How to find out if house is north or south facing?

Posted 4th Mar 2017

Hi all,
Going to view a few houses tomorrow with a view to purchase.
A south facing garden is a must for us as we spend alot of time in the garden and would like sun to come through to the rear kitchen etc.
How can I find out (apart from asking the owners) which way the house/garden faces?
Thanks in advance

Community Updates

Lead deal editor

22nd Oct 2019

What direction does my house face?

The simplest way to find out the direction that your home is facing is by using a compass on your smartphone. All Apple iPhones come with a built in compass app installed. Android users will find an array of free compasses in the Google Play Store to choose from.

Once you’ve found the compass app or downloaded one, follow these steps to measure the direction your home faces. You can also use a physical compass if you want an accurate measurement.

Go to the front door of your home and open the compass app.
With your phone facing forward, read the direction that the compass is measuring (this should be shown in °). The compass may also show the basic directions like North, East West and South.
If the reading is between 270° and 90°, your house is north-facing. If it’s between 90° and 270° then your house is south-facing.

How to check the direction of my house online

If you want to find the direction of your house online, this can be done simply in Google Maps. This is also a great way to find out which direction a potential property you want to rent or buy is facing.

Go to Google Maps.

Enter the address you want to search in the ‘Search Google Maps’ taskbar and press enter. In the bottom-left-hand corner of the screen, you should see a box that says ‘Satellite’. Click this to switch to satellite view. You should now see a satellite picture of the area.
You should now see a compass-needle icon in the bottom-right-hand corner of the screen. The red end shows north, while the white end shows south.

Press Ctrl and use your mouse or touchpad to rotate the map. Turn the map to roughly face the direction of the property you want to measure. If the red needle is now still on top, the property is north-facing, if the white needle is now on stop, the property is south facing.

Which way does my garden face

You can follow the same procedure to find the procedure for your garden. If your front garden is north-facing, then your back garden will be south-facing (and vice versa).

Ask

New Comment Save for later

25 Comments

4th Mar 2017

Type the postcode into Google maps, so long as you don't rotate the view the top of screen will be north

4th Mar 2017

compass app?

4th Mar 2017

Suncalc.net

4th Mar 2017

Have you got a compass on your phone? Could always use that ...

4th Mar 2017

Most estate agents would tell you if it's south facing normally its a good selling point

4th Mar 2017

Look where sky dishes are

4th Mar 2017

Failing you dont have a phone app or traditional compass.You could always try the old fashioned method of looking at the sun, unless you are up north,lol. The sun rises in the East and sets in the west so that will give you a good indication of which way its facing.

4th Mar 2017

stand out front door n look up?

4th Mar 2017

When you mention the Sun I presume you are not talking about this country. (_;)

4th Mar 2017

GAVINLEWISHUKD
Suncalc.net

Spot on! Typed in the road name and it showed me the direction the sun goes to the property through out the day, including previous months (eg. if you want to look in a July summer).

Thanks, much appreciated!

4th Mar 2017

Satellite dishes face (very) approximately south.

4th Mar 2017

Capture a sparrow, walk outside the said property, throw the sparrow straight up in the air. Whichever direction the sparrow flies off in, follow it until you see a satellite dish, see which way that's pointing, then that's probably south.

4th Mar 2017

It's hard to believe that as a species, we managed to navigate vast oceans hundreds of years ago without smartphones, Google maps or by looking at satellite dishes. How we have advanced.

4th Mar 2017

I am sitting here dumbfounded, that anyone would ask this. Surely primary school geography would tell you. I have a 5 year old who knows North.

4th Mar 2017

Place a bowl of water in the front garden, put a leaf in the water with a magnetic paper clip balanced on top.

4th Mar 2017

larrylightweight
Most estate agents would tell you if it's south facing normally its a … Most estate agents would tell you if it's south facing normally its a good selling point

Lol
You trust an estate agent to tell the truth on a negative?

5th Mar 2017

Wow... Are you sure you're ready to buy your own house??

5th Mar 2017

Hold a watch with 12 o'clock at the left. Rotate the watch until the hour hand points at the sun. Halfway between the hour hand and the 12 is south.

5th Mar 2017

It could be neither.... They can face any direction at all

5th Mar 2017

West is best especially if you like summer BBQ's. Why because where does the sun set. My garden is south facing but it would prefer it not to be. Kitchen and bathroom are at the back like most houses and it can be unbearable when it's sunny. That's not many times a year lol but still flipping hot.

12th Sep 2017

GAVINLEWISHUKD4th Mar
Suncalc.net

Wow! What a find - not only is it great for house hunting but also keeps my 10yr old entertained for ages!

21st Mar 2019

Hello
I would use a accurate app and if your living in the United Kingdom then the sun does not come out that much and even if it does it can rain out of nowhere and become sunny again and I would search on Google too.‌

21st Mar 2019

Farhaanah78621/03/2019 22:01
Hello I would use a accurate app and if your living in the United Kingdom …Hello I would use a accurate app and if your living in the United Kingdom then the sun does not come out that much and even if it does it can rain out of nowhere and become sunny again and I would search on Google too.

Urm.. You do realise this post is from 2017 right lol??