensation can form
• storage risk increases

This is why All Heat should be designed together with the storage system.

Do not buy the dryer first and assume existing bin fans will automatically be sufficient.

GSI Specifically Warns About Cooling Capacity

GSI’s current 2300 and 2400 Series information gives a useful manufacturer example.

For high-speed All Heat corn drying, GSI notes that safe cooling and storage without special management may require bins no larger than approximately 50,000 bushels when handling up to around 1,500 BPH.

That is not a universal rule for every dryer or crop.

It is a good illustration of the principle:

As hot-grain throughput increases, cooling-bin design becomes more important.

Dry & Cool Simplifies Storage

Dry & Cool has one major operational advantage.

The grain leaves the dryer much closer to the temperature needed for storage.

That means the receiving bin is primarily receiving dried grain rather than acting as a high-capacity cooling system.

Aeration is still important.

But the storage system does not need to absorb the same heat load created by continuous All Heat operation.

For farms with older bins, smaller fans or limited cooling infrastructure, this simplicity can be valuable.

Why Dry & Cool Is Slower

Dry & Cool does not normally reduce throughput because the burner becomes weaker.

It reduces throughput because the machine allocates part of its physical capacity to cooling.

Imagine a dryer grain column divided into two functional sections.

All Heat

Most or all of the useful column:

drying

Dry & Cool

Upper section:

drying

Lower section:

cooling

The same dryer now has less active drying area.

Fewer wet bushels can therefore be processed each hour.

Is All Heat More Fuel Efficient?

Sometimes, but this question needs careful wording.

All Heat can improve the utilization of the dryer because more of the machine is dedicated to high-temperature moisture removal.

Moving hot grain into a separate cooling system can also allow additional moisture to leave during cooling.

Corn-drying research has shown that transferring grain hot and completing cooling outside the dryer can reduce energy use under properly managed systems.

But there is no universal percentage that applies to every crop and dryer.

Actual energy efficiency depends on:

• dryer design
• burner
• airflow
• grain temperature
• incoming moisture
• final moisture
• ambient conditions
• cooling method
• heat recovery

The only reliable way to compare operating cost is to measure total system energy use per bushel or per amount of water removed.

For the broader economics, see How Much Does It Cost to Dry Grain in Canada?.

Do Not Forget Cooling Fan Electricity

All Heat can reduce the amount of dryer capacity consumed by cooling.

But the bin fans still use electricity.

When comparing costs, include:

All Heat

• dryer fuel
• dryer electricity
• receiving-bin fan electricity
• possible extra grain handling
• operator time

Dry & Cool

• dryer fuel
• dryer fan electricity
• lower BPH
• potentially longer dryer runtime

Comparing only burner fuel does not tell the full story.

All Heat Can Increase Daily Capacity Dramatically

Suppose a dryer handles:

500 BPH Dry & Cool

and

900 BPH All Heat

Over ten hours:

Dry & Cool

5,000 bu

All Heat

9,000 bu

Difference:

4,000 bu

Over a long harvest day, that can fundamentally change how well the dryer keeps up with the combines.

This is why farms with limited harvest windows often find All Heat attractive.

But Can the Grain Site Handle the Extra 4,000 Bushels?

This is the next question.

More dryer capacity creates more demand everywhere else.

You may need:

• faster wet-grain loading
• larger wet holding
• larger dry-grain takeaway
• additional storage
• stronger aeration
• faster conveyors
• additional bins

If the takeaway system handles only 600 BPH, running the dryer at 900 BPH does not solve much.

The weakest part of the grain system still determines practical capacity.

All Heat and Wet Holding

All Heat can be especially useful when wet holding is becoming the harvest bottleneck.

Higher dryer throughput allows wet grain to move through the system faster.

That gives combines more room to keep harvesting.

But the benefit depends on the complete system.

If the wet bin empties faster while the cooling bin becomes overloaded, you have simply moved the bottleneck.

All Heat and Multiple Combines

The argument becomes stronger when two or more combines feed one grain site.

Suppose the combines together produce:

1,500 BPH

and the dryer handles:

700 BPH Dry & Cool

but

1,200 BPH All Heat

The difference between incoming and drying capacity changes from:

800 BPH deficit

to:

300 BPH deficit

Wet holding can absorb a 300 BPH shortfall much longer than an 800 BPH shortfall.

That can keep harvest moving for significantly more hours.

Dry & Cool Can Still Be the Better Choice

Higher BPH does not automatically mean better farm economics.

