Wind and Wood

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-PB-

-PB-

New Member
Feb 28, 2010
172
MD via Philly
This may be a stupid question but here goes...
I'm deciding which way to stack my rows of splits. I would like to have the wind blow between the rows, then I started to wonder...
Does the wind direction change with the seasons of the year or is it relatively constant all year round?
I keep thinking of the movie Castaway when Tom Hanks had to wait for the time of year when the wind changed direction to take him off the island.
Just wondering and the posts on Hearth.com have been slowing down.
p.s. stupid comments welcome...
 
Questions aren't dumb, people are. My first couple of years I stacked my wood west to east because it was convenient. Well the wind at my house primarily blows west to east and one side of my pile faced north so it doesn't get much sun. I am now stacking my wood north to south so it gets more sun and it is perpendicular to the wind.
 
For me it will switch based on time of year but will still primarily come from the west/nw.

fv
 
Doesn't matter just don't stack near anything. Wood dries and stays best if out in the open. Not under or near any trees or buildings.
 
agreed... I only have a limited space and want to make the most of it.
Does anyone know if wind direction changes throughout the year or if it generally stays consistent?
 
I believe in emergency planning you take into consideration the primary wind direction, indicating to me that wind in a particular location will tend to blow out of one particular quarter of the compass.
 
For me it's W/NW in the winter, S/SW in the summer. I stack N/S so the west wind blows through the stack, more times than not we have some type of westerly wind mixed into our wind.
 
Thanks Jimbo, that rocks.
 
Like rdust, we stack N/S because our winds are mainly SW in summer and NW in winter. Because we stack N/S, when the wind is SW it will get to the second and third stacks okay and the same for when the wind is NW. But if you stack so the wind just hits the ends, there is not as much air circulation for the rest of the stack. If you are hurting for space, go with wind as your first choice and sun as your second choice. If you can get neither, then allow an extra year for drying.

The main drying months are during the heat of the summer so if you have to base it on the best, go with where the wind blows during the summer months.
 
Given the limited space for storing wood for seasoning on my property, my wood gets stacked north-south. Here the wind may blow south-north (due to local terrain geometry and daily weather patterns), or west-east (due to "normal" wind patterns for the Sierras). Often it's a combination of the two, so while it's predictable, the wind really seems to blow all over the place. Throw a weather vane on your wood stack for a year and keep tabs on it - you'll have a pretty good idea of how the wind blows in that specific location fairly quickly.
 
-PB- said:
This may be a stupid question but here goes...
I'm deciding which way to stack my rows of splits. I would like to have the wind blow between the rows, then I started to wonder...
Does the wind direction change with the seasons of the year or is it relatively constant all year round?
I keep thinking of the movie Castaway when Tom Hanks had to wait for the time of year when the wind changed direction to take him off the island.
Just wondering and the posts on Hearth.com have been slowing down.
p.s. stupid comments welcome...
Click to expand...

Prevailing wind around hear is SW. We get storms and an oddball system which deliver a north wind from time to time. I have no idea what your part of the country is like but I'm sure it's the same.

Also, which direction you orient your stacks relative to wind won't make near the difference you're hoping for.
 
I respectfully disagree with Bigg_Redd. It will make a big difference on how you stack your wood relative to the wind.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
Like rdust, we stack N/S because our winds are mainly SW in summer and NW in winter. Because we stack N/S, when the wind is SW it will get to the second and third stacks okay and the same for when the wind is NW. But if you stack so the wind just hits the ends, there is not as much air circulation for the rest of the stack. If you are hurting for space, go with wind as your first choice and sun as your second choice. If you can get neither, then allow an extra year for drying.

The main drying months are during the heat of the summer so if you have to base it on the best, go with where the wind blows during the summer months.
Click to expand...

So, are you saying to orient your stacks so that the wind hits them diagonally?
w
w s
w s
w s
s
w is wind, s is stack
 
You can if you like but if you just stick with N/S or E/W Mother Nature will take care of the rest of it for you because the wind is constantly changing.
 
I would think that you should orient your stacks so that the prevailing wind hits the ends of the rounds, therefore, flowing in, around, and through the full lengths of each split. Having the wind his the split broadside would probably do great for the windward side of the stack but not so much for the leeward.

(Splits aligned E/W for Westerly Winds)
Assume that each row of Ss represents a split in the stack.


(wind) sssssssssssssssss
------------>>> sssssssssssssssss
sssssssssssssssss


NOT
(Splits aligned N/S for Westerly Winds)
Assume that each Column of Ss represents a split in the stack.

s s s
(wind) s s s
------------->>> s s s
s s s
s s s
s s s
 
stack your splits in a spiral using the golden ratio and you'll have all the bases covered. leave 8" or so between the lines. if you do this, take a picture and post it, man, that would look super cool.
 
Kenster, that is what we've been saying all along. However, the wind never blows from a straight on direction. That is why we stack N/S so that the sw, w and nw winds hit the sides of the stack, or as you put it, the ends of the rounds; just another way of stating the same thing.
 
We'll leave that one to you Delta!
 
Backwoods Savage said:
Kenster, that is what we've been saying all along. However, the wind never blows from a straight on direction. That is why we stack N/S so that the sw, w and nw winds hit the sides of the stack, or as you put it, the ends of the rounds; just another way of stating the same thing.
Click to expand...

Okay, I'm glad I am understanding it correctly. Our winds range from South to West to North. Rarely, but occasionally out of the East. From the North only when a front is coming down from that way. I disregard the Easterly winds because my stacks are totally blocked by our thick woods to the East. Our hottest, driest and prevalent winds are out of the South through West. Mostly SW. And that is pretty much the way I have my split ends pointed.
 
I agree Ken. Typically when we have an East wind (includes SE or Ne too) that means we will get snow or rain. South wind also typically brings rain. But of course, we all know Mother Nature can throw a curve ball at any time and out the door goes the theories.
 
very interesting... thanks for the replies. Every little bit helps.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
I respectfully disagree with Bigg_Redd. It will make a big difference on how you stack your wood relative to the wind.
Click to expand...

I'll bite. What would a "big difference" be in drying time? 1 extra month? 6 months? 1 year?
 
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