Geek Out #07
Tilted blocks: sunset view without the afternoon sun?
Published · Updated · Sun positions for every day of 2027
Picture two identical homes in Singapore: one faces west, and the other is in a block tilted 45°, so it faces north-west or south-west. Both get about 3 hours of afternoon sun after 4pm. Tilted, that sun reaches the windows at an angle, so it’s gentler, with about a third less heat. Both get a sunset view too. Facing west, the sunset is straight ahead all year. Tilted, the sunset is straight ahead for about six months and at an angle the rest of the year. So 45° is a middle ground: gentler afternoon sun, and still a sunset view.
What this page found, in five lines
Tilted 45°: gentler afternoon sun, and still a sunset view · tap for the rest
Developers tilt blocks for many reasons, such as views, the space between blocks and the shape of the land. This page looks only at the sun.
- About the same hours of afternoon sun. Tilted 45° or facing west, a home gets about 3 hours of afternoon sun after 4pm on an average day.
- Gentler sun when tilted. Tilted, the afternoon sun reaches the windows at an angle, so the home gets about a third less heat after 4pm on a clear day.
- A sunset view either way. Facing west, the sunset is straight ahead all year. Tilted to face north-west, it’s straight ahead from April to September; tilted to face south-west, from October to March. The rest of the year, the sunset is at a wider angle, to the left or right.
- The other side of a tilted block gets no sun after 4pm. North-east and south-east homes get morning sun, with the sunrise straight ahead for half the year. East-facing homes in a block that isn’t tilted get the same, with the sunrise straight ahead all year.
- North-south facing homes get the least afternoon sun. About a tenth of the afternoon heat of a home facing west, and only in the months the sun swings round to their side. A block tilted 45° has no home facing north or south.
Tilt the block yourself
Two blocks seen from above, north up: one that isn’t tilted, and one tilted 45° towards north-west (the slider turns it either way, towards south-west or north-west). Pick a date and a time. The sides of each block where sun is reaching the rooms turn orange. Tap a side to see that home, with the sun on its floor.
Block not tilted
Sides face north, east, south and west
Block tilted 45° towards north-west
Sun reaching the roomsSun on this side, only on the balcony and ledgesNo direct sunThe home shown below
The home is a typical layout I drew for this page, not any developer’s plan: two bedrooms behind a 0.6m ledge and a living room behind a 2m balcony, with glass from the floor to the 2.8m ceiling. Orange is sun on the floor; pale yellow is sun on the balcony floor. Neighbouring buildings, trees and curtains aren’t included. Each month is worked out for one day, the 21st, so the date slider moves a month at a time. Some blocks have homes on two sides only. The tool shows all four sides so you can compare every facing.
What got me thinking about this
“I don’t want west sun.” I hear it all the time, usually just before “but must have nice view ah.” Some condos tilt their blocks so no home faces straight west, only north-west or south-west. How does the tilt change the afternoon sun, and the sunset view? I tracked the sun over Singapore for a whole year, every 5 minutes, to find out. The corgi stayed in the shade the whole time.
How much west sun does a north-west or south-west facing unit get?
About as many hours as a home facing west, but gentler. After 4pm the sun is low in the west, between west-south-west and west-north-west depending on the month. A window tilted 45° from west faces that sun at an angle. So sun reaches the rooms for about the same time, around 3 hours a day, with about a third less heat.
| Facing | Sun reaching the rooms after 4pm hours a day, year average | Strength of the sun after 4pm facing west = 100% | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| West block not tilted | 3.1 | 100% | Straight ahead all year |
| West-north-west block tilted 25° | 3.1 | 88% | Straight ahead February to November; at an angle the rest of the year |
| North-west block tilted 45° | 3.0 | 64% | Straight ahead April to September; at an angle the rest of the year |
| South-west block tilted 45° | 3.0 | 64% | Straight ahead October to March; at an angle the rest of the year |
| North block not tilted | 1.2 | 9% | At an angle, June to July only |
| South block not tilted | 1.2 | 9% | At an angle, December to January only |
| East block not tilted | 0 | 0% | No (sunrise straight ahead all year) |
| North-east and south-east block tilted 45° | 0 | 0% | No (sunrise straight ahead half the year) |
Sun reaching the rooms: sun landing on a room’s floor at least 30cm in from the glass, averaged over every day of 2027. Strength: on a clear day, the sun’s heat coming through the windows after 4pm, with a home facing west as 100%. Sunset straight ahead: the sun sets within 45° of the middle of the window on more than half the days of the month; at an angle: 45° to 70°.
If the hours are the same, what does the tilt change?
The angle. Facing west, the low afternoon sun reaches the windows almost straight on. Tilted 45°, it reaches them at an angle, so each square metre of glass catches less of it, and the patch of sun on the floor is narrower. After 4pm on a clear day, the tilted home gets about 36% less heat through its windows than the same home facing west, and about 34% less over the whole day. Tilted only about 25°, the home faces west-north-west and gets 12% less heat after 4pm.
When can you see the sunset from a north-west or south-west facing unit?
All year, at different angles. In Singapore the sun sets between west-south-west in December and west-north-west in June. Facing west, the sunset is straight ahead all year. Tilted 45° to face north-west, it’s straight ahead from April to September; the rest of the year, the sunset is at a wider angle, to the left or right. Facing south-west, it’s straight ahead from October to March. When the sunset is to the left or right, a balcony side wall or the next block can hide it, depending on the home. Buildings in front and trees aren’t in the model.
Do north-east and south-east facing units get afternoon sun?
