Anybody know what the rule of thumb is about which compass direction to site a run in shed? I lost the only mature tree in that field and I need it more for sun protectection since I’ve got a pretty good wind break for winds out of the West and North West. It’ll problably be used more by the cows, since the horses come in out of the heat.
Probably depends on your area? I know in my neck of the woods (North Dakota) I am going to face the opening of the run-in shed to the SOUTH in order for it to also serve protection from the cold winter winds from the north.
I may also slant it facing SE, because that may also provide a bit of shelter from the summer storms which usually come from the west.
So take into account the different weather you have in each season in your area.
Agree with beau - depends on your area. Face away from storm winds. So if you winds come from the south, face your shelters north. If you are just concerned with shade, afternoon sun is the hottest, face it north/east.
On my farm the southeast winds are the worst!! You face it that way you are going to find it in the next pasture:eek:
I’m in KY. Mine opens east, though north would also work in my location. It keeps out most of the rain and provides afternoon shade. It’s rare to have a storm from either the east or north- but when it happens they’re usually bad!
I’m in northern Illinois and the wind/storms always come from the north (snow and fall rain) or the west (spring/summer rain). Very rarely does wind come from the east, and if it comes from the south, it’s a hot wind.
South ~ located in the Midwest ~
Again, depends on the direction your weather comes from. Back to the wind, front to the sun if possible. If you are somewhere where it rains and it works for your weather pattern, I’d have it open facing south for maximum sun (drying the mud) exposure.
I would have preferred East here in the PNW, but it wouldn’t fit our layout that direction so faced it North. Our prevailing winds come from the SW. Very, very infrequently (maybe 3-4x per year) we’ll get a bad cold storm from the N that invades the shelter. They still huddle in there, but I bust out the blankets for those storms. The downside is the area in front of the run-in is the last to dry out.
I swear at our house, the wind comes from a different direction every other storm. We make sure at least one of the three walls faces the prevailing direction, but otherwise just orient the shed in the way that makes the most sense for the space and the fencelines. – we try to have the run in sheds built into the fenceline so that a non-horsey friend/neighbor can feed and see the horses, without having to go into the paddocks with them. It also saves a few minutes of time every feeding not having to open the pasture gate and try to walk through with grain/hay while being molested… and 3 mins per feeding adds up over 2x/day, 365/yr
I agree with what everyone is saying here. Depends on where your worst weather comes from.
For us in Ontario, 90% of the bad weather comes from the north west, so my opening is facing south east. Looking out my window now at the snow coming down and its coming from the north west. Sigh, will spring ever come!!!
What everyone says about what direction the weather comes from.
I’m in north Alabama and mine all face the East. Sun is hottest from the west and most of our weather comes from the south west (traveling in a north east direction.
Ours is in the lee of the house, the shedrow aka overgrown run in that is, on it’s East side, and faces due South for solar gain in the winter. We are in KY and most of our storms move in a northeasterly direction so they pretty much hit the house first. We get some interesting drifts around it, and some of the snow sifted into it through gaps, but nothing blew into it. Keeping the wind out of them sure makes them nicer.
[QUOTE=ElementFarm;8617742]
I swear at our house, the wind comes from a different direction every other storm. [/QUOTE]
I no longer live near your home, but actually there are distinct storm patterns for SP:
T-storms and winter storms from from the south or the west
Hurricanes come from the east/south east
Open side of the shelter should face north. This also provides more shade.
Mine faces south, which works out really well since the majority of weather comes from the N and W. If I had to do it over, I might put a slight SE angle to it for the rare occasions when we get a southerly wind.
mississippi gulf coast here. Mine opens to So for cool breezes, shades e and west sun. Most of our storms come from La, so straight west comes cold winds and rain. Summer shade and any breeze is much more important (frequency), so barn aisle is No-So/ Cold wind blew thru this winter from No., but hopefully will catch summer So breezes.
[QUOTE=Pocket Pony;8617633]
Again, depends on the direction your weather comes from. Back to the wind, front to the sun if possible. If you are somewhere where it rains and it works for your weather pattern, I’d have it open facing south for maximum sun (drying the mud) exposure.[/QUOTE]
This.
Back to the wind, open to the rising sun (due east) at my farm. Warm in the a.m., cooler in the pm.
And, if any other direction, it would fill up with snow in the winter because of my prevailing wind.
Here, because of blizzards, most are oriented to the South.
Some like them East too, but West or North would not work here.
If you put the shed where your critters can use all sides, many times if they are facing South and the winds are from the SW, as they are here, they still can get behind the shed, on the opposite side and be protected.
Some sheds here only have the North and West side, we rarely get any moisture or weather from the East.
The prevailing winds in the U.S. are west to east. So you could point the opening east and be right most of the time.
Cold fronts generally travel northwest to southeast. The prevailing winds along the front are parallel to the front, usually blowing southwest to northeast. Behind the front they are northwest to southeast. So if you pointed the opening slightly north of east you would also be OK under most conditions.
But, all of this depends on local terrain, where mountains, woods, and other surface features can disrupt the general flow pattern. It’s also possible that areas like the Pacific Coast and the Southeast there can be anomalies as on the Pacific Coast the land, itself, can cause flow disruptions as the front goes “feet dry.” In the Southeast you see warm fronts that can, and do, move from the south and southeast to north and northwest, bring rain on the east wind. Most warm fronts in the Southeast do not bring severe weather but the rains can be problematical as they are potentially soaking for several days.
If your ground is properly prepared (i.e., you’ve got a drainage plan) then you’ll likely be able to handle the occasional wetting of the shelter.
Unless you put the run in on a rotating “turn table” that can move IAW the actual prevailing wind you’re going to have about a 90% solution most of the time. For a run in shed I’d say that’s pretty good.
G.
Mine was here when I bought the farm and faces west, so it gets hot in the PM sun. I had to put windows in it. I should probably move it, but I like that I can see the horses in it from my back window.
