Designing a House for Best Sun in Texas

The most beautiful abode with sub-optimal orientation affects comfort, lifestyle, and tin exist costly.

The direction your abode faces matters for natural lighting – too much of it on the wrong side of the firm can exist detrimental.

Even so, selecting the all-time key direction for a property is a compromise whether you are buying or building new.

Should your house face the northward, south, east, or west?

What are the benefits and drawbacks of each?

How Practice Architects Factor In the Central Direction?

Architectural design for homes covers many aspects, such as layout configuration, room utilize, material option, color, aesthetics, and in some cases, interior design and piece of furniture.

Architects blueprint to maximize natural lighting where desirable, and they orientate against the Due north management as the starting bespeak.

Sunlight never runs out, just it can heighten or undermine a living space, depending on the design strategy – or a lack of information technology.

Compromise is a necessary balancing act; not all spaces in a list of priorities get to savor the best natural conditions.

Building designers adopt architectural solutions to help the rooms in less-than-ideal positions to achieve the optimal condition for apply.

Houses in the Northern Hemisphere (US, U.k.)

There is approximately an 88% take a chance your house is located in the northern hemisphere if the earth population spread is any indication of housing demand.

The sunday rises in the east and sets in the westward no thing where on the planet you are, but its relative position forth the dominicus's path is different.

In the northern hemisphere, this path generally falls in the southern section of the sky.

Information technology has a considerable impact on your business firm's ability to retain or avoid solar rut.

North-Facing Homes

North-facing is the about effective placement for warding off brutal heat from the summer sun.

These homes are pop in Arizona, Texas, the American south, Mexico, Central America, and the Hindu civilization, where the Vastu Shastra favors this direction for religious reasons.

Pros of Due north-Facing

• Favorable for the warmer regions in the northern hemisphere – it is the opposite in the southern hemisphere (Australia and New Zealand).
• Lowers electricity bills past reducing energy demands for cooling the home during summer – for the master bedroom and living room at the forepart of the house.
• The front porch and driveway volition non capture excessive heat.
• North, northeast, and northwest-facing homes benefit from clothes-drying in the backyard.

Cons of Due north-Facing

• A poor selection in colder climates in the northern hemisphere.
• Natural lighting is less at the front of the business firm than at the dorsum.
• Higher free energy consumption due to increased heater operation during wintertime – more south-facing windows tin outset this drawback.

S-Facing Homes

The north and south are opposites, so it is natural that the advantages and disadvantages at present work in reverse.

This orientation allows the house to absorb sunlight throughout the twenty-four hour period just enables natural lighting to play a useful role in the home's overall mood – flavour-dependent.

Pros of Southward-Facing

• Favorable for the colder regions in the northern hemisphere (especially in wintertime) – it is the opposite for countries in the southern hemisphere like Commonwealth of australia.
• Efficient at arresting solar heat – reduced cardinal heating's energy consumption during wintertime.
• Captures more natural lite in the southward part of the house – reduces lighting expenses and uplifts the mood of the house interior.
• The driveway requires less snowfall-shoveling – cheers to an abundance of direct sunlight.

Cons of S-Facing

• The sun bites during summer – potentially turn the indoors into an oven, especially when you lot have large areas of south-facing windows.
• The energy inefficiency during summer offsets the savings fabricated in wintertime – houses in the warmer regions volition possibly experience a net loss in the energy pale.
• South-e and south-westward facing homes suffer near as much.
• Less front end-facing (pregnant south-facing) windows and installing dominicus-screening devices on them can help reduce solar heat gain in the summertime – architectural installations tin can exist costly.

Due east-Facing Homes

North- and southward-facing houses tend to exist the best at maximizing energy efficiency in particular climates. A habitation that faces the east or west tin be excellent for lifestyle purposes.

A home's cardinal direction can accept a larger-than-expected touch on its occupants' wellbeing.

What are the considerations for eastward-facing residential backdrop?

Pros of East-Facing

• Optimal for morning people – the position towards sunrise means that sunlight begins to fill the home at the cleft of dawn.
• Provides shade in the backyard in the summertime mornings, and the gentle, warm glow of sunset makes an first-class time for an evening outdoor – perfect for backyard barbeques.
• The second-best placement for capturing solar heat during winter – south-facing remains the all-time in this respect.

Cons of East-Facing

• Subpar free energy efficiency – when compared to houses facing the north or south.
• Sunlight glare through the front windows – may exist undesirable for people who operate on a after schedule.
• Hot front yard – the lord's day in the late morning hours tin be punishing on a clement day.

Westward-Facing Homes

Opening the door to stare at the sun in the face is a dividing aspect of homes facing the due east or due west, but the evening sunlight is generally warmer and less harsh.

Pros of Due west-Facing

• Enjoys the best natural illumination during the later hours of the day – perfect for spending the evening with family unit and friends in the front yard watching the sunset.
• Keeps the firm dark throughout the morning – ideal for those who sleep in.
• Benefits clothes-drying in the backyard during the morning hours – if merely you lot wash and line-dry out early on in the twenty-four hour period.

Cons of West-Facing

• Does not excel in energy efficiency during any flavor or in any climate – a prevalent result of longitudinal houses.
• Deprived of natural lite – the indoors is generally dark outside of select evening hours.

Houses in the Southern Hemisphere (AUS, NZ)

The cardinal tenants of facing a house remain the same in the southern hemisphere as they exercise in the northern half, with one significant and notable exception: the path of the sunday.

