This probably depends on how you and the wife define comfortable. We have a Lantana model with a ~300sf south facing lanai with 12’ of east and west sliders, all full height. The windows are double pane, low-e glass. The south windows are partially shaded by the overhang and pine trees. The east windows are fully exposed to a patio and there’s a hedge along the west windows. We have indoor shades on the east and west only. The ceiling is insulated and there are two ceiling fans. The sliders to the house are always open so that the lanai is passively cooled and heated from the house system.
In the summer we keep the house at 79 degrees F and 68 in the winter. In the spring and fall the lanai sliders and nearly all other house windows are open with the a/c system turned off.
I have found that the temperature in the lanai is about the same as the house during the summer, maybe 1 or 2 degrees warmer late in the day, and it’s a few degrees cooler in the winter, particularly in the morning.
Bottom line for us, with this arrangement for the last 7 years, is that we are comfortable and don’t need supplemental cooling or heating.
|