How to use this tool
- Find your house. Search for your address or town, or tap the map. Zoom in to see your building.
- Turn the house. Use the direction control until the orange front edge of the outline matches your front wall. The direction is the way you look when you stand at the front door and look out.
- Read the hours. The cards show how many hours of direct sun each side of the house gets on the selected day, and when. The season table compares the solstices and equinoxes.
- See it in 3D. Switch to the 3D model and drag the time slider to watch the sun move around the house and its shadow move across the ground.
What each side gets (Northern Hemisphere)
- South: the most sun over the year and the only side with plenty of winter sun. In summer the sun is high, so a small roof overhang shades south windows well.
- East: morning sun all year, then shade.
- West: afternoon and evening sun. In summer the low western sun can overheat rooms, and it is hard to shade with overhangs.
- North: little or no direct sun in winter, a few early and late hours in summer, and steady diffuse daylight.
Diagonal orientations combine the neighbouring sides. In the Southern Hemisphere everything is mirrored.
Worked example
A house in Ljubljana whose front faces due south gets about 8 hours 30 minutes of direct sun on the front on the December solstice, almost the whole short day, and about 8 hours 40 minutes on the June solstice, when the high sun is in front of the house only in the middle of the day. The back (north) gets no direct sun in December, but about 7 hours in June, early in the morning and late in the evening. Turn the house by 45° and the numbers change noticeably, which the tool shows instantly.
Planning with it
- Buying or renting: check which rooms and which part of the garden get sun, and when.
- Renovation: plan windows, a conservatory, a terrace or external blinds.
- Solar panels: see which roof side gets most sun, then compare angles in the solar panel calculator.
For a specific window or balcony with buildings opposite, use the balcony and window calculator; for a garden spot with fences and trees, the garden sunlight calculator. The guide which direction does my house face explains how to measure orientation.
Last updated September 23, 2026