As we approach the official end of another long hot summer, most people in Tamworth are breathing a collective sigh of relief that (hopefully) the worst of the unrelenting heat is behind us. When it is so oppressively hot our homes can become our sanctuaries. But if this is going to work for us good house design is essential. Otherwise, our homes are more like ovens.

If you are about to build a new home, then a big step you can take that might not cost you any extra is to consider the orientation and shading of your new home’s design. Together, these can mean the difference between the sun baking your home into a crisp, or being kept out.

Orientation generally means: which way is your new home going to face? Ideally, you should position it so that your living areas face precisely north, and minimise the east and west facing sides. This allows you to use the sun to your advantage during winter, but importantly - to keep it out during summer.

Shading is what is used to keep it out during the summer. With careful design eaves, verandahs and awnings can be placed that are the correct size to make sure as little sun as possible touches the walls and windows of your home during the heat of the summers’ days.

So how much difference does it make?

The photos above were taken on a hot day in midsummer, at the same time (around 2 pm) on a house which faces due North, with wide northern eaves. The first photo shows the temperature of the bricks of the house wall which have been shaded all day by the large eaves; 42̊C. The second; bricks which had been in the sun most of the day; 63̊C. That’s a whole 21̊ degrees more; or put another way, bricks in the sun are DOUBLE the heat of those in the shade.

Consider the enormous benefits of having 21 fewer degrees of heat encasing your home like an electric blanket, day in and day out. At night, the bricks return to ambient temperature faster, and for the vast majority of the days - even in the heatwaves we saw this summer - no airconditioning was needed in this home; merely ceiling fans. The sun was kept off the walls and windows through design alone, and this paired with other measures included in this home (such as insulation) was enough to keep the internal temperature pleasant.

That’s a lot of comfort gained, and dollars saved on cooling bills.

If you haven’t yet purchased your block of land, then you should keep this in mind when looking around. Try to find one where the views, street access and shape mean you can position a house with your living areas facing north on the block. In some cities, forward-thinking developers have started to create estates with this sustainability in mind - the streets and land are formed to allow for all of the houses to have the correct orientation.