Are you looking to buy a house or build a new one? When choosing a home it is important to know where the sun will be at different times of the day and year, and when different parts of the house or garden will be light or shaded. You will typically only be visiting a property for a small number of viewings before you commit. How do you know where the sun might be at different times and on different days?
Our Sun Position app can help you with this. It shows the solar path on your camera view for different times of the day and throughout the year so that you can see when the sun will shine on different parts of the property and when it will be obstructed by nearby objects causing shade.
Below is a list of things to check when viewing:
Where will the sun rise throughout the year? Ideally you wouldn’t want bedrooms to be facing this direction as you will be woken by the morning sun. However this would be a good location for kitchen or breakfast rooms.
In which direction will the sun set? If you like sitting in the garden after work are there any parts of the garden which will get some late afternoon sun or will it all be in shade?
On which part of the house will the sun shine in the winter? This will indicate which parts of the house will be warmer at this time of year. These locations are better for rooms that you use a lot such as living areas.
Where will the sun shine in the summer? Which will parts of the house will be hotter in the afternoon? These areas would be better for locating rooms that you don’t use a lot such as bathrooms.
Which side of the house will get the least sun? The cooler parts of the house are best for bedrooms, particularly in warmer climates.
How often will the garden get the sun throughout the year? Will it be mostly in shade? This will influence both what you can grow in the garden and how you use it.
If you are thinking of installing solar energy – is the roof angled to get direct sunlight?
To help with answering these questions you can download our Sun Position app from Google Play.