North Facing Property

Hi SMTM
Agents that try to plug north facing blocks are just jumping on the energy efficiency wagon without knowing their stuff. I am in Vic and am also an accredited rater, so the general principle is as follows…
The arc that the sun follows from dawn (when it rises in the east) to dusk (when it sets in the west) leans north. This arc is higher in the sky during the summer months and lower in the sky in winter months. Having a block that faces north is sometimes not the best orientation as in order to gain valuable points for your House Energy Rating (HER) , the living areas should face a northerly orientation with adequate eaves (there is a formulae) that will allow the low winter sun into your windows to solar passively heat your home but block out the high summer sun that will fry you. One of the Vic requirements of 5 star accreditation at the moment is to either have a solar hot water service on your roof or rainwater tanks to service your toilets. In order to function correctly, solar HWS’s need to have a north – northwesterly orientation, so if you go for this option and have a north facing block you will end up with a couple of solar panels hanging off the front of your home to greet your guests (and the valuer)…not a good look. If you also really wanted to take advantage of solar passive design should pick a site that allows you to face the majority of your general living areas along the northern side of your block, bedrooms etc are best placed on the southish sides, garages are best on the west and can act as a buffer etc. Basically if you are building a new home and are looking for a block then get one where the front is facing south and you can have all your living area’s at the back (open plan style); even adjusting around to south-east facing will still be easy for a rater to minimize the additional requirement. The better the rating for good design, the less money you will have to spend on additional glazing, higher R-value insulation etc.
Interestingly if you apply this knowledge to the purchase of IP’s, you would get a fair idea of how comfortable the home will be during the different seasons and in the case of people who are renting rooms out at a flat rate with all included this could save a few dollars in power/gas bills as you could attend to each possible problem (extra insulation etc) before you rent out the premises.
Once again if you live at the top of Australia then some of this advice may need adjusting for the different zone. Hope that helps sorry for the big reply (it seems to be a trait of mine).

Julie Fisher
Daryl Fisher Homes

Hi v8ghia
I know I had a lengthy reply but the point that I was making was that it doesn’t matter where the front of your block faces but what type of rooms are where; a north facing block with the living areas facing north will be just as comfortable as a south facing block with the living areas facing north. And vice versa. This is why advertising a north facing block as a bonus is irrelevant; you can design a very comfortable house that faces south.
The reason I said that a south facing block performed better than north facing was due to the fact that house design currently places our main living areas at the back of the house with maybe the exception of a lounge. If you had a southish facing block these main living areas would get good natural light and warmth during the day when you are in them. Of course a north facing block would also perform as well if your lounge/kitchen/meals faced the front as well, but you would rarely see a house designed this way.
Your very hot north facing rooms probably had too much glass and no (or not enough) eaves/verandahs. I live in Mildura and yesterday was 42 degrees; my kitchen and living face north and we have a 1800 verandah around our house which still allows the winter sun in but shades the summer sun from our walls and windows. I don’t even need to turn our a/c on until we hit 30 as the wall and ceiling insulation in addition to the verandah save us from direct sun. We added the verandah ourselves, but before then, we were like you, cooking in the summer.
It is not just as simple as saying north is better than south. That is why all new homes use the CSIRO software; it’s not just about orientation it is about a whole range of things. All these things can affect comfort no matter which way your block faces. You cant change an existing house to a large degree but you can make significant savings when building from scratch.

Regards Julie[exhappy]

I also believe that some councils look favorably on North facing living areas, I know that our Architect is adamant that if at all possible that living areas face North.

Sorry SMTM
I should mention that if you haven’t bought the land yet, that the best block that you could buy for this plan would be a South-West facing block. This would enable your bedrooms (apart from yours) to get the early morning sun which is nice to wake up to. The alfresco/casual/living areas would recieve the sun during the day (eaves or an adjustable external blind on some of the exposed north windows would help with the very hot summer sun and still allow the winter sun in to help warm your house). The less desirable setting sun would come down in the west where your garage’s corner is. Good luck.Julie

Hi Julie, thank you for the info. Don’t worry about the length. I love the detailed explanation & I want to express gratitude that you so generously share your knowledge.

I’ve always left it to the design consultant who changed my bedrooms in the North to living room opening onto the yard. Now I understand why!

We really do live & learn, thank you.
Kum Yin

I think I have confused you with my longwinded answers SMTM!

1. No, I would mirror image the entire plan for an east facing block.

2. Don’t buy a ‘north facing block, your ‘daytime area’s’ will be facing the south (too cold). Try to buy a South or South-West facing block (meaning your front door will be facing south or south west) so that your alfresco area is facing either North or North-East.

Regards

Julie