The front porch nobody sits on
Every change below is put into the plan and the whole model is run again. That is why a pergola's winter cost shows up here without anybody having written it down, and why the cheapest thing that works is allowed to win.
Reading at
Read for an hour
Privacy exposure is55 over— 100 / 100 against at most 45
Settling in takes not feeling observed.
What it feels like is2.6°F under— 58.2°F against at least 60.8°F
An hour is long enough for a few degrees to matter.
Confidence low (45%). Treat this as a starting hypothesis, not an answer.
Move the table 8.2 ft south-west fixes what it feels like.
Ranked by what solves the actual limit with the least effort, not by the biggest number.
Not offered, and why
A 7.1 ft screen 6.3 ft from the seat fixes privacy exposure.
A screen 7.1 feet high and about 8.6 feet wide, standing 6.3 feet from the seat on the line to The house opposite and People on the sidewalk.
+10 hours of usable time on this day. Opens 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A 6 ft screen close to People on the sidewalk fixes privacy exposure.
A screen about 6 feet high standing close to People on the sidewalk rather than close to the seat. Near the observer a barrier subtends a far larger angle, so it can be much smaller — but it is very probably not on your land.
+10 hours of usable time on this day. Opens 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A drawable outdoor curtain fixes privacy exposure.
A heavy outdoor curtain on a track, drawn across the south side when it is wanted and open the rest of the time.
+10 hours of usable time on this day. Opens 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
An evergreen hedge to about 7.3 ft fixes privacy exposure.
A dense evergreen hedge grown to about 7.3 feet and 8.6 feet along, on the line to The house opposite and People on the sidewalk. It reads as garden rather than barrier, and it will take several seasons to do the job.
+10 hours of usable time on this day. Opens 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
Move the table 8.2 ft south-west fixes what it feels like.
Slide the seating about 8.2 feet toward the south-west and change nothing else.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
Sit under Street tree fixes what it feels like.
Move the seating under Street tree, which is already standing and already casting something. Costs nothing and takes an afternoon of trying it.
Summer beam up about 61 per cent, winter beam up about 0 per cent at this hour.
Change Porch light to a warmer lamp does not move this in any way worth the effort.
Swap Porch light for a 2200 kelvin lamp of the same output. Blue-weighted light scatters more in the air, spills further into the garden and reads as harsher at the same brightness. Nothing structural changes; it is a lamp.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
Two 8.2 ft parasols instead of one does not move this in any way worth the effort.
Two parasols about 8.2 feet across, set 7.2 feet apart along the table. Between them they cover a rectangle, which is the shape a table actually is.
Summer beam up about 0 per cent, winter beam down about 94 per cent at this hour.
Shield Porch light does not move this in any way worth the effort.
Fit a full cut-off shield to Porch light so the output goes down rather than sideways. The light on the table barely changes; the light on the neighbour's wall mostly stops.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
Two low shielded lights instead of one high one does not move this in any way worth the effort.
Add a pair of shielded 200 lumen fixtures at knee height near the seating, so the useful light is where people are rather than thrown across the garden.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
Add 1.5 ft of trellis to Porch rail does not move this in any way worth the effort.
An open trellis panel on top of Porch rail, taking it from 3.1 feet to 4.6 feet. Open trellis blocks a sightline at an angle while letting light and air through, which a solid board does not.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A short return panel on the west corner does not move this in any way worth the effort.
A panel about 6.2 feet high and 5.2 feet long, set square across the corner the wind comes round. Air speeds up as it turns a hard edge, so the metre and a half at the corner is worth more than five along the fence.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
Remove Porch light and mark the route instead does not move this in any way worth the effort.
Take out Porch light and put low shielded markers along the route in from the house. Being the brightest thing in a dark garden is the same as being on a stage, and the light that makes the step safe does not have to be the light you sit in.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A line of tall planters upwind does not move this in any way worth the effort.
A run of planters about 4.9 feet to the west, planted to roughly 5.2 feet. It is porous, it is movable, and it needs no footings — which is the whole point on a balcony.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A 9.8 ft umbrella does not move this in any way worth the effort.
A 9.8 feet canopy at about 7.5 feet, tilted toward the low sun.
Summer beam up about 0 per cent, winter beam down about 93 per cent at this hour.
A shade sail over the seating does not move this in any way worth the effort.
A sail about 16.4 feet by 13.1 feet, set at about 9.2 feet and angled to shed water.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A 6.9 ft panel to the east does not move this in any way worth the effort.
A solid panel about 6.9 feet high and 9.8 feet wide, standing 7.2 feet to the east. Low sun arrives almost horizontally, and only something vertical stops it.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A deciduous climber on tensioned wires does not move this in any way worth the effort.
Wires strung about 8.5 feet above the seating with a vigorous deciduous climber trained across them. In leaf it shades like a light pergola; bare, it gives back most of the winter sun a solid roof would have kept.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A 5.9 ft band of mixed planting does not move this in any way worth the effort.
A band of mixed shrubs about 5.9 feet deep and 4.6 feet high between the seat and People on the sidewalk. Seen from a chair at eye level, depth stacks: layer behind layer closes the gaps that a single thin line leaves open, and it reads as garden rather than as a wall.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A deciduous tree 16.4 ft east of the seat does not move this in any way worth the effort.
A medium deciduous tree planted 16.4 feet to the east, grown to about 26 feet, with a crown roughly 19.7 feet across.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
Lift the crown of Street tree does not move this in any way worth the effort.
Raise the underside of Street tree from about 7.9 feet to 12.8 feet. Light comes in sideways under the canopy, morning and evening, without losing the shade overhead at midday.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
An evergreen group behind the deciduous planting does not move this in any way worth the effort.
A group of evergreens to about 8.5 feet set behind Street tree. In summer it disappears into what is already there; in February it is the only thing standing between the seat and the view in.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A 8.2 ft awning does not move this in any way worth the effort.
A folding-arm awning projecting 8.2 feet from the house wall at about 8.5 feet, retracted out of season.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
An adjustable louvred roof does not move this in any way worth the effort.
A louvred roof about 13.1 feet square at 8.5 feet, blades running south and closable.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A paler paving does not move this in any way worth the effort.
Replace Painted board porch with a paler paving of similar mass. The surface itself runs cooler underfoot; the trade is that more light bounces back up at a seated person.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A solid canopy over the seating does not move this in any way worth the effort.
A solid roof about 11.2 feet above the seating, 13.1 feet by 11.5 feet, guttered on the low edge. Unlike fabric it works in rain, and unlike a pergola it takes the winter light too.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
Horizontal fins above the opening does not move this in any way worth the effort.
A run of fixed horizontal fins projecting about 2.3 feet from The house, set above head height. Geometry does the work: high summer sun is cut, low winter sun passes under, and the view out is barely touched.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
Take up the paving and plant it does not move this in any way worth the effort.
Lift Painted board porch and plant it. Nothing else on this list moves surface temperature as far: paving in full sun sits twenty degrees or more above the air, while planted ground transpires and typically sits at or below it. It is also the only change here that gets better rather than worse over ten years.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A pergola with open slats does not move this in any way worth the effort.
A pergola about 13.1 feet square at 8.5 feet with open slats, slats running roughly south.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.