Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 05, 2016 3:12 pm We are looking at building south of Perth. Having lived in a house that has floor to ceiling south facing windows and consequently is very cold in winter, it is very important that my next house has north facing windows to the main living area for the winter sun and light. I have found a block that has a rear facing back yard, but the floor plan I have always loved has the games area, dining and living areas across the rear of the house, all with floor to ceiling Windows/patio doors. Would this be too much sun? I always thought I knew exactly what floor plan I wanted, but after seeing a friend's floor plan, I am now not so sure. Re: Is there such a thing as too much northern sun? 2May 05, 2016 4:21 pm Windows are holes in your insulation, so just having lots of glass will reduce the ability to regulate heat flow. Overnight, and on heavily clouded days in winter, northern windows will do much the same thing as southern windows. Excessive northern windows can present a heat load problem during warm days in spring and autumn. Unless you have deep eaves, they will only fully protect the window for the couple of months around the solstice. Blockout blinds / curtains may be able to control this heat flow as it tends not to coincide with the hottest days, but it may limit your ability to use those windows for natural ventilation, which could otherwise be useful that time of year. If you have a lot of windows to your living space, north is probably the best direction to have them facing, but from a thermal point of view there are still downsides to having too much glass area, even if it's north facing. If you have a lot of width to the north, you may be able to place an alfresco area across some of it. Re: Is there such a thing as too much northern sun? 3May 05, 2016 5:14 pm No such thing as too much northern sun in my opinion. Just remember to double glaze all windows and extend eves coverage!! An alfresco in a warm state like yours is a must too. I loooove my north facing living areas!! Good luck in your building endeavour. My Metricon Glendale in Sydney. Re: Is there such a thing as too much northern sun? 5May 05, 2016 10:09 pm Where is the alfresco? I'd be more concerned about West Windows. We found in our last house the north west corner room was super hot. In our current house the alfresco is in that spot. I found the north east rooms deliciously toasty and the north north room in the middle! Our current build has our master bedroom, living room and Alfresco across the rear, North facing. Deliberately put them there and wouldn't change at all Our Custom Dale Alcock build in the Village at Wellard https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=78620 Re: Is there such a thing as too much northern sun? 6May 06, 2016 7:21 am Rule one is aspect - forgetting location for the moment - but in saying that we find the northern rooms can get warmer than the southern at certain times. This is not a real issue until early/mid autumn. Sun lower and coming in. It is probably not an issue at all as a fan will handle it. But in Qld - it is still hot in Autumn so extra sun can give you a few extra degrees that aren't really needed Re: Is there such a thing as too much northern sun? 7May 06, 2016 9:14 am Saint Mike Rule one is aspect - forgetting location for the moment - but in saying that we find the northern rooms can get warmer than the southern at certain times. This is not a real issue until early/mid autumn. Sun lower and coming in. It is probably not an issue at all as a fan will handle it. But in Qld - it is still hot in Autumn so extra sun can give you a few extra degrees that aren't really needed I have the same question, but the issue I don't have a lot of flexibility as it's a h+l package. I best I could do is a mirror. My lot is facing NW and attached is the floor plan. Anybody have any suggestions? Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Is there such a thing as too much northern sun? 8May 06, 2016 9:59 am When you say facing NW, when you're standing on the street facing the block, are you facing NW or SE? NW is a completely different situation to N. N is the about the best direction for windows, but NW is one of the worst in a climate with hot summers. Re: Is there such a thing as too much northern sun? 9May 06, 2016 10:15 am Thanks @OneJohn Shucks that is scary, I fear the summers already! When I face the block standing on the street, I am facing SE. Please suggest what is the best I could do for cooler summers And I am building is Sydney, if that is any help. Re: Is there such a thing as too much northern sun? 10May 06, 2016 12:14 pm This has always been the style of floor plan I wanted - open plan but with separate areas, if that makes sense. I can see the whole of the back yard to keep an eye on the kids etc. I would still want a double alfresco, but obviously having it across the north Windows takes away the advantages of having north facing living. This floor plan on the block would not make the most of the 4-5m that runs down the east side of the house. