Room for DramaOutside, Actually.

Phoenix (demonstration)

The seat beside the driveway

DemonstrationEdit the plan

When the bench in the shade is open for reading for an hour

Each month read on its 15th · 2026
Read for an hour, through the year. The bench in the shade is open for reading for an hour 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, February to April. It opens at different hours December to January, May, September and October to November. Shut June to August. 9 months open, 3 shut, 0 unanswered.JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec9months open
  • Works
  • Tight
  • No
  • Unanswered

Rings run from 7 am at the centre to 9 pm at the edge.

The bench in the shade is open for reading for an hour 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, February to April. It opens at different hours December to January, May, September and October to November. Shut June to August.

  • December to January: open 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. What it feels like is what closes it.
  • February to April: open 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. What it feels like is what closes it.
  • May: open 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM. What it feels like is what closes it.
  • June to August: shut for reading for an hour. What it feels like is what stops it.
  • September: open 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM. What it feels like is what closes it.
  • October to November: open 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. What it feels like is what closes it.

The shut months are shut for one reason: what it feels like. That is the thing to change if you want the season longer, and it is a different job from making the open months better.

The same year as a table
MonthOpenUsable hoursWhat decides it
January11:00 AM–6:00 PM7 hWhat it feels like closes it
February10:00 AM–2:00 PM4 hWhat it feels like closes it
March9:00 AM–2:00 PM5 hWhat it feels like closes it
April9:00 AM–2:00 PM5 hWhat it feels like closes it
May9:00 AM–11:00 AM2 hWhat it feels like closes it
Juneshut—What it feels like stops it
Julyshut—What it feels like stops it
Augustshut—What it feels like stops it
September9:00 AM–10:00 AM1 hWhat it feels like closes it
October9:00 AM–1:00 PM4 hWhat it feels like closes it
November9:00 AM–1:00 PM4 hWhat it feels like closes it
December11:00 AM–5:00 PM6 hWhat it feels like closes it
The house14.4 ftDeep eave11.2 ftThe bench in the shade0° upN16 ft
BuildingNot yoursCanopyShadow nowCan see inProposed

Reading at

6:34 PM·September
September 14 · The bench in the shade

The evidence behind this whole day is thin, so nothing on the strip is marked out as worse than the rest. The shape of the day is still the model’s best reading; the confidence in it is low, and it stays low until something it needs is measured.

The bench in the shade is open for reading for an hour 12:00 AM to 10:30 AM and again 6:30 PM to 11:30 PM.

About 15.5 hours in September, and what it feels like is what closes it.

The same day as a table
The same day hour by hour, in text.
HourSunVerdictConfidenceSun position
12:00 AMdarkWorksa starting hypothesis
3:00 AMdarkWorksa starting hypothesis
6:00 AMdarkTighta starting hypothesis
7:00 AMshaded by The houseWorksa starting hypothesis9° up, bearing 92°
8:00 AMshaded by The houseWorksa starting hypothesis22° up, bearing 101°
9:00 AMshaded by The houseWorksa starting hypothesis34° up, bearing 111°
10:00 AMshaded by The houseTighta starting hypothesis45° up, bearing 124°
11:00 AMshaded by The houseNoa starting hypothesis54° up, bearing 143°
12:00 PMshaded by Deep eaveNoa starting hypothesis59° up, bearing 168°
1:00 PMshaded by Deep eaveNoa starting hypothesis59° up, bearing 198°
2:00 PMshaded by Deep eaveNoa starting hypothesis52° up, bearing 222°
3:00 PMin sunNoa starting hypothesis43° up, bearing 239°
4:00 PMin sunNoa starting hypothesis31° up, bearing 251°
5:00 PMin sunNoa starting hypothesis19° up, bearing 261°
6:00 PMin sunNoa starting hypothesis7° up, bearing 269°
9:00 PMdarkWorksa starting hypothesis

Even light, no glare on the page, enough quiet to forget the time.

Read for an hour

The bench in the shade does not work for reading for an hour right now, and glare is why.

  • Glare is40 over— 58 / 100 against at most 18

    Glare on a page is the whole problem; heat is secondary.

  • What it feels like is5.2°F over— 84.0°F against at most 78.8°F

    An hour is long enough for a few degrees to matter.

Still unanswered:Privacy exposureNoise

Confidence low (34%). Treat this as a starting hypothesis, not an answer.

What this answer was built from
  • Use
    Read for an hour
  • Place
    The bench in the shade
  • Weather
    Hot desert, brutal summers, almost no cloud (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
  • Method
    Traced geometry and radiation at this hour, measured against what this use needs
    • Try a changeMake a document

    How well this place is described

    Mapped
    1. Quick
    2. Mapped
    3. Annotated
    4. Measured

    Shade, sky view and daily light are computed from real geometry rather than assumed. This is the rung at which the product starts telling you things you did not already know.

    It cannot answer who can see in, and it cannot tell you whether the heights it is using are the real ones.

    To reach Annotated

    • Photographs of the actual place: None annotated. A photograph is how a drawn height gets checked against a real one.
    • Photographs that know where they were taken from: No photograph has a position and a bearing, so what is marked on them cannot become a measurement.
    • Who can see in: Nobody marked. Privacy is a question about who sees in from where, and the product will not invent one.