South of the equator, the sun volition more frequently inhabit the northern function of the heaven than the south.

The benefits and drawbacks for eastward- and west-facing houses mostly remain, but the sunday's effects on lighting and free energy efficiency for northward- and south-facing homes are the polar opposites.

North-Facing Homes

Of all possible orientations in the southern hemisphere, a firm that faces the north will sponge up the most sunlight.

These homes excel at keeping heating costs down in frigid places like Patagonia, southern Australia, and New Zealand

Pros of Due north-Facing (Southern Hemisphere)

• Excellent energy-efficiency – homes that run heaters more than frequently than the air-conditioning do good.
• Enjoys natural lighting in the winter – when the weather gets cold, the value of sunlight appreciates.

Cons of Northward-Facing (Southern Hemisphere)

• Excess natural lighting – can be undesirable, depending on the amount of north-facing window openings.
• The lawn receives minimal direct sunlight – an advantage or disadvantage depending on the activeness.

South-Facing Homes

Suppose y'all are building a house in Brazil, northern Australia, or southern Africa. Facing the belongings southward volition provide optimal free energy efficiency as the windows' sun exposure is less.

Pros of South-Facing (Southern Hemisphere)

• King of energy efficiency in hot regions.
• Cooling systems consume less power.
• Shadow over the forepart chiliad – going outside to get the mail or socialize with neighbors is a less oppressive endeavor.

Cons of South-Facing (Southern Hemisphere)

• Poor natural lighting – depending on artificial sources increases the free energy bill.
• May be less efficient in utilizing passive solar energy – y'all can face the solar panels northward to better efficiency.

Pros and Cons of a Park-Facing Business firm

Not many homeowners accept the luxury of living in a house that faces a park, but renters can choose and enjoy the benefits.

The presence of a park does come up with its set of drawbacks, depending on the park's use.

Pros of Park-Facing

The advantages outweigh the disadvantages:

• Higher resale value – a pleasant park in a safe neighborhood increases the property'southward value.
• Quieter – if no loftier-traffic street divides the firm and the park.
• The view – Greenery softens the typically hard urban mural. Apartments on higher floors enjoy a unique vantage betoken that offers a panoramic view of the area.
• Greater privacy – a park with densely planted copse in front of the property affords more privacy than some other high-rise edifice beyond the street.

Cons of Park-Facing

A park may have opposite effects:

• Noise – sporting and festive events are noisy when you lot desire to enjoy some quiet during the weekend.
• Pest problems – an unkempt park brings many insects and the occasional wildlife.
• Unintended flying objects – a friendly game of soccer or golf may spit a ball in your holding'south direction.

Consequences of Poor Pick

You can move to another belongings if you rent, just if you purchase or build your own domicile, you confront costly renovation or remodeling or learn to live with its shortcomings.

The repercussion of an undesirable house orientation covers the short and long term.

In the brusque term, you:

• Pay more than for electricity – cooling and heating make up the most meaning portion of a house'due south free energy consumption. The bill increases when you have to deal with extreme weather in the summer and winter months.
• Use parts of the firm less – without appropriate handling, a sweltering room or an unbearably cold one is an undesirable infinite.
• Make lifestyle compromises – a patio suffers from extreme heat when exposed to the harsh summer sun. Clothes stay damp for longer when you line dry in a chiliad that misses the best hours of sun exposure.
• Spend more on appliances – some regions suffer extreme temperatures in summer and winter. Equally you struggle to find workable solutions to counter the weather effects on your favorite room, yous may have to classify more than budget as you lot experiment to meet those needs.

In the long run, your belongings will:

• Lose value – the excitement of moving into a new (and empty) firm can mask the shortcomings of a property for first-time homebuyers, but the flaws of a lived-in 1 become more than apparent for 2nd-mitt purchasers.
• Need repainting – you want your property to look its best on the facade that visitors and prospects run into first, but the sun's harmful UV rays can still damage weatherproof paints over time.

How to Decide Wisely?

A house is the biggest investment for many and deserves careful consideration with the proper knowledge to plough the dream home into a reality.

There are mistakes you lot can avoid when hunting for the correct belongings.

You can avoid mistakes while hunting for the right house (new or pre-endemic) in the platonic central direction when you:

• Visit the property at the right time – the late evening subsequently piece of work is more user-friendly, but visiting between 2-3 pm or 10-11 am lets yous observe the worst conditions in activity.
• Double-cheque the dominicus's position confronting a compass – the sun's direction is your master concern. Orientate yourself confronting the sun and time of the day before y'all explore the indoor infinite.
• Ascertain where North is – practice not rely on the printed floor plan alone. Architectural plans indicate the Northward direction, but drafting technicians can make mistakes, and your real estate agent could bring the wrong drawing for another business firm with a similar layout.
• Decide if your important rooms are in the optimal locations – the master chamber and living room are typically the virtually crucial to become right in relation to ambient temperature. They should occupy the ideal positions in the house.
• Check your favorite outdoor spots – the patio and yard should superlative the listing; cheque your comfort level.
• Request for the glass window specifications – double-glazed windows contain an air gap that insulates and dramatically reduces heat gain and rut loss. Low-E glass (lower U-value; typically below 0.25) helps to cut down UV rays.
• The % of opening rule – you desire more window areas on the sides where you desire the sunday; less where you desire to close it out.
• Take notes, review, and render some other day – time to review and reconsider is valuable to ensure you cover all the bases before deciding.

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Source: https://architecttwocents.com/pros-and-cons-of-north-south-east-west-facing-house/

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