A tip for Keeping the house cool

Absolutely. We open as we go to bed and close about 11ish. It's been up to 40 where we are but this seems to work well. We have sircon in the living room but try to use it as little as poss. Ceiling fans in the bedrooms work wonders.

We are lucky to have an old house with very thick stone walls. In winter they act as a huge storage heater and keep the house cool in summer. The big windows are all on the north and east sides so no build up of heat and although the house is very light there is no glare anywhere.
I think those builders knew a thing or two.

With air con - the experts say just to keep it 1 degree cooler than outside temperatures otherwise it's hard for your body to adjust - unless you stay in all the time I guess.

I lived in Cyprus for some years - always windows & curtains closed throughout the day (with shutters too if you had them) and open as it cools into the evening - though you'd need flyscreens to keep out the mossies.

B9exchange

Not sure if I dare admit that we have air conditioning, a once in a lifetime treat for ourselves when I was coming up to retirement. So our windows stay closed except for airing briefly early morning or late evening. Have just returned from a stay in a 15th century cottage, the Tudors knew something about house temperatures, those thick stone walls keep everything beautifully cool!

Me too B9exchange. Just in a couple of rooms. A bit extravagant maybe, but one of the best things we did when we had our house extended. I find excessive heat unbearable so it is well worth having somewhere to escape to.

The front part of my house is C15. Downstairs it is very cool (same in winter unfortunately!) but upstairs in the eaves it’s roasting. I keep the blinds & curtains pulled and open the windows once the sun has moved. The back faces north so I keep the conservatory doors/windows open for a through draft all day, although the doors keep banging shut so various household items prop them open (stool, bread bin, wooden pig, iron shoe last to name but a few). I wouldn’t dream of opening the loft hatch; apart from the heat, I have wasps lurking

I keep windows and curtains closed on the side of the house where the sun is. It’s still hot indoors, even more so upstairs, but it’d be worse otherwise! ( We’re in SW London where it’s been mid 30s for several days now.).

At night I open the bedroom windows wide and don’t draw the curtains - lovely (relatively) cool air wafts in. Only snag is, can’t have bedside light on because of moths, so can’t read books, only the Kindle. (I do a lot of reading in bed.)

I live in France too in a house with thick stone walls and its absolutely baking. The house is not cool at all. We close the shutters upstairs but I feel claustrophobic if the downstairs ones are closed as well. I have fans going all the time.
So envious of your air con B9exchange

All our curtains at the front of the house are closed until the afternoon when the sun moves round to the back of the house. This makes such a difference to the temperature of the house. I remember my mum and nan doing this and would get annoyed at them shutting out the sunlight, but now i am older and cant deal with the heat so well i understand.

I can’t bear to be in a stuffy house and have the windows open during the day whatever the weather. We’re lucky though in that our house has thick stone walls that keep us cool in hot weather.

I like to have some windows open at times but I close them once it is dark otherwise we get a lot of moths coming in. We open bedroom windows with the curtains closed and put the fan on if it is tropical.

it amazes me how few people open their windows at all. The block off flats in which I live are built from Weston Stone which does help to keep them cool. I have windows open the whole time (on security latches). Open large patio door to balcony when I am at home. Only close curtains at night (and then in my bedroom). Flat stays pretty cool with windows open, Do have a good fan to help at times. Would not like preventing the lovely sunshine from coming in and trying to turn my home into a cave with closed windows/shutters.

I use a davis vantage vu weather station, it is very accurate. When outdoor temperature is close to indoor temperature or if there is sun about to strike the east side of my house, then my open windows and doors on that side are closed and wooden insulating plantation shutters are also closed. Ok it is like a cave on that side but I can usually drop the house temperature by 3 degrees if I get up early enough. I never leave windows open downstairs overnight, for obvious reasons

I make sure that there is a good blow through before the sun hits the house. Thermal mass will store heat during higher daytime temperatures and release this heat during the night. It is all about managing solar gain and doing the pro-active stuff before the sun gets to it.

Yes ladymuck is correct, VOCs are volatile gases and they rise, they are easily swept out by having a blow through. Given off by many modern building materials, furniture, carpets, flooring

We draw curtains on the sunny side they are heavy with white linings that keeps most of the afternoon heat out, close the windows, opening again in the evening.

Windows should be opened for fresh air as well as coolness. We are all spending more time indoors just now, and the stale air causes pollution levels to rise as well as positive ions. It's vital to let some fresh air in, whatever the temperature.

lofts should have ventilation and hot air rising will escape. Opening the loft hatch a little is good. No ventilation is not good

Yes Disco we do exactly the same, it’s the only way to keep reasonably cool.

jusnoneed love shutters, we lived in France, so with this plus thick walls of stone, house was lovely and cool

My son went into my loft today for about 3 minutes to find a fan and came down saying he was dying. The heat released by opening the loft hatch was unbelievable and it's staying firmly closed until winter.
Opening the loft hatch does not work in this well insulated house.

Sillymoo

If you have a loft hatch open that - definitely helps.
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Oh yes, I forgot that tip.
It does work

We don't have any south facing windows but I do keep the bedroom curtains closed during the day.

If you have a loft hatch open that - definitely helps.
.

I keep my curtains pulled across and windows shut until the sun has gone past them, so the front is closed up in the morning and the back gets closed up after lunchtime.
A friend who lives in France told us this years ago, she said you rarely see people have their windows open there. She has shutters on all windows.

I’ve lived in the tropics and leave all upstairs windows open overnight closing them first thing in the morning. Downstairs windows and doors are opened once we are up until it starts to warm up then all doors, windows, blinds and curtains are closed.
I just wish we had the need to keep the heat out a little more often here in Scotland. 21C today.

Not sure if I dare admit that we have air conditioning, a once in a lifetime treat for ourselves when I was coming up to retirement. So our windows stay closed except for airing briefly early morning or late evening. Have just returned from a stay in a 15th century cottage, the Tudors knew something about house temperatures, those thick stone walls keep everything beautifully cool!