Wednesday, January 19, 2011

On the wrong side

It would be easy to suppose that living in a warm climate like that of Southern Spain you wouldn’t need to concern yourself with which way your house faces. When we bought our houses in the UK, we always took a compass with us to ensure that we would get the best of the sun where we wanted it – in the back garden.

When we bought our home in Spain we were similarly keen to know the orientation of the house. As it turned out, things could not be better. Our bedroom and the lounge face south and so get the sun all day. Three of the four windows in the lounge/dining room bring warmth and light into the house. The west facing fourth window gets the sun late late afternoon. The second bedroom, where my computer is housed faces north and so remains cool even in summer. Most important, the pool gets the sun from early morning to evening time – perfect.

I say this because there are some houses on our estate that do not get the sun at all. When the owners bought them, they were assured that it would not matter but it does. As they sit on their north facing porches, they look in envy at their neighbours across the road in t-shirts and shorts and wonder why they have to wear sweaters and trousers to keep warm.

It isn’t a problem in summer but from autumn through to spring it must be very annoying for them.

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