Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 Mar 21, 2017 11:05 pm Hi, I am currently building a south facing single story home. During the early stage, I did not really consider the height of my neighbour's house because I was the first one in the street. I just found out that his house which is on a corner lot is elevated compared to my house. The west wall of my house is where the bedrooms are located which I have put corresponding insulations for a west wall. I am now worried that the bedrooms will not get a good sunlight because of my neigbour's elevated house. I would like to check what's your experience on being in a similar situation. I am only concerned during winter as I am assuming that I will get a cold/dark bedrooms because of this setup. For summer, I would assume this will not be an issue because I rather would want to have the shade. Please feel free to shed some light here and ideas on how I can approach this situation. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: West facing wall with an elevated neighbour 2Mar 22, 2017 6:57 am You'd be right in assuming that you'll want shade in summer for west facing rooms, particularly bedrooms. Eaves are quite ineffective to the east & west, as the sun is lower in the sky in these directions. So on a hot summer afternoon you'll be thankful for any shade you receive from your neighbour. Have a read of the yourhome.gov.au website, particularly the section on orientation. Western facing bedrooms usually are not recommended, as they can become very hot on summer evenings. For most people it's ok for bedrooms to be cooler than living rooms, as we sleep more comfortably at a slightly lower temperature (around 18C I think). We also sleep better in a dark environment. So south facing bedrooms are often a good choice. Also, note that the sun does not directly set in the west throughout the year. In summer it rises south of E, passes across the northern sky, setting south of W. So at this time of the year it will be above the horizon when it is directly E in the morning, & directly W in the evening. But in the winter the sun rises north of E, & sets north of W. It is never directly E or W at this time of the year. A bit hard to explain, but check out suncalc.net if you want to check the sun's path throughout the day, at different times of the year. What this really means is the sun is never directly W in winter. So W facing windows don't help a lot in warming a house in winter. N facing windows are much better. But as the sun will be directly to the W on summer evenings, W facing windows can be very detrimental in summer. So extra summer shade from a neigbour is probably a good thing. Now you'll just have to make sure there's no privacy issues. Re: West facing wall with an elevated neighbour 3Mar 22, 2017 8:02 pm ddarroch You'd be right in assuming that you'll want shade in summer for west facing rooms, particularly bedrooms. Eaves are quite ineffective to the east & west, as the sun is lower in the sky in these directions. So on a hot summer afternoon you'll be thankful for any shade you receive from your neighbour. Have a read of the yourhome.gov.au website, particularly the section on orientation. Western facing bedrooms usually are not recommended, as they can become very hot on summer evenings. For most people it's ok for bedrooms to be cooler than living rooms, as we sleep more comfortably at a slightly lower temperature (around 18C I think). We also sleep better in a dark environment. So south facing bedrooms are often a good choice. Also, note that the sun does not directly set in the west throughout the year. In summer it rises south of E, passes across the northern sky, setting south of W. So at this time of the year it will be above the horizon when it is directly E in the morning, & directly W in the evening. But in the winter the sun rises north of E, & sets north of W. It is never directly E or W at this time of the year. A bit hard to explain, but check out suncalc.net if you want to check the sun's path throughout the day, at different times of the year. What this really means is the sun is never directly W in winter. So W facing windows don't help a lot in warming a house in winter. N facing windows are much better. But as the sun will be directly to the W on summer evenings, W facing windows can be very detrimental in summer. So extra summer shade from a neigbour is probably a good thing. Now you'll just have to make sure there's no privacy issues. Thanks heaps for your reply. Regarding privacy, I did check the windows and they are not exactly in line of sight so all is good but I will still check when their frame is up. As per title, unsure if my land doesn’t have enough fill. The house on the left seems to have higher elevation. Not sure if the empty lot in between has just been… 0 546 It might be a bit darker in the mornings but the light is still light, so you should be getting it. Similar to what you see from your western windows 3 19988 |