Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Feb 09, 2020 10:02 pm Hi Everyone, I am looking for guidance on the house/land orientation as I am planning to build a house in Sydney. I want to get the maximum sun in my backyard in the winter. My research suggests that I should have my backyard facing north (i.e. front of the house facing south). However, there will be only limited lots with backyard facing north and so I am exploring how much sun I will get with an east facing backyard. I have attached a example lot at the end of my message and the lot is facing east: Potential backyard will be east facing which will provide sun in the morning. As the sun moves to the north I think I will still get some sun in backyard from north side as there would not be any building blocking the sun. As the sun moves further north the backyard I will loose the sun due to house shade. By the time sun gets to west I would not get any sun in my backyard. This is my current assessment. Would anyone advise from thier experience/expertise if my assessment is correct. Also, please advise till what time I can expect to get sun in my backyard from north side. Waiting for your replies. Thanks Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: House/lot backyard orientation for maximum sunglight in 2Feb 09, 2020 10:29 pm Are you looking to get winter sun into your backyard specifically (for drying washing? Veggie garden?) or into the back part of your house (for energy efficient heating/natural light)? You’ll also have to take into account the house behind you as it may block the sun in the earlier hours. Or any trees. Are you concerned about summer sun and heat? Re: House/lot backyard orientation for maximum sunglight in 3Feb 09, 2020 10:43 pm Hillsbuilds Are you looking to get winter sun into your backyard specifically (for drying washing? Veggie garden?) or into the back part of your house (for energy efficient heating/natural light)? You’ll also have to take into account the house behind you as it may block the sun in the earlier hours. Or any trees. Are you concerned about summer sun and heat? Hi Hillsbuilds, I want the sun into the backyard in winter for sunbathing, drying washing and also getting natural light into the living areas and kitchen. Though I would like to any avoid glare which can make watching TV during day a challange. With the example lot I am guessing the house behind the proposed backyard will be a issue in the early morning when the sun is at a lower angle. In regards to summer sun, I would like to avoid it and with east facing backyard the sun will mostly hit the front of the house (western side) in the eveining and living area and backyard will be cooler during summer evening. My preference is to get a north facing backyard but I am just trying to explore if a east facing backyard option could work for me. Your thoughts? Re: House/lot backyard orientation for maximum sunglight in 4Feb 09, 2020 11:15 pm North facing is great, but it doesn’t have to be directly north. There’s a range within Xdegrees west and Xdegrees east of north which work well too, google would probably be able to help you (can’t remember off the top of my head). You probably already know about the www.yourhome.gov.au site for solar passive design and orientation? Also www.undercoverarchitect.com has some good advice on maximising east facing sites (and north, south and west too). I do currently have an east facing backyard, and no houses blocking the morning sun from the east and from the north. Nice in winter as it warms everything up , and would be even better if we had some thermal mass in the house to retain that heat. We get sun from 9am to 3pm on our clothesline in the middle of the yard (10m from house to fence) In summer the back of the house gets quite warm, but it’s a poorly insulated, single glazed house with inefficient shading, so to be expected. Re: House/lot backyard orientation for maximum sunglight in 5Feb 11, 2020 11:31 am Hillsbuilds North facing is great, but it doesn’t have to be directly north. There’s a range within Xdegrees west and Xdegrees east of north which work well too, google would probably be able to help you (can’t remember off the top of my head). You probably already know about the http://www.yourhome.gov.au site for solar passive design and orientation? Also http://www.undercoverarchitect.com has some good advice on maximising east facing sites (and north, south and west too). I do currently have an east facing backyard, and no houses blocking the morning sun from the east and from the north. Nice in winter as it warms everything up , and would be even better if we had some thermal mass in the house to retain that heat. We get sun from 9am to 3pm on our clothesline in the middle of the yard (10m from house to fence) In summer the back of the house gets quite warm, but it’s a poorly insulated, single glazed house with inefficient shading, so to be expected. Hi Hillsbuilds, You mentioned that you get most of the sun in the middle of your east facing backyard (10m from house to fence). This means you have a 20m backyard. Am I correct? For the lot 21/1 shown in original post, the total length of the lot is 20m and I guessing the backyard will probably be 4-6m in length. With the small backyard you reckon I will get much sun for north side? Another factor is if the lot 21/2 owner decides to build a double story house then it will block sun from the north side of the house. However, the backyard may not be as much impacted by adjacent double story house as it would have a backyard too in parallel to my backyard. Your thoughts? In regards to your house getting warm in summer, I believe your front of house will be much hotter as it will be facing west. Northing and east side of your house will be relatively cooler I would imagine. Let me know if this this case. Re: House/lot backyard orientation for maximum sunglight in 6Feb 11, 2020 1:39 pm No it’s a 10m backyard, not 20m. I agree with what you say with the neighbour’s parallel back yard, this will allow sun in for longer. My clothes line is 5m from the back of my house, and it is actually never in shade, even when the sun is hitting the front of the house. There’s a 2storey section of house and a single storey section, and neither casts a shadow on the clothesline. Yes the west facing front does get hot in summer. We’ve put honeycomb blinds in the windows, makes a difference, but not on the really hot days. This is why our current build is very much a solar passive design, with thermal mass, good insulation and double glazing! Re: House/lot backyard orientation for maximum sunglight in 7Feb 12, 2020 4:27 pm Hillsbuilds No it’s a 10m backyard, not 20m. I agree with what you say with the neighbour’s parallel back yard, this will allow sun in for longer. My clothes line is 5m from the back of my house, and it is actually never in shade, even when the sun is hitting the front of the house. There’s a 2storey section of house and a single storey section, and neither casts a shadow on the clothesline. Yes the west facing front does get hot in summer. We’ve put honeycomb blinds in the windows, makes a difference, but not on the really hot days. This is why our current build is very much a solar passive design, with thermal mass, good insulation and double glazing! Hi, I am considering to buy lot 21/1 which is next to the cornet lot. But I have concern if the if lot 21/1 owner builds a double story house then it will shade my backyard from north side in the later afternoon and will also shade north facing living areas. I am guessing neighbour house walls will be approx 2m appart due to 900mm setbacks. This may also compromise privacy with living areas on northern side. Are there any solution to these problems? Thanks again for this information. If you do hear anything different, would be great to know 4 5992 The distance between my DEBs varies from 4.1m at the narrowest to 8.1m at the widest. 5 25922 Would anyone on this forum know of a builder/company in Brisbane with house designs for a shallow block. I have a block 20 x 20 so with front and rear set backs I need a… 0 3286 |