Three degrees north,
the sun passes almost overhead.

The round diagram at the top of the page looks straight down from the sky: its centre is the zenith and its rim the horizon. The three tracks are 21 June, 21 March and 21 September, and 21 December. At 3° north, the sun runs high in the northern sky in June and high in the southern sky in December; around the March and September equinoxes it rises almost due east and sets almost due west.

This is geometry: the sun you actually get also depends on the floor, the buildings around, trees and the weather.

Walls facing west, south-west and north-west take direct sun from the afternoon until sunset. Afternoons in Kuala Lumpur are usually warmer, so rooms on that side run hotter: this is the west sun people talk about. An east-facing wall gets its sun in the morning; by the afternoon, no direct sun reaches it.

No facing is better in every case: a household that leaves early and comes home late, someone who works from home, someone who feels the heat or who loves the evening light will each choose differently. Where the windows are and how big they are, shading and insulation matter a great deal too.