Position of house and sun

[mja1906]

Am looking to buy a house, and wondering what position it should be facing (n/s/e/w) so that it doesn't get hot? and is not directly facing or under the sun in the afternoon heat?

[chiang mai]

South facing is preferable but caution, if you have a Thai wife she will have the final say when it comes to the direction each room faces, it's a feng shui issue which will cause you lots of sleepless nights, been there. Google feng shui, it's very real in Thailand.

[krisb]

Little off topic..

Keep also in mind your partners superstitions if she/he is.

The bed can only go on certain walls depending on the sun rise and sun sets.

My wife made us change rooms.

[eeeya]

the bed position got me too. Bed would have fit perfectly one way (which i chose) but apparently it was unlucky so we had to change.

I had an hours long discussion about this at thai language school a year or two ago, Wish I can remember the direction which was the worst. One direction is reserved for the dead I think.

Right now our pillow is on the east.

[krisb]

South facing is preferable but caution, if you have a Thai wife she will have the final say when it comes to the direction each room faces, it's a feng shui issue which will cause you lots of sleepless nights, been there. Google feng shui, it's very real in Thailand.

Yep. It's no joke either far as my wife's concerned.

It's to do with your feet and head lining up with the suns movement. Something to do with passing away I think.

Sorry,posted first then read your post.

[krisb]

the bed position got me too. Bed would have fit perfectly one way (which i chose) but apparently it was unlucky so we had to change.

I had an hours long discussion about this at thai language school a year or two ago, Wish I can remember the direction which was the worst. One direction is reserved for the dead I think.

Right now our pillow is on the east.

An easterly pillow

I have learned, just go with the flow these days.

It's just easier.

[T_Dog]

mja.. We put bathrooms, walk in closets, and utility rooms on the hot side of the house and that really helps isolate the heat from the living areas. If you can find a house that was designed that way, it will definitely be cooler. If a bedroom wall gets the sun in mid day and afternoon, it makes a great radiator well into the evening from stored heat.

[mja1906]

Ok take the husband/wife's superstition aside, a south facing house is generally best?

[chiang mai]

Yes, it avoids the heat.

[lumply]

Ok take the husband/wife's superstition aside, a south facing house is generally best?

South facing would get most of the sun at the front of the house for most of the day in the northern hemisphere. N the least.

[tifino]

Depending upon your degrees North above the Equator at your location, wouldn't you get more Sun facing on the Southern side of house?

(p.s.wifey always says West Front is worst for the god house. She won't now stay in one of our houses facing the West at front)

[Crossy]

An off topic post and replies to it removed.

[doggie888888]

I was told west is hottest, which makes sense. So we planted trees to shade the west facing walls and windows. Rather unplanned, the tree grew big and started to provide shade over the roof as well

Well, that west facing room is now the coolest room in the entire house!

Edited October 18, 2014 by doggie888888

[sirineou]

Google Sketch up has a shadows option, and a geo-location option.

Then you can select different months, days or hours to see how the sun hits it, where the shadows are and how it will affect light in the house through windows.

By making a 3D model of your structure, and changing it compass orientation in your property , you can optimize your sun associated concerns such as orientation of structure, window placement and size, outside area sun exposure at time of use, tree placement.

It is a pretty powerful option , for instance you can know exactly where to plant a tree so that it will shade a bedroom window at the time the sun is the hottest.

[craigt3365]

Google Sketch up has a shadows option, and a geo-location option.

Then you can select different months, days or hours to see how the sun hits it, where the shadows are and how it will affect light in the house through windows.

By making a 3D model of your structure, and changing it compass orientation in your property , you can optimize your sun associated concerns such as orientation of structure, window placement and size, outside area sun exposure at time of use, tree placement.

It is a pretty powerful option , for instance you can know exactly where to plant a tree so that it will shade a bedroom window at the time the sun is the hottest.

That's a great recommendation. Especially as the sun does rise and set a bit different depending on the season. We bought our house partially finished. No choice in the layout. The house is a few degrees off a N/S axis. With the main living areas and windows facing almost due south and west. I attached the layout.

It was horrible. In the morning, the sun would go into the "south" facing windows a few meters. Totally heating up those rooms. Late afternoon, it would be into the "west" facing windows and near sunset the sun would almost hit the back walls of the various rooms. It was bad. We have an original overhang of about 1 meter all around the house.

We built a patio that extends about 4.5 meters out from the house all the way around the south and west facing areas, in kind of a "Z" shape. It wasn't cheap, but without it, we would have been miserable. I know a guy who built his house the other way and he gets very little sun anywhere in his house, but his pool is in the shade most of the day and thus very cold. Ours is much warmer. Tradeoffs. We also planted several large trees and palm trees that help a bunch.

As far feng shui, I put my foot down and did what I wanted to. Wifey complained, but I didn't budge. We had a feng shui "master" come out to place our spirit house. I didn't like the location, so he picked another...and another...until I was happy. Did the ceremony and we were set! In the end, he said "good location". LOL

[ezzra]

Little off topic..

Keep also in mind your partners superstitions if she/he is.

The bed can only go on certain walls depending on the sun rise and sun sets.

My wife made us change rooms.

I"d rather pay more attention to what position the missus in on the bed, than where

the actual bed is....

[trogers]

Much will depend on how functional areas are set in that particular house, and not the main gate.

Should the house have the car porch and kitchen/laundry facing the front gate with the main door and foyer, it is suitable facing west.

[MichaelJohn]

Having built a house I would say it doesn't matter?

In Thailand the sun is (almost) directly overhead during the day so it doesn't matter what direction your house faces. There is a slight difference in the seasons but not markedly ....... most houses have a 1 or 2 metre roof overhang which casts a shadow over the house.

