Where do you live? The amount of natural light that people like/need is regional as well as a matter of personal preference. In the south, windows under covered decks are common because of the climate. In Wisconsin where I live, people like sunlight streaming into their houses. Your house would not have enough natural light for me (and I think most people) in Wisconsin (and adding solar tubes wouldn't help), but it would probably be just right for someone who lives in a hotter climate. I also thought that I'd mention that our old house had a bedroom like your bedroom #2 where the window was right next to a wall like the wall for your closet and the wall next to our bedroom blocked some of the light that got into that bedroom.

We live in South Dakota, a colder climate. You do not think solar tubes would provide some additional light?

My current house has the back wall with most of the windows to the west and although we get tons of streaming light into the house in the afternoon/evening, it is horribly hot for 5-6 months out of the year and makes our backyard pretty unusable during the summer/spring/fall months. I do not want that at all. In addition, our air conditioner runs alot more during those months because so much of the house is getting the west sun.

In general, I think the south windows will make the temperature in our house much nicer during the spring/summer/fall months. But I don't want the house to be dark with little natural light.

What can I do? I thought the solar tubes would help if there were oriented correctly on my roof?

I don't know what the roofline is on your house (I can't get the graphic really big in order to see possible rooflines), but if the roof is flat on the north side, you might consider changing the roofline to put in clerestory windows. With south-facing clerestory windows, from the street no one will see them, but you'll get all the benefit of the southern exposure for daylighting.

The picture in the link I've provided shows the BACK of the house - the front of the house would only see a tall roofline.

Here is a link that might be useful: A Saltbox style house with clerestory windows

We have one solar tube in our house and it does bring in natural light and I recommend them. One thing we have is large overhangs (I don't know the technical name--the part of the roof that sticks out over the edge of the house). which block out the hot sun in the summer and let it in the winter. The overhangs on our new house are 3-1/2' and on our old house were 2'--they make a big difference. I think that you will also find that not having windows facing west will make a huge difference too. Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: OUr 3-1/2' overhangs

I am less apt to do the clerestory windows because I think that would be pretty expensive and I really like the roofline on our house from the front and back -- I'm not sure if it would even be possible.

I was hoping to do the solatubes on the roof that faces south in the back so that we could get that light and that would give light to the greatroom and kitchen area.

I don't quite understand about the overhangs. If they block sun in one season, how does the same overhang let more sun in in another season? I'm confused about that??

Here are our elevations and roof lines:

Hi, I also am planning a ranch house with a walkout basement in South Dakota - and I too have been worried about light, especially in my family room, which has one (large) patio door and sidelights set facing north (talk about no light!)in a very wooded area. We have a covered deck outside that room as well - but I've decided to have the architect remove that roof and make it a deck, instead of a covered deck. I think that will help, and I'm also going to have two sun tunnels put in that room - I went to visit a house that had one, and I thought it made a tremendous difference. Hope that helps.

"I don't quite understand about the overhangs. If they block sun in one season, how does the same overhang let more sun in in another season?"

I am no expert at this, so will explain the best I can remember. Sun angle toward the northern hemisphere is different during different seasons (and at different latitudes) and amount of overhang affects how much sunlight is blocked at those times. There is some kind of chart I saw once, showing sun angle and roof overhang sizes in relation to how much light you want to let in...Wanting to let more light in when the sun is low in the colder months and wanting to have more shade when the sun is more direct in the summer. If your roof overhang isn't past a certain point, then, it could benefit you without blocking too much. Your architect should be the expert on this question...and it should have been a major concern of his during the design phase. The link below has LOTS of information meant for architects on this subject, and explains far better and more thoroughly than I can.

We put skylights in our porch roof so that it didn't block eastern sunlight to our kitchen...because as our own amateur architect, I didn't give this enough weight during the design phase, and dh insisted on deepening the porch, which, of course, meant the roof blocked more light. But the skylights do pretty much solve the problem, and we LOVE that covered porch, so win-win.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pilkington Sun Angle Calculator manual

This link probably explains it more simply.

Here is a link that might be useful: roof overhang info

sdkitchen -- what is a sun tunnel? Is that they same as a solatube? Can you describe how much light the sun tunnel let in?

Solar tubes and sun tunnels are the same thing, just different brand names. We actually have a sun tunnel although I called it a solar tube in my post. Sun tunnels and solar tubes let in diffused light and the amount of light depends upon the size of the solar tube. We have a sun tunnel in a very small interior bathroom and one sun tunnel lets in enough light so that you can use the bathroom during the day without turning the light on. You should go and see for yourself the amount and type of light that you get from a sun tunnel/tube. If you want sunny light, you should go with a traditional sky light. If you want general background light during the day so that you can use an area during the day without turning on a light, then a sun tunnel/tube works well. As for the windows on the south that look out to a covered deck, I recommend that you find a house with the arrangement and see for yourself--go to open houses in your area. It's hard to tell from your floor plan how big/tall the windows are in your great room, and that will make a difference. However, the light that comes in from windows facing south is much different than the light that you are used to from your current west facing windows and then having those windows look at at a covered deck makes a difference too--you really need to see it for yourself to see if it works for you. The color of your covered deck will make a difference too--if the decking, railings,etcs. are white, it will reflect light and you'll get more light into your great room through the deck. If it's dark brown, it will absorb light and less light will make in into the great room. Also, the height of the roof over the deck will make a big difference too. I have seen covered decks/porches with skylights like another poster suggested, and they work great. It looks like your breakfast nook has lots of windows and they will bring in a lot of light to your kitchen. Good luck!

Thanks for the info, Carolyn. I did go into a neighbor's house, two houses down from where our house will be built, on the same side of the street. She has an uncovered deck and I still thought her kitchen/family room seemed dark. That is what got me thinking of it.

The windows are 7 1/2 feet tall with the transoms in the great room and 6 1/2 feet tall with the transoms in the bkfast area.

I like the idea of doing some sort of skylight on the deck. We'll see if my hubby goes for it! :)

SIL put skylights on her deck, way back when, and got the ones that were brown, since her deck faced south. They did provide more light but IMO, not enough. That's a dark area even at noon.

I'd suggest transparent skylights, and one of the brands that has adjustable shades incorporated as part of the design. That gives the best of both worlds in permitting enough light but still able to shade as needed.