    What that buys: The privacy question, and a check on the geometry. Most inferred heights are wrong by enough to matter, and a photograph settles it in a minute.

    Everything that was checked
    • Quick A place on the earth: Phoenix (demonstration), with a time zone, which is what makes an hour an hour.
    • Quick Somewhere to read: 1 spot marked. A reading is a height at a place, and moving it moves the answer.
    • Mapped The things in the way: 2 objects drawn. The house counts, and so does the neighbour's.
    • Mapped What is underfoot: 1 of 1 readings sit on a mapped surface.
    • Mapped Where the property ends: Drawn, so the product can tell you when the cheapest fix stands on someone else's land.
    • Annotated Photographs of the actual place: None annotated. A photograph is how a drawn height gets checked against a real one.
    • Annotated Photographs that know where they were taken from: No photograph has a position and a bearing, so what is marked on them cannot become a measurement.
    • Annotated Who can see in: Nobody marked. Privacy is a question about who sees in from where, and the product will not invent one.
    • Measured Heights off a tape: 1 of 2 objects are measured. The remaining 1 are this product's own inference, so no figure here is a survey figure yet.
    • Measured Something checked against the day: Nothing has been checked against a real afternoon. The model is unopposed, which is not the same as being right.

    What to measure next

    Ranked by how far the answer moves, not by a checklist
    1. 1Who can actually see inSit in the chair

      Sit where you actually sit and look around. Mark the one window or path you can see a person from. Until one exists, privacy is a question we are not answering rather than one that is fine.

      This is not a refinement. Nothing can answer this question until somebody marks it.

      Mark it on the plan

      Currently assuming: nobody is overlooking this. Tested across one confirmed observer changes the whole privacy answer.

    2. 2What you are looking atSit in the chair

      Mark the direction of the view worth keeping. Without it, every screening recommendation is optimising against nothing.

      This is not a refinement. Nothing can answer this question until somebody marks it.

      Mark it on the plan

      Currently assuming: no view is being protected. Tested across one corridor changes what screening is worth doing.

    What the place is doing at 6:34pm in September

    Hot desert, brutal summers, almost no cloud (scenario shape).

    What it feels like

    warm

    81°F

    Felt temperature · 58 on the reporting scale

    It feels about 14 degrees cooler than the air, near 81°F.

    What is doing it

    • How much sky is overhead

      −6.1°

    • Air movement

      +2.0°
    How this was worked out
  • Air
    94.9°F from Hot desert, brutal summers, almost no cloud (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
  • Radiant
    60.5°F mean radiant temperature
  • Method
    Six-directional radiation integration, then ASHRAE operative temperature (from a published source)

    • Direct sun

    in sun

    0 W/m²

    Beam reaching this point · 100 on the reporting scale

    Direct sun is on this spot right now.

    How this was worked out
  • Sun
    0deg up, bearing 274deg
  • Traced
    100% of the beam reaches this point

    • Glare

    none

    0

    out of 100

    Nothing bright is in the line of sight at this hour.

    How this was worked out
  • Facing
    270deg

    • Privacy exposure

    Unanswered

    No observer has been placed yet. Privacy is a question about who can see in from where, and until one is marked there is nothing to answer.

    Wind

    light

    1.2 mph

    Wind at the seat · 6 on the reporting scale

    Wind here is light.

    What is doing it

    • The house

      −0.6 mph
    How this was worked out
  • Reference
    5.6 mph at 10 m from Hot desert, brutal summers, almost no cloud (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
  • At seat height
    1.8 mph before shelter
  • Shelter
    33% removed by what stands upwind

    • View

    Unanswered

    No view worth keeping has been marked, so there is nothing to weigh a screen against yet.

    Surface heat

    comfortable

    94.9°F

    Surface temperature · 40 on the reporting scale

    The surface is running about 95°F.

    How this was worked out
  • Surface
    Shaded walk
  • Method
    Absorbed shortwave against air temperature, flattened by air movement (from a published source)

    • Wetness

    dries-fast

    1.1 x

    Drying time against the open · 0 on the reporting scale

    Still air here; moving air does a surprising amount of the drying.

    How this was worked out
  • Drying rate
    0.000 in/hour here
  • Method
    Penman combination equation on the radiation and air actually reaching this spot (from a published source)

    • Light after dark

    daylight

    0

    out of 100

    Artificial light is not doing anything at this hour.

    How this was worked out
  • Sun
    still up

    • Ask something else about this place

    Who can see me?

    The sightline, the smallest screen that closes it, and what it costs you in view.

    What grows here?

    Usable light across a day, not the label on the tag.

    I already own this. Where should it go?

    The same reasoning backwards: every spot you have marked, ranked for one plant.

    What survives here?

    What this exposure does to the things you leave out.

    Dinner outside tonight?

    The forecast, read against this specific seat.

    What changes through the year?

    The same layout in May, August and October.

    What changes after dark?

    Light, glare and who can see in once the sun has gone.

    Everything on the plan, in text
    ThingReadingNote
    The house14.4 ft100 per cent solid.
    Deep eave11.2 ft100 per cent solid.