Dry & Cool can be preferable when:

• dryer capacity already exceeds combine output
• existing bins have limited fan capacity
• several bins need to be filled without cooling management
• labour is limited
• grain needs to be stored immediately
• crop quality requires conservative handling
• the operator wants simpler moisture and temperature management

If the dryer is not the bottleneck, sacrificing storage simplicity for additional unused BPH achieves very little.

All Heat for Wheat

All Heat can work well for wheat when:

• dryer temperature is appropriate
• grain quality is protected
• the receiving bin has enough airflow
• the farm needs additional throughput

Prairie wheat often requires fewer moisture points of removal than wet corn.

That can make the throughput advantage particularly useful during a short period of damp harvest weather.

But wheat quality matters.

Milling, seed and specialty grain may require more conservative drying temperatures than feed grain.

The mode does not replace crop-specific temperature management.

Dry & Cool for Wheat

Dry & Cool may be more attractive when wheat is going directly into longer-term storage and the farm does not have a strong in-bin cooling system.

The grain exits the dryer at a lower temperature.

This reduces the amount of heat the bin has to remove.

On smaller operations, that simplicity may matter more than maximizing dryer capacity.

All Heat for Canola

Canola requires more caution.

The seed is small, oily and sensitive to excessive temperature.

The issue is not that All Heat can never be used.

The issue is that cooling strategy and temperature management become particularly important.

Warm canola should not simply be discharged into a bin without appropriate aeration.

Grain temperature, airflow and final moisture need to be monitored closely.

For crop-specific temperature guidance, read How to Dry Canola Safely.

Dry & Cool for Canola

Dry & Cool can be attractive for canola because it reduces the amount of heat entering the storage bin.

That can simplify management of a crop already known for:

• high airflow resistance
• heating risk
• moisture migration
• sensitivity to overdrying

The trade-off is lower BPH.

For a large canola operation in a wet harvest, the throughput penalty may be significant.

The farm has to balance dryer capacity against storage management.

Do Not Copy Corn Settings for Canola

Many published grain-dryer capacities are based on corn.

That does not mean the same:

• temperature
• unload speed
• airflow strategy
• cooling method

should be copied directly to canola.

Canola has different physical properties and different quality limits.

Always use manufacturer guidance for the specific crop.

All Heat for Corn

Corn is one of the crops where All Heat is particularly common.

Why?

Corn often requires large moisture removal.

High dryer throughput becomes extremely valuable.

The crop can leave a high-temperature dryer warm and be cooled afterward in a properly designed system.

This allows more dryer capacity to remain dedicated to removing moisture from incoming wet corn.

On high-volume corn operations, that can materially increase daily capacity.

Corn and Moisture Removal During Cooling

Hot corn can continue losing moisture while it cools.

Extension research on corn drying has found that transferring hot grain and completing cooling outside the dryer can allow the high-temperature drying stage to stop slightly above the final moisture target.

The remaining moisture is then removed during cooling.

This should be viewed as a managed corn-drying technique, not a universal rule for every crop.

Do not automatically apply corn dryeration practices to canola, seed grain or malting barley.

What Is Dryeration?

Dryeration takes hot-grain cooling one step further.

Instead of cooling the grain immediately after leaving the dryer, hot grain is transferred into a separate bin and allowed to steep for several hours.

During this period, moisture inside the kernel redistributes.

The cooling fan is then started.

Corn-drying research has shown that dryeration can:

• increase high-temperature dryer capacity
• remove additional moisture during cooling
• improve energy efficiency
• reduce some stress cracking

But it requires more infrastructure and tighter management.

All Heat Is Not the Same as Dryeration

This distinction matters.

All Heat with immediate bin cooling

Dryer → hot grain → receiving bin → cooling begins promptly

Dryeration

Dryer → hot grain → separate bin → steeping period → controlled cooling → storage

Dryeration is a specific grain-management method.

Simply running a dryer in All Heat mode does not mean you are automatically practicing dryeration.

Dry & Cool for Corn

Dry & Cool remains useful for corn when:

• storage aeration is limited
• grain is being transferred through several bins
• the operator wants cooler grain immediately
• downstream management needs to remain simple

The main cost is reduced dryer capacity.

If harvest capacity is already sufficient, that may be a reasonable trade.

Barley and Malting Quality

Barley deserves special caution.

If barley is intended for:

• malting
• seed

germination must be protected.

