It should not surprise anybody that houses heat up from the south facing sides but I've been paying attention this year to temperature changes in the house through the day and have seen between 50 - 80% of the 24 hour degree increase occur by noon. This just emphasizes the importance of focusing efforts on the 1/3 or the house with the most sun exposure.
I've planted trees on those sides that will shade my windows in the summer and let in radiation in the winter. Until they grow enough I am mitigating the sun in the summer by cooling down my stucco with water and using (fairly ineffective) window shades.
My other local observation is that during our hot months most of the evening and night time cool(er) air comes from the SW -- the wall with fixed windows. This spring I am going to install a window or two that can be opened to improve home ventilation.
My 3rd observation is that home ventilation using outside air is tricky. It is easy to inadvertently cause short circuits where the wind enters the home through one window and exits through a nearby window leaving part of the home relatively unventilated.
My last observation is that screens -- at least the ones I have -- markedly reduce airflow. I have this unproven notion that the drop in airflow is considerably more than the wire frontal area implies. I need to look into this more to find out if screen replacements can improve matters.
I've planted trees on those sides that will shade my windows in the summer and let in radiation in the winter. Until they grow enough I am mitigating the sun in the summer by cooling down my stucco with water and using (fairly ineffective) window shades.
My other local observation is that during our hot months most of the evening and night time cool(er) air comes from the SW -- the wall with fixed windows. This spring I am going to install a window or two that can be opened to improve home ventilation.
My 3rd observation is that home ventilation using outside air is tricky. It is easy to inadvertently cause short circuits where the wind enters the home through one window and exits through a nearby window leaving part of the home relatively unventilated.
My last observation is that screens -- at least the ones I have -- markedly reduce airflow. I have this unproven notion that the drop in airflow is considerably more than the wire frontal area implies. I need to look into this more to find out if screen replacements can improve matters.