Best direction for lanai to face
 

When choosing a lot what is the best way to chose for the lanai to face and why?

I think you will gets a few different opinions here --

We chose East facing ---beautiful Sunrise, morning sun not tooo hot --beautiful in the afternoon and early evening. but the garage is a steamroom on the west side ---

Good luck ----any choice you make will be great as long as it is in here :undecided::undecided:in TV

Unless it is well shaded or covered, you should stay away from a West facing lanai as they get too hot for afternoon use when it is coupled with the high heat of the afternoon in the summer. Nice in the winter though.

My vote
 

East Much cooler in the afternoon and evening. It is gentle sun (is that an oxymoran at this time of year) in the morning. Breakfast on the lanai is comfortable.:thumbup:

West Lanai
 

I have shades for my west facing lanai. You can see through but it keeps the hot sun from shining in. I had an east facing one before but the garage was really hot. Installed a attic fan in the garage to help with the heat. It's all good.

Ours is North Northeast and it is on the Northeast side of the house. It gets direct morning sun and then the sun is over the house for the rest of the day.


.

We like our south facing lanai. During the heat of the summer the sun passes directly overhead so at mid day the lanai is fully shaded. During the winter the sun is lower on the horizon and thus helps warm the lanai on chilly days.

Another vote for south-facing lanai. In fact that's how I chose my house from among several that I liked. And I was right! It doesn't get full sun until late in the afternoon, and I put up a bamboo screen to shade it on the west end. Since the rain mostly blows from the east, it doesn't get wet at all.

I asked about this as well when we were choosing our place!

Ours is East/ Northeast and we are pleased. It gets full sun from 9:30 to 10:30 and has partial then full shade after that. We have a half- birdcage,(1/2 under roof) so when the rains come (from the east, as mentioned before) plant pots inside the birdcage get a nice shower, but I can usually sit out there and stay dry under roof, if I want to. I love it!
As teachnmo says, "It's ALL good. :thumbup:

Just another thought
 

Our TV Realtor will not sell a west facing lanai. He says most realtors will sell a west facing lanai but from his many years of experience (he is the realtor that has been there the longest) most people do not want a west facing lanai. He said I live here too and don't want to run into unhappy clients!!! Now I know I have offended many of you that love your west facing lanai...but thought I would just add what I know.

These are strictly my choices and everyone has their favorite for there own reasons. First choice South for reasons stated above. Second choice West because we have a pool and solar heat so West helps. Needed to install a motorized awning for the really hot days. Third would be East, nice in the AM but the garage issue is very real. Forth is North. I know some like North, but for us it just does not work.

First you have to have your Garage vented and the door insulated no matter what direction you discuss. Once that's done, the Realtor's or Professionals in the business consider the East facing Lanai the best and list it that way in their Resale adds.

Great input
 

Is always great to get people's thoughts on why they make choices they make. Up north we always made sure the FRONT faced west to southwest that way the sun would melt the ice and snow off. That won't be a problem here!

We have east/northeast and love it, however I can see the merit of the south lanai too. West is pretty brutal unless you're a sun worshipper (some people with pools love it).

When I arrived in January to check out TV and look for possible lots to build, I told my sales rep that I WANTED the lanai to face west. She told me I had just ruled out 75% of the lots she was going to show me - yep....north, south, east and.......

For me.........there is nothing better than seeing the sunset........preferably over water. I never in a million years thought I would get "my dream-come-true" homesite in Florida, no less TV..........but my sales rep showed me a lot site.....facing west...on a little lake. That was IT! Within 24 hours of arriving in TV, the deal was sealed.

I have the same situation here up north.........and yes, it does get hot in the afternoon. My west-facing sunroom here is my favorite room in this home. The sunsets are awesome! I do plan to eventually have that lanai in TV enclosed and air conditioned............so I can see those wonderful beautiful sunsets no matter how hot it gets.

So.......there are different strokes for different folks.......and some really do want their lanai to face west. Bring on those gorgeous sunsets in TV!

I have a thermometer on the east (front porch) and another on the lanai (west). On summer days there is very little difference but the lanai has a ceiling fan plus shade trees (and privacy) so until the temp hits 95+ I am happy on the lanai. Porch far too hot in the AM.

Neighbors across the street have west facing garages and they are no hotter than my east facing garage. Garages here are very difficult to cool. If I were picking out a lot I would consider the direction the house would face. If I were buying pre-owned, position would not be my first consideration.

If you take a ride around The Villages in mid afternoon you won't find many people on their lanais regardless of which way they face.

We love our SE facing.

Deliberately chose a north facing lanai. I really like having my morning coffee and paper out there almost any day of the year - except those few days when there's "frost on the pumpkin!" :D

The end of the lanai does face west. I installed 1] a good sized shade tree and 2] a roll-down screen to reduce the afternoon heat.

But, over the years, I've found that it's just hotter than I like, even with an overhead fan, during the really warm months. So, I hide away in the cool!

SWR
:beer3:

East does seem to be the preferred direction by the real estate people. Our lanai faces east, and we use it about 9 months of the year. This time of year, its is great all morning, and its in the shade in the afternoon. Sometimes we'll be out there with the fans going, but even in the shade we generally find it too hot to be outside when the afternoon temps are in the high 90's. In the winter, its too cool to be outside many days. Sometimes it does warm up into the 60's or low 70's by late afternoon, so we have fixed up our west facing entry area with an outdoor carpet and wicker seating, to take advantage of the sun from that direction late in the day. The angle of the sun is so low, however, that it can shine directly in your eyes, which is uncomfortable. We put in a pull down screen, but it still lets some of the sun light through. So we've found that there are just some days in both summer and winter, when it is too hot or cold to be comfortable on the lanai, but generally the east facing lanai works out pretty well for us.

Buy a lot with a 100 year old oak plunked right in the middle of your yard with a west facing lanai and voila ! You have morning/noon/afternoon shade and the best darn sunsets you could ever imagine. I love it here !

SE facing
 

Our villa faces southeast and we are quite happy with it too! :-)

Breeze on a south facing lanai?
 

We have found a home with south facing lanai, Am I thinking correct about never really getting a cool breeze as the come from the north-NW and blow to the south-SW. This way most is in up north, is that true also in TV? We sure have got some great info from some of you.

My main covered lanai is northeast for morning sun and shade rest of day. My pool and side cage (soon to be built) will be open to sun until late in the day when the house shades the west sun. Obviously I have a side yard setup with the pool and the main lanai out back.

I think you can make any situation work but I would vote for no west direct sun if I had to make a choice.

I think in the winter there is more of a tendancy for a north wind, but when you are looking for a breeze in the warm months they can be rare and seem to vary but mostly from the East, South and West. You can check any date and time of day on this site:
http://www.wunderground.com/weathers...y=28&year=2011

I think you are better off relying on your lanai fans for a breeze than to plan a house around it.

Our whole back of house is (designer) is under cage. One side the pool the other the lanai. Just returned from the warm July days and the breezes kept us comfortable, the pool even more. We bought because we have the whole wide open Stirrup Cup nine to look over as our back yard. West? OK, with that view and the sunsets...OMG