Excessive temperature can reduce quality even if the grain looks normal.

Dry & Cool may provide more conservative handling in some systems, but operating temperature matters more than the mode name alone.

Do not assume that Dry & Cool automatically makes any burner setting safe.

Seed Grain

The same principle applies to seed grain.

The priority is preserving germination.

A farm may deliberately accept:

• lower dryer temperature
• slower unload rate
• lower BPH

to protect seed quality.

The highest-throughput operating mode is not always the most profitable mode.

How Super-B Handles This Choice

The current Super-B SQ family demonstrates that this is not simply a GSI concept.

Depending on configuration, Super-B dryers can operate in modes including:

• Full Heat
• Pressure Heat / Pressure Cool
• Pressure Heat / Vacuum Cool
• other multi-zone configurations

The Super-B SQ12 illustrates this well.

Its Full Heat configuration is designed around maximum drying throughput with cooling handled afterward.

Other configurations incorporate cooling into the dryer.

This reinforces the same decision:

Use dryer capacity for more drying, or use part of it for cooling?

Pressure Cooling vs Vacuum Cooling

Some dryers provide different ways to cool grain.

Pressure cooling

A fan pushes cooler air through the grain.

Vacuum cooling

Air is pulled through the cooling section.

Depending on dryer design, vacuum cooling may also allow some heated air or energy to be recovered or integrated differently.

These are manufacturer-specific designs.

They should not be treated as interchangeable simply because both produce cooled grain.

Heat Recovery Changes the Equation

Some larger dryers recover heat from cooling grain.

Instead of exhausting all of that energy to the atmosphere, part of the warmed cooling air is redirected into the drying process.

This can improve fuel efficiency.

As dryer size and annual bushel volume increase, heat recovery becomes increasingly valuable.

A system drying 20,000 bushels per year and one drying 500,000 bushels per year have very different economics.

How All Heat Affects Grain Drying Cost

All Heat can potentially reduce cost per bushel by:

• increasing BPH
• reducing dryer hours per bushel
• using more of the dryer for moisture removal
• completing part of the drying process during cooling

But it can also add:

• bin fan electricity
• grain handling
• cooling management
• additional monitoring

The correct metric is not simply:

dryer fuel per hour

It is:

total system cost per properly dried and cooled bushel

Example Cost Comparison

Consider a hypothetical dryer.

Dry & Cool

Capacity:

500 BPH

Total operating cost:

$90/hour

Cost per bushel:

$0.18

All Heat

Capacity:

850 BPH

Dryer operating cost:

$125/hour

Receiving-bin cooling:

$15/hour equivalent

Total:

$140/hour

Cost per bushel:

$0.165

All Heat burns more money per hour.

But in this example, it costs less per bushel because throughput rises faster than total operating expense.

These numbers are only illustrative.

Your actual fuel, power and capacity need to be measured.

The Opposite Can Also Happen

Suppose the farm needs expensive extra conveyors, bin fans and labour to handle hot grain.

Now All Heat may increase total system cost enough that Dry & Cool becomes competitive.

This is why dryer economics should be calculated for the entire grain site.

Use How Much Does It Cost to Dry Grain in Canada? to compare the full cost structure.

Does All Heat Require More Fuel?

Not necessarily on a per-bushel basis.

Hourly burner consumption can be high because the dryer is processing more grain.

But cost per bushel may stay the same or even fall.

Compare:

fuel consumed ÷ dry bushels produced

rather than only:

fuel consumed per hour

The same principle applies when comparing dryer models.

Grain Quality Still Sets the Limit

It is tempting to see All Heat as the performance mode and simply maximize burner temperature.

That is the wrong approach.

Drying temperature is still limited by:

• crop
• moisture
• intended use
• seed quality
• dryer design

Increasing temperature beyond appropriate limits can damage grain.

The objective is maximum useful throughput, not simply maximum burner output.

Overdrying Can Destroy the Advantage

Imagine All Heat gives you much higher BPH.

But your final target is 14% and the grain actually ends up at 12.5% after cooling.

You have now:

• burned unnecessary fuel
• removed saleable water weight
• potentially increased kernel damage

Moisture control becomes especially important when part of the drying process continues outside the dryer.

Moisture Testing Hot Grain

Be careful when testing grain immediately after discharge.

Moisture meters can be sensitive to sample temperature.

Hot grain also needs time for internal moisture to redistribute.

Follow your meter’s instructions and use appropriately conditioned samples.

