One of the homes we have looked at seems to have a good orientation ( according to what little knowledge I have).

Bedroom's are southeast, main bedroom mostly south facing. Dining area is north west (with a pagola growing grapes coming off that side) and main living area is west. What are others peoples thoughts? Particularly from Perth? What is a good orientation for Perth?

I know buying an established home in an older area we are probably not going to get "perfect" but we'd still like to minimise our heating costs...I'm a wuss when it comes to Perth winters.

Full south aspect is very cold in winter, pleasant in summer. If you are on the coast, the refreshing summer SW Fremantle Doctor becomes the "Freeze Breeze" All the winter squalls and storms romp in from the NW.

If your bedroom is mostly south you will need aircon or heating in winter for sure which we have, or just buy a feather doona or two!!

If you are inland where there is no sea breeze, the hot summer easterly becomes a cold easterly in winter. Main living area being west means that it will be pleasant in winter and very hot in late summer afternoons. Sometimes the maximum temperature is only reached well after 2 or 3pm. It is best to use pergolas and/or verandahs or window film on both west and north aspects if you can.

One of our houses was SE facing and that seemed to be much better for both summer and winter; we put a pergola on the back and a big awning on the other hot side and it worked. We didn't have air con; during summer we just opened the back doors and windows and let the Doctor in. (It is only during a heat wave that he doesn't make house calls...!)

At the moment we are facing almost directly SW. The lounge at the front and main bedroom are pleasant cos it's winter. However the "freeze breeze" is extremely strong and the rain from NW wets the entire large porch so you get wet at the front door regardless. The owner solved this by putting up a glass brick nib wall near the front door. The back easterly bedroom is very hot in summer, there is a pergola on the NW side. The house is quite dark generally in the living areas because of it. I hate gloom and there are times we need lights on during the day. I would not build a house with this aspect.

If there is a "perfect" orientation, I don't know, but features you add- such as pergolas, window tinting, verandahs, eaves, alfrescos, awnings etc can "soften" or reduce the bad aspects of any orientation.