Not after 4pm. North-east and south-east homes get morning sun instead, with the sunrise straight ahead for half the year: north-east from April to September, south-east from October to March. East-facing homes in a block that isn’t tilted are the same: morning sun, none after 4pm, and the sunrise straight ahead all year.
Do north-south facing units get the least afternoon sun?
Yes, after 4pm they get less sun than any other facing. In a block that isn’t tilted, north-facing homes get afternoon sun only from April to August, and south-facing ones from October to February, when the sun swings round to their side. In those months it can reach the rooms for up to about 3 hours after 4pm, but at a steep angle, so over the year they get about 9% of the afternoon heat of a home facing west. A block tilted 45° has no home facing north or south.
Questions people ask about this
Does a north-west or south-west facing condo get afternoon sun in Singapore?
Yes, at an angle. In my model of a typical home, a home facing north-west or south-west gets about 3 hours of afternoon sun after 4pm on an average day, about the same number of hours as the same home facing west. The sun reaches its windows at an angle, so on a clear day it gets about a third less heat.
Which direction gets the least afternoon sun in Singapore?
North and south. A home facing north gets afternoon sun only from about April to August, and one facing south from about October to February, when the sun swings round to that side. Even then the sun reaches the windows at a steep angle, so over the year these homes get about a tenth of the afternoon heat of a home facing west.
When can I see the sunset from a north-west or south-west facing home?
All year. For about half the year the sunset is straight ahead, and for the other half it’s to the left or right. In Singapore the sun sets between west-south-west in December and west-north-west in June. Facing north-west, the sunset is straight ahead from April to September; facing south-west, from October to March. When it’s to the left or right, a balcony side wall or the next block can hide it.
Does a tilted unit get more afternoon sun than a north-south facing one?
Yes. A home facing north-west or south-west gets about 3 hours of afternoon sun after 4pm on an average day, all year round. A home facing north or south gets it only in some months. Over the year, the tilted home gets about two-thirds of the afternoon heat of a home facing west; the north- or south-facing home gets about a tenth.
How was this worked out?
Sun positions come from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s solar equations, every 5 minutes of every day of 2027, for central Singapore. The home is a typical layout I drew, with glass from floor to ceiling, a 2m balcony and 0.6m ledges. Sun counts as reaching the rooms when it lands at least 30cm in from the glass. Neighbouring buildings, trees and clouds aren’t included.
Tell me which figure and why. If the sun model shows something different, the page changes and the update log says so.
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How the sun was worked out
Sun position. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s solar equations, in Singapore time, for 1.35°N 103.82°E, every 5 minutes from 6am to 8pm on every day of 2027. Sunrise and sunset move by a minute or two across the island; their directions don’t change enough to matter here.
The home. A typical layout I drew for this page, along one outside wall: a bedroom 3.0m wide, a master bedroom 3.5m wide, and a living room 4.0m wide and 7m deep. Each has glass from the floor to the ceiling (2.8m). The bedrooms sit behind a 0.6m ledge and the living room behind a 2m balcony, each with the floor above as its roof. These sizes are my estimates of common layouts in recent condos, not any one developer’s plan.
Sun reaching the rooms. The sun patch is where a straight line from the sun through the glass reaches the floor. The balcony or ledge above shades the top of the glass, more when the sun is high. Sun counts as reaching the rooms when it lands at least 30cm in from the glass; sun only on the balcony, or only right by the glass, isn’t counted.
Heat through the glass. On a clear day, the strength of direct sun depends on how much air it passes through: 1,353 × 0.7(AM0.678) watts a square metre, where AM, the air mass, is 1 divided by the sine of the sun’s height. That’s multiplied by how squarely the sun hits the glass and by the area of glass in sun, then added up over the day. Only the comparison with a home facing west is shown, because clouds, haze and the glass itself change the actual amount. Light from the rest of the sky isn’t counted.
Sunset and sunrise. Straight ahead: the sun’s direction as it sets (or rises) is within 45° of the middle of the window, on more than half the days of the month. At an angle: 45° to 70°.
Blocks. The tool treats a block as having a home facing each way, 90° apart (many blocks have homes on two sides only). “Tilted 45°” means turned 45° either way, so the homes face north-east, south-east, south-west and north-west. The slider turns the block up to 45° towards south-west or north-west, and always shows the home that faced west before the turn. The tool works out every facing in 5° steps.
Left out. Neighbouring buildings, the rest of your own block (wings, fins and planter boxes), trees, clouds, glass coatings, curtains and blinds.
Update log
- 13 October 2026 — Published as Geek Out #07. The tilt slider now turns the block either way, towards south-west or north-west, and always follows the home that faced west. Reworded a few notes.
- 8 October 2026 — Reworded to be simpler, added the sunset to the left or right, and moved to this web address.
- 7 October 2026 — First draft.
Where the numbers come from
- Sun positions: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, solar calculation equations.
- Strength of direct sun on a clear day: the air-mass estimate, as set out by PVEducation, Air Mass.
- The home: a typical layout drawn for this page. Room, glass, ledge and balcony sizes are my estimates of common layouts in recent condos.
More from Geek Out: Stack View: what will I see from my new home, and when will the sun reach it?
Before you act on any of this. This is my own model of the sun and a typical home I drew, not any project’s plans. Real homes differ: neighbouring buildings, trees, the block’s own walls and fins, glass coatings and curtains all change how much sun comes in. Use it to understand the sun’s path, then check the actual stack, its floor plan and what stands in front of it. Prepared by Jamus Lee (CEA R065771E, ERA Realty Network Pte Ltd).
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