North facing kitchen diner, is it really cold and dark?

steadfast123

The back of my house is north facing. My office and the kitchen do tend to need the light on and are noticeably cooler than the front rooms. Not a bad thing though as the front bedroom and lounge get too warm. 

My garden is quite long and the sun does come round so all the parts of the garden get sun at some point. 

It depends how big the house is, size of the garden and other buildings/trees around I think 

Section62

pieroabcd said:

I couldn't care less about the orientation (even less so about the existence itself of the garden), but my partner is afraid that a non-south facing kitchen will look cold and dark from autumn to spring and that the garden will likely be wet.
As for the cold the solution is easy: turn on the boiler. For the light it's different, though.

"North light windows" are a 'thing' for a reason - the quality and consistency of the light is much better than south facing windows (e.g. no harsh shadows, no specks of dust being highlighted, no glare, and less heat)

So 'north facing' isn't all doom and gloom.

Ideally north lights are installed at an angle (so roof windows are good) but that is primarily because angled windows maximise the amount of north light for a given size of glass.  So long as north-facing vertical windows are large enough, and not shaded by eaves or external reveals, the amount and quality of light can be better than that you get from some south-facing windows.

Whether or not the room is light enough will ultimately be location and building specific.

Greymug

I have a north facing kitchen and it is a bit cold, although I put it down to the previous owners that only put 2 radiators when they did a big extension

zagubov

Won't be a major problem. However, don't have decking outside. It'll never dry properly after rain and will rot away.

RedFraggle

I've had 2 dark kitchens including the current one. A fish tank solved the problem. Looks nice on the worktop and enough light to make a cuppa or snack. 

Davesnave

RedFraggle said:

I've had 2 dark kitchens including the current one. A fish tank solved the problem. Looks nice on the worktop and enough light to make a cuppa or snack. 

There you are, a couple of electric eels and a shoal of neons and the job's a good ' un!

coffeehound

Some light-coloured gravel or slabs outside can make a room lighter.  Also, ideally, zero coverings over the windows, as even nets reduce the light admitted

rach_k

If you're happy to use the heating to solve the cold problem, why isn't switching on the lights a solution for any lack of light?  

We have a NE facing kitchen and garden and I've never even thought about the light inside the kitchen.  We had the kitchen redone a few years ago and left it up to the electrician to sort out the lights for us.  It's a lovely light room now and there are so many options with different lights and bulbs that I think you could solve a lot of problems quite simply!  

pieroabcd

rach_k said:

If you're happy to use the heating to solve the cold problem, why isn't switching on the lights a solution for any lack of light?  

We have a NE facing kitchen and garden and I've never even thought about the light inside the kitchen.  We had the kitchen redone a few years ago and left it up to the electrician to sort out the lights for us.  It's a lovely light room now and there are so many options with different lights and bulbs that I think you could solve a lot of problems quite simply!  

Oh for me it's really as simple as that, it's what I've been telling all along, but dear sweet heart disagrees completely and wants to have plenty of natural light from a south facing garden.
This has already forced me to exclude a lot of houses for which otherwise I would have made an offer.

RedFraggle

Davesnave said:

RedFraggle said:

I've had 2 dark kitchens including the current one. A fish tank solved the problem. Looks nice on the worktop and enough light to make a cuppa or snack. 

There you are, a couple of electric eels and a shoal of neons and the job's a good ' un!

Current tank is indeed neons! 🤣