Never again, if I can help it, will I buy a house that the back faces East and the front faces west.

Every day the sun on the back of my house heats up the back room of the house at least 4 to 6 degrees hotter than the front.

Then in the afternoon the front gets warmer but not as bad because we have a large oak tree in the front yard blocking some of the direct sun.
This is all with the A/C on.

In the back on the sliding glass doors I have dark window tint and then I also have black out curtains however the heat just radiates out sides and the top above the curtain rod.

What experiences have you had trying to block some of the heat coming through your windows?

Thanks

My last house had huge west-facing floor-to-ceiling (high vaulted ceiling) windows in the living room and master bedroom.

Looked gorgeous, but the ex-wife and I discovered the first summer that the afternoon sunshine would absolutely cook those rooms. Which exacerbated the usual home cooling challenges of being in the South with summertime temps often 100+.

The combination of those factors meant that my summertime electric bills were $300-$400 as the AC tried desperately to keep up but could often barely hold it at 85ish in these two main rooms in mid-afternoon.

It was like living in a greenhouse.

Unfortunately, I never found a silver bullet. Window tint and good blinds helped a little, but didn't totally solve the issue.


I was a lot smarter when shopping for my new house... My new house doesn't have any major west facing windows, just bathroom accessory windows. The majority of the windows face north/south, and both of those sides have large covered porch overhangs. And no high ceilings or huge picture windows.

Those factors combined with its 20 year newer and more energy-efficient construction, and my summertime electric bills in the new house rarely top $150 now. And that's with several recent rate hikes.

Maple trees

Best investment was an awning on the back deck that sees sun 2/3 of the day.

Solar screens?
It's on my to do list for the front of our house.

Solar screens + awnings.

Plant some Oak trees, you'll end up with shade that will help.

Upgrade the glass to the best gas filled, tinted, ev resistant glass you can,

We are in the same boat only lucky the large back windows point north.

Bedroom heats up we tinted the windows as best possible with heat reducing film.

Real only solution is to change the windows.

Windows with low e (emissive) glass works well. If you can afford them, awnings are great

Very large overhangs upstairs and a wrap around veranda down.

We built or should I say did a complete remodel of a small home for a clients kids that faced due south and had a lot of glass to take in the lake view. There weren’t any trees so we ended up taking 2x6’s and made a frame similar to a decking frame with 2 blocks between the 2x6’s for spacing. We hung the frame by bolting it to the house (like a decking) and hung the outer band with stainless steel cables at a 45 degree angle. We extended this “deck” so that it shaded all the windows and doors during the summer but allowed some sun to shine in during the winter.

I’m not very good at posting pictures here but I’ll send you an email with a few pictures so you can see what I’m talking about. Let me know if you have any questions.

Plantation shutters do more for me in this house as new windows and doors did in my previous condo and house.

I put solar screens on mine.

quote:

Originally posted by pace40:
Maple trees

Best answer.

For the inside, we got honeycomb blackout shades. They block the light very well and also insulate both in hot and cold weather .

I have dual pane thermally broken aluminum windows and use blackout shades for the two bedrooms where the sun is blazing on them from mid day to dusk.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
We built or should I say did a complete remodel of a small home for a clients kids that faced due south and had a lot of glass to take in the lake view. There weren’t any trees so we ended up taking 2x6’s and made a frame similar to a decking frame with 2 blocks between the 2x6’s for spacing. We hung the frame by bolting it to the house (like a decking) and hung the outer band with stainless steel cables at a 45 degree angle. We extended this “deck” so that it shaded all the windows and doors during the summer but allowed some sun to shine in during the winter.

I’m not very good at posting pictures here but I’ll send you an email with a few pictures so you can see what I’m talking about. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thankyou I got the pictures it looks interesting and has given me some ideas.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations it has given me a few ideas.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeGLI:
Plantation shutters do more for me in this house as new windows and doors did in my previous condo and house.

This. They are amazingly useful, look great, and do a great job with thermal management both in the summer and winter.