How does your house orientation affect its energy efficiency? The direction the house faces and the placement of windows determines its exposure to the sun. For an existing home, there’s not a lot you can do about the orientation, but you can mitigate the amount of direct sunlight absorbed into your home. In the Northern hemisphere, north-facing windows are considered the best for energy efficiency. In the images below, you can see that north-facing windows receive the least amount of direct sunlight throughout the day.

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Our Home Energy Evaluation will tell you which direction the home faces, the number of east, west and south facing windows and the existing shade available.

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Tips:

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Protect your home by creating shade around east, west and south-facing windows:

• Plant trees where possible

• Install shades, shutters or awnings

• Apply solar screens

• Build a trellis or pergola