A poor moisture reading can lead to aggressive dryer adjustments that create expensive overdrying.

All Heat Requires Better Communication Between Dryer and Bin

The dryer operator needs to know:

• which bin is receiving grain
• current bin grain depth
• whether aeration fans are running
• temperature trend
• available storage capacity

A high-output All Heat system becomes increasingly dependent on good grain-site management.

Automation can help.

But someone still needs to understand what is happening downstream.

Dry & Cool Is More Self-Contained

One reason farmers like Dry & Cool is that the drying process is easier to conceptualize.

Wet grain enters.

Dried, cooler grain exits.

That makes each bushel less dependent on what happens in the next bin.

This can be particularly useful where:

• several storage bins are filled in sequence
• fans differ from bin to bin
• temporary storage is used
• grain may be moved again soon

The price for that simplicity is lower dryer throughput.

All Heat and Bin Switching

A farm operating All Heat may need to think carefully about bin changes.

Suppose a dryer produces 1,200 BPH of hot grain.

A receiving bin cannot simply be filled rapidly and ignored.

The cooling plan needs to continue through the entire grain mass.

If switching between bins, the operator needs to understand:

• which fans are running
• how much hot grain is in each bin
• whether grain has cooled sufficiently
• when the bin can safely receive additional grain

Operational discipline matters.

Is Bigger Aeration Always Better?

More airflow generally improves cooling speed, but fan selection still needs to match:

• bin
• crop
• grain depth
• static pressure

Canola can create much higher airflow resistance than larger cereal grains.

A fan system that works well for corn may not deliver the same airflow per bushel through deep canola.

Use actual fan curves and crop-specific static-pressure information rather than fan horsepower alone.

Full Heat and Storage Temperature

Grain entering the storage system hot creates larger temperature differences between the grain and outside air.

That makes moisture migration a concern if cooling is delayed or uneven.

The goal is to move the cooling front through the grain mass in a controlled way.

Temperature monitoring can help identify areas that are not cooling properly.

Dry & Cool Still Needs Aeration

One mistake is assuming that cooled grain needs no bin fan.

Even grain leaving a Dry & Cool dryer should still be managed in storage.

Aeration helps:

• equalize temperature
• manage seasonal cooling
• reduce moisture migration
• maintain storage condition

Dry & Cool reduces the initial cooling requirement.

It does not eliminate storage management.

Which Mode Is Better for a Small Farm?

Dry & Cool often makes sense when:

• dryer capacity already matches harvest
• bins have modest fan systems
• simplicity matters
• one operator handles several jobs
• hot-grain management would add complexity

All Heat can still be valuable if the smaller dryer is struggling to keep up and the farm has adequate aeration.

Which Mode Is Better for a Large Farm?

The larger the harvest volume, the more attractive additional BPH becomes.

All Heat may be particularly useful where:

• multiple combines operate
• harvest windows are short
• wet holding fills quickly
• dryer capacity is the bottleneck
• storage bins have strong aeration systems

At very high throughput, the cooling system needs to be designed just as carefully as the dryer.

When All Heat Makes the Most Sense

Choose All Heat when:

• maximum dryer throughput is important
• wet grain is accumulating faster than the dryer can process it
• receiving bins have adequate aeration
• the farm can monitor hot-grain cooling
• downstream grain handling can keep up
• crop quality allows the planned operating temperature
• additional BPH has economic value

When Dry & Cool Makes the Most Sense

Choose Dry & Cool when:

• current dryer capacity already meets harvest needs
• bin aeration is limited
• storage simplicity matters
• grain must enter storage cooler
• labour for cooling management is limited
• crop quality is more important than maximum BPH
• the farm does not want to build additional cooling infrastructure

When Neither Is the Real Problem

Sometimes farms spend too much time debating dryer modes when the actual bottleneck is somewhere else.

Check:

• wet-bin capacity
• load auger
• electrical service
• fuel supply
• dry-grain takeaway
• storage
• grain carts
• trucks

If the dryer regularly waits for grain, All Heat will not improve harvest capacity.

If the dryer regularly waits because the discharge system is full, more BPH will not help either.

How to Decide Using Numbers

Use this simple process.

Step 1: Calculate combine output

How many wet bushels per hour can realistically arrive?

Step 2: Record Dry & Cool capacity

Use your actual dryer model and moisture removal.

Step 3: Record All Heat capacity

Again, use the same crop and moisture-removal conditions.

