Actually slightly east of south was to take advantage of the sun in winter, but I've never understood how, exactly.
To elaborate on what SL mentions, the Woods house is essentially an elaborately devised and constructed run.....covered with a roof and enclosed on three sides. It can be opened up or closed off as needed and houses all the furniture a house needs......roosts, nests, etc, but more or less functions as an enclosed run. An abundance of fresh air and sunshine. Birds are happier and healthier for it.
The well ventilated and draft free comes from the width to depth ratio......essentially a rectangle with narrow end open and facing south. Air movement in the back dies out to almost nothing towards the back half of the structure. What Woods referred to as an "air cushion". I see the same thing in an open ended attached shed on my horse barn. It is 12' wide and 36' deep, but the 12' end is wide open. Step inside that only a few feet and the air goes dead calm inside regardless of what the wind is doing. It can be blowing like stink from any direction and you don't feel it once you move only a few feet back from the opening. By comparison, there is another open shed on the other side......it too is 12' wide and 36' deep and it is open down the 36' side. The wind and breeze never die down on that side as air is always moving regardless of wind direction.
The surest way to defeat the air cushion is to give it a place to go. Open a side window, open a top window, open a door and the air inside the house will start to dance. Close it all up except the open end and it all goes calm. So open in summer and closed in winter.
To elaborate on what SL mentions, the Woods house is essentially an elaborately devised and constructed run.....covered with a roof and enclosed on three sides. It can be opened up or closed off as needed and houses all the furniture a house needs......roosts, nests, etc, but more or less functions as an enclosed run. An abundance of fresh air and sunshine. Birds are happier and healthier for it.
The well ventilated and draft free comes from the width to depth ratio......essentially a rectangle with narrow end open and facing south. Air movement in the back dies out to almost nothing towards the back half of the structure. What Woods referred to as an "air cushion". I see the same thing in an open ended attached shed on my horse barn. It is 12' wide and 36' deep, but the 12' end is wide open. Step inside that only a few feet and the air goes dead calm inside regardless of what the wind is doing. It can be blowing like stink from any direction and you don't feel it once you move only a few feet back from the opening. By comparison, there is another open shed on the other side......it too is 12' wide and 36' deep and it is open down the 36' side. The wind and breeze never die down on that side as air is always moving regardless of wind direction.
The surest way to defeat the air cushion is to give it a place to go. Open a side window, open a top window, open a door and the air inside the house will start to dance. Close it all up except the open end and it all goes calm. So open in summer and closed in winter.
