Which side of a house will get the most sunlight?

Question

Which side of a house will get the most sunlight? Articles on the internet seem to have conflicting answers. Is this because it is dependent on location?

Answer 1

In general, it depends on your location. In the northern hemisphere, the south side gets the bulk of the sun, because the sun is in that half of the sky.

But if you are on a hill, or have a hill to the east or west, it can significantly shorten your solar 'day'.

Additionally, if you are in an area that tends to get morning fog, east-facing will get less effective sun than west-facing, because by afternoon the sun will have burned off the fog.

Finally, elevation matters. Higher floors will get more sun because they "see" more of the sky.

So in general, the south-west of the house will get the most sun, with upper floors receiving more than lower floors.

Answer 2

A good (and kind of fun) way to answer this is with Google Earth. If you look up your address, then click the Sun icon, it will allow you to see the sun light based on season and time of day.

Answer 3

This question depends on context.

• I could say the north side but for all I know the north side of your house has no windows.
• It also depends on geographic location. Where does the sun rise/set.
• Do you have any trees/objects near your house that would obstruct light?

There are varying factors here to say the least.

Answer 4

I believe that in the northern hemisphere, it's always the south-facing side, and north-facing in the southern hemisphere.

Wikipedia's article on Seasons has a few nice images showing this.

Answer 5

The sun rises in the east, swings south throughout the day, to set in the west. Depending on season, "east" may be slightly ESE in deep winter to E in mid-summer to ENE in late fall (northern hemisphere).

Of course, it's the earth, not the sun, that is moving. Which side of your house gets the most sun is dependent on local geography and site layout (in a valley, on a wide open plain, large shade trees, high on a hill) but the earth's rotation and season of the year is constant. Simple explanation here: Learn the scientific reason behind Earth's seasons.