North facing house: why north is the sunny side in Australia and New Zealand, and how many hours each side gets (2026)

Last checked: 22 October 2026. Written by the Flatwalk team.

Short answer. South of the equator the sun crosses the northern sky at midday, so the north side of a house gets the most sun over the year. In winter a north wall in Sydney can get about 9 h 45 min of direct sun on the shortest day, while a south wall gets none. In summer the sun is high when it is in the north, so a simple eave keeps it off north windows, and it is the east and west walls (and even the south wall, early and late) that catch the low, hot sun. To see the real hours at your own windows, with the houses and trees around you, use a free sun tool that starts from the address.

Check the sun at your own window, free

Why north is the sunny side

In Australia and New Zealand everything a European or American guide says about "south facing" applies to north:

• At its midday the sun stands due north, never south (except in the tropics of northern Australia, where it passes south of overhead for part of the summer).
• In winter (around 21 June) it rises in the north-east, stays low in the northern sky and sets in the north-west. A north wall gets sun all day; the south side gets none.
• Around 21 March and 23 September it rises due east and sets due west.
• In summer (around 21 December) it rises in the south-east, climbs almost overhead in the north and sets in the south-west. For a few hours after sunrise and before sunset it shines on the south side of the house.

So a north facing living room gets the low winter sun deep into the room when you want it, and a high summer sun that an eave or pergola can block. That is why New Zealand's building research body BRANZ says main living spaces should face north where possible, and why "north facing" is something agents put in the headline.

The sun's height at its midday, worked out from each city's latitude, always to the north:

On standard time the sun stands due north at about 11:50 in Brisbane, 11:55 in Sydney, 12:15 in Perth and 12:20 in Melbourne and Auckland. Where the clocks go forward in summer (New South Wales, Victoria, New Zealand; not Queensland or Western Australia), add an hour. The hours below are counted from the sun, not the clock.

How many hours of sun each side of a house can get

The most hours of direct sun a wall can get, on a clear day, with a flat horizon and nothing in the way. Real numbers are lower once the neighbours, fences and trees count. East and west get the same number of hours: east in the morning, west in the afternoon.

Corner directions sit in between. A north-east or north-west wall gets about 8 hours on 21 June in all five cities, but in summer the north-west wall takes the afternoon sun at the hottest hours.

Three things to take from the table:

• North wins in winter, by far. On the shortest day the north wall gets sun from sunrise to sunset; east and west get about half that; south gets nothing.
• In summer the hours even out, and in Brisbane the south wall gets more hours than the north. But the summer sun on the south wall comes early and late, when it is low, and the north wall's summer sun comes at midday from high up, where an eave stops it.
• West is the hot side. A west wall gets the afternoon sun all year, and in summer it comes in low and almost level, straight through the glass.

Eaves: why a north facing window can stay cool in summer

Take a north window in Sydney with a 600 mm eave at the top of the window. At midday on 21 December the sun is about 80° high, so the eave throws a shadow about 3.3 m down the wall: the whole window is in shade. At midday on 21 June the sun is about 33° high, so the shadow reaches only about 40 cm down: nearly all the window takes the winter sun. East and west windows cannot be shaded this way, because their sun comes in low. That is the simple idea behind a passive solar house. The Australian Government's YourHome guide (yourhome.gov.au) covers it in detail, including the hot humid north of the country, where shade and breeze matter more than winter sun.

North facing house, apartment or section: what to check

1. Which part faces north? A listing may mean the street front, the backyard (in New Zealand, the section) or the living room windows. "North to the rear" puts the backyard and living areas on the sunny side; a north facing front often puts them on the shady side.
2. What stands to the north? In winter the sun is low: about 33° at midday in Sydney and 29° in Melbourne. A two-storey house, a fence or a row of trees on the north side can take the winter sun from the ground floor. In Melbourne, anything that rises more than about half its distance above your window blocks the midday sun on the shortest day.
3. For an apartment or unit, which floor? The tower or block to the north matters most. See which floor gets the most sun.
4. Where does the west sun hit? A west facing bedroom or living room is the warmest room on a summer evening.
5. Is anything planned to the north? An empty block next door can become a two-storey house or a unit block.

