The position of the sun throughout the year relative to a property has a huge effect on the value, but is rarely understood. Even on a cloudy day, with the Garden Planner's compass it is very easy to determine the position of the sun throughout the day, with easy recognition of which rooms will be sunlit at breakfast, where the sun's maximum heat (for patios and swimming pools) will be and where the evening sunset will be at dinner.
The instruction leaflet has a table with the hours of daylight throughout the year. This enables you to plot the course of the sun throughout the day. To determine where shadows will form, the compass can show you where the maximum height of the sun will get to throughout the year.
The Garden Planner's Sun Position Compass is essential if you wish to design your own home and gain full advantage of sunlight.
When all you've got to look at is a basic plot of land, it is difficult to imagine sitting out on the patio on a warm, sunny afternoon, enjoying the sunshine. Alternatively, the planned orientation of your house may not look much on a gloomy February afternoon, but by June it could be basked in sunlight.
House designers often follow the direction of the sun. Areas of the home which are utilsed in the morning, such as kitchen, breakfast rooms and bedrooms, should deally face morning sunshine. Rooms that are used later in the day, such as the lounge or dining room, would be better suited to the afternoon sun.
The direction and height of the sun is also a vital consideration in the positioning of a conservatory.
Most people tend to assume that the sun rises in the same place throughout the year. In reality, monthly variations in the sun's direction can cast a planeed sun trap into shade for several months of the year. Your architect or designer may explain that the lounge will get the late afternoon sunshine and the kitchen will enjoy continuous bright mornings, but unless you've actually stood there, on-site to check throughout the year, you have no immediate or easy way of confirming the fact, unless you have a handy Garden Planner's Sun Position compass!