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The other option is something a bit more like this, but mirrored and with the alfresco so it runs down the east side of the house. And with a games area added in somewhere. This would probably make better use of the block, but the master suite would be on the NW corner so v hot in summer. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Choosing a floor plan is much harder than I expected it to be. Re: Is there such a thing as too much northern sun? 11May 06, 2016 4:00 pm pshome Thanks @OneJohn Shucks that is scary, I fear the summers already! When I face the block standing on the street, I am facing SE. Please suggest what is the best I could do for cooler summers And I am building is Sydney, if that is any help. So the block has a NW frontage, & is therefore considered to be SE facing. Probably stick with the floor plan as you've shown it. The living areas will face NE, so will get morning sunshine, which will help warm the house a bit in winter. Are you close to the coast? If so you could get nice summer breezes entering your living areas. Make sure you have decent length eaves, as you don't want too much summer sun entering in the morning. The bedrooms will face SW, so won't receive too much sunshine, just a little bit late in the day in summer (when the sun sets a bit to the south of due west). As it's a NW frontage the garage will bear the brunt of the afternoon summer sun, which is good. The only major problem is bed 4. Will it be occupied or a spare room? It'll get hot in summer. Shade it with a vertical awning, deciduous trees, or window tinting. Build as close as possible to your SW boundary. You may get some shading of your bedrooms from your SW neighbour, & you'll minimize overshadowing of your living areas in winter. Read more about orientation here, http://yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/orientation Re: Is there such a thing as too much northern sun? 12May 06, 2016 4:09 pm I guess when we talk aspect we mean "living areas" facing north. This can change with houses depending on plans of course. Often we swap a garage to the other side - ie from the East wall to the West wall - so as the living area has the East aspect. A pool on the North/East sides can often be better - but may need shade. It can also get quite warm in Qld. I've seen people go for "sails" over the pool to stop this. We find however our outside living area faces N/E and is lovely in winter when the sun drops and keeps the area warm. In summer, of course, the sun is up high and the roof/eaves place the outside area in shade. Winds are another thing. Here they seem to come out of the South more. So our north aspect outside area is cosy in winter. Friends over the road - who get the wind - won't sit on there outside area once the sun drops in winter. Re: Is there such a thing as too much northern sun? 13May 06, 2016 4:10 pm Sorry if that's telling some how to suck eggs ... but many Queenslanders still don't/won't accept aspect as a real issue ! Re: Is there such a thing as too much northern sun? 14May 06, 2016 4:52 pm OP, I'd echo OneJohn's comment, that "Windows are holes in your insulation". Glass is a VERY poor insulator. An average window has an R value of below 0.2, double glazing only around 0.3. Compare that to what we put in our ceilings & walls. U values for different glazing systems can be seen here (note R=1/U), https://www.basix.nsw.gov.au/basixcms/basix-help-notes/thermal/diy-method/windows/window-types.html So although "too much northern sun" is more likely to be a problem in northern Australia, as it's hard to shade sun in autumn & spring, the problem of over glazing can be a problem further south. With windows leaking heat in winter, & admitting to much heat in summer. It's not an issue of too many northern windows, it's an issue of too many windows in general. But pay particularly attention to western windows, which can be horrible in summer. As for floor to ceiling glazing, I wouldn't go overboard with these. They are harder to shade, so you'll need longer eaves to prevent sun entering near floor level in the warmer months. But larger eaves will mean a larger portion near the top of the window will be shaded in winter, so will only leak heat. North facing glazing near the ceiling will never receive sunshine, so will only leak heat. http://yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/glazing http://yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/shading 1 362 Hi, I am wondering if anyone has built with Montgomery in the last few years on the Northern Beaches? I don't see the see them around, as I would love to ask how happy… 0 3190 It will be neat but you won't have much freeboard. At least they are not weep holes. Are you in a high intensity rainfall region? The regulatory slope is only required… 3 8265 |