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How to Shade Your Home in
temperate and hot and tropical climates
Well-placed
trees or shrubs around your house can lower your cooling bills.
See:
Cooling your house with trees,
vines and shrubs
Strategies with
trees, vines and shrubs
Windbreaks
But there are other means to shade and cooling a home. The
landscape is important, and involves other elements besides
trees. Paving is also important, not to speak of
verandahs, pergolas, balconies, courtyards and fly roofs (in
hot climates) or overhangs,
screens,
awnings, blades or blinds...
Avoid paving
Paving causes higher ground temperatures and
more reflected heat. If possible, use lawns and plants on your home's
surroundings instead of paving the ground.
Screens, awnings and overhangs
Solar screens and solar films, retractable awnings, blades and blinds, and
overhangs are important elements to shade a house or to cool it.
See, for details:
Overhangs
Solar window films
Screens,
retractable awnings, blades and blinds
To Shade a House in Temperate and Cold
Climates
Solar
films and screens,
awning, blades, blinds
Solar window films
and adjustable
solar screens,
retractable awnings, blades and blinds
are effective ways to shade a home, stopping unwanted low angle sun.
Eaves/overhangs
If possible, use
correctly designed and sized eaves in your home; eaves are very effective
and their implementation involve low costs.
See, for details:
Overhangs
Deciduous trees, shrubs and vines
Deciduous trees, shrubs and vines are important ways of
getting shade.
See
Pergolas & Shade and
Cooling your house with
trees, vines and shrubs.
Anyway, avoid non-deciduous trees at
the
north side of the house (in the north hemisphere) or at the
south (in the south hemisphere).
They will obstruct solar heat, which is crucial most
of the year.
To Shade a House in Tropical and Hot Climates
Home shading is crucial in tropical climates - more
than in temperate and cold climates. External openings –
walls, windows, doors, skylights… - should be shaded
whenever possible.
Verandahs, pergolas, balconies, and fly roofs
Overhangs,
verandahs, pergolas,
balconies, and fly roofs (a roof structure shading the
entire building) are interesting means
to attain shading in tropical and hot climates.
To compensate the loss of
natural daylight that the use of these shading structures may imply,
you can consider the use of skylights. See
Skylights Basics.
Courtyards
In hot dry climates zones, a tall-narrow shaded courtyard
next to daily living areas are an effective way for cooling
the air. It should be positioned and conceived to benefit
from the wall’s shade.
Back to top How to shade the House in Temperate and tropical
climates
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