Thoughts on western exposure? (house, purchasing, living) - Denver - Colorado (CO) - City-Data Forum

luvmountains · 01-21-2010, 01:47 PM

Hi everyone,
I am wondering about your experiences with western facing windows. We are interested in a home that has a 2 story family room, with the windows basically going all the way up to the ceiling (are those called celestory windows?). If those windows face west, am I looking forward to WAY too much glare from the sun as it sets? Does anyone regret purchasing a home with windows such as these? They look beautiful and allow for so much light to come in, but I can't help but wonder about the heat beating in during the summer and the glare. Thanks for your input!

denverian · 01-21-2010, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvmountains

Hi everyone,
I am wondering about your experiences with western facing windows. We are interested in a home that has a 2 story family room, with the windows basically going all the way up to the ceiling (are those called celestory windows?). If those windows face west, am I looking forward to WAY too much glare from the sun as it sets? Does anyone regret purchasing a home with windows such as these? They look beautiful and allow for so much light to come in, but I can't help but wonder about the heat beating in during the summer and the glare. Thanks for your input!

During the hottest part of Summer, the sun sets off to the northwest, so it wouldn't be direct then, but definitely shining in. It would be shining straight in near the vernal and autumnal equinoxes in March and September when the sun sets due west. I'd be more concerned about having a house like ours, where all our main windows and outdoor living space are on the north side of the house, so we get zero sun coming in for about 6 months of the year and snow won't melt off our patio.

You could always get sunscreen applied to those windows, but I'd say west facing is your best bet because you always get sun shining in year round and it could help on your winter heating bills.

denver_hacker · 01-21-2010, 02:19 PM

South facing would be worse. Due West isn't really so bad, although the afternoon summer days can be warm. In the winter it'll be a bonus because it'll help warm the house. I take it there are no trees or anything for coverage outside? We have big windows that face due West, but there's a big Ash right outside. So in the winter we get nice full sun for warmth and then in the summer it's shaded.

We also have honeycomb shades, which are rated for energy efficiency because of their insulation properties.

If it's really really bad, you could also replace the windows with high efficiency windows to reduce the problem.

I certainly wouldn't veto a house based on that. I did veto a house once because it had a north facing driveway and front entry way.

Neditate · 01-21-2010, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvmountains

Hi everyone,
I am wondering about your experiences with western facing windows. We are interested in a home that has a 2 story family room, with the windows basically going all the way up to the ceiling (are those called celestory windows?).

I believe you are thinking of "clerestory" windows but they are not what you describe (Clerestory - Architecture Glossary - Clerestory Definition)

I have many western facing windows without window coverings to take advantage of the passive solar - but they are not floor to ceiling windows. We did put solar film on our living room windows to protect our furniture. Many of our neighbors have windows such as you describe and some of them have solar shades to help with the intense sun but allow them to still see the views. There are many manufacturers, this is just an example: Solar Roller Shades - Custom Shades, Fabric Window Shades - Smith+Noble

Katarina Witt · 01-21-2010, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by denver_hacker

South facing would be worse. Due West isn't really so bad, although the afternoon summer days can be warm. In the winter it'll be a bonus because it'll help warm the house. I take it there are no trees or anything for coverage outside? We have big windows that face due West, but there's a big Ash right outside. So in the winter we get nice full sun for warmth and then in the summer it's shaded.

We also have honeycomb shades, which are rated for energy efficiency because of their insulation properties.

If it's really really bad, you could also replace the windows with high efficiency windows to reduce the problem.

I certainly wouldn't veto a house based on that. I did veto a house once because it had a north facing driveway and front entry way.

We have south facing windows in our living room and all but one of our bedrooms (which has a west facing window). We actually like the passive solar gain in the winter, and the north facing windows on the other side of the house help get a cross-breeze in the summer. We also have the honeycomb shades on all our south windows and some of the others as well. In addition, we did just recently get new windows with more insulation. We have shade trees on both north and south sides of the house.

SheridanL · 01-22-2010, 07:41 AM

I have a 2 story floor to ceiling west facing window,...I have not encountered any problems that you are asking about.
Our only problem is getting a window washer. I'm not kidding about that either!! We also have birds constantly flying into that window. It always makes me cringe when I hear that "thump"!

DannyBanany · 01-22-2010, 08:26 PM

I'd prefer to have west-facing windows over any other direction. The sun won't annoy you in the morning like with east-facing, it won't be hot in the summer like with south-facing, you won't be cold in the winter like with north-facing, and Colorado sunsets ARE BEAUTIFUL!!!

luvmountains · 01-23-2010, 01:03 AM

Thank you all so much for your opinions! I agree, the Colorado sunsets are amazing and we really wanted to be able to take advantage of those views. I will look into different window coverings that will enable us to enjoy the sun and views, but still be able to cover up when needed. Thanks!

formercalifornian · 01-23-2010, 07:23 PM

We have an older house with west facing windows in the kitchen. In the full sun, it adds a lot of heat to the house, which is good in the winter, but not so good in the summer. We'll be replacing those windows this spring!

In a previous house, we had tinted film applied to high clerestory windows without window treatments, and it helped tremendously. The film isn't very expensive. I think it ran us $25-$50 per window.

the3Ds · 01-25-2010, 02:23 PM

Our house sits east/west and here's why that's great (and why it's not so great).

Great: I can sit on the deck and see the mountains. There are very few days when the sun isn't shining and it's nice to be able to appreciate the Rockies when we're BBQing or just having coffee in the morning. Much better than just seeing them as you're pulling out of your driveway.

Not so great: Because it's our backyard that faces west, the east facing front doesn't get as intense of sun (only the morning sun) so snow takes a while to melt. But...not as bad as a house facing north.

Great: The afternoon sun is stronger so we open up the screen door blinds and let the sun heat the house up in the winter (it usually gets it to 74...and we have the thermostat set as 70...4 degrees DOES make a difference).

Not so great: In the summer, it's hot as hell with the afternoon sun positively baking the kitchen and family room (which are on the back of the house) as well as making the upstairs rooms very uncomfortable. We have the ceiling fans cranking and the blinds shut but have found that the a/c does relatively little to cool down the upstairs rooms...unless you turn it down significantly (which then increases your utility bills). The front of the house (east facing) is nice and cool...partially because the morning sun isn't as intense and most likely due to our very large tree that shades the house.