Stacking Question

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

thewoodlands

Minister of Fire
Aug 25, 2009
16,669
In The Woods
This is last years stacks on the south side of the house, the stacks are running east to west would they be better off running north to south?

Starting the hauling out of the woods today.

zap
 

Attachments

  • 100_0152.jpg
    100_0152.jpg
    56.5 KB · Views: 639
Zap I ran mine north and south so the winds would go through the middle of the rowes...are winds are mosthly south by south west
 
Given the house orientation, I think they are fine the way they are. Can you move the house?
 
LLigetfa said:
Given the house orientation, I think they are fine the way they are. Can you move the house?

Too easy change the house and the stacks with a new super dome over top with a wood fired Klein...
 
I think you are good as our wind generally has a strong westerly component.
 
SolarAndWood said:
I think you are good as our wind generally has a strong westerly component.


And with that west wind, the stacks should be running north-south for best results! You want the wind hitting the side of the pile, not the end.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
SolarAndWood said:
I think you are good as our wind generally has a strong westerly component.


And with that west wind, the stacks should be running north-south for best results! You want the wind hitting the side of the pile, not the end.
Huh? That would only hit the pile on the outside. Let the wind blow between the rows.
 
Won't do much blowing between the rows at all. Better to have the air flowing through the stack (hitting the ends of the logs).
 
I got mine north and south the wind blowing between the row's hitting all the ends of the splits, not just the very end row.
 
Where it is looks perfect to me.

I stack mine where it fits.
Any wind will move thru the stacks if not real tight & close whatever direction the wind comes from.

Change the stack location & direction because the wind changed direction, :bug:
you'd be back to another source for heat in no time with all that work.

If you want the sun to hit both sides, go N/S, 6 to 8 feet apart.

If wind is the concern, put it on a turn-style so you can rotate it.

Come on guys. I know we're trying to maximize efficiency, but stacking your wood for wind direction where I live
would be "make work". The wind comes from all directions thru the course of a year.

Zap, Ask your wife where she wants it or where it fits & looks the best for you. You'll be much better off than asking us. :)
 
Backwoods Savage said:
SolarAndWood said:
I think you are good as our wind generally has a strong westerly component.


And with that west wind, the stacks should be running north-south for best results! You want the wind hitting the side of the pile, not the end.

Thanks everyone, I'm thinking north - south with the wind hitting the face of the stacks. The stacks under the pines that I put up a picture of before running north/south dried better over the winter then the stacks that had been up longer but are running east-west.

zap
 
Ah, Yes grasshopper .Feng Shui is the path to true Wa .
 
Stack it like a giant corn maze and have some fun with it.
 
It's cut. It's split. It's stacked. The end.

I don't worry about which direction it's stacked. Heck, my stacks are barely stacks at all compared to the neat pictures I see here! I never have any problems with it being ready to burn in 3 years. If I stacked with the wind or against the wind or whatever, would it be ready to burn sooner? I'll never know; don't have a need to know. Get far enough ahead with your supply and you won't need to worry about it either.
 
quads said:
It's cut. It's split. It's stacked. The end.

I don't worry about which direction it's stacked. Heck, my stacks are barely stacks at all compared to the neat pictures I see here! I never have any problems with it being ready to burn in 3 years. If I stacked with the wind or against the wind or whatever, would it be ready to burn sooner? I'll never know; don't have a need to know. Get far enough ahead with your supply and you won't need to worry about it either.

lol well said, hard to do!
 
quads said:
It's cut. It's split. It's stacked. The end.

I don't worry about which direction it's stacked. Heck, my stacks are barely stacks at all compared to the neat pictures I see here! I never have any problems with it being ready to burn in 3 years. If I stacked with the wind or against the wind or whatever, would it be ready to burn sooner? I'll never know; don't have a need to know. Get far enough ahead with your supply and you won't need to worry about it either.

I couldnt agree with you more . I am still trying to get wood stacked I cut and split 3 and 4 years back that is thrown on a pile in the middle of my back yard . I have wood inside from before my devorice in 2003 . Just sold off 8 cords of red oak that was in my pole shed since 2004 I have at least 12 cord piled out side east and west and north and south from 2 years back . You know what I have a lot of wood cut and split , once it is cut and split on a stack the biggest thing your wood needs for drying is TIME !
 
zapny said:
This is last years stacks on the south side of the house, the stacks are running east to west would they be better off running north to south?

Starting the hauling out of the woods today.

zap

I wouldn't worry so much about the east-west, north-south thing as i would to get that wood off the ground some!
 
Could you stack it the other way and take another picture? Then we can compare the 2 pictures and figure out which will be best. You get started on that, well I grab another cold refreshment and wait, PM me as soon as you have the picture posted. :)
 
yanksforever said:
I wouldn't worry so much about the east-west, north-south thing as i would to get that wood off the ground some!

Yep, get some skinny pallets and restack. (Just kidding) But pallets would be good for next time. Some of the rounds on the bottom layer will get a little funky, but will still burn if dried out first.

I like N-S stacking since the winds here are often W and NW. Let it hit the ends.
 
Hey fellas, the original question was this: "This is last years stacks on the south side of the house, the stacks are running east to west would they be better off running north to south?"

In answer to that question, it is best running north-south. Will wood dry okay another direction? Yes! He asked what is best and that is how it should be answered.

As for our stacks, if I were stacking and burning like quads, I would do it exactly the same....but I don't. I do not split wood in the woods. I cut in winter, split in spring and stack it then. Many moons ago I did not have quite so big of a wood pile so stacked for maximum drying, which is north-south in our area. (Actually SW in summer and NW in winter is the primary wind direction here.) Now I could stack anyplace and in any direction and now worry a bit as long as the wood did not set in water. But by habit, I still stack NS. If I change direction, it is SE to NW.
 
Dennis, you only stack your wood three rows deep, tight together so air that goes in one side will come out the other. Wood stacked more than 3 rows deep with spaces in between won't move air through the entire stack the same way.
 
What I am saying is to stack only one row deep if wanting maximum drying. I stack 3 rows or more but don't have to burn that wood right away either. I've had some wood stacks over 20 rows deep with no space between and it dried fine, but again, I don't have to use that wood for a few years.
 
Well... if we're talking one long row, I suspect his lot is not deep enough. There are two components to drying wood, heat and wind. The heat lowers the RH and the wind carries the moisture away. One long stack running E/W parallel and near to the house would probably work well too. The house would capture and reflect the heat and channel the wind as well.
 
Is this a joke?

Which way to face stacks?

Wind will go thru two rows different than three?

You guys all brain surgeons or what?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.