What is the best direction in southern Oklahoma to face windows, bedrooms, and outdoor areas in dealing with mother nature.

I know the general rule in the northern hemisphere is to have the greatest window exposure to the south and the least to the north, but I wonder if that should be adjusted a little for hotter climates? I get differing opinions as to the best side to place a patio or deck to extend its usable hours in a summer day. To me it seems the south side is just about as hot as the north side of a house in the summer.

I prefer my patio and living space to face north, as in the hot months you don't have the blinding sun and heat.

It's cheaper to heat a house in Oklahoma than cool it and for that reason I like the living space where I spend most my time to face north and east rather than south and west.

Front of our house faces north, I figured I wanted snow built up against my garage and not my backdoor (if it ever snows here again). I know that happens so rarely but that's it.

Thanks. I am more uncomfortable in the summer than the winter in OK, but I thought I was the only one. Everyone else in my family seems to feel the cold is worse than the heat.

I also prefer the master bedroom on the north and preferably east side.

The hottest part of the day is the late afternoon and I want that bedroom to be as cool as possible when I turn in.

It depends on what you have going on in your backyard. If you have a lot of trees that will block out the sun in the evening on hot summer days, north would be the best. if there are not a lot of trees, to the west with your back yard to the east would be best so during the summer evenings, the sun will be behind the home. Most of the storms we get come from the west and typically the southwest. If I were to be building a home, I would have the entrance facing west and the master to the east facing the back yard.

^^^ That's the way we built our last home. The front actually faced west-northwest, putting the back facing more east-southeast. The front had a covered wrap around front porch and the back had a straight covered patio, so it you could enjoy outdoor living any time of the day.

Thanks. That is helpful. I was struggling with putting the main patio to the south, but it seems better to flip the house. That was my thinking but I was being steered away from common sense by the general rule I have read on the internet.

My house faces West, patio and everything to the East. Granted I didn't build it, but if I ever do build a house I think mine is facing the right direction. Part of my house juts out around my back patio on the North side, and this helps so much with those terrible North winds that bring cold air. I got a big shop to the South so that helps with wind in general as well.

When I was last house hunting, one of my must-haves was a house that faces W or NW, mainly because I wanted to be able to hang out on my patio and have shade in the summer. My previous home faced south and even though the back patio was on the north side, it had very little shade. I spent 19 years there and it was miserable to be in the back yard in the summer afternoons; hanging out on the patio was no fun; grilling was like being in an oven, and I didn't want a repeat of those experiences at my new home. I turned away from some very nice houses, just because of how they faced. I've very happy with my east-facing patio now and would not want to go back to something else.

Bonus tip - watching the sun rise over your back yard while sitting on your patio sipping coffee is a great way to start the day. :)

Your outdoor spaces should be placed toward the most desirable areas or views on your site. Windows should be placed to frame desirable views. Windows are not needed if there's nothing to look at. Don't worry about orientation. Heat gain/loss can easily be controlled by construction. Likewise with sun control. If you have undesirable spots on your site, hire a landscape architect.

Regardless of whether or not there is a view to look at, windows provide for ventilation in periods of nice weather when the A/C or heater is not needed, and when needed to clear foul inside air year round. They also provide a form of emergency, or secondary egress, which is mandatory in most building codes anyway, at least in the bedrooms, unless the home is being built in an area where there are no building codes.

Regardless of whether or not there is a view to look at, windows provide for ventilation in periods of nice weather when the A/C or heater is not needed, and when needed to clear foul inside air year round. They also provide a form of emergency, or secondary egress, which is mandatory in most building codes anyway, at least in the bedrooms, unless the home is being built in an area where there are no building codes.

Operable windows are only required in bedrooms. Windows can be nice for ventilation (on those VERY few perfect days), but a properly designed mechanical ventilation system works every day... ditto for purging gaseous nastiness. No arguing with your logic, just saying there are alternates that can help optimize the layout.

How about rules for elevation on a site? I have approximately 40 acres with an area near the center of the property at around 1510ft in elevation and it gently slopes away down to about 1485 to the E and N and down to around 1500 to the W and S. Would it be wise to site the house on the highest point on the property? There are decent views to the N, S, and W, but the E has a view of a barn and road, so it is the least favorable for views, but, the best for avoiding the afternoon sun. Thinking a design with a large 10-12 ft wrap around porch could compensate for the sun and allow one to choose the best view. No porch will take care of the hot sun coming from the west at around 4-7pm in the summer though.

How about rules for elevation on a site? I have approximately 40 acres with an area near the center of the property at around 1510ft in elevation and it gently slopes away down to about 1485 to the E and N and down to around 1500 to the W and S. Would it be wise to site the house on the highest point on the property? There are decent views to the N, S, and W, but the E has a view of a barn and road, so it is the least favorable for views, but, the best for avoiding the afternoon sun. Thinking a design with a large 10-12 ft wrap around porch could compensate for the sun and allow one to choose the best view. No porch will take care of the hot sun coming from the west at around 4-7pm in the summer though.

I would think at the highest point would be the best, especially for rain and runoff issues.

This is very similar to our scenario. Our 6 acre property was on a hill that dropped off to the east and to the west from approximately the center of the lot , and had an easy drop to the north across the lot. We built almost right at the apex of the hill and had no issues drainage, although we made sure that the dirt work for the foundation provided a swail of sorts for water coming from the south across the property to be directed around the house where it ran off to the west, and to the north around the back of the house, since there was an existing drive right behind the house leading to the shop building. The wrap around porch was nice, and we enjoyed many beautiful sunsets , and the roof over the porch was plenty wide enough to offer protection from the heat of the western except when it was low in the west but still intense. But that's when we could switch to the covered back patio, which offered beautiful morning sunrises and also protection from the afternoon sun. It was really the best of both worlds for us.

Operable windows are only required in bedrooms. Windows can be nice for ventilation (on those VERY few perfect days), but a properly designed mechanical ventilation system works every day... ditto for purging gaseous nastiness. No arguing with your logic, just saying there are alternates that can help optimize the layout.

I can't argue with a well designed system either. Windows may be an item of personal preference. I like lots of light. And our house that we built had plenty of light with a vaulted living , dining and kitchen area, and 10' ceilings in the rest of the house. Our current home is older, with 8' ceilings and is much darker inside, which I really don't care much for, but there's no arguing that the utility bills are cheaper.

I may be told by the architect I am crazy, but I envision a wrap around porch that is screened in. I would like the living/dining area to have 2 walls of windows almost floor to ceiling running about 20-25 feet on one side and 15-18 on the other. Since I am acres away from a neighbor or the road, I think we can do a fairly open view living area but will have solar screening for when the sun is low in the west. Will see if that can be done without being cost prohibitive on heating and cooling.

That sounds cool. I loved the wrap around porch idea. Ours wrapped from the west to the north, with the front door facing west. There's a reason that homes of the past were designed and built that way. Mainly to take advantage breezy days when most people didn't have A/C, and for the natural light. A lot of farm houses were built this way. There no reason you can't do it now. Build it how you want it and enjoy.