Western exposure in new build home (Phoenix: rental, new house, landscaping)

[bkypjy]

I am considering purchasing a new build home on a homesite that is a corner lot. The front faces north, back of home (great room) faces south and kitchen with large windows faces west. In other words the great room/kitchen has lots of sun exposure although the back of home does have 10 ft overhang over patio. I am concerned that the full western exposure will be way too hot and too bright. Coming from a northern state I haven't any idea how this is regarded as to year round comfort and cost. Landscaping the full western side of the house with some type of shade trees might be too cost prohibitive. I would welcome any thoughts on this. While we really loved the homesite for every reason, we are somewhat hesitant that we would end up with a house with too much sun, if that is possible, and too much heat during summer months. Thanks so much for any comments!
P.S. I have read through another thread on home exposures but nothing is addressed that pertain to my situation. Thanks again!

[AZ Tracy]

You are smart to be aware of this, when considering a purchase. The only solution to western exposed windows are using Low E glass, sunscreens, perhaps shutters and landscaping for shade. The bonus is having a corner lot with no neighbor. It's your decision.

[hikernut]

Having the back of the house facing south is generally okay. You may want to put the dark screens on any windows that are not under a patio, though.

I wouldn't buy a house with big windows on the west side. Again, it may be possible to install something over the window to keep most of the sun out, but to me that defeats the point of having a nice big window.

[smoochaz]

Our house is diagonal so W sunsets by kids bedrooms (they love those views!) and sun rises from side of our bedroom (backyard) - what I love about our positioning is that the sun is over our pool in the morning but when we're ready to use it in aft/eve - it's behind our home so we can keep cool - others having direct sunlight in their backyard in the aft/eve is bad IMO - so if you're going to use your outdoors that's something to consider! As you can see there are an abundance of homes here so choose what's going to make you happy, gives you no concern (which can be concern for future buyer/resale) eg no busy roads/noise, etc.

[Ponderosa]

Don't rationalize it. I have a western exposure to only two windows and they are relatively small compared to what they build today. It's the hottest room in the house. Sunscreens help. Vegetation too, but there are not a lot of plants that cast shade and can tolerate the reflected heat on the west side of a house in summer. Catclaw used to be popular in Phoenix, but I suspect HOAs ban it.

[LBTRS]

You don't want a lot of windows on the west side of a house. My kids rooms are on the west end of the house and are the hottest rooms in the house and neither have windows on the west wall. I would hate to feel these rooms if there were windows on that side of the house.

I enjoy our backyard facing south.

[stevek64]

Besides shade screens/film on the windows, trees or tall shrubs are a great solution in your case if you want to block sun/heat. Deciduous trees/shrubs will do this for you in the hot months but drop their leaves in the winter to let the sun in which is nice in the winter. Or go evergreen for all year protection.

You don't need to put the tree/plant right against your house(and shouldn't anyways for various reasons) so if you have the room, plant them out a bit from your home and you'll cut that heat maker right at the source before it hits your house/patio area. There are also many variety's of trees/plants that won't blink at reflected heat if you are near a reflected heat source(ie block wall, fairly close to the house, etc.).

[AZ Manager]

New builds are insulated so much better than what most people have in their homes. My home is 12 years old with the main living spaces, both the living room and loft, with large windows on the west side, specifically Northwest but more West. The rooms aren't hot but we have screens on all the windows. My office that never gets used faces South-Southwest and is the hottest room we have but that has more to do with the door being closed 90% of the time with no one in there.

I have a rental that was built in 1982 and it has no windows on the west side and main living spaces on the south with Windows but no screens. I've never had a tenant complain about the living areas being too hot in that home, my last tenant was in that house for 8 years. A lot of the heat issues are personal opinions, heat doesn't bother me at all so maybe I just don't notice it.

[BigEinAz]

Look at Arizona Sun Solutions rolling sunscreens. Down when you need them. Up when you don't. My new house backyard faces west and I'm going with these for sure. A little pricey, but I don't like permanent sun screens.

[Zippyman]

I have a two-story house to my west & obviously never have any problems there - we do have our master bedroom to the south (with a large patio cover behind it), and at certain times of the day (about 4-6pm this time of year), that bedroom gets blasted by sunlight. I'm not certain I'd want a south-facing great room unless I had really good blinds or shades available (or if I really wasn't home at that time of day)..