South facing windows: do they really get more sun?
If you’ve ever browsed Rightmove, you’ll have seen “south facing” treated as a selling point worth thousands. Estate agents lead with it for a reason. But what does it actually mean for the rooms you live in, and what should you do about the windows in them?
Do south facing windows get more sun? Yes, and here’s why
Britain sits in the northern hemisphere, which means the sun never passes directly overhead. It rises roughly in the east, arcs across the southern half of the sky, and sets roughly in the west. In midwinter that arc is low and short; in midsummer it’s high and long. Either way, south is where the sun spends the day.
So a south facing window receives direct sunlight for most of the daylight hours. A north facing window, pointing away from that arc, gets indirect light and shade. East facing windows get the morning sun, west facing windows get the afternoon and evening.
How to tell which way your windows face
You don’t need to guess. Open the compass app on your phone, stand at the window, and point the phone straight out through the glass. A reading around 180 degrees is south. Anything between about 135 and 225 degrees will behave like a south facing window for most practical purposes.
No compass to hand? Watch where the sun is at midday. If it’s shining straight into the room around noon, that window faces south.
Are south facing rooms hotter?
In summer, yes, noticeably. All that direct sunlight is free heat, which is wonderful in February and less wonderful in a July heatwave. South facing rooms in London terraces can climb well past comfortable on hot afternoons, especially with older single glazing that does nothing to slow the heat down.
This is manageable with the right glazing. Solar control glass reflects a share of the sun’s heat while keeping the daylight, and it’s the sensible specification for any large south facing window or door. We’ve covered the summer side of this in more detail in our post on double glazing in summer.
Making the most of a south facing aspect
If your main living spaces face south, the windows are doing a lot of work for you: light through the day, warmth in the colder months, lower heating bills. It’s worth helping them along.
Larger panes and slimmer frames let more of that light in. Modern casement windows use a higher glass-to-frame ratio than older designs, and bow and bay windows catch light across a wider arc of the sky than a flat window can.
South is also the natural side for patio doors or bifolds if your garden sits that way — a full-height wall of glass on the south side transforms how bright a kitchen or living room feels.
One caution: conservatories. A south facing conservatory gets sun all day, which sounds ideal until it’s 35 degrees in there by lunchtime. Solar control roof glass and decent ventilation are not optional extras on a south facing conservatory; they’re the difference between a room you use and a room you avoid for three months a year.
And if your windows face north?
North facing rooms get soft, even, indirect light with no glare and no overheating. Artists have always preferred north light for exactly that reason. The trade-off is less warmth, which makes glazing performance matter more, not less. A-rated double glazing on the north side of the house is where you’ll feel the difference on your heating bills.
Talk to us about it
Whichever way your home faces, we can advise on the right glass for each elevation — we’ve been doing it across North London since 2012. Get an instant quote or call 020 8800 1838.