Where you place the windows might seem of little importance beyond design considerations. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Proper placement of your home’s windows is an exact science. If you place windows properly, you can reduce your energy bills, make your home brighter with natural lighting, and ensure your home is well ventilated.
In particular, window positioning benefits your home in three areas:
- Ventilation
- Passive Heating and Cooling
- Daylighting
Proper Aluminium windows placement will ensure your home is open to cross breezes in the summer, helping to reduce your dependence on air conditioning. It can help you utilise the sun’s energy for heating in the winter. And it can ensure you minimise your reliance on artificial lighting.
How Window Positioning Improves Ventilation
Ventilation is very important in the home. Proper ventilation enables efficient temperature control during summer months by utilising cross breezes through the house. And also ventilation removes allergens and pollutants from the home’s air.
To achieve proper ventilation though, homeowners must make several considerations in regards to window positioning. The windows must be positioned to maximise exposure to breeze and wind. For example, trees and neighbouring buildings can cut off wind flow, and thusly, windows should be positioned to account for this. Windows located higher on walls may be necessary for achieving this.
In Australia, typically cooling breezes in the summer move in from the south, and therefore, it’s important south-facing windows are operable and unblocked by trees or neighbouring buildings. Plus, low-laying windows ensure breezes flow at a height that occupants will notice.
Read Also: Why You Should Consider Aluminium Windows and Doors for Your Commercial Property
Window Orientation and Heating/Cooling Needs
Passive solar heating and cooling are complex subjects, but they both are one of the most important considerations in window orientation. In Australia, west and east-facing windows receive excessive sunlight in the summer, and if too many windows are placed on the east and west walls, the result can be high solar heat gain – which means the heat from the sun causes the home to become too hot. This makes it difficult to manage the temperature in particular areas of the home and requires a greater reliance on air conditioning.
In the winter, north-facing windows receive the most amount of sunlight in Australia. If windows are properly oriented on the north-side of the home, this heat can be utilised to warm the home. Thusly, the greatest number of windows should be oriented to the north, and windows used on the west and east facing walls should be smaller and properly shaded. As far as south-facing windows, these are utilised in the summer for ventilation, since summer breezes typically flow from the south, and since they receive summer sun in early morning and late afternoon, they are not a major contributor to solar heat gain during the summer months.
Utilising Windows for Natural Light
Daylighting is the harnessing of the sun’s rays to light your home. Daylighting can be limited by trees, natural features and neighbouring buildings, and it’s closely related to solar heat gain. The key is balancing the number of windows in a room, while limiting the potential for solar heat gain. Over-glazing a room will allow plenty of light in, but it can overheat the room during summer or result in heat loss in winter.
Improper window placement can cause problems in your home, disrupting comfort and making it more difficult to manage heating and cooling. If you’re installing new windows on your home, it’s best to talk with a window installation contractor to ensure you achieve maximum daylighting and limitation, while controlling solar heat gain and passive heating.