Step 4: Calculate the bottleneck

Compare dryer BPH with peak harvest delivery.

Step 5: Evaluate cooling capacity

Can your receiving bins safely cool the All Heat output?

Step 6: Calculate total operating cost

Include bin fans and additional handling.

Step 7: Compare grain quality requirements

Wheat, canola, feed grain, seed grain and malting barley may justify different choices.

Step 8: Choose the mode that improves the entire system

Not simply the mode with the highest number in the brochure.

GSI 1200 Series and Operating Mode

The current GSI 1200 Series is particularly useful for understanding the concept.

GSI describes the series as capable of operating in:

• All Heat
• Dry & Cool
• Continuous Flow
• Batch

The same basic dryer therefore allows the farm to change strategy as conditions change.

A farmer could potentially use one mode during a high-volume corn harvest and another for more temperature-sensitive grain.

Browse individual Aglist pages such as:

• GSI 1220S / 1220H
• GSI 1222S / 1222H
• GSI 1226S / 1226H

to compare specific capacities.

Super-B Gives Farms Similar Flexibility

Super-B takes a somewhat different engineering approach, but the operating decision is similar.

The SQ Series can be configured around:

• Full Heat
• pressure heating
• pressure cooling
• vacuum cooling
• multi-zone operation

This allows the system to be selected around throughput and grain-quality requirements.

Read the Super-B Grain Dryers Canadian Buyer’s Guide for the broader lineup.

Used Dryers Need Extra Attention

An older dryer may have been modified during its life.

Before assuming it can operate safely in a particular mode, verify:

• model
• control system
• burner
• fans
• plenum configuration
• grain column
• moisture control
• manual
• manufacturer support

Do not assume an old Super-B or GSI has the same operating modes as the current equivalent.

See the Used Grain Dryer Buying Guide before purchasing.

Common All Heat Mistakes

Choosing All Heat only because the BPH is higher

The cooling job still has to happen.

Assuming existing bin fans are adequate

Calculate actual cooling airflow.

Ignoring grain temperature

Hot grain requires active management.

Overdrying in the dryer

Cooling may remove additional moisture.

Applying corn management directly to canola

Crop behaviour and quality limits differ.

Filling a cooling bin too quickly

Cooling infrastructure must match dryer output.

Forgetting fan electricity

Cooling is not free.

Common Dry & Cool Mistakes

Assuming cooler grain means no aeration is required

Storage still needs temperature management.

Accepting low BPH without checking the real bottleneck

You may be sacrificing capacity unnecessarily.

Comparing Dry & Cool BPH against another dryer’s All Heat rating

Always compare like with like.

Assuming every dryer cools the same way

Pressure cool, vacuum cool and other configurations differ.

How to Compare Two Grain Dryers Fairly

When comparing dryers, always align:

• crop
• incoming moisture
• target moisture
• operating mode
• ambient assumptions

Do not compare:

Dryer A at 20% → 15% All Heat

with

Dryer B at 25% → 15% Dry & Cool

and conclude that Dryer A has dramatically higher capacity.

The test conditions are different.

This is one reason Aglist model pages show multiple moisture-removal and operating-mode capacities whenever manufacturer information is available.

All Heat vs Dry & Cool and Dryer Sizing

Your preferred operating mode can change the size of dryer you need.

Suppose the farm requires:

800 BPH

A particular dryer may provide:

500 BPH Dry & Cool

but

850 BPH All Heat

You now have two choices.

Option 1

Buy that dryer and design adequate in-bin cooling.

Option 2

Buy a larger dryer that can deliver 800 BPH while operating Dry & Cool.

The cheaper solution depends on:

• dryer price
• bin fans
• electrical upgrades
• labour
• storage
• fuel
• future growth

Use the Aglist Grain Dryer Sizing Calculator before choosing the machine.

Final Thoughts

All Heat and Dry & Cool are not two completely different drying technologies.

They are two ways of using the capacity of the same basic drying system.

All Heat prioritizes dryer throughput.

The grain leaves hot, and the storage system takes over the cooling job.

Dry & Cool prioritizes storage simplicity.

Part of the dryer is used to cool grain before discharge, so throughput falls.

Neither mode is automatically better.

For a farm where the dryer is limiting harvest and the bins have strong aeration, All Heat can unlock substantial additional capacity.

For a farm where dryer capacity is already sufficient, Dry & Cool may provide easier grain management without requiring a dedicated hot-grain cooling strategy.

The most important rule is simple:

Do not evaluate the dryer separately from the bins.