I would think more about the sun rising in the east and coming in the bedroom at 6am and waking you up ........ or the late afternoon sun setting on your computer screen/TV etc. The rest of the day it's overhead and shining on your roof.

And, as everyone else has said, make sure your wife is involved or you'll design a beautiful layout only to find you're sleeping in the smallest room with your bed head in the door way!

[tifino]

...and make sure there's no Toilet door across from the hallway facing into her bedroom

[sandyf]

I designed my house and positioned it so the front is facing NE. The verandah gets gets some sun for a short period first thing in the morning and then again as the sun goes down. The walls are cavity wall construction so there is little penetration during the day. The worst room is the kitchen which faces west and gets the sun on the door and window late afternoon.

[tifino]

if you happen to shack up with a Southern girl, the chances/odds are you may also need to refer to one of these:

http://www.parrotfish.co.uk/images/product_images/large/Islamic%20Qiblah%20Compass%20M5.jpg

[trogers]

if you happen to shack up with a Southern girl, the chances/odds are you may also need to refer to one of these:

http://www.parrotfish.co.uk/images/product_images/large/Islamic%20Qiblah%20Compass%20M5.jpg

Not all girls in the south are Muslims.

[trogers]

Having built a house I would say it doesn't matter?

In Thailand the sun is (almost) directly overhead during the day so it doesn't matter what direction your house faces. There is a slight difference in the seasons but not markedly ....... most houses have a 1 or 2 metre roof overhang which casts a shadow over the house.

I would think more about the sun rising in the east and coming in the bedroom at 6am and waking you up ........ or the late afternoon sun setting on your computer screen/TV etc. The rest of the day it's overhead and shining on your roof.

And, as everyone else has said, make sure your wife is involved or you'll design a beautiful layout only to find you're sleeping in the smallest room with your bed head in the door way!

I would disagree. The air temperature peaks aound 3pm and the sun would be halfway down west. You would not like sunlight streaming into your living areas or main bedroom by locating them on the west side.

[painterscabin]

As some else posted, NE is a good direction. In the winter, the sun hangs to the south, southwest and gets really hot on the walls. I built with double block, it helps. Lots of ventalation to catch the brezz from all sides is very practical. Sometimes it's not the sun that is the problem,it's those strong winds that kick up and bring in horizontal rain, blowing everything around so sometimes that patio/ varanda can get beat up and very wet. So, Longggg over roof all around with places to sit in the brezz at different times of day.

[Litlos]

If it is the standard Thai style build it will be hot regardless of which way it points. Those red clay bricks they use in the walls are some of the best heat absorbers/radiators I have ever seen. Couple that with generally no insulation in the ceiling and small eaves and you have a nicely designed oven. Throw on a second storey where heat rises up the stairwell and it gets even hotter on the second storey where the bedrooms generally are.

Basically to keep it a bit cooler is generally in the design and the materials used for construction, or just pay ongoing large electric bills for A/C.

Cheers

[Pib]

South facing is definitely the hottest here in Thailand. I live in Bangkok...sure glad my house faces north especially for the summer months/hottest time of the year. When we were buying our house around a half dozen years ago during a conversation the sales folks they did say usually the side of the soi with the houses facing north sells out the fastest since their front side remains cooler/get less direct sun...the front side gets more shade from the house itself. But since most folks build their house facing the road, a lot will depend on which side of the soi you may buy a piece of land on to build your house. But a lot will depend on the landscaping you may be able to plant around the house in terms of large trees, structure of your house, etc. Just keep in mind the south side will be the hottest/get the most sun during the year here in Thailand...while that might be desirable in a northern climates like Europe it may not be desirable in the tropics where Thailand is located and where the sun is very intense.

Edited October 19, 2014 by Pib

[crazykopite]

I have sunrise on the back of the house and sunset on the front but as the house is more than 50% of double glazing for the views I have 3 metre covered terraces around the property as for the bed that is positioned to take in the best views when I wake up the most important thing to me when having the house built is wind flow and of course the views !

Edited October 20, 2014 by crazykopite

[jacko45k]

My bedroom walls face West, and my front windows East.

Those bedroom walls get pretty warm and stay so well into the evening.

The house was obviously aligned more to the access road.

[orpheus454]

You definitely want your evening outside living areas facing east, to avoid the evening sun.

[IMHO]

This website will help you visualize sun angles:

June 20-22 is the summer solstice, when the sun is at it's most Northerly position in the sky:

http://suncalc.net/#/13.6887,100.5249,7/2014.06.21/11:58

December 20-23 is the winter solstice, when the sun it at it most southerly position in the sky:

http://suncalc.net/#/13.6887,100.5249,7/2014.12.22/11:58

And here's some plots at half-way between these two:

http://suncalc.net/#/13.6887,100.5249,7/2014.03.21/11:56

http://suncalc.net/#/13.6887,100.5249,7/2014.09.21/11:58

As you can see from this, the sun is predominantly coming from the south in Thailand - it's only from Late April to mid August that the sun is more or less overhead, or a little to the North.

That doesn't mean the answer to you question is to face it North though. What you need to consider is where you have windows located on the house, and where shade might also be coming from.

i.e. Assuming an even distribution of window area on each face of the house, it doesn't matter which way you orient it - some part of your house is always going to get hot

If the back of your house has substantially less window area than the front, you want to face it northwards. However, if the west side of the house in that orientation also has a lot of window area to consider, North-East might be a better choice.

If you can provide plans, we might be able to offer some more directed advice. If you could also include landscaping plans, even better - so we can understand where shade can come from.

Edited October 20, 2014 by IMHO