A question about house orientation (Phoenix, Chandler: rentals, condo, how much)

[LBTRS]

Our backyard faces south and we like it that way. We have a full length covered deck and a pool in the backyard. I think the southern exposure offers us a longer swimming season than my neighbors and we don't have any issues with heat or sun in the living areas due to the patio roof.

[roundball]

Originally Posted by mhouse2001

South-facing windows gain very little from their exposure to the sun in the summer (compared to east and west) because the sun is so high up in the sky.

I totally disagree with you. The East side of our house is only sunny until 11am or so. The West side is only sunny from 2pm. The south side of our house is sunny most of the day.

Originally Posted by LBTRS

Our backyard faces south and we like it that way. We have a full length covered deck and a pool in the backyard. I think the southern exposure offers us a longer swimming season than my neighbors and we don't have any issues with heat or sun in the living areas due to the patio roof.

Good point! We have a full patio and only half of it is covered. If the whole thing was covered, I would most likely be singing a different tune.

[mhouse2001]

Originally Posted by roundball

I totally disagree with you. The East side of our house is only sunny until 11am or so. The West side is only sunny from 2pm. The south side of our house is sunny most of the day.

Of course, the south side of any home in most of the northern hemisphere would be the sunniest, but the solar gain on the house is primarily from windows that face east and west, unless they are shaded. Solar gain is a direct result of the angle of sunlight hitting your home. If the east side of your house is sunny until 11AM then it's getting 5 hours of sunshine with the early morning hours being a full on assault. Likewise, if the west side is sunny after 2PM then it's getting another 5 hours of the same thing. That's a lot. Meanwhile, the south side, while appearing sunnier, is getting sunshine that's skimming the windows, not hitting them directly, so the impact on your electric bill is small. In summary, you do not want windows facing east and west. A north/south exposure is best for electricity cost concerns.

I have large east facing windows, but then I also have a great view of Piestewa Peak, so I'm willing to concede that some things do in fact override costs! To each his own.

[tomahawk72]

I like that my backyard is on the east side of the house. That way the pool is in the shade for half the day. My brother's and mother's pools are on the south side and get full sun all day long. Their pools get too hot in the summer. Mine stays relatively cool.

[smokemaster]

I'm in a townhouse that faces North. There are no windows except the sliders, also facing North. I just got a 30 day SRP for 77 USD. It's total electric with washer and dishwasher. It did seem kind of caveish in the Winter, but will pay a huge dividend in the Summer. If I were strictly a snowbird; I might consider South.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by jaronson

Thanks observer53,

I hadn't thought of that. Back east if you don't have southern exposure, then you don't have light, period. But, of course with the other situation, too much sun, then you just need ways to block it. OTOH, if my neighbor's 2-story house is close enough to shade my house and yard, I probably wouldn't like that!

Most of the newer developments have lots that are not that large. We are talking like 50 feet wide and 120 feet deep lots. Your neighbors home will only be maybe 10 feet away from your home. If you are in a single story you could be sandwitched between a couple 2 story homes.

[Hatetheheat01]

Originally Posted by KarmaPhx

I think the main reason for this is due to the sun exposure, having a north/south facing house means your home is shaded more throughout the day, so the houses doesn't get as warm, but I may be incorrect.

Very true.
I like houses that face east/west though- as then you can see the sun rise and the sun set from your front and backyard.

[jimj]

We wondered this as well. After looking at a couple of hundred houses from Queen Creek to Surprise and asking our realtor about this we now understand why. We were out looking in the mid-day on time period and most of the houses that had an east west orientation were hot has heck or had to have those opaque window coverings (I'm not a big fan of those btw) to keep the heat down.
It does depend on what's next door of course, the house we just bought is a corner two story with a single next door so no shade from anywhere.

[jaronson]

Thanks again everybody for weighing in. I am really glad I understand this better. At the very least I won't go into it ignorant of the energy cost implications of the different house orientations. And thanks, mhouse, for making "solar gain" understandable. The engineers in my family often throw that term around. Now I get what they are talking about.

[hart4july]

We just moved here from the midwest where people covet houses with E/W exposure because you get direct sun to fill your house on gloomy winter days.

Our new rental home has a big kitchen window(single pane) that had this ugly stuff that looks like carpet non stick pad tacked up to the window, covering my pretty view.It appeared to be some kind of thermal insulating stuff. I took it down, flabbergasted that anyone would deprive them selves of light and fuschia flowers against a blue sky in their eat in kitchen.

Well, that kitchen faces East and Mr Sun beamed in at me making the kitchen WAY hotter than the rest of the home. Even the planation shutters did little to help. The whole kitchen/living room area was hard to cool.

I wisely pinned the ugly plastic stuff onto a curtain rod with some pretty fabric on the inside and sure enough the kitchen cooled down by 10 degrees. It only comes down after the sun has crested the house. We will be giving preference to N/S houses when we buy.