When I was a child, I wanted a house with wall to wall windows and skylights in the ceiling in every room.
I loved everything about sunlight, regardless of the burns in the summer when we took trips down to the lake. It’s a cool look, but it’s not feasible in some climates. In places that get a lot of severe weather, having your home guarded with walls of thin windows is dangerous. Hurricanes throw projectiles through the air at extreme speeds, and many people who live near the water have to put metal shutters over their existing windows for protection. With more windows comes more vulnerability during tropical cyclones. But it’s also a problem for energy efficiency wherever there is heat. People don’t realize that radiant heat is present wherever there is sunlight. Even if your window is shut, if there is sunlight coming through the window you’re getting a little bit of radiant heat in the process. With dozens of skylights and windows, your home will get warmer quicker. I can’t imagine dealing with a home like this, because right now I already have enough windows as it is and my energy bills are crazy during the summer cooling period. I love the natural sunlight, but some days I feel like I would waste less electricity by shutting the curtains and turning on the lights inside. This seems absolutely crazy in theory, but with LED lights being so cheap to run it isn’t a stretch of the imagination. Hopefully I can afford double pane windows at some point in the next 10 years. They might improve my situation and allow me to let in more daylight during the hot afternoon hours in the summer season.