Nothing beats a well insulated house with lots of natural shade
If walking long distances is not an issue, people will often go out of their way to find a shaded parking spot under a tree or next to a large building.
The reasoning is simple—lower temperatures in the shade keep your car from getting as hot as it would in direct sunlight. This is of particular importance if you have perishable food or candy in your car that can melt or spoil. Although there is a grocery store a few minutes from my condo, I like to drive across town to a bigger store that has a larger selection at a lower price. It’s worth an extra 10 minutes on the road driving there and coming back. But if I want to stop anywhere else on the way home, finding a shaded spot is at the forefront of my mind, even if I have a thermal bag in the car for cold groceries. I tend to view homes in much the same light, whether you own a house or live in a condo like I do. I was really lucky that the condo I ended up choosing out of a list happened to be the most shaded, with trees blocking part of the eastern and western sides of the unit from too much morning and afternoon sunlight. Although I have to hear neighbors in all directions, being at the center of a building also means you have thermal insulation on all but one or two sides of your unit at the most. With a house, you have open air and radiant heat coming from all directions but the base of your home. It’s going to be easier and cheaper to run air conditioning in the condo than it is in a standard house, even if the square footage is exactly the same. Your home will simply stay cooler for longer without the need for the same level of indoor climate control.
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