> Everyone I know who has built a house has thought very much about sun, season and temperature.

I've lived in houses that certainly did not take into account sun, season and temperature. I learned a lot from that experience. My current house is optimized for it. I've learned a few more things about it, and could do better.

> the idea that it has something to teach modern architects and builders is pure fantasy

Not my experience with architects and builders.

For example, how many houses have a cupola? They're common on older homes, but non-existent on modern ones. What the roof does is accelerate the wind moving over the roof, then the air vents in the cupola let the wind through, which sucks the heat out of the attic.

Another design element is eaves. Eaves shade the house in summer and don't shade it in winter (for more heat gain). Eaves also keep the sides of the house dry, which means your siding and paint and window frames last a lot longer. Mine are 1.5 feet. Most houses around here have tiny or even non-existent eaves.

The advent of air-conditioning is when architects stopped paying attention to the sun.

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amluto 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> For example, how many houses have a cupola? They're common on older homes, but non-existent on modern ones. What the roof does is accelerate the wind moving over the roof, then the air vents in the cupola let the wind through, which sucks the heat out of the attic.

This one is genuinely obsolete. With modern techniques, it’s straightforward to build a reliable unvented attic, and there are few if any climates where a vented attic makes sense. There are plenty of climates where a vented attic, even a nice one with a cupola, is massively inferior to an unvented, conditioned attic.

Seal and condition your attic. Put on a decorative cupola if you like. If you live in a place with heavy snow load, you vent a small gap between the top of your attic and your roof surface to help keep the actual roof surface cold enough to avoid melting the snow.

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WalterBright 3 hours ago | parent [-]

I've been in an attic many times on a sunny day. The heat in the attic is well above what it is outside. I'm highly skeptical that an unvented attic is going to keep a house cool in summer.

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amluto 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Me too. But have you been in a competently built insulated and unvented attic? The insulation on top makes an enormous difference, to the point that the attic can usually maintain a very pleasant temperature.

While it’s true that the top side of above-attic insulation will be rather warmer than a vented attic on a hot sunny day, insulation on top of your attic also tends to work rather better than ceiling insulation. And there are plenty of other benefits to an unvented, insulated attic.

	▲	WalterBright 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Interesting! But having a sealed attic makes me concerned about mildew. Ventilation is needed to keep the moisture out.

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pilingual 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Ridge vent is the modern approach, with vents and wind baffles in the eaves so air is evenly distributed.

1.5' overhang is good, 2' is ideal. Cheap builders will go 1' or even less.

Good architects still pay attention to the sun. It's often builders who are the culprits because they want to save money.

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WalterBright an hour ago | parent [-]

Around Seattle, modern houses are square boxes with a flat roof, and zero eaves. I watch these homes get built all the time. A few years later, I see all the water damage to the siding.

You're right about ridge vents, they behave much like a cupola, but the holes in them are too small for much airflow, and are easily blocked by debris, insects and moss.

	▲	pilingual an hour ago \| parent [-]
		> easily blocked That's a concern. It may be a good idea to put a connected thermometer and hygrometer in the attic. If it is ventilating properly, the temperature and humidity should be close to outdoor values.

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coryrc 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Forced ventilation of the attic creates negative pressure in the attic, which pulls conditioned air from the house. The additional air movement (which you should minimize with air sealing) costs more than the additional loses by the mildly increased temperature differential through the insulation.

If you aren't using A/C and have the windows open, then it only helps, of course.

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scheme271 an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Unless you have really good insulation, in hotter areas, your roof will absorb a lot of heat and that gets transferred to the attic and then to the rest of the house. One of the cheapest and best upgrades in hotter areas is to have an attic fan and vents to send the hot attic air outside.

	▲	WalterBright 28 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		> attic fan The cupola does that using the "stack effect" and the acceleration of the wind as it hits the sloping roof, at zero cost! That said, I do have an attic fan connected to a thermostat. I'd rather have a cupola, though.

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WalterBright 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

The idea includes gaps where the roof meets the ceiling, so air is drawn from outside.

> If you aren't using A/C and have the windows open, then it only helps, of course.

I make use of the "stack effect" to cool the house down in the evening. Not even a fan is necessary.

One mistake I made was to not have the A/C pull from the basement, which is always 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the house.