Preferred Lanai Exposure
 

We are looking to buy/build a home with a pool and trying to consider all the options. What is considered a preferred lani facing home with pool? What is the least preferred facing lanai?

I would say a lanai facing north would be most desirable. Less sun to heat up that area. East facing is also nice too. South and west are at the bottom. People entertain in the afternoon just when the hot sun is hitting that lanai at that time.

We live in a house with lanai facing west.

Great place to sit out in the morning and early afternoon and read but later in the day say 6 pm to hot to have dinner outside. A tradeoff for sure

Our Lanai faces South West, and we love it. We can see sunsets, but don't get the direct heat. There is always some shade as well. The other benefit of this orientation is that our garage doesn't get direct sun, either. I've heard other have had to insulate their garage doors to try and mitigate the heat. We don't have that issue.

Our house faces south . Our pool is on corner of the West side. Sunshine all day. Don’t want to face west, your lanai will roast you. Be sure what you you do, gotta live with it.

Don't buy a house with a west facing lanai.

You'll likely find that responses are in direct line with what people have.

For me it's South facing.
Maximum even lighting during the day to help illuminate the interior. That's where the most glass is. The lanai is shaded all day, much of the year except for winter months when sun is lower in sky. Good during the spring/summer/fall as that's when we sit out there.

Another thought to consider is that if the lanai is South facing, then that means the garage is (usually) North facing and does not get overheated during the hot months. In fact, the sun never shines directly on garage doors with the roof overhangs as they are. You will read here that that is a complaint of many asking about ways to try to cool down the garage. Such as extra insulation, garage door insulation, garage ceiling fan, air conditioning, extra attic roof vents (usually solar), attic access hatch left open, vents cut into garage door.

Absolute statements like this are usually incorrect. If you are a snowbird a west facing lanai is great for watching sunsets and enjoying some sun during winter months you are enjoying TV.

The one that gives you the best view and the most privacy.

Luv west facing lanai

Yes, that is how our house is. We built a small patio in the front of our house and we usually sit out there in the evening.

Right now, my wife and I are going to have our morning coffee on our very comfortable and shady west-facing lanai.

We chose our lot based on the rear facing south. We were putting in a pool and wanted the pool to be in the sun. The actual lanai area still stays in shade all day.

Ours faces west and we enjoy mornings out there having coffee and starting the day, I prefer not having the morning sun blinding us as it comes up. It is quite useable 9 months out of the year in the afternoon and evening however June through August it get's hot in there starting around 5:00 so we just put the air on if we want to use it late in the day which is not very often, I doubt that we use our AC 10 hours per month, probably closer to 5 hours. We have it enclosed with double pane sliders and could have sunshades installed if we ever wanted to keep it cool.

It is HOT in Central Florida in the summer months. It would not matter if our lanai faces due north, we do not do anything on the lanai at that time of year with the exception of me cooking dinner on the grill. We stay in the A/C during the summer. We don't even go to the squares to listen to music in the summer months due to the heat and humidity. But......that is just us. Thankfully, hubby and I agree totally with this.

BTW......our lanai faces NW and it is lovely at all times of the day in the cooler months.

You nailed it, we have the same setup with the same results, we bought a lot and built, and i told the agent one of the requirements was a south facing lanai.