Check the sun at your own address in 3 steps

Flatwalk's free tool, Sun at your window, works out the hours of direct sun on each window you put on your home, with the buildings and trees around it.

1. Type your address under "See the sun at your window" and find your building on the satellite map. The one under the pin is green; tap another if it is wrong. If your house is missing, tap "It's not on the map, I'll draw it" and draw its outline.
2. Pick A whole house or A flat. For an apartment or unit, tap the building's corners on the roof, then set the storeys and your floor. Put a window on each wall: every outside wall has a tag naming its direction. Tap a wall, then tap where the window is, or drag to draw it. You can add up to 8 windows, and pull out an overhang above one to stand in for your eave.
3. Tap See my sun. Read the hours of direct sun, the first and last sun, and the 12 month bars. Tap Shortest for June and Longest for December, and read What takes your sun. Heights are estimated in Australia and New Zealand, so if the house to the north looks wrong, tap Something off? and fix its height. Copy link keeps the result.

What it cannot tell you

• Its best data is elsewhere. The tool's measured building heights, trees and ground are in the UK, the US, Canada, Germany, Poland and Lithuania. In Australia and New Zealand it still works, but it is slower: it fetches the buildings and trees around your address from OpenStreetMap, estimates their heights from their type or size, and treats the ground as flat, so a hill to the north is not counted. It says so on screen.
• Modelled, not measured. The hours are worked out from maps and the sun's position, not from a light meter at your window.
• Clear sky. Read the hours as clear-day hours. We have not checked the tool's Typical weather option for Australian or New Zealand cities.
• New houses, fences and trees. Anything built, planted or cut since the map data is missing or wrong until you add or fix it. Fences and young trees are often missing.
• Windows only. It does not measure a backyard lawn, a deck or a roof for solar panels.
• Not a certified report, such as a shadow diagram for a planning application.
• Small things it ignores: window frames, glass tint and your own roof shape (add your eave as an overhang above the window). Map outlines can be a metre off the real wall.

See the hours of sun at your window, free

More: south facing house, pros and cons for the northern hemisphere view, and the shadow calculator for the house next door.

What Flatwalk does that older planners skip

Lights

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Your home in its city

Enter your address and the street and buildings around you appear in 3D, wherever the map has them.

Sun for your address

Real sunlight by date and hour, and how long each room gets direct sun.

One piece, in your own room

Through the live camera or in a photo of the room, stand a sofa on your own floor at its true size.

Detail

Window and door types, kitchens, wardrobes and bathrooms built piece by piece.

Made for a thumb

Slide the hour with one finger and watch the light move through the rooms.

Swipe for more. Every picture is the app itself.

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Questions people ask

Is a north facing house good in Australia? For sun, yes: north gets the most direct sun over the year, all day in winter, and its high summer sun is easy to keep out with an eave. In the hot humid north of Australia, shade and breeze can matter more than winter sun.

What does north facing mean on a listing? It depends on the agent. It can mean the street front, the backyard or the main living areas. Ask which, then check where the living room windows face on a map.

Is a north facing apartment better? Usually it gets the most winter sun, as long as nothing tall stands to the north. In a city the next tower often decides more than the direction, so check the floor and what is opposite.

What is the best orientation for a house in New Zealand? BRANZ advises main living spaces facing north where possible, east for kitchens and breakfast areas, and shading for west rooms, which can overheat in the late afternoon.

How much sun does a north facing house get in winter? With nothing in the way, a north wall gets direct sun from sunrise to sunset on 21 June: about 9 h 25 min in Melbourne, 9 h 45 min in Sydney and 10 h 15 min in Brisbane. Houses, fences and trees to the north take a share.