Suggestions wanted for home sun exposure preferences
 

I had someone ask me this, and I was not quite certain how to answer. Does anyone have any thoughts as to the preferred sun exposures for their homes? Assuming a lanai is in the rear of the house, which direction is best to keep heat and bright glare out of the house? Home facing north (Giving the lanai a southern exposure)?

The front of our home faces north...

The garage is much cooler than our neighbors, and the lanai has enough landscaping to keep the sun from overheating the area...

Lanai could face North if it did not get a lot of the afternoon and evening sun. I would tend to have the Lanai fast east for morning sun and no afternoon sun when I would be more likely to use it.

our house faces north....the lanai gets some sun in the late afternoon...but not glaring

the front of the house does gather some moss, but it's not a lot

I have noticed that houses with the front facing south often need to have solar tubes put in to get more light during the day.

That is a good point. Our house faces east, so our lanai is very shaded in the morning when my wife and I sit there and have our coffee. In the evening, our lanai is in full sun, so we had a small patio built in front of our house so we can sit outside in the shade and see what our neighbors are up to.

In summary, the direction your house faces is VERY important.

We specifically sought out this arrangement, not so much for the lighting, but so we could sit out front and not broil. I don't have any problems with the lighting, and we have no solar tubes in the open living room/kitchen/dining area (Gardenia). There are solar tubes in the laundry and guest bath, installed by previous owner.
Obviously, lanai faces south, which works just fine for us.

Our house faces northeast, so our birdcage/pool in the back faces southwest, which is maximum sun from late morning until sunset. We like it for several reasons. Great solar heating for the pool from the solar panels on the back half of our roof, absolutely beautiful sunsets over the wildlife preserve behind our home, and very little mold and mildew grow on the sunny side of the home. As a bonus, during the cooler winter months it’s really nice to have the warm sun where we spend lots of time outdoors. It does get pretty hot during the rest of the year, but who cares when you are hanging out in the pool. As we get older we do have to be more careful not to overexpose our skin to the sun, so that’s an issue we try to manage.

Below is a picture of our nightly sunset, which easily outweighs the heat we have to deal with from the sun.

If you don't mind a hot garage. The front of the house facing west makes the rest of the house and bedrooms and backyard lanai cooler and nice to enjoy after the sun sets as the backyard faces east and gets afternoon shade. The north side of the house has a tiny bit of shade. I'm glad my house doesn't have windows facing south.

House faces east, lanai faces west. The west facing lanai works for us. We are shaded till about 3pm. By then, we are headed to a square, pool or some other outing. Morning and mid-day time is great as you can enjoy the warmth in the shade. For us, the direction of the house/lanai really depends on how you might use that space. One thing I cannot fathom is those that enclose their west lanai. I can only imagine the rate which the air heats up in the lanai due to the incoming solar radiation (greenhouse effect).

When we purchased our home 17 years ago, it was #1 on my list for priorities. I wanted my lanai to be facing the south. Today, the sun rises on the left of my lanai, and sets on the right. I knew I wanted to add a birdcage to our Lanai, and eventually an outdoor kitchen. We accomplished both and then added a canvas over the top of the birdcage which helps with the direct sun and keeps a lot of the rain out…Our garage is not bad heat wise and we have a couple trees along our fence line that have grown over the years that gives our house more protection. We have installed solar tubes in the laundry, the master and guest baths, and in the kitchen. We love it all… I think the answer is…where will you spend most of your time. We like our oasis on the back of our home…and some neighbors have made front patios and they enjoy that better. We like the privacy in the back. The morning sun on my lanai is so wonderful and in the winter, we get a lot more use out of it due to the way it faces. Our neighbors across the street where the sun is on the front of their homes, dont get sun til later afternoon….. Its all a matter of preference. I will say that many people on the other side of the street say they wish they were on our side of the street because of that. Hope this helps.

We have a west facing lanai, sunsets are beautiful and we sit outside more in the evenings than the morning. We enjoy it however, it is the worst choice of you want to keep heat and light out.

Great Question, I have owned my home in The Villages now since Oct, 2020. That question did not even dawn on me till after I purchased my home. It's difficult enough finding the right house, the location to your neighborhood pool, shopping and town squares, etc.etc. Now you want to throw in the direction of the sun facing your house. Well my house faces North, and my garage stays cooler then the houses accross the street which face south. I hear those homeowners with their house facing south complaing that their garages get really hot from the direct sun hitting their garage door. Some of those homeowners keep their garage doors open and they have screens covering the doorway to allow the heat to escape and keep the bugs out. I also noticed some homeowners installl vents in the lower panels of the garage doors for better air circulation. A worth while upgrade which I have is solar powered roof vents. I have 2 the previous owner was smart to have them installed to vent the hot attic. I also have a birdcage in the rear of the house which gets a lot of sun and sitting out there can get pretty hot. Now, if you ever decide to get solar panels on your roof you would most likely want a house with the rear roof facing south. So you dont have to look at those ugly solar panels from the street looking at your house. I hope I helped to answer your question.

You do not want a western facing lanai. Thankfully, someone warned me before I purchased a home. The first priority for my sales agent was to find a home that did not have a western facing lanai. I've been here five years and so glad someone gave me this heads up before purchasing.

We have a north and south side of the the house and usually we like the sun to come out in the daytime….

My preference is morning sun in back ..evening sun in front .. leaving lanai area shaded in late afternoon / evening