Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 May 04, 2011 3:01 pm We are building a house in Melbourne. The block is south facing (back yard faces north). It is not exactly N-S with the back of the house facing about 20 degrees NW. The current house plan has windows which are square to the block (and therefore about 20 degrees west of north.) I was speaking to the architect about skewing the back part of the house so that the windows along the back wall face due north. This is partly because the views are better to the NE but also partly because I had thought that the more north facing the window the better from the point of view of energy efficiency. However the architect says the current orientation is better because it allows more of the winter afternoon sun in. Does it matter? Any advice appreciated. Re: North or North west windows for solar design(Melbourne) 2May 04, 2011 4:39 pm North West allows the summer sun in which is the big problem. Also I don't think you get much more afternoon sun with North West than North facing as the sun goes down in the north west in winter so the north facing windows will still be getting sunlight as the sun sets. See this link for more info about angles. http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/environ/h ... cess.shtml North facing also gets you more of the morning sun which is nice to warm the house up. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: North or North west windows for solar design(Melbourne) 3Jun 12, 2011 7:42 pm N or NNE is better. It is best to get as much early morning winter sun whilst it is still very cold outside. For NW facing, summer sun is problematic when the temperature outside is quite warm. Re: North or North west windows for solar design(Melbourne) 4Jun 13, 2011 9:09 pm I have the same problem. You need some sort of removable shading so that in summer you keep the sun off the glass and in winter you can let it in. NW works well in winter keeps the house nice and warm well into the evenings. Shade sails, angled slats, those pergolas with opening vents or a grape vine are things I am looking at too solve the problem. Any good ideas that you come up with let us all know! Re: North or North west windows for solar design(Melbourne) 5Jun 14, 2011 8:33 pm I just happened across this thread and read the info from the link posted above with interest. Our house will be sited on our block from roughly ENE at the front to WSW at the back with the living areas (rumpus, alfresco and living room in order from west to east) on the north side of the house (so that part works). The question I have is about the rumpus room, which has large windows on the west and north sides - will we have a issue with it becoming a hotbox during the hotter summer months given the direction the windows are facing and their size (1457h x 2650w)? If so then should be be considering additional insulation for the rumpus room - eg. glare shield for the walls and/or double glazing for the windows or will we be ok without them? I'm actually quite happy with the positioning of the house otherwise (hopefully the alfresco will shield the living room a little from the hot summer sun in the afternoon/evening and with the northerly aspect for the living areas we should be ok for winter sun warmth) but I'm a bit worried about the rumpus room as I anticipate we will be spending quite a bit of time in the rumpus room which will essentially be a home theatre, given that my nice new 65 inch plasma TV will live in there eventually - my future housewarming gift to me... Our house siting is shown below: Some people apparently have nothing better to do than comment on other people's sigs. Re: North or North west windows for solar design(Melbourne) 6Jun 14, 2011 9:18 pm A rumpus room with large west and north facing windows will definitely overheat in summer. Some shade such as eaves about 40% of the widows depth will solve the problem on the north side. The west is more problematic. My preference would be to either replace the west facing window with a solid wall or much reduce it (that will help make it darker for a more theatre like experience). A reflective window film will help if you want to retain the window. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Hi, can anyone recommend a custom home builder who can build in north east area? Looking to build a custom 4-br energy-efficient home with a max budget of 750k. 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