East v West - Where to put the bedrooms?

Hi Kanates--

You can find some principles here:

http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/yourhome/t ... l/fs13.htm

The general idea is to have smaller windows on the west side of the house to minimise the heat gain from the summer sun. If you ask me, I'd rather have the smaller windows in the bedrooms than in the living areas, so that's what we went with--bedrooms to the west.

But as Michelle said, you'll have to look at what works best for you. Just be aware that large windows on the west side of your house will (probably) mean a bigger cooling bill in summer or more uncomfortable conditions.

--Mike

PS: also forgot to add that it depends on your climate and location. If you're in Tasmania or on the south slope of a hill, the answer might be different to if you're in Broken Hill on the north slope of a hill.

Bedrooms are better on the east side than on the west side. You get the morning sun which is a great way to wake up.

But what happen if both side your neighbors are two stores houses? and you house sit on North / South or South / North.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts, much appreciated. I will attach the floor plan tomorrow as I dont have the current one here at home at the moment.

I have spoken to architects, and builders, and they all have differing opinions. One thing that the builder we are going through did mention is that council may not allow the living area to be on the east side because it may not meet energy efficiency ratings this way. Either way, one side of the house is going to get hot in summer, and generally speaking most people who have built before have stated that the area which has less windows should be on the west side.

I know that there is nothing worse than sleeping in hot weather, but I guess we will have ducted airconditioning so we could put that on for 10-15 min before bed time to cool the rooms down.

I should mention that there will be an alfresco room attached on the same side as the living area, with only two walls, so in summer if it is on the west side this area will get hot I guess. My other concern is that the living area, kitchen and dining area would need more airconditioning for longer periods of the day in summer to keep it cool, and the sun may be blinding during the day/early evening in summer in the living areas. I guess proper blinds etc would be required. I must admit I am leaning towards the bedrooms being on the West side....

One way we're dealing with that issue is by having a large cutout in the bulkhead between the bedroom hallway and the living areas, allowing light from the west to come through to the living areas on the east side.

You can see an example here, albeit with a wooden contraption inserted: http://www.metricon.com.au/victoria/hom ... fault.aspx

Go to picture #8. We'll probably put plantation shutters in ours.

--Mike

Hi Kanates, me again. As I said we have decided to put our bedrooms on the west side.....a few people with valid points have tried to talk us out of it, we listened but are still going with what we want - one of the major points was that in melbourne it is really only very hot (35+) for a few days of the year whereas having warmth and light in the living areas is pretty important throughout the whole year...never lived in Adelaide so not sure about climate there...

All in all - its really up to you and your preferences for lifestyle and comfort...personally I can handle the heat very well and prefer hot weather whereas I dread the cold and suffer from "winter blues"! At our rental we have a wall mounted air con unit that maybe gets turned on 10 - 15 days out of 365! On really hot days, we keep the blinds closed in the bedrooms through the day, open the windows at night and sleep with very little (if anything ) on ...sorry if thats too much info!

Well said Ruth.

Kanates I suggest that before you build - review the closest station readings to your home site from here and see what the "typical" weather patterns are.

Then add in - lifestyle - with the prevaling breeze temperatures etc - and then choose the orientation and location of your house and bedrooms to suit the climate.
And as Ruth says - wear less if it's hot or just throw another doona on when it's not
Steve

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/ca_vic_names.shtml

YSSIM - that will help - but the key thing with hot western sun is the thermal mass build up that then acts as a heat pump warming the air around the house (and intothe rooms) long after the sun has gone down in summer.

You ideally want to shade the entire side of the house that faces west, to really stop it heating up.

In my place I currently acheive that with a 7 metre wide low verandah downstairs that stops the sun hiting the house for all but 30 or 40 minutes in the late afternoon as the sun dips over the ocean.

Upstairs (lots of large windows facing west for the views) I'm designing some external shutters that will stand away from the house to stop the sun hitting the house but still allow air to flow behind it to stop pumping heat into the room upstairs in summer, and in winter i'll move tham as I want the reverse to happen.
Ruth - I'd still go with bedrooms to the east, living areas to the north and of course, an eco friendly design.
Steve