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Original poster

Tell me about your south-facing house

105 replies

Streap · 05/04/2023 22:44

We’re about to exchange on a lovely house that faces full south. Lots of windows on that side and also a loft conversion with a south facing roof and velux.

Is it going to be stupidly hot in the summer? We have been living in a damp north-east facing cottage and I’ve been so excited about the southerly aspect that I am only just realising there may be downsides.

OP posts:
Alvinne · 05/04/2023 23:00

South facing is lovely! In the summer on really hot sunny days the key thing is to keep curtains or blinds shut in the daytime on the south facing sife. It's great in the winter as rooms heat up with a bit of sun even if it's cold outside

Flangeosaurus · 05/04/2023 23:05

The loft might get a bit toasty in summer. I’d try and get a thermal blackout on the velux and keep it closed during hot sunny days but it will still be hot up there!

Our front faces south so the rooms at the back can be a bit cold sometimes, in summer though they stay much cooler which is nice

NeverDropYourMooncup · 05/04/2023 23:08

Have you got enough money left over to fund some aircon?

Shouldn't cost too much in the great scheme of housebuying, just means maybe not buying all new appliances/replacing a sofa.

Add in some thermal curtains to keep the heat out and it shouldn't be quite as bad that way.

(My house is southfacing. The digital thermometer read 43 Celsius with the thermal curtains and windows closed. It wasn't what I'd call comfortable more like hellish )

nattynoonoo821 · 05/04/2023 23:09

Really hot even with curtains and living in the north. For huge chunks of the day our back garden is unusable as there's no shade. Last year our plants essentially boiled.

Orangetapemeasure · 05/04/2023 23:10

I won’t even look at a house that isn’t south facing. In the summer you open all the windows and in the winter the windows absorb all the light and it’s toasty warm. We are about to have 12m of glass bifold installed to max heat and light absorption. Your velocity room might be toasty, but it’s a very small price to pay for the rest of the house being toasty. South facing houses are also worth 12% more..

SpringBunnies · 05/04/2023 23:13

But doesn’t a south facing house also has a north facing side? Most houses have a front and a back. My current house is south facing at the front. So front garden, living room and two bedrooms are south facing. The flip side means my back garden, kitchen and the remaining bedrooms are north facing. You will find many say they won’t buy a house with a north facing garden either.

My last house is east/west facing. It is much hotter than the south/north one.

IntheSnowySnowyMountains · 05/04/2023 23:26

@SpringBunnies not necessarily. We are south-ish facing (slightly towards southwest) but our house is almost built into a hill. We only have velux windows on the north side. Most of the windows are on the front. It's not a conventional house though!

We are lucky in having thick walls, a roof that overhangs and shutters so it's not unbearable in summer, even though (in spite of my wintery name change) it's normally well into the 30s here for at least a couple of months. We do close curtains in the morning and keep windows closed when it's hotter outside than in. Max temp inside is about 28, except in converted attic room where it peaks at about 32.

EssexMamisoa · 05/04/2023 23:28

A lovely light house here in our living spaces which are all mainly at the back of the house facing south!! It’s so nice!! Enjoy!!

ToBeOrNotToBee · 05/04/2023 23:30

Plant some climbers on a frame in front if you can, think vines or a honeysuckle to give shade.

Shutters are a god send.

Saz12 · 05/04/2023 23:40

Where...? If a colder region, a bl4ssinf. If an overheated city, notfso much...!

DiscoBeat · 05/04/2023 23:42

Ours has garden all around it so faces all ways but the south part is lovely. In really hot weather we do tend to try to escape that but a parasol would work. 'Too hot' is only a fleeting thing in the UK anyway!
The north side is quite cool and damp in comparison. I definitely wouldn't choose a north facing garden if that were the only garden.

DiscoBeat · 05/04/2023 23:43

And as a PP said - blackout curtains! We've got two bedrooms facing that side and the curtains made a big difference.

Iheartsummertime · 05/04/2023 23:47

What area? Love our South facing rooms but it only gets too high for about a week in summer, if that. If we were in a warmer area, it would be different

sevenbyseven · 05/04/2023 23:56

Do you mean the front of the house faces south? Or do you mean you have a south facing back garden?

