What direction?

We are planning on building a shed. Based on our covenants it can't be any larger than 24 feet by 24 feet. I want to have a greenhouse on one side of the shed. If I use a lean-to...what direction would be best for the main exposure to face? North, south, east or west. Here is a site with one possible model

http://www.backroadhomes.com/noff/tcconcord.html

and another.

http://www.backroadhomes.com/noff/tcdublin.html

Also what size. Would say 8 x 10 be big enough for a hobby greenhouse. Also any other designs that could be attached to a shed would be appreciated.

Thanks for any information you can provide.

Deb

The rule of thumb is that the glazing of the greenhouse should face due south (true south, not magnetic.) Turning it a few degrees, 10 to 15 degrees east is sometimes recommended in very cold areas where the early morning light is especially critical for fast warming on a winter morning.

I'm building a freestanding 9x13 solar heated greenhouse which will give me room for all the flats I will need in the spring but I don't imagine it will give me a whole lot of space for year-round growing, tables for transplanting or lounging areas.

Wayne

No greenhouse is large enough. Jessamine

The optimal size of a greenhouse to start with is about 2X your house floor space. If you don't think so, come back and re-read this thread after you have had your g-house up a while. So far as orientation, the farther north you are, the more east-west the long walls should be. The opposite should be true where the sun is higher in the sky and heating is not as big an issue. In other words, people in Miami should orient their greenhouses north south, and people in Labrador should have their's built on east-west axis. If light is an issue (shading from buildings, trees, etc.), then I would opt for optimal light. East-west gives about 25% more light than n/s, so if growing tall plants (say tomatoes), e/w is preferable.

Here's one site that has charts etc. if you want to get real technical. Some of this info may conflict with what I wrote, I would trust the U Oregon site rather than me. The Oregon link is under the orientation section.
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/solar-gh.html