Room for DramaOutside, Actually.

Chicago (demonstration)

The hot tub that feels like a stage

DemonstrationEdit the plan

When in the tub is open for the hot tub after dark

Each month read on its 15th · 2026
In the hot tub after dark, through the year. In the tub is open for the hot tub after dark 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM, May to August. Shut September to April. 4 months open, 8 shut, 0 unanswered.JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec4months open
  • Works
  • Tight
  • No
  • Unanswered

Rings run from 5 pm at the centre to 11 pm at the edge.

In the tub is open for the hot tub after dark 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM, May to August. Shut September to April.

  • September to April: shut for the hot tub after dark. Light after dark is what stops it.
  • May to August: open 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Light after dark is what closes it.

The shut months are shut for one reason: light after dark. 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
Januaryshut—Light after dark stops it
Februaryshut—Light after dark stops it
Marchshut—Light after dark stops it
Aprilshut—Light after dark stops it
May7:00 PM–8:00 PM1 hLight after dark closes it
June7:00 PM–8:00 PM1 hLight after dark closes it
July7:00 PM–8:00 PM1 hLight after dark closes it
August7:00 PM–8:00 PM1 hLight after dark closes it
Septembershut—Light after dark stops it
Octobershut—Light after dark stops it
Novembershut—Light after dark stops it
Decembershut—Light after dark stops it
The house22.3 ftBoard fence5.9 ftThe spruce29.5 ftABB · Left neighbour's landing windowA · Right neighbour's bedroomIn the tubN16 ft
BuildingNot yoursCanopyShadow nowCan see inProposed

Reading at

8:35 PM·September
September 14 · In the tub

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.

In the tub is open for the hot tub after dark 12:00 AM to 7:00 PM.

About 19 hours in September, and light after dark 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 AMdarkWorksa starting hypothesis
7:00 AMin sunTighta starting hypothesis1° up, bearing 86°
8:00 AMin sunTighta starting hypothesis11° up, bearing 97°
9:00 AMin sunTighta starting hypothesis22° up, bearing 108°
10:00 AMin sunTighta starting hypothesis31° up, bearing 121°
11:00 AMin sunTighta starting hypothesis40° up, bearing 136°
12:00 PMin sunTighta starting hypothesis46° up, bearing 155°
1:00 PMin sunTighta starting hypothesis48° up, bearing 177°
2:00 PMin sunTighta starting hypothesis47° up, bearing 199°
3:00 PMshaded by The spruceTighta starting hypothesis42° up, bearing 219°
4:00 PMshaded by The spruceTighta starting hypothesis34° up, bearing 235°
5:00 PMshaded by The spruceWorksa starting hypothesis25° up, bearing 248°
6:00 PMin sunWorksa starting hypothesis14° up, bearing 260°
7:00 PMin sunTighta starting hypothesis4° up, bearing 271°
9:00 PMdarkNoa starting hypothesis

Wet, mostly submerged, outside in the cold, and lit from the wrong angle.

In the hot tub after dark

In the tub does not work for the hot tub after dark right now, and light after dark is why.

  • Light after dark is57 over— 92 / 100 against at most 35

    Any lamp near the water makes the tub the brightest object in the garden and everything beyond it invisible.

  • Privacy exposure is18 over— 48 / 100 against at most 30

    People are least clothed and most lit at the same moment, which is why this fails on sightline far more often than on temperature.

Confidence low (49%). Treat this as a starting hypothesis, not an answer.

What this answer was built from
  • Use
    In the hot tub after dark
  • Place
    In the tub
  • Weather
    Cold continental, short intense summer, long hard winter (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.

    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: Chicago (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: 3 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: 2 observers marked.
    • Measured Heights off a tape: 1 of 3 objects are measured. The remaining 2 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. 1What 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 8:35pm in September

    Cold continental, short intense summer, long hard winter (scenario shape).

    What it feels like

    cool

    56.8°F

    Felt temperature · 24 on the reporting scale

    It feels about 5 degrees cooler than the air, near 57°F.

    What is doing it

    • Air movement

      +2.9°

    • How much sky is overhead

      −1.8°
    How this was worked out
  • Air
    61.3°F from Cold continental, short intense summer, long hard winter (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
  • Radiant
    43.6°F mean radiant temperature
  • Method
    Six-directional radiation integration, then ASHRAE operative temperature (from a published source)

    • Direct sun

    after dark

    0 W/m²

    Beam reaching this point · 0 on the reporting scale

    The sun is down.

    How this was worked out
  • Sun
    below the horizon
  • Traced
    0% 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
    118deg (assumed, not measured)
  • Assumed
    Which way the seat faces has not been set, so glare is estimated from the open direction. (assumed, not measured)

    • Privacy exposure

    partly screened

    48

    out of 100

    Something already interrupts part of the line, but not all of it.

    What is doing it

    • Right neighbour's bedroom

      +74

    • Left neighbour's landing window

      +8.3
    How this was worked out
  • Observers
    2 marked
  • Method
    Eye-to-eye rays, then scaled by how much brighter the seat is than the observer's own surroundings

    • Wind

    light

    2.9 mph

    Wind at the seat · 14 on the reporting scale

    Wind here is light.

    How this was worked out
  • Reference
    7.1 mph at 10 m from Cold continental, short intense summer, long hard winter (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
  • At seat height
    2.9 mph before shelter
  • Shelter
    0% 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

    61.3°F

    Surface temperature · 3 on the reporting scale

    The surface is running about 61°F.

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

    • Wetness

    dries-fast

    1 x

    Drying time against the open · 4 on the reporting scale

    Sun and air movement here are enough to dry the surface at an ordinary rate.

    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

    lit-up

    20.4 lux

    Light on the seat · 92 on the reporting scale

    At this hour the seat is much brighter than the ground the observer is standing on, which is what makes a person read clearly from outside.

    What is doing it

    • The floodlight

      +20
    How this was worked out
  • Fixtures
    1 placed
  • On the seat
    20.4 lux
  • Spill
    50% of output leaves sideways or upward

    • 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 house22.3 ft100 per cent solid.
    Board fence5.9 ft95 per cent solid.
    The spruce29.5 ft90 per cent solid.
    Left neighbour's landing windowblocked41.8 ft away, eye height 14.4 ft, 13 degrees above the seat.
    Right neighbour's bedroomopen38.3 ft away, eye height 15.1 ft, 15 degrees above the seat.