Guide
East, North, West or South Facing House: Sun, Heat and Layout
North walls get about half the sun of east, south or west walls in North India. How each facing changes heat, light and where vastu guides put the door.
By the Design SQR team · 27 Oct 2026 · 6 min read
A plot's facing is the side its road is on. No facing is bad: each one changes how much sun the front wall takes, where the gate and parking go, and where vastu guides put the main door. In North India a north-facing front gets the least direct sun, while east, south and west fronts get about twice as much, so the plan should shade those walls rather than avoid the plot.
Seedhi baat: purab, uttar, paschim ya dakshin mukhi, har plot par achha ghar banta hai. Fark sirf itna hai ki dhoop kis taraf se aati hai aur darwaza kahan rakhna hai.
How much sun each wall gets
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency's code for homes, Eco-Niwas Samhita, gives each wall direction an "orientation factor": a measure of the direct and diffused sun falling on a vertical wall. For places at 23.5°N and above, which includes all of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and Haryana, the factors are:
- North: 0.550
- East: 1.155
- South: 1.089
- West: 1.143
- North-east 0.829, south-east 1.211, south-west 1.202, north-west 0.821
So a north wall gets roughly half the sun of the other three. For places south of 23.5°N the north figure rises to 0.659 and south falls to 0.966, but east and west stay near 1.15.
East and west walls get about the same sun in a day. The difference is timing: the west wall takes its sun in the afternoon, when the air is already hot. That is why our city guides keep saying "shade the west wall".
North facing plot (uttar mukhi)
Light and heat: the road-side front gets the least direct sun, so large windows and a balcony on the front stay comfortable. The back of the house faces south and needs shading.
Vastu guides: the main door in the north, north-east or north-west part of the north wall; not the centre of that wall (UltraTech). L&T Realty names north or north-east.
One of our own projects is a two-storey building on a narrow 22x57 ft north-facing plot in Lucknow, with a glazed stair tower on the front. A glazed front works there because it faces north. See north facing house plans.
East facing plot (purab mukhi)
Light and heat: the front gets the morning sun, about as much in a day as a west wall gets, but before the hottest hours. Overhangs over east windows still help.
Vastu guides: the main door in the north-east part of the east wall (L&T Realty); JK Cement says the entrance should be in the east, and two doors should not be in a line.
West facing plot (paschim mukhi)
Light and heat: the front takes the afternoon sun. Plan deep balconies, jaali screens or a car porch on the west front, and keep large glass to the north and south sides where possible.
Vastu guides: the main door in the west or north-west part (UltraTech); L&T Realty says north-west. UltraTech calls a west-facing house auspicious when it is planned to vastu.
South facing plot (dakshin mukhi)
Light and heat: in BEE's table the south wall gets a little less sun than east or west, but far more than north, so south windows still need overhangs or a balcony.
Vastu guides: the main door in the south-east or south-west part, not facing straight south (UltraTech); L&T Realty names south-east. UltraTech says a south-facing home "can be positive and balanced with the right Vastu plan".
Where vastu guides put the rooms
The published guides we read (UltraTech, JK Cement, L&T Realty) agree on a few points and disagree on others:
- Kitchen: south-east; north-west as a second choice.
- Master bedroom: south-west. They differ on which way to sleep.
- Pooja room: north-east.
- Toilets: most say north-west; some also allow south-east or east; all say never north-east or the centre.
- Staircase: south, west or south-west, turning clockwise going up.
On a south- or west-facing plot, the road side is south or west, so the gate and parking fall where the guides want the master bedroom and staircase. On a narrow plot you cannot meet every rule at once; a good plan chooses the ones that matter to you and says which it could not meet. Read the full vastu house plan guide or the Hindi vastu ke hisab se ghar ka naksha, and see our vastu house plans.
Vastu is tradition; light and air are rules
Vastu is a tradition, not engineering. Scientists such as Jayant Narlikar have called its claims pseudo-scientific, and the guides themselves disagree on details. Building rules, by contrast, are law. Delhi's bye-laws, for example, ask for window openings of at least one-tenth of the floor area in living rooms and kitchens, and an outside wall or shaft for every toilet, whatever the direction. Follow vastu where you wish, and the bye-laws always.
If you want a vastu check of a plan or plot, our vastu consultation is ₹1,000.
Common questions
Which facing is best for a house?
None is best for every family. North fronts stay coolest; east fronts get morning sun; west fronts need the most shading. Vastu guides say every facing works with the right plan.
Is a south facing house bad as per vastu?
No. The guides we read put the door in the south-east (or south-west) part of the south wall and say the house can be balanced with the right plan.
Purab mukhi ghar me main gate kahan ho?
L&T Realty ke guide ke hisab se purab wali deewar ke uttar-purab (north-east) hisse me.
Paschim mukhi ghar garam kyun lagta hai?
Kyunki saamne ki deewar par dopahar baad ki dhoop padti hai. Balcony, jaali aur chhajja se is deewar ko chhaya dijiye.
Sources
- Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Eco-Niwas Samhita 2018 (Part I: Building Envelope), Annexure 6, Table 9: orientation factor — https://policy.asiapacificenergy.org/sites/default/files/Eco-Niwas%20Samhita%202018%20%28Energy%20Conservation%20Building%20Code%20for%20Residential%20Buildings%29.pdf
- UltraTech Cement, north-, south- and west-facing house vastu — https://www.ultratechcement.com/for-homebuilders/home-building-explained-single/descriptive-articles/north-facing-house-vastu
- JK Cement, east-facing house vastu plan — https://www.jkcement.com/blog/vastu/east-facing-house-vastu-plan/
- L&T Realty, vastu for home plans — https://www.lntrealty.com/blogs/vastu-for-home-plans-guide/
- Delhi Unified Building Bye-Laws 2016 (DDA compendium), 7.20 and 7.2 — https://dda.gov.in/sites/default/files/public-notice/COMPENDIUM_OF_UBBL_201605082020.pdf
- Vastu shastra (Narlikar quoted) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vastu_shastra
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