What faces where

I am planning on building a 10 by 22 greenhouse this spring. Do I put the 10' end facing due north or one of the 22' sides? I live in zone 5 just south of Binghamton NY and only get from 40 to 67 % sun throughout the year due to cloud cover so I am not overly concerned about overheating since I am putting fans in the gables at each end. My concern is the how to maximize the location for winter heating.

I would imagine you'd want the longer sides facing North and South since the suns path dips lower to the South in the winter. That way the most light would enter the largest portion of the greenhouse.
Barb

I kind of thought that but wasn't sure, with the long side facing south would I still put the door on the short side?

I like having my doors on the ends. That way I can get a great breeze going thru the whole GH in the warmer months.
Barb

Barb,
I'm about an hour north of you and a little more inland, do you have your long sides facing North and South as well? I have plenty of room in my yard to do it either way just looking for a local recommendation. The wind tends to come from the southwest for me so it would make breezes easier in the summer if I faced the long sides North and South. Hope that made sense.

Thanks,
Mike

p.s. withad, I'm not trying to hijack your thread but this is a question I've had myself for a while. Thanks for posting it!

It does make sense Mike and yes, that is basically how mine is situated. I really like being able to take advantage of the summer breezes.
Barb

not a problem mike, we're all in this together.

Found this about planting crop rows. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/ask/garden_design.html

I would also check on your winter wind direction, I'm no expert but if you get strong cold winds, I would put the short end of the greenhouse into the wind, maybe would keep the greenhouse warmer? Just guessing.

OK, I looked up location in my Ball Redbook Volume 1: Greenhouses and Equipment:

Quote:
Location and orientation of the greenhouse in terms of gutter direction become critical when the greenhouse is located above the 30th parallel (around Columbus, OH) Greenhouse constructed south of this mark are generally surrounded with an abundance of natural light, making house orientation less critical than those placed above this mark. However, preferred orientation is with gutters running east/west. Greenhouses north of the 39th parallel have lower availability of natural light, resulting in increased vitality of greenhouse placement. These greenhouses should be erected with gutters running north/south. This orientation results in the shade created from the gutter line moving throughout the day, therefore not creating a constant dark area, resulting in a nonuniform crop.

Great question! And the victory link was helpful, too.

Living in zone 6, I have always read that my rows should north to south. So I was really confused after reading E. Coleman's books. He is in Maine, zone 5, and he runs his greenhouses east to west. And that is a great idea even for me bordering zone 7 with a greenhouse. However, I do think my summer rows get more even sun if they run north to south

Well.... mine runs SE to NW, so I got it all covered!

PC, yes you do! LOL! Got a question for you....are you as confused about what zone you are in, as I am? I keep seeing the new zone map which was updated in the last couple of years, I think. It says I'm now in zone 7. I'm still planning on gardening on the zone 6 schedule, for this coming year anyway.

Gosh, no, I hadn't seen the new zone map. I've always heard that we bordered on zone 7 anyway, but like you, I garden for 6. Our weather is just too capricious to my liking and I hate losing plants. Especially with my sticky, clay soil - if it's a little cooler, wetter or both, much is doomed.

http://www.arborday.org/media/zones.cfm There's also a link on the left side "find your zone" where you can get the zone for your zipcode. It says I'm zone 6-7 and I'm a couple of hours north of you, I think.

I've just finished reading all three of Elliot Coleman's books and he sure pushes the limits with his gardening!

Wow! That zone map is almost right! My location has always shown us to be in zone 7. Wrong! Now it's better - zone 8. I am in a bit of a microclimate, so am actually a bit warmer than zone 8.
Barb

Interesting... oh - uh, yeah, zones - I got lost in the trees!

Barbie, are you actually on the beach or is that wishful thinking?

I live 2 blocks back. Wouldn't want to live any closer. Insurance is cheaper, and there's less storm damage and tourist traffic in the summer.
That's right I have to walk an entire TWO BLOCKS to lay out and drink my Coronas!

Poor thing, lol!

I gotta ask - do you have a pink dune buggy, too?

Sounds like you have a perfect set-up. I'd be hunting tourists if I lived in an area like that.

I wish I had a pink dune buggy. I really want a pink or purple solar powered gold cart.
I DO have a 1974 Series III Land Rover, right hand drive. So that's kinda "Barbie-ish"!
Although the Jeep Wrangler I used to own, that my DH got for me for Valentine's Day, was even more "Barbie". Here's a pic, with our dog Chester driving...
Barb

Go, Chester, go! That's great.

Okay, now that I've completely high-jacked this thread..... hope you got the info you needed, withad!

WEEELLLLL, at this point I guess I am still leaning on putting the long side facing north and south. I hope with getting the sun ( what we get of it here ) on the 22 foot side all day it will help with the anticipated heating cost. Plus if I line the north facing side with 55 gallon black drums I might be able to pick up enough heat transfer at night to limit some external heating. If that makes any sense. Don't worry about hijacking the thread, always wanted a dune buggy myself, well maybe not a pink or purple one, we did live in San Diego for two years but we MISSED the snow and cold weather( did I actually say that ) and moved back up here to the boonies of upstate Penna. Wind chill -5, 6" snow on the cold frame and I am talking about building a greenhouse. Age does strange things to your mind.

withad - That sounds good - I've used bottled painted black with water to help retain heat and it does help.

Only 6" od snow??? Pish! I grew up near Saratoga, NY, so I know the kind of weather you have.
We almost got to freezing last night, for the second night in a ROW! We had to turn the heat on...that's right HEAT! Crazy.;) actually, I just checked weather.com. Looks like we got down to 31F last night. Thanks goodness for a greenhouse.
Barb

withad,
The advantage gained by 55 gal drums comes with the phase change of the water inside. That is to say,if you are keeping the GH at 55F, you won't get much advantage. The heat released from the drums comes at 32F when the water inside freezes. If you want your GH warmer than that, you might reconsider the drums. I can give you more detail about the cycle of heat gain/loss in the GH if you want.

Sorry if I missed this...you have fans on each end? Are they oriented in opposite directions (ie, one blowing in, one blowing out)?

My 2 cents, I said it elsewhere...for the most part the only important part about orienting the GH is that your exhaust system not work against the prevailing winds. Otherwise, it is not that important, at least in most parts of this country.

This message was edited Dec 16, 2009 8:36 PM

Good to know - I am thinking about putting up another house and it's nearly impossible to put up in the same direction as the current one - not that I'm at all certain that it is "right".

Yeah, IMHO, if it is basically in the sun, then exhaust system/wind direction and aesthetics are just about all that really matter.

When situated my greenhouse, I positioned the door on the opposing end of the prevailing winter wind. The wind blows from the north in the winter, so my greenhouse is north to south.

I don't think there is a wrong way to place it as long as you maximize the sun exposure.

After I built my greenhouse I started to pay attention to all the professional growers around be. To my surprise they all were north to south. The wind must be the deciding factor on placement.

And I imagine even that is highly variable - here, on top of a hill, it is a force to be reckoned with.

And in the summer our breezes come from the Southeast, so the door to the south and a window on the southeast corner of the GH is great.
We're all just SO smart!
Barb

Wow, I hadn't seen that new zone map. It says that most of MI, where I am from, is z 6 now! Pretty exciting. We were a lot of 5 before.

Yup, Barbie is going to move to Michigan to play in the warm dunes of Northern Lake Michigan, lol...

I'm afraid I'm not quite so excited about it, but I'm not going to start a discussion about *that*.

(I'm originally from there as well.)

I grew up in Upstate NY, near Albany. the only way i'd go back is to visit and then it'll be in the summer!