New House - Sunlight Worries

[soph24]

Hi

I am in the process of buying a new house which is a good deal as probate and needs lots of work and is in the perfect area for us. BUT I am worried about the light.

It is a semi and the house fact exactly west so so the garden is East facing.

So basically there is no southern aspect to the hosue and the sun is blocked from the front of the house but a large extension on the house opposite.

I have been to view the house at various time on sunny days and it is difficult to tell about the light as the garden is really overgrown with some very large bushes and trees (which we would cut down as a priority).

It seems I will just get morning sun at the back and thats it. Should this worry me. I love the sun and heat. Will the house be cold and gloomy?

Would the direction a house faces be a deal breaker for you?

I grew up in a house like that and it was fine . We got full sun until lunchtime and late afternoon sun right at the bottom of the garden. Our current garden faces north but is long enough to have little permanent shade apart from near to the house. Light on the back is much better since our new neighbours to the East lopped their overgrown shrubs

This is something that is very important to me but I know most people don't bother, they're more interested in room size and modern fittings. I would check to see if the garden is long enough to catch the afternoon/evening sun at the end but remember you will always have to up there, the sun wont be on your doorstep/patio.

My present house is east/west facing and it's something that has always really bugged me. I used to have lots of houseplants which struggled then died. I'm moving house now and made sure the new house has a more southerly and open aspect.

I'm the opposite - our house is south facing and I hate it, it's always too bright

It's nice when we want to sit in the garden (although you can't do that for long with no shade) but in the house itself it's a nightmare - we've got big french doors in the living room and a huge window in the kitchen, and the heat is unbearable in the summer. All the furniture fades and you have to shut the blinds if you want to watch TV or use the computer because it's too bright to see the screen, and if you try to sit on the sofa to read a book the sun hurts your eyes, there's no escape from it. We bought a lovely south facing house to enjoy the sunshine, and now I end up sitting with the blinds closed most sunny days! My next house will not be south facing

Yes, deal breaker for me. We looked at a lovely house with the garden facing full east and in the winter we decided it would be particularly gloomy. The upside of an east facing garden is that you should get afternoon sun on your living rooms etc, but if you don't even get that, I would really think carefully.
My current house is South East and I am very happy with that, we lose it a little late in the afternoon - though full South even better! Things like fading don't bother me, the oak floors are a little faded in places but I would so far rather have a bright house.. sorry

Had a south facing garden and hated it, had to close blinds to be able to see the tv in the day and sat baking in the lounge (on the back of the house) had sun in my eyes through the windows.

Now have north facing back garden but no direct neighbours so only shade is from my own house and the garden wall.

I get sun half way down the garden all day, but I also have a south facing front garden which is large and doesn't face onto a road so I can sit out that way too.

I prefer my north facing garden as it is much cooler for my sons to be able to play out for much longer.

Light in a house is really important to me. We are buying a bouse which is south facing and has lots of double aspect rooms and I love it. I would really worry about a house that seemed dark.

That said, I felt my current house was dark when we looked around it. It faces south east and because its double fronted with a central hall, the inside can feel very dark. However, DH convinced me it was badly lit and badly decorated. We decorated it in much lighter colours and put in better lighting and now it feels lovely. But I do still wish we had evening sun on our patio.

My house is East/West facing so that we have direct sun in the morning and evening, plus through the kitchen doors thoughout the day. The only problem we have is that the garden is in shade on summer evenings.

During the winter, we have little direct sun, but then there is little sun in the sky anyway!

Thank everyone I appreciate the information

I’m struggling to work out how to judge where the sun is a certain times of the day. I’ve travelled to veiw a house and with a compass do you stand in your garden and find the south ? I know the sun comes up and sets North East or east west but unsure how you work it out . Can anyone advise me as I think I’m abit thick

I like east/west or west/east depending where the rooms are. If kitchen at back then usually bathroom upstairs is too and then you get the morning sun in both rooms. And if lounge at the front and west facing it’s when I would usually be relaxing in the afternoon. Much rather this than north/south or south/north. Also as long as garden isn’t tiny you should get the sun somewhere but all of this depends on trees and buildings including extensions. Therefore this house would be a no for me with the west facing aspects being blocked by an extension. Sunlight inside a house is more important to me than in the garden but that is just me. I love curling up on a sofa with sunlight warming me up! I currently have an east, south and west facing lounge and dinning room. It’s heaven. Would take a lot to move me from this house!

We had a west facing garden which was perfect. Sun from 11am onwards. It could be a bit cool in the mornings though on the back of the house. And my bedroom (on the front of the house) was very sunny first thing.

The house we are buying has a north facing courtyard. Would have loved west facing but you can only buy whats available.

According to sun tracker in summer we will get sun from 4pm on wards over the top of the extension/bungalow next door (depending on how big the shadows are) and in winter we will get pretty much nothing.

Everything online says to just paint it white or use light colors for paving to maximize the feel of light etc...

https://www.suncalc.org/#/54.8723,-1.698,3/2024.02.27/09:58/1/0

just put your postcode in and it will zoom into your house and you can change the dates to see where the sun will be on may 5th or November 1st etc...

Look on the house information thread and do a shadow analysis for that house. There are many apps on the web to do it. Make sure you add in the blocks of surrounding buildings properly.

I have a ESE facing garden. You are right it gets a lot of sun in the mornings. How much sun you get in the afternoon really depends more on what is to the south side of the garden. In my case, nothing. So it gets sun right through the afternoon until about 16:00 in the summer. So don't just think about the direction the garden is facing, but how much sun it gets to the sides.

It gets warm during the day in summer and obviously cooler at night than a south facing garden.

Another question is how much glass you have on the back. A fully glass/conservatory back south facing is going to be brutal in the summer without blinds.

Overall I find ESE facing pretty good because it warms the house/living room in the morning in the winter without having the brutal heat of the summer in the afternoon.

Thank you ,
I already have a 100 ft garden and sun all day going down to end of garden so really spoilt this other garden is 1/3 in size so every ray of sun will be great but I’d have to give up some I guess