Room for DramaOutside, Actually.

Chicago (demonstration)

The north-facing city garden

DemonstrationEdit the plan

When the bed by the back door is open for the dog

Each month read on its 15th · 2026
The dog outside, through the year. The bed by the back door is open for the dog 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, December to February. It opens at different hours March to April, May, June to July, August and September to November. 12 months open, 0 shut, 0 unanswered.JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12months open
  • Works
  • Tight
  • No
  • Unanswered

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

The bed by the back door is open for the dog 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, December to February. It opens at different hours March to April, May, June to July, August and September to November.

  • December to February: open 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. What it feels like is what closes it.
  • March to April: open 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM. It carries on past 7:00 PM, which is later than most people do this.
  • May: open 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM. It carries on past 7:00 PM, which is later than most people do this.
  • June to July: open 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM. It carries on past 7:00 PM, which is later than most people do this.
  • August: open 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM. It carries on past 7:00 PM, which is later than most people do this.
  • September to November: open 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM. It carries on past 7:00 PM, which is later than most people do this.

What it feels like is the commonest thing to end the day for the dog here.

The same year as a table
MonthOpenUsable hoursWhat decides it
January11:00 AM–3:00 PM4 hWhat it feels like closes it
February10:00 AM–4:00 PM6 hWhat it feels like closes it
March9:00 AM–7:00 PM10 hStill usable afterwards
April9:00 AM–7:00 PM10 hStill usable afterwards
May12:00 PM–7:00 PM7 hStill usable afterwards
June4:00 PM–7:00 PM3 hStill usable afterwards
July4:00 PM–7:00 PM3 hStill usable afterwards
August12:00 PM–7:00 PM7 hStill usable afterwards
September9:00 AM–7:00 PM10 hStill usable afterwards
October9:00 AM–7:00 PM10 hStill usable afterwards
November9:00 AM–7:00 PM10 hStill usable afterwards
December10:00 AM–4:00 PM6 hWhat it feels like closes it
The house36.1 ftEast party wall14.8 ftWest party wall14.8 ftThe block behind39.4 ftThe bed by the back doorThe far end of the gardenThe benchN16 ft
BuildingNot yoursCanopyShadow nowCan see inProposed

Reading at

8:35 PM·September
September 14 · The bed by the back door

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 bed by the back door is open for the dog 12:00 AM to 11:30 PM.

About 23.5 hours in September.

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 AMshaded by East party wallWorksa starting hypothesis5° up, bearing 90°
8:00 AMshaded by East party wallWorksa starting hypothesis16° up, bearing 100°
9:00 AMshaded by East party wallWorksa starting hypothesis27° up, bearing 111°
10:00 AMshaded by East party wallWorksa starting hypothesis36° up, bearing 125°
11:00 AMshaded by The houseWorksa starting hypothesis45° up, bearing 141°
12:00 PMshaded by The houseWorksa starting hypothesis50° up, bearing 162°
1:00 PMshaded by The houseWorksa starting hypothesis51° up, bearing 186°
2:00 PMshaded by The houseWorksa starting hypothesis48° up, bearing 208°
3:00 PMshaded by The houseWorksa starting hypothesis41° up, bearing 227°
4:00 PMshaded by West party wallWorksa starting hypothesis32° up, bearing 242°
5:00 PMshaded by West party wallWorksa starting hypothesis22° up, bearing 254°
6:00 PMshaded by West party wallWorksa starting hypothesis11° up, bearing 265°
7:00 PMshaded by West party wallWorksa starting hypothesis0° up, bearing 275°
9:00 PMdarkWorksa starting hypothesis

Somewhere a dog can lie down for an afternoon without cooking.

The dog outside

The bed by the back door works for the dog at this hour.

  • Surface heat is inside what this use needs: 65.6°F against at most 107.6°F.
  • Direct sun is inside what this use needs: 0 / 100 against at most 60.
  • What it feels like is inside what this use needs: 52.5°F against 35.6°F to 78.8°F.

Confidence low (47%). Treat this as a starting hypothesis, not an answer.

What this answer was built from
  • Use
    The dog outside
  • Place
    The bed by the back door
  • Weather
    Humid continental, hot summers, real winters (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: Chicago (demonstration), with a time zone, which is what makes an hour an hour.
    • Quick Somewhere to read: 3 spots marked. A reading is a height at a place, and moving it moves the answer.
    • Mapped The things in the way: 4 objects drawn. The house counts, and so does the neighbour's.
    • Mapped What is underfoot: 3 of 3 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: 0 of 4 objects are measured. The remaining 4 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 8:35pm in September

    Humid continental, hot summers, real winters (scenario shape).

    What it feels like

    cool

    52.5°F

    Felt temperature · 19 on the reporting scale

    It feels about 13 degrees cooler than the air, near 53°F.

    What is doing it

    • How much sky is overhead

      −8.3°

    • Air movement

      −1.1°
    How this was worked out
  • Air
    65.6°F from Humid continental, hot summers, real winters (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
  • Radiant
    36.9°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
    11deg (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

    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

    still

    0.5 mph

    Wind at the seat · 2 on the reporting scale

    West party wall is taking about 37% of the wind off this spot.

    What is doing it

    • West party wall

      −0.3 mph
    How this was worked out
  • Reference
    6.1 mph at 10 m from Humid continental, hot summers, real winters (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
  • At seat height
    0.8 mph before shelter
  • Shelter
    37% 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

    65.6°F

    Surface temperature · 7 on the reporting scale

    The surface is running about 66°F.

    How this was worked out
  • Surface
    Planting bed
  • 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 · 7 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

    Unanswered

    No exterior or window light has been placed yet, so what changes after dark is unanswered.

    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 house36.1 ft100 per cent solid.
    East party wall14.8 ft100 per cent solid.
    West party wall14.8 ft100 per cent solid.
    The block behind39.4 ft100 per cent solid.