Is 2 ft high cupola high enough?

[SevenCreeksSap]

I'm at the point on the sap shack that I'm ready to add the cupola frame. I have a 9 ft long x 20 in wide hole in the roof for a 2x8 evap. No Hood for this year. Is a 2 ft high cupola tall enough above the roofline? How about 18 inches? I dont really want to go higher than 2 ft and would prefer slightly lower if possible.

I'm planning on boxing in the ends of the cupola and having doors to swing up by using a pipe lengthwise through the framing studs, and attached to the doors with brackets. 3 ft wide metal roof on each side of the cupola peak parallel with the roof.

[adk1]

Man, without going back to my NAMPM, I think that the hinged door openings should be as long as your emap and 75% as wide.

[BryanEx]

adk1... he's got that part figured already. SevenCreeksSap was asking about height.

[adk1]

How can the coupola overall be only 2' above the roofline when he needs to have the openings darn close to the width of the evap? Just curious cause hte guy building mine asked how high overall I wanted it

[maple flats]

doors on both sides, 2' will work good

[adk1]

good, glad to hear that, I didnt want one stickup up 3-4' either..I should be getting mine installed on Sunday or this week

[Flat47]

How can the coupola overall be only 2' above the roofline when he needs to have the openings darn close to the width of the evap? Just curious cause hte guy building mine asked how high overall I wanted it

I don't follow you at all. The question was height, not width. The coupola walls and roof are all parallel to the shack walls and roof.

[Lew56]

I found this link when I was searching for info. on a cupola size for my 2'x8' Lots of other good info. sir.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CFoQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uvm.edu%2F~uvmaple%2Fsugarhou sedesign.pdf&rct=j&q=cupola%20size%20sugar%20house&ei=k02GTvKULfDH0AGPo-AD&usg=AFQjCNFJHOoCh7SEMxVrbP40JKTsJDgUEQ&cad=rja

[SevenCreeksSap]

Finally got some pics in the computer. This is the hole for the Cupola( if it attaches) Im looking at going 2 ft above the roof peak, with plywood doors running the lenght of the hole that will pivot upward and tie off. Maybe a boat trailer winch or something to crank open the doors. I made the trusses and there are 2 triangular shaped holes in the corners of the end truss. I'm thinking of also making hinged doors on those corners too in case steam is too much or for some air flow. This is all new to me so its all an experiment on how it will work.

Link in case it didnt attach
http://photobucket.com/sevencreekssaphouse

[Russell Lampron]

2' is more than high enough, 18" would probably look better and function as well. The width should be as wide as your evaporator or wider. Wider looks better and gives you the opportunity to get a bigger evaporator without having to modify the cupola in the future.

[Haynes Forest Products]

So 4' H X 8' W is too big? It doubles as a deer stand plus I can store all my flue pipe in it:) Check out the photobucket;)

[BryanEx]

It doubles as a deer stand...
LOL... that paints a picture of tourists showing up in orange vests to buy syrup. Whoops... sorry about the guy wearing a leather jacket though. :lol:

[Lew56]

Cool, never thought of the cupola as a deer stand, I made mine 3'x8' and 3' high. room for two, the wife and I. It would be romantic. I'm having visions :rolleyes:

[Haynes Forest Products]

OH I forgot the steam bath/sauna part. The problem is all the Swedes that would show up half naked talking funny:o

[SevenCreeksSap]

Thanks for the input. Maybe I'll go a happy medium and about 20 inches high with the extra vent doors on the ends of the gables to avoid the sauna. As far as a deeer stand, this bldg is against my hill so steep I'd still be shooting up to hit their ankles.

[GramaCindy]

Here's a link to the latest on the Mangy Moose Sugar Shack construction. The last 4 photos are of Tim working on the cupola. Ours is fairly tall for hopefully maximum steam extraction:Dhttps://picasaweb.google.com/103968764779354846524/TheMangyMooseConstruction?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCO7UkbSG4pXY2QE&feat=directlink

[red maples]

Looks fine the key to coupula is that it is as big or slightly bigger square inch wise as your evap. this way you can make sure you have a good steam column going up!!! for example if you have a 2x6 that just over 1700 sq/inch so make sure your coupula matches

[GramaCindy]

Looks fine the key to coupula is that it is as big or slightly bigger square inch wise as your evap. this way you can make sure you have a good steam column going up!!! for example if you have a 2x6 that just over 1700 sq/inch so make sure your coupula matches

It's slightly larger than the evaporator. Good to go on that.;)

[SevenCreeksSap]

Red Maples' sugar house is beautiful.( not taking away from the Mangy Moose) I see the doors open and lay on the roof flat. I was thinking of hinging my 9 ft doors on a piece of pipe that is as long as the door, and mounted about 2/3 of the way up the door itself on the inside. The pipe would just run thru brackets so it swivels on them and swings up by pulling on the top of the door, then tie off or lock a hand winch to lock open. This would leave about 2/3 of the door on the outside of the cupola, and the top third would be under the cupola roof. Does this seem like it would block steam exhaust? I think I could make the doors pivot enough to actually angle up on the outside (when its not raining)

[GramaCindy]

Red Maples' sugar house is beautiful.( not taking away from the Mangy Moose) I see the doors open and lay on the roof flat. I was thinking of hinging my 9 ft doors on a piece of pipe that is as long as the door, and mounted about 2/3 of the way up the door itself on the inside. The pipe would just run thru brackets so it swivels on them and swings up by pulling on the top of the door, then tie off or lock a hand winch to lock open. This would leave about 2/3 of the door on the outside of the cupola, and the top third would be under the cupola roof. Does this seem like it would block steam exhaust? I think I could make the doors pivot enough to actually angle up on the outside (when its not raining)

SevenCreeksSap, that is exactly what one guy on here did, and showed a great drawing of how he did it. I saved a picture, but am having one heck of a time getting photos up on here. I'll try, but if it's not in my post here, pm me with an email address and I'll send it that way. Also, I think his name is John Allin.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Once the steam is up that high into the rafters and coupla its going out. Looks like a good way to keep the rain and snow out.

[SevenCreeksSap]

The picture attached. Thanks, you have better luck with that than I do. I knew I saw that on here somewhere and couldnt find it. Deep down I knew it wasnt an original Idea! I think as long as the length of my cupola is open on the sides it should work. 9 feet is Kind of a long stretch with no support but if I use 2x6 or 2x8 for the cupola framing it should support the doors. I'm planning to run the framing up from the trusses, and I put them 3 ft apart, so I'm kind of limited by my design. I've done this all in my head. Next time I build something this big I think I'll plan it on paper first:o

[rookie]

doing your plan on paper first is always a good idea :)

[GramaCindy]

The picture attached. Thanks, you have better luck with that than I do. I knew I saw that on here somewhere and couldnt find it. Deep down I knew it wasnt an original Idea! I think as long as the length of my cupola is open on the sides it should work. 9 feet is Kind of a long stretch with no support but if I use 2x6 or 2x8 for the cupola framing it should support the doors. I'm planning to run the framing up from the trusses, and I put them 3 ft apart, so I'm kind of limited by my design. I've done this all in my head. Next time I build something this big I think I'll plan it on paper first:o
Here is a picture of our framing of the cupola47314732