[Greenbuilding] wood shed

[Frank Tettemer]

Wood burning is such a delight, and a real privilege to me!
I feel very fortunate to have built in a rural area that does not 
experience congestion and crowding, which could be conditions to which 
it's just not a good idea for everyone to be heating with wood. 
Fortunate to live in an area where the number one local industry is 
based on tree planting and harvesting, where conditions are good for 
hardwood growth, and sustainable harvesting.
This is Eastern Ontario, Canada, adjacent to Algonquin Provincial Park.

Our wood shed area is about 14 feet by 8 feet. We cut to 14" - 15" 
length, to fit the Waterford Stanley Range, and burn about ten to twelve 
of these face cords each year, with about three of these going into hot 
water production, (guessing).
This is equivalent to about 2 1/2 to 3 full bush cords.

The shed is a frame construction on a frame floor, supported on six 
different placed-stones at the middle and corners. The roof is a peaked 
cedar shingle roof, 4/12 pitch,  running East and West. The walls are 
sheathed with horizontal 1x4 lumber with 1/2" spaces between each 
course, for improved air flow. The main entry is a seven foot wide open 
area, (no door), along the long south wall. There is an alternative 
entry on the North wall, to avoid the problem that you mentioned, Sacie
"The difficulty here, the oldest wood would be the last pulled out"
Sunlight falls on the front row of wood, which is filled up each autumn, 
with wood that has been stacked in the open in double rows for two 
years, capped with steel roofing "cover sheets".  The varied colours of 
the steel seem to match the different homes that we've built for people 
over the years. Scraps and cover sheets are endlessly useful!

John, I like your suggestion of the haystack pile "Holz Hausen".
The idea of marking the central pole at 80%, to watch it dry and shrink, 
seems brilliant!
However, in our climate, it would be a rare event to have it dry 
sufficiently in only three months.
Here, the wood is cut in Autumn before the snow is too deep, or late 
Winter, as the snow depth declines enough to work in the bush.
And I never seem to get it stacked until late Spring. But our pleasant 
growing season here includes enough rain, typically, to slow wood 
drying, so it takes until the following Autumn, (1 1/2 to 2 years), for 
the wood to burn most efficiently, i.e., less than 20% on the 
Protimeter, or moisture meter.

Cheers,

Frank

-- 
Frank Tettemer
Living Sol ~ Building and Design
www.livingsol.com
613 756 3884