All Heat turns the receiving bin into part of the drying system.

Dry & Cool keeps more of that job inside the dryer.

Before choosing a mode, compare:

• real dryer BPH
• combine output
• wet holding
• bin fan capacity
• grain temperature
• crop quality
• electricity
• fuel
• labour
• storage strategy

The best mode is the one that increases the capacity and profitability of the entire grain-handling system, not simply the number displayed on the dryer brochure.

For related guides, see:

• How Much Does It Cost to Dry Grain in Canada?
• How to Dry Canola Safely
• Batch vs Continuous-Flow vs Mixed-Flow Grain Dryers
• Natural Gas vs Propane Grain Dryers
• Used Grain Dryer Buying Guide
• Grain Dryer Sizing Calculator
• Grain Dryers

Frequently Asked Questions

What is All Heat grain drying?

All Heat uses most or all of the dryer’s available process capacity for heated-air moisture removal. Grain leaves the dryer hot and is cooled afterward in a bin or separate cooling system.

Is Full Heat the same as All Heat?

Manufacturers may use slightly different terminology, but Full Heat and All Heat generally describe operation where the dryer emphasizes heated drying and grain is cooled after discharge. Always check the terminology used for the specific dryer.

What is Dry & Cool?

Dry & Cool uses part of the dryer for heated drying and part for cooling. Grain exits cooler and requires less immediate cooling after entering storage.

Why is All Heat faster than Dry & Cool?

All Heat dedicates more of the dryer’s physical capacity to moisture removal. Dry & Cool reserves part of the system for cooling, reducing the amount of grain that can be dried each hour.

How much faster is All Heat?

It depends on the dryer. On some current portable dryers, the difference can be substantial. Compare manufacturer ratings for the same model, crop and moisture removal.

Does All Heat use more fuel?

It may use more fuel per hour because more grain is being dried, but cost per bushel can still be equal or lower. Compare energy consumption per bushel rather than hourly fuel use alone.

Does grain need cooling after All Heat?

Yes. All Heat transfers the cooling job to the storage or cooling system.

Can I put hot grain directly into a bin?

Yes, when the bin and aeration system are designed and managed for hot-grain cooling. Simply putting hot grain into a bin without adequate airflow creates storage risk.

Does Dry & Cool grain still need aeration?

Yes. Aeration remains important for temperature equalization and seasonal storage management, even if grain leaves the dryer relatively cool.

Is All Heat better for wheat?

It can be when higher throughput is needed and storage bins have adequate cooling airflow. Temperature must still remain appropriate for the intended use of the wheat.

Is All Heat good for canola?

It can be used when supported by the dryer manufacturer, but canola requires careful temperature and storage management. Strong aeration is particularly important because canola has high resistance to airflow.

Is Dry & Cool better for canola?

It can simplify storage by reducing the amount of heat entering the bin. Whether that advantage outweighs lower dryer throughput depends on farm capacity and infrastructure.

Is All Heat better for corn?

All Heat is commonly used in high-capacity corn drying because hot grain can be cooled after discharge, allowing more dryer capacity to remain dedicated to moisture removal.

What is dryeration?

Dryeration is a managed process where hot grain, commonly corn, is moved from the dryer into a separate bin, allowed to steep and then cooled. It is more specific than ordinary All Heat in-bin cooling.

Does All Heat require a bigger fan in the bin?

Often it requires substantial cooling airflow, but the correct fan size depends on crop, bin diameter, grain depth, dryer throughput and static pressure. Use an engineered or manufacturer-supported cooling calculation.

Which mode costs less?

There is no universal answer. All Heat may lower drying cost per bushel by increasing throughput, but cooling fans and additional grain handling also cost money.

Which mode gives better grain quality?

Grain quality depends more on crop temperature, moisture, residence time and dryer design than on the mode name alone. Sensitive crops may justify more conservative operation.

Can Super-B dryers run Full Heat and Dry & Cool?

Many Super-B SQ configurations support Full Heat and different pressure or vacuum cooling modes, depending on model and configuration.

Can GSI portable dryers run All Heat and Dry & Cool?

Yes. GSI’s current portable dryer lineup supports both All Heat and Dry & Cool operation, with available modes varying somewhat by series and configuration.

Should I size my dryer using All Heat or Dry & Cool capacity?

Use the mode you realistically expect to operate most often. If you intend to depend on All Heat capacity, size the receiving-bin cooling system at the same time.