Browse Forums Building A New House Re: House Orientation - Cool house in summer, warm in winter 423May 24, 2013 1:52 pm SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: House Orientation - Cool house in summer, warm in winter 424May 24, 2013 1:54 pm SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: House Orientation - Cool house in summer, warm in winter 425May 24, 2013 1:58 pm Deemaree Kyndylan Capers: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46852 My blog: http://www.sufficientlysufficient.blogspot.com/ Re: House Orientation - Cool house in summer, warm in winter 431May 30, 2013 8:10 pm Land settled May '14. Building the PD Hoffman39: 5/11=site start, 13/11=slab pour, 26/11=frame complete, 10/12=roof on, 12/12=bricking started. Blog: http://jyndeira.net/blog/ Re: House Orientation - Cool house in summer, warm in winter 433May 30, 2013 9:31 pm We have north facing deck (upstairs) and patio (downstairs) both under cover and north facing living rooms (you can see a mock-up in the picture in my avatar here on the left of this message). My DH calculated the right eave width to stop the summer sun coming into the rooms, but the winter sun can reach in. The downstairs patio has an eave from the upstairs deck (about 1100mm). Upstairs deck has 900mm eaves which work well too. Not sure if that is a helpful option for you? Or maybe I misunderstood the scenario you are trying to deal with. SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: House Orientation - Cool house in summer, warm in winter 434May 30, 2013 9:38 pm I presume kazzab wants an alfresco big enough to have a table & chairs, which takes advantage of the view (which is to the north), while also warming the house with winter sun. I think that'll take some fancy-footwork WRT the roof of the alfresco area; if it's all covered it'll stop any direct sunlight all year round. Re: House Orientation - Cool house in summer, warm in winter 435May 31, 2013 3:13 pm We have an almost 5 metre deep north facing alfresco. Not only does the winter sun heat it up, but it shines onto the floor in the house behind it and heats up our polished concrete. This is only the morning sun however (today it was until just after 1pm) and we do have a raked ceiling. It's a wonderful spot, and during our build this is where the builders always went for their breaks and lunch as it captures the sun so beautifully at this time of year. The raked ceiling of course blocks majority of the harsh winter sun, making our alfresco such a usable space. Re: House Orientation - Cool house in summer, warm in winter 436May 31, 2013 3:42 pm We'd need a very high alfresco ceiling if it was 5m deep and north-facing, to get winter sun; Gippsland is a reasonable chunk south from Sydney, but I didn't realise it'd make that much difference! Plus we're pretty deep into the move towards the winter solstice, the rate at which the days are getting shorter is getting noticeably slower. kazzab, where are you? Sounds like it could make a bigger difference than I foolishly assumed. Re: House Orientation - Cool house in summer, warm in winter 437May 31, 2013 4:28 pm Hi, thanks for all the great advice. Greenfish, just looking through your photos now, Im sure ill have some more questions as i go through your blog. Sunshine T, I cant enlarge your avatar quite big enough to see yours, Ive been reading through all 220 odd pages of your build, so Ill take a closer look. I think the raked ceiling, and higher celestory type windows could help solve the problem. I think the current depth of the undercover area is 4m with 7m width. We are after an undercover area so the kids can still go outside when its raining, and would prefer our outdoor furniture to stay dry. Anyway, I am passing on suggestions to +1, and reading through all the suggestions elsewhere through these forums, and even trying to get through all 22 pages of this topic! Is there anyway it can be viewed as one page and printed, Id find that so much easier! Re: House Orientation - Cool house in summer, warm in winter 438May 31, 2013 6:18 pm I haven't heard of any trick ways to read faster! My thread is getting a tad long, but on page one I did an index of where our plans and photos are. We have raked ceiling on our upstairs alfresco and highlight windows plus takes ceiling in our upstairs living area which we love. Works beautifully with the light and like you we wanted outdoor covered area. Our total alfresco and patio areas ate 60 sqm and it is fantastic for our young kids when it rains. SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: House Orientation - Cool house in summer, warm in winter 439Jun 01, 2013 7:46 pm I meant to say it blocks the harsh SUMMER sun not winter lol Re: House Orientation - Cool house in summer, warm in winter 440Aug 08, 2013 12:12 pm My builder thinks I should flip the orientation of our house. The block looks like this (north is up)- Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ and the plan like this- Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Currently I have it so that the garage, living and patio face to the northern side. We are in central queensland, it's warm for most of the year although we do get some cold nights; the primary objective is keeping the house cool. We have insulation etc. I realise that the patio will be in the full western sun, but believe that with planting/shade sails it will be cool. The builder thinks I should flip to have the bedrooms to the north so the patio is more shaded. Who is correct? 0 610 You’re on the right track, wire brush in a grinder then a zinc rich epoxy primer then a top coat of some sort, like a waterproofing membrane. Raising the concrete would… 1 7031 How good is Simeon?! Always taking time to help others out! Wish we were building in NSW and could work together. Thanks for all that you do! 7 6567 |