Coopala design?

[Hunt4sap]

My sugar shack has walls up to 8'( just rough sawn lumber not insulated walls) just a wind break really.
This sugar shack has my evaporator on concrete floor( ss flat pan on a handmade 275 gallon wood fired insulated auf boiler)
This s.s. is under our metal roofed pole building. That's ceiling is 12-15 high.
If cold out I get rain coming down from sheet metal roof and want to put in a simple coopala with windows openable with ropes. My question s are how big should coopala be ( same size as my rough sawn wall layout below)?
And how tall should it be with how many windows?

[NhShaun]

What are the dimensions of your sugar shack and evaporator? My sugar shack is 12x16 with 9ft walls and a 2x6 evaporator. I made my cupola about 8ft x 32" and roughly 36" to the peak. I have 2 windows on each side that are about 20" tall X 40" wide, they all fold down with pulleys and ropes to the lower level for easy opening. I originally was just going to make the doors solid, but decided to add glass to let some extra light in when not boiling, it also looks more appealing to the eye from inside and out.

[Hunt4sap]

What are the dimensions of your sugar shack and evaporator? My sugar shack is 12x16 with 9ft walls and a 2x6 evaporator. I made my cupola about 8ft x 32" and roughly 36" to the peak. I have 2 windows on each side that are about 20" tall X 40" wide, they all fold down with pulleys and ropes to the lower level for easy opening. I originally was just going to make the doors solid, but decided to add glass to let some extra light in when not boiling, it also looks more appealing to the eye from inside and out.
Mine is same size...
Can you take some pictures please?

[NhShaun]

Had to look back to 2017 in my photos but found these. 22263222642226522262
I used a single piece of glass on each window frame and added little strips to make it look like a 4 pane. Cheap and quick, didn't have time to make them too fancy but didn't want just one large pane. I also insulated the cupola roof with 1" foam and covered that with 1" Rough sawn pine boards to stop the condensation from dripping back down. I didn't want to cut into my 19ft ridge beam so i left it in place and framed around it which made things easier and more difficult at the same time.

A few things i learned after building it this way:
-The windows love to collect ashes and condensation that drips from the roof that will drip back in when you close them at the end of the night. I would have installed some small drain holes or channels to fix the water issue.
-Put the hinge point more than 4" up like i did or you have to get up and clear the snow to allow them to open enough to let steam out. Not too much a problem with a roof rake but frozen snow is more tricky.
-Make sure you have a safety stop on the ropes or else you can shatter the glass if you lose the line. Perhaps plexi or lexan would have been a safer option.
-Think about adding some sort of spring to push them open, they like to stand straight up even when the line is loosened, i just use a long stick to push them open a bit then gravity does the rest.

[wmick]

not sure if this will help answer your questions... but I did find it quite interesting.... I ran across it a couple years ago when I was doing the same as you...

https://www.uvm.edu/~uvmaple/sugarhousedesign.pdf

PS, I decided to put Clear plastic roofing material on my cupola... Glad I did.. It lets great light in.. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Sunsky-6-ft-SunSky-9-in-Polycarbonate-Roof-Panel-in-Clear-111031/305514952

[BSHC]

Have you considered a steam hood? Easier install IMO into a pre-existing structure.

[Hunt4sap]

Have you considered a steam hood? Easier install IMO into a pre-existing structure. I have looked into them but I like the simplicity of a cupola...

[Hunt4sap]

Had to look back to 2017 in my photos but found these. 22263222642226522262
I used a single piece of glass on each window frame and added little strips to make it look like a 4 pane. Cheap and quick, didn't have time to make them too fancy but didn't want just one large pane. I also insulated the cupola roof with 1" foam and covered that with 1" Rough sawn pine boards to stop the condensation from dripping back down. I didn't want to cut into my 19ft ridge beam so i left it in place and framed around it which made things easier and more difficult at the same time.

A few things i learned after building it this way:
-The windows love to collect ashes and condensation that drips from the roof that will drip back in when you close them at the end of the night. I would have installed some small drain holes or channels to fix the water issue.
-Put the hinge point more than 4" up like i did or you have to get up and clear the snow to allow them to open enough to let steam out. Not too much a problem with a roof rake but frozen snow is more tricky.
-Make sure you have a safety stop on the ropes or else you can shatter the glass if you lose the line. Perhaps plexi or lexan would have been a safer option.
-Think about adding some sort of spring to push them open, they like to stand straight up even when the line is loosened, i just use a long stick to push them open a bit then gravity does the rest.
Ok thanks for your time.
My roof where I will create cupola is on the slope of a 4/12 roof( not in center of gable) my roof on pole building is 26' wide and my s. s. Sits off to one side of roof peak so I'm considering making cupola bigger to account for this( my biggest issue is not that the steam has nowhere to get out it's that alot of condensation happens on metal underside of roof so I'm also tempted to just insulate underside of metal with something to stop the dripping/rain pretty much...
My s.s. is a open.top room sitting under a huge metal roof(50'*26') so no real issue with the steam going up and eventually out just need to stop the dripping everywhere!
I'm leaning more towards insulation of some type( maybe hiring company to spray foam in between trusses but not sure that alone will solve it?) Think i.would need to line it with rough sawn also ?

[NhShaun]

Sounds like you have quite the structure, wish i had that much storage space! From the sounds of it a steam hood may be a much more affordable option to solve this problem. There are added benefits to the hood - like creating free hot water and a pre-heater inside if you wanna dish out the extra cash. Though insulation would still work for you, i think you just need some sort of thermal break to keep the temperature difference from the inside/outside of the metal a little less extreme. I only covered my foam insulation boards with rough sawn boards for aesthetic purposes, though i think it does absorb a little moisture, i plan to seal it this summer to preserve the color. Spray foam might be your easiest option but who knows about the price. If you don't already have a preheater and hot water i would compare pricing with a steam hood versus insulation.

[maple flats]

My sugar house has steel roofing exposed, about a foot between each purlin. I had a cupola right from the start, but until I added a hood it rained in there as soon as the boil got going good. You really will do best if you have both, but if only one, start with a hood.
Since yours is a flat pan you need to see what's happening in it, make a hood about 6" oversized on each side (even the stack side if you can). Make it out of aluminum for price and suspend it about 15-18" above the top of your pan. If you get bigger you can make a new one. In time you may want both the hood and a cupola, in that case make a cupola for an evaporator 2x the square footage as your evaporator. The actual formula is to match the size, if you are now 2' x 4', that's the cupola size, going larger gives you room to grow if and when you decide to get bigger (most do grow).

[Hunt4sap]

Sounds like you have quite the structure, wish i had that much storage space! From the sounds of it a steam hood may be a much more affordable option to solve this problem. There are added benefits to the hood - like creating free hot water and a pre-heater inside if you wanna dish out the extra cash. Though insulation would still work for you, i think you just need some sort of thermal break to keep the temperature difference from the inside/outside of the metal a little less extreme. I only covered my foam insulation boards with rough sawn boards for aesthetic purposes, though i think it does absorb a little moisture, i plan to seal it this summer to preserve the color. Spray foam might be your easiest option but who knows about the price. If you don't already have a preheater and hot water i would compare pricing with a steam hood versus insulation. oh just because my roof is that big doesn't mean I have extra storage space. We have a small hobby farm so it is full most of the year with either hay, tractors or whatever project I'm working on. The sugar shack was built a few years after the roof when I got into doing this, like I need another hobby!