Any particular direction a house should or should not face? (Sacramento: custom home, landscaping)

[inpd]

I keep on hearing about these blazing summers and cool delta breezes.
So what orientation of the house is desirable undesirable?

[DMenscha]

Title 24 of the building code dictates a lot of what a house looks like with regard to orientation. North walls have less window area for example. My house has the kitchen and Master bedroom facing west which we like as the sunsets are great from the kitchen and the morning sun doesn't wake us up early. Some people like to greet the day with the sun coming in.

The cookie cutter homes in a subdivision aren't designed for orientation, but a custom home might take advantage of the sun and be designed for passive solar.

[NewToCA]

If you like sitting in the back yard, you may want to have the front of your house facing towards the west. Landscaping with trees is a big deal here, and generally is very effective in making the house and yard more comfortable in the summer:

http://smud.org/residential/trees/index.html

[cw68]

The older the home, the more oriented it will be to take advantage of the Delta breezes. I remember first coming to the area and going to a friend's house and asking, "Why do you have a door from the bedroom to the kitchen?" Answer: Delta Breeze. The house was built in 1927.

My house, built in 1989, is not built to take advantage of breezes AT ALL as there are only two small windows on the north side that open, and those are both small upstairs bathroom windows. One half of the downstairs has one window that opens. (!!!!) Much different than the older homes in which I've lived before.

My first two houses faced North, which I didn't like because I couldn't plant many flowering plants in the front, but made for sunny backyards. My current house faces West and I like being about to get afternoon shade in the backyard.

I'd worry more about trees than what direction your house faces, personally. They do make a big difference.

[inpd]

Originally Posted by cw68

I'd worry more about trees than what direction your house faces, personally. They do make a big difference.

As usual cw68 you are a fountain of knowledge

So if I understand your post correctly. The delta breeze comes from
the north right?

But where do you want the big trees.

I know this may sound ridiculous asking these questions but there
are literally half a dozen homes that we could buy and we have
the luxury of choose amongst them. And seemingly small things like
this can make a big difference once your living in the home.

[Team Mom]

Our home faces South and we have one large window in the front of our home and an identical size window in the rear--upstairs. We get a fabulous flow via the Delta breezes. Two years ago we put in a whole house fan to take better advantage of this cooling helps. Now our bedroom curtain will go a full 90 degree angle from the flow.

On a side note, many of our neighbors face the same direction, but have no opening windows on one side. Make sure you find a home that has windows North or South that actually open and are not just for decor.

[DMenscha]

The delta breeze comes through the Carquinez Straights, it is generally a wind out of the west, southwest.

[cw68]

The Delta Breeze is felt throughout most of California, generally a southwest or southeast breeze. Most important is airflow throughout the whole house. Whole house fans are great! When I had one, I'd wake up in the morning in the summer, open the windows and turn the whole house fan on to bring all this cold air into the house. Then I'd shut the fan off and shut the windows to capture all the cold air inside.

Regarding trees, you want trees on the west and the south sides to shade your house from the hot sun. Trees on the east can help block out the morning sun. Doesn't really matter if there's trees on the north.

If you're concerned about utilities, avoid a house with a black roof, make sure there's good insulation in the attic and that windows and doors are tight. If you buy a house with older windows, it often can be difficult to justify the expense of new windows. So instead get thermal window coverings. You can get drapes with thermal backing as well as multi-cell cellular window shades. In my 1941 metal casement window house, we triple-celled window shades and thermal backed drapes. It made a different in the winter and the summer. For the single-paned windows, we got double celled shades.

[Kingsnkali]

The front of my house in Folsom faces north. I really like it that way because of the near NON-STOP sunshine in the long summer here. The heat and sunshine is blazing and searing and I DON'T want it hitting my main glass. I look at the homes on the other side of the street in full sun and wonder what their a/c bills are like. Meanwhile, the back of my home is shaded by large trees with only filtered sunshine. It stays rather cool.

The delta breeze hits us from the southwest in the evening and I can open up the windows on the north and south to get the cooling air-flow through the home.

Other people like a south or west facing. I don't. Not in this kind of heat. And not in this kind of climate. Plus, many of the homes here are like a glass houses. Lots and lots of windows with 10 to 12 foot high ceilings. Like living in a fish bowl. I view the sun as my enemy most of the year.

[tande1n5]

It really depends on the floor plan of the house.... if your windows are on the west, it doesn't matter what direction your house faces, for example.

My parents, who live in Sacramento have their family room on the Western side of the house, with big windows, and it's something I'd advise against. In the summer, the hottest part of the day is around 4pm, and if you have many Western facing windows, the sun will be low enough that it shines right through them, and on 100 degree days, it will take some really good window treatments to block out.

I'd keep the backyard on the Eastern side to most utility in the summer, and keep the Western wall as free of windows as possible if I were to do it.