Our house faces north, which causes some damp problems in the rooms facing the front. The flip side is a sunny south facing back garden, and the rooms at the back of the house get lots of light. They do get hot in the height of summer but rarely uncomfortably hot - only in a real heatwave!

LemonSwan · 06/04/2023 00:03

We have south/ north. Considerably darker than my east/ west and a real nightmare for paints as polar opposite light (blue/red wave) and we have some dual aspect rooms.

But I love the house. But the light levels do annoy me.

I was spoilt. Compared to a north/ east cottage you are going to have a considerable improvement!

Teapleasemilknosugar · 06/04/2023 00:13

SpringBunnies · 05/04/2023 23:13

But doesn’t a south facing house also has a north facing side? Most houses have a front and a back. My current house is south facing at the front. So front garden, living room and two bedrooms are south facing. The flip side means my back garden, kitchen and the remaining bedrooms are north facing. You will find many say they won’t buy a house with a north facing garden either.

My last house is east/west facing. It is much hotter than the south/north one.

My house is the same as yours. The sun does hit our north facing garden but you have to chase it round the space to actually stay in the sun which plants can't do so it's a bit of a miserable space where nothing really grows but moss and our kitchen at the back of the house is the coldest room in the house and we have damp issues across the whole back of the house. The tiny front garden on the other hand is where we sit and have drinks of a sunny afternoon and get funny looks from passers by when we sit there and BBQ, and the light pours into our front room windows, they are always the hottest rooms.

SquirrelsAreStinky · 06/04/2023 05:28

I always thought that it was the direction that the back garden faced that defined the description?

So the back of my house and my back garden faces south, so it’s a south facing house.

I’ve just moved from a north facing house - which meant that the front, including the kitchen, was south facing. It was still described as a north facing house.

NamechangeAprilFool · 06/04/2023 05:43

Lots of light but three bay windows means the front is like a greenhouse for four/five months a year.

I had linen blackout lined roller blinds installed in year one and keep the top half closed most of the year, fully closing them in warm weather.

The north facing side stays cool and is where I spend the warmer months. North facing garden is lovely, always has sun somewhere in it but doesn’t feel like you’re being torched.

NamechangeAprilFool · 06/04/2023 05:45

SquirrelsAreStinky · 06/04/2023 05:28

I always thought that it was the direction that the back garden faced that defined the description?

So the back of my house and my back garden faces south, so it’s a south facing house.

I’ve just moved from a north facing house - which meant that the front, including the kitchen, was south facing. It was still described as a north facing house.

I would say a south facing garden, not house in that description.

User639762456 · 06/04/2023 06:08

Ours is North facing which I prefer but our garden is 200ft, if we had a small garden it would be no good, I wouldn't like a large south facing garden because there would be no shade.

curlywillow · 06/04/2023 06:20

User639762456 · 06/04/2023 06:08

Ours is North facing which I prefer but our garden is 200ft, if we had a small garden it would be no good, I wouldn't like a large south facing garden because there would be no shade.

shade is there if an obstacle blocks the sun. Tree, pergola, umbrella, all create shade..

Original poster
Streap · 06/04/2023 07:21

The main rooms all face the south and we are in the E Midlands. The north side only has a corridor and toilet.

OP posts:
SpecialControlGroup · 06/04/2023 07:22

The back of our house faces south and I bloody hate it.

The whole place is like an oven in the summer, and even with ceiling fans in every room it is stuffy and horrible and no chance of getting any sleep.

cobblers123 · 06/04/2023 07:53

The front of my house faces south and the lounge, hall and bedroom get full sunshine most of the day.

Advantages: Very light and bright, during cold weather, if sunny, the rooms get pretty warm so no need to heat until much later in the day.

Disadvantages; During the summer it can be a bit too warm. The bedroom is in the top of the house and it can make sleeping really difficult during the summer.

Original poster
Streap · 06/04/2023 07:53

😭ok now I need to hear that’s it’s not going to be awful. Anyone have a south facing house that isn’t an oven?

OP posts: