Tips on keeping the house cool in very hot weather

Using an umbrella as a sunshade when you have to walk in the sun is very helpful I find.

fancythat

The, close windows and curtains thing doesnt work in this house.

Just tried it.

Did that in bathroom. Temp went down by 0.1 degrees. And trapped in a fly.

Did the same in a bedroom that is on different side of house.
Temperature did not change in the slightest.

Why dont they work in our house?

DH did heavily insulate it several years back.
Maybe he overdid it?

TBH I’d have thought all those were common sense.

The, close windows and curtains thing doesnt work in this house.

Just tried it.

Did that in bathroom. Temp went down by 0.1 degrees. And trapped in a fly.

Did the same in a bedroom that is on different side of house.
Temperature did not change in the slightest.

Yes shysal we do the same when it is a shade cooler. We have a stable front door which my DH had custom built with the money his late Uncle left him. It was such an excellent purchase. Then we too open the back door and their is a definite through draught. 👍

All helpful advice and in Italy they certainly know about hot weather.

This thread reminds me of mine mentioning how hot it was when I travelled on the Tube recently.

#justsaying

I have found that having both front and rear doors open gives a through draught which is bliss!
An awning at my south facing french window keeps the sun out and front is north facing.

NanKate, people are under no obligation to read any subject they do not want to. Carry on posting. I cannot understand why anyone would read something they are not interested in.

Thanks to those Gransnetters who kindly stood up for me. 💐

I was only trying to spread the advice my sister gave me some time back, as she experiences very hot weather regularly.

Air con

JenniferEccles

Apologies if I am wrong but I interpreted NanKate’s post as being a bit ‘tongue in cheek’ !

I did too JE.

Very useful tips, thank you.

I have said in other posts, but worth repeating, that if you have an old hot water bottle, fill with cold water and add some ice. great to put your feet on, If you are working at a desk where no one can see your feet, you can put it under the desk, slip your feet out of your sandals and cool down. Or get one of those little freezer blocks that are used in lunch boxes . If you put this in a plastic bag and then put a towel round it , can be used in the same way., and can be quite a crafty thing if you put your freezer block in a plastic bag and then into an opaque bag. This can sit unobtrusively on a desk, or counter, or next to the computer. Then you can cool your hands and forearms as and when you want to.

If I need to go out shopping or walk somewhere, obviously avoid the hottest part of the day, but I notice that people here dont make the effort to walk on the shady side of a street and only cross over where necessary. I have a separate small bag into which I put a very cold bottle of water that has been in the fridge, and then also have a clean flannel which I rinse in cold water and just squeeze out , then put into a plastic bag and put next to the cold water bottle. That way the water helps to keep the flannel cool and as you go around you can drink water when you need it and your flannel will give you a chance to find a shady place and then wipe round your face, neck and hands and wrists.

Same goes for the car. I have lived abroad in places like Syria and Portugal and Britain doesnt think about having shade in car parks. So if you need to go somewhere in your car, it is worth thinking how long you are likely to be at that place, and if you have a choice of parking areas think which will be more shaded or cooler for your later time. Then again the freezer box and the cold water and cold flannel put in the side pockets, where you can use them as and when. Take a bath size towel, thickish if you have a choice. Then when you leave your car, drape the towel over the steering wheel and across to go over the seat. It can make quite a difference to getting into your car and the steering wheel is not too hot to handle.

If you have the option I prefer to go out very early in the morning and get back as soon as possible into my cool home with curtains shut etc, as by the afternoon even if it has cooled a bit , you have had the build up of heat during the day. Finally take that old wartime slogan and check "is your journey really necessary!" . If you have friends who live close by you, perhaps check and see whether you can help each other out, so if you only need a couple of things and someone is going on a main shop, ask them to get your bits and return the favour on your next big shop.

I am an eldest and am used to organising things. When my son was little, we also used to arrange to take turns looking after each others children , so that they did not have to go round the shops with parents. The shopping got done quicker and the children were much better if they only sat in the shade and coloured in pictures.

I stick to cotton, or silk and loose clothing, and at home no bra etc. Anything that is even slightly manmade fibre will not help . I dont care what looks fashionable, comfort comes first. I have a very ancient silk shirt more than 12 years old but it comes out at times like this , so long as it is clean and tidy who cares? Also in this sort of heat I go for the essentials first , rather than which shop is near another one I use. Being as comfortable as possible and being able to make that decision, that either it is worth going to one more shop to avoid coming back, or accepting you have just had enough and getting home asap.

Have always been a great believer in making two meals at once, so that you have something you can freeze or put in the fridge, so then you can make an easy meal such as having some bolognaise sauce at the ready and then just a quick sorting of pasta and you are there. Least effort and I accept that on these very hot days I am not following a balanced diet etc.but will get back to it later!

Hope that I am not teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, bit if even one idea is helpful its worth posting it. Wishing you all a cooler day and some rain!!

We are south facing. I keep all rear curtains closed. We have fans on most of the day. Both in shorts and a T-shirt. Drink lots of water, cold, from the fridge. Have a few iced lollies. We have a canopy across the kitchen and it keeps heat out so looking into more for other rooms.

Next year we might think about partial air conditioning but it’s expensive.

Get sun on my lounge all day so closed curtains, windows shut anyway as my elderly cat must not go out, fan on as cannot afford anything better, wear as little as possible, plenty of drinks mainly hot as doc said that cools you down faster by equalling temperatures. So trying everything I can but still roasting in temp of 85! Really had enough now! When younger would have loved this weather but feel it is a bit too much for nearly 82 so can someone turn the heat down a bit please? Oh & my grass would like some rain please?

Standard advice, that the older generation are better at comprehending.

My friend’s DS and DDIL, in their 40s, live opposite her and kept telling her she was daft to keep the wall-to-wall bifold doors shut and curtains drawn, they’d open the curtains and fling the doors open “to let some fresh air in”. She’d shut them as soon as the family left, as arguing fell on deaf ears. She bit the bullet and had air conditioning installed after the second heatwave and is delighted!

My kitchen doesn’t get the sun and the floor tiles stay comfortably cool, the old dog prefers to lie there. If I do feel I need to cool myself, immersing my hands and wrists in a bowl of cool water is effective (as is sitting with my feet in a bowl). Wiping a wet flannel across my neck or over my head helps too.

I made the decision to have air con fitted earlier on this year to the back of the house, which is in sun all day, so glad I did, it’s been a life saver for me. Also just had my conservatory roof insulated, that makes a big difference too.
When I got back from walking the dog last night, I sat watching tv with my feet in cold water, that cooled me down a treat 😄🥶🥵

Yes I just read this. My room is at least 11 degrees lower than outside today 35 v 24. I do a few things: first at 5am I get a cross air circulation but today it was useless, outside was 21 and it barely made any difference to the internal temperature

I put all the vents on in each bathroom, that helps to draw warm air out

I close all the shutters on the side that gets the sun first. My reflecting aluminium shade nets have been hanging on rods for a few days. I can only do those on the side which is sunny first thing (S/SE). The rods are outside the glass, hanging on command hooks and the nets are tied to the rods with string and held in place with electrical insulation tape. I bought the nets from temu, it is too late for this year but they are worth having in and you need a dowel or rod to span across the glass

By 12 I can start to open the inside shutters and have already started to raise the perfect fit blinds on the french doors. I get light through but the sun is reflected away. I have two large square sun umbrellas, both open by 6.30 am and they prevent the sun from heating a lot of my patio

There is a thread somewhere, maybe in house and home, I detailed every process of my experiments

I have dual aspect in each room, the west side faces a light coloured building and the strong sunlight is reflected off that building so I start to close those shutters late morning, then later in the day, the sun has swung around to that side and I need to keep those shutters closed until evening but I have light in my rooms via the see-through aluminium mesh shading fabric on the opposite side

Yes it was a faff when I was trialing stuff but by heck it works and I don`t even need a fan

The aluminium mesh is easy to handle I just lift the rod off and roll it up, tie with string and I can store in my garage until the next severe heat wave. I used 2 x2m mesh over the big windows, 2 of them and a 2x1 over the very sunny s facing side window, I leave that one up all the time

We had an awning fitted above our south facing patio doors several years ago- it’s brilliant,

Some of our windows have blinds on the inside, which I obviously lower when the sun is on that side of the house.
BUT: the heat builds up behind them to way hotter the outside temperature, and you can feel the heat radiating out from them into the room. When that happens, I open the upper part of the affected windows so that some of that heat between blind and window escapes outside (unless there is a strong breeze). It does seem to make a significant difference.

What works better still is to hang a sheet over the outside of the windows, but it is fiddly to do, and unsightly.

Ideally, external sun awnings fixed to the house and used when necessary would be ideal, but that is a whole different ball game!

We’re doing all of this, I'm just fed up with doing it! Juggling blinds, fans and sweaty bits.
Oh for some rain lashing on windows….

Apologies if I am wrong but I interpreted NanKate’s post as being a bit ‘tongue in cheek’ !

My brother lives in northern Italy. They have a house with thick walls, tiny windows, shutters, marble floors and air conditioning. We are just not geared up in the same way,

Thanks NanKate for your timely post
Always glad to discuss coping with excessive heat here in London aka the lava pit.

missdeke

i'm currently sitting in my lounge with a cardigan on as it is very cool. It's apparently 32 degrees outside but I had the insulation renewed last year and as the sun is never on the lounge it stays cool until the heating goes on. My apologies to everyone who is suffering at the moment.

Haven’t worn a cardi in months. Shorts and tee or a very thin cotton dress during the day and nothing in bed. And still I get hot.