Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 Apr 22, 2015 4:43 am Hi, I'm not sure whether to make the windows in two of our bedrooms smaller or not? Bed 3 & 4 have single glazed sliding window 1810x1200 as standard, but I'm thinking about changing it to sliding window 2170x600. My husbands main concern is ensuring there is enough natural light into the room, so thinks we should keep them as they are. But smaller/higher windows will make it easier with furniture placement in the small rooms, and as they are south/east facing, and facing a fence, I thought smaller might be better. Any thoughts?? What size would be best for natural light? I saw a website give examples, but I can't find it again. I think it said 2 windows would be better for natural light, but I only want one... - build is in northwest sydney - bed 3&4 are South-East facing - they face the fence. Fence will be 900mm from external wall. - bedrooms are 10m2 (3mx3.4) - wardrobes will be sliding mirrors - currently the windows are approx 22% of the room floor space if I've calculated it correctly. The other window would be 13%. - we don't want to have to have the lights turned on during daylight Haven't thought about changing the home theatre window (be will be using it as a kids play room and putting cavity doors in). But is it too big? 1800 x 2170 (I think it may be that big to give the appearance of more natural light into the living space perhaps) We would love to have double glazing in all our windows... But budget doesn't allow for that this build... Maybe the next build Any tips would be appreciated! Thanks! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Help with window size 2Apr 22, 2015 6:14 am I have almost the exact same situation as you do (location, aspect, room/window sizes) and I wish I had changed my windows to smaller ones. Didn't think about it until it was too late. Re: Help with window size 3Apr 22, 2015 8:10 am I think the smaller windows will be fine, particularly for that orientation. Here are some more thoughts on window size http://www.anewhouse.com.au/2012/02/window-size/ 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: Help with window size 4Apr 22, 2015 8:37 am Can glazing be upgraded after completion of the house? or is this something that can only happen during construction? Would it be a cheaper option to apply reflective film on the glass instead? Paddington 29 @ Blue Horizon Estate (Lot 105, Wattleridge Crescent, North Kellyville) Our Build Progress Blog: http://light487.wordpress.com/ Re: Help with window size 5Apr 22, 2015 9:43 am Don't forget the minimum size for a window for a habitable room like a bedroom is 10% of the floor area. A 4m x 3m room ( 12 sq m ) would need a window of 1.2 sq m. However in my experience for a south facing room you'd want it a reasonably bit bigger than the minimum especially with bigger eaves. Stewie Re: Help with window size 6Apr 27, 2015 6:09 am Comes down to personal preference. I would go with the bigger window. I really don't like those high level letterbox windows. Makes the place look/feel like a prison - again, personal preference. Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: Help with window size 7Apr 27, 2015 7:47 am Thanks for the tips. I think we will leave bed 3 as is, as we like the window size for natural light. And it should still be 'ok' for sun. And just change bed 4 to the smaller window. It will be about 16% of the floor space, as that room is slightly smaller. And that room will also be where our baby/toddler will be, and I like the thought of having high windows so as to not come into contact with curtains/blind cords from a safety point of view. Re: Help with window size 8Apr 27, 2015 8:47 am We have floor to ceiling glass in our bedroom on 3 sides. We have good quality curtains which make a huge difference in hot or cold temps. When talking about thermal properties, you really need to think about your climate and how you intend to use the space. Having high thermal resistance values is great if you just want to actively heat or cool, but my personal preference is to have lots of natural light and openable windows to take advantage of bay breezes and passive cooling for 10 months of the year and simply harden up and deal with a bit of cold for 2 months of the year. I don't want to live in an insulated, air conditioned dark box. But fortunately for us, we live in the subtropics. We barely have "winter" so we don't really need to think about heating that much. If it gets cool (i.e. below 20 deg C) we put a jumper on, or when it's really cold (like less than 15 deg C) we might stick the electric blanket on when we go to bed which is a far more efficient way of heating than trying to heat an entire room or house. But like I said, putting up with a bit of discomfort for the 2 months of cool/cold weather is vastly outweighed by living in a beautifully open, breezy, light house for 10 months of the year, and we only need to heat or cool in the most extreme temperatures. It also takes a bit of good old Aussie "harden up" attitude. Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: Help with window size 9Apr 27, 2015 12:07 pm Personally I love the letterbox windows that we have in our house. We have one on ground floor living area and one in upstairs living area. The room downstairs has one internal wall, one external wall (with letterbox window), the 3-pane stacker door leading to the alfresco on another side and the other is open to the kitchen. So in that context, the ground floor letterbox is more of a feature window that matches the look of our over-bench window in the kitchen opposite it. The one upstairs is where we are likely to spend most of the time watching TV.. we don't have a separate media room, so having the window up high will hopefully keep the sun off the TV as well as provide privacy to adjacent two-storey lots but still provide natural light into the room too. It's like the question of downlights, or any specific part of a build, really.. there is a time and place for everything but the over-use or exclusive use of those items, unless specifically for a reason, tends to end up looking wrong or becomes impractical. Paddington 29 @ Blue Horizon Estate (Lot 105, Wattleridge Crescent, North Kellyville) Our Build Progress Blog: http://light487.wordpress.com/ 1 1927 Dear Members I have to decide the Facade column size. My custom builder standard is 350mm with rendering, but i asked for 470mm plus stone or tiles and yet to get… 0 7508 All sorted guys. Just needed to buy a blade with the correct bush. Dunno how to delete this post, can't find any help file. Cheers. 1 3665 |