My Father and I are building a new Sugarhouse this year. The current one is too small to handle the larger evaporator and we need to build an insulated RO room. We are moving from a 2x6 Leader WSE to a CDL Deluxe 3X10 oil fired evaporator (See I know how to spell it, my image was not corrected before saving).
We are still in the planning phase and will start dismantling our current buildings as soon as the season is done. We pretty much have the design I posted below in mind. We are looking for suggestions for drains and passing through the truss bays with the smoke stack and through the roof (I just found an old post which talked about stacking metal spaced 1" and also wrapping insulation around the stack with an outer piece added on).
There is going to be a concrete slab in the area where the large sap tank, evaporator room, and RO room down to the "-------" vertical line. The rest of the space in the open area will be gravel to store equipment. The walls are going to be 2x6 and 12' tall. We are planning scissor type trusses over the evaporator until the left (in the picture) side of the RO room. Then we will transition to an attic truss which will go about 22' (whichever truss is a good stopping point) into the shop area. Then we will transition back to a scissor truss to allow for equipment clearance and storage. We are discussing the need to go to a 6" floor vs a 4" floor (maybe 6" under the evaporator area and 4" everywhere else. We are going to insulate under the floor and use concrete footings and wall 4' below grade. We are also exploring drain options and are looking at the heavier plastic long drains on both sides and behind the evaporator. We feel we can get the water from the hood to cool enough before it hits the drain to be an issue. One thing I am keeping in mind here is the disease...expansion. I would like to make sure the drains are in a position so they can work for a larger (4x12 or so) evaporator. We are at 400 taps and moving to 1000-1200 for the time being and will likely be here for awhile. I don't see a larger evaporator at this time, but don't want to set limits. I am thinking the drains should be about 2-3' off either side of the evaporator.
To start we will have a holding tank for water in the RO room with a hot water heater and pressure tank. There is a water pipe buried which I hook to a hose spigot on my house in warmer weather. Otherwise we will haul water to keep the 100 or gallon tank full until we have enough permeate/hot water from the steam hood.
The counter top area will be stainless steel. The stove area is a thought in place of a propane burner to keep sap warm for filtering. The sink drains and water supply will have shut offs or designed so water/drain is in the RO room which will be heated.
We are open to ideas and suggestions. Pictures would be great. Thank you in advance.
Mike
Sugar House.jpg