Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 30, 2012 8:45 am After a little bit of help RE which direction a house should face to minimise aircon/heating costs. I’m having a bad day and can’t wrap my head around it! This is the house we plan to build: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Which direction would you have the FRONT of this house facing? Am I right in guessing South, or way off? - MrsT Brought first house in 2008. Renovated...a LOT. Built in 2013. Our thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=67954 Re: I need some help...and a compass. North/South? East/West 2Oct 30, 2012 10:39 am I would have it facing East and delete the window in the dining room that would then face West. I would look at providing a pergola or proper eaves outside: 1. Theatre 2. Family Room (I would increase windows on North and decrease those facing alfresco) 3. Bedroom 4 I would also make sure the bedrooms 2 and 3 did not have windows down to the floor 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: I need some help...and a compass. North/South? East/West 4Oct 30, 2012 11:14 am You want your main living area facing north. And as little windows as possible facing West and to some extend East. You will get a lot of heat loss and NO gain with windows facing south! So I would probably face the front door east and move the window in the master bdroom to the south (so you don't get any west sun in the bedroom in summer). I would also suggest a window in the Family room to the north and remove or reduce the size of the windows facing west in the family/dining area. You probably couldn't get easves to reduce the wetsern sun on your alfresco area. Re: I need some help...and a compass. North/South? East/West 5Oct 30, 2012 12:43 pm Hi, Not sure if you have your land yet? You need to find out where your prevailing winds will be coming from. Your house doesn’t have enough door or window openings for cross breezes; too many walls between the rooms will stop the cross breezes = switching on the air-conditioning . Ideally a long house with a garage facing towards the road (west) helps buffering the rooms behind however most houses have the garage on the right or left side with one room being either left or right which would be hot in summer. If the front of the house faces east you will get morning sun only which shouldn’t be a big deal. Consider placing highlight windows (600 or 900 high) into bedroom 4 and dining room to pick up breezes however you will need proper eaves. The Alfresco area should be closed off on the western side with a trellis or similar and a nice creeper. Your main living areas should face north so you won’t get any direct sun into the house in summer. In winter the sun will enter the north facing rooms. The side of the garage should not be on the north side as it would be a waste; I would swap the garage with the master bedroom. Cheers PS Re: I need some help...and a compass. North/South? East/West 6Oct 30, 2012 1:15 pm Thanks all EcoFriendly Not sure if you have your land yet? Oops, I should have mentioned that - no we dont have the land yet, we're in the process of looking at a few blocks at the moment which is why I asked, I'm hoping to get the best block for our house that we can. - MrsT Brought first house in 2008. Renovated...a LOT. Built in 2013. Our thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=67954 Re: I need some help...and a compass. North/South? East/West 7Oct 30, 2012 3:31 pm Thats great then! I would recommend changing a few things in the house but will depend on the orientation of your block get one that faces north. Always put the garage on the west. You don't want it on the north. So maybe swap with your master? We didn't really design our house until we had the land, that way we could deisng it for the orientation and shape of the block. Keen to hear from people in the area who have got KDRB done on whom they got the build from? Looking for recommendations. Thanks 0 21099 The warning is on the sticker on the door too. Second the aluminium powdercoat 6 18198 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. If they… 0 22813 |