Cupola or Hinged Roof?

[mantispid]

My steel 24x32 sugar house will have the trusses and such put up soon, and my contractor is wondering if I want to go with a cupola with hinged side vents, or forego the cupola and simply have part of the roof open up bomb-bay door style with an overlap at the peak (roof ventilator).

Obviously the roof ventilator option wouldn't prevent snow or rain from getting in when opened up... But wouldn't it allow for a lot more steam release and minimize condensation on the inner surface of the roof? The cupola looks a lot nicer though... and does have the advantage of blocking rain and snowfall...

What about a hybrid design? A cupola with both hinged side vents and the mini roof peak that can open up?

[mantispid]

Hmm.. saw another thread mention falling ash. That's an excellent reason to have the cupola version...

[morningstarfarm]

I have seen both and while they will both work...I would go with the cupola...much easier to open the sides with 2 feet of snow on your roof...

[adk1]

Cupola all the way and if your building from scratch build it bigger than u think u will ever need of you can! Same goes for your sugarhouse!

[Bucket Head]

I'm a traditionalist- and nothing sets a sugarhouse apart from all the other buildings out there like a cupola. Nothing against the steam stack through-the-roof folks, they work very well, but steam billowing out and away from a cupola is very appealing. It has "the look", in my opinion.

I never understood the hinged roof way of doing it. I thought keeping rain and snow out of the evaporator was the reason one would move an evaporator into a building in the first place... We boiled outside for years. Now we are inside, and I really like the roof. And I never thought of snow covered doors. Good point!

Steve

[Lukie]

Your are correct the cupola makes the shack and i have my doors on cables in side so thay cant fold open all the way because if they fold all the way down to the roof you will have ahard time getting them back up to close

[Bucket Head]

I have my cupola doors hinged at the top and fabricated props to hold them up (open). I wanted the "default position" to be closed. I also wanted to keep wind-blown rain and cupola roof drippings from coming into the sugarhouse.

Steve

[m2salmon]

I had never considered a hinged roof opening until I saw it in the plans from VT Ag Extension. Pics below. The one night pic is awesome. I'm thinking of running a hood up into the cupola & hinging the roof. Like that no moisture will condense on the underside of the roof. Don't like that rain could get in. I'd love to see pics of peoples sugarhouses with hinged cupola roofs!

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[Pdiamond]

m2salmon, Since, you are thinking of opening two sides of the roof, you can place a heavy silicone strip along one edge and make sure the is the top or last side to close. The silicone strip should cover the center opening and prevent moisture from entering.

[m2salmon]

Hinging the top of the cupola would be best to keep steam from condensing on the inside of the roof & dripping down. Side doors/windows would be best for rainy days.

Maybe they could be combined & have the best of both? Most days, pop the top & steam goes straight up. Few rainy days, keep the top closed & open the side windows.

[m2salmon]

another pic of the hinged cupola roof ventilator

22708

[TapTapTap]

another pic of the hinged cupola roof ventilator

22708

I like that system. It seems like you could set it up with a scissor type of mechanism for opening and closing. Like a casement window.
Ken

[johnallin]

Doors on my cupola are hinged on a pipe going into pillow blocks, 1/3 down from top making them bottom-heavy.
They open by pulling a line fastened to the top of the door.
Never an issue with rain or snow coming in or building up on them.

[johnallin]

Doors on my cupola are hinged on a pipe going into pillow blocks, 1/3 down from top making them bottom-heavy.
They open by pulling a line fastened to the top of the door.
Never an issue with rain or snow coming in or building up on them.

I was able to find and load some pics of my cupola doors..

http://mapletrader.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=22718&stc=1http://mapletrader.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=22719&stc=1http://mapletrader.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=22720&stc=1

[DMF]

My sugar shack has a cupola with doors on the side. We just switched the doors from being hinged on the bottom to having the hinges on the top. This will be our first year with this set up. Last year we had several snow/sleet/rain storms during our boils and had a lot of it coming in through the doors. The worst was the snow piling up on the doors throughout the day, then when we'd close the doors when we were done, the doors would dump their snow load right into the shack.

[johnallin]

I was able to find and load some pics of my cupola doors..


Second time's a charm I guess....didn't work this morning.
That's a black 1" pipe going across door about 1/4 of the way down from top and extending into pillow blocks mounted on cupola frame work.
Creates the hinge and due to placement on door, they always want to swing back down to close.
No Rain or snow comes in while boiling...<grin>


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