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The heat

(10 Posts)
Iam64 Thu 25-Jun-26 19:32:21

We extended our kitchen to a large room, it’s great for big family and friends get together. It’s well insulated so our central heating bills didn’t rise.

It has large patio glass windows, side windows and two velux windows. I’ve enjoyed it for 12 years but the current heat means it was 32 mid afternoon, despite two fans. It’s 7.30 pm and 30 degrees.

If this kind of heat becomes the norm, I’ll need to do something.

Any suggestions? Would blinds help at all? I’m in the wet frozen northwest so this is unusual

karmalady Thu 25-Jun-26 19:52:53

I have internal shutters on all windows downstairs and perfect fit honeycomb insulated blinds on the 4 French doors. It has been a real struggle to keep the inside temperature down by a few degrees. They did work but it has been pitch black all day and I have used other measures too eg frozen water in front of a fan

I also have double glazing and when solar radiation hits that glass then the air inside warms up and keeps the room warm. The solution is to have something shielding the windows from outside and about an inch away from the glass.

I have been searching for outdoor blinds attached by suckers, I cannot find any. I don`t wan`t anything that costs a fortune, such as roller shutters which are permanently fixed. I had those once, black mesh for insects and they were great but the mesh deteriorated after 6 years. Just simple insulating blinds would do but make for outside

I am going to write to blinds 24/7 to see if they can do something. It would be a terrific business opportunity for a company

I don`t think greenhouse shading would work well enough but greenhouse shade net might work. I think I will get some suckers and try that on a couple of smaller windows. It would just need thin dowels, net and suckers

petra Thu 25-Jun-26 19:53:39

Iam64
Thermal lined curtains are the answer. I made ours.
But if you have a friend or relative who can measure and sew a straight line they can make curtains.
Plus you have a huge array of material.

karmalady Thu 25-Jun-26 19:56:42

I have found window suckers with hooks. on amazon I am going to buy some, I won`t need dowels and already have shade net.

Primrose53 Thu 25-Jun-26 19:58:27

We have blackout curtains at both windows in our bedroom and keep them closed during the day. They work very well. They came from Dunelm. We also have wooden horizontal blinds which we keep closed in this hot weather.

kittylester Thu 25-Jun-26 19:59:33

We have a similar problem. Our house was built in 2 halves and the upstairs bits of connected by a 'glass corridor' - rather like a conservatory on the roof. We have insulated it better since we have been here but it is soooo hot in this sort of weather. Any ideas welcome

midgey Thu 25-Jun-26 20:00:35

My daughter bought me some fleece linings for my curtains, they have made a huge difference.

tanith Thu 25-Jun-26 20:10:23

I closed the thermal curtains in my kitchen/dining room over the french doors today it made a huge difference.

keepcalmandcavachon Thu 25-Jun-26 20:12:54

I mentioned on another thread that I'd pegged greenhouse shading (the sliver mesh type) to the guttering around my south facing extention.
I got away with not having to close the blinds and curtains and it was cooler! From 4 'till 6 o'clock today it became hotter, but it was 34 outside!
Not a long term solution but cheap & very effective.
I did have I did also have a water cooled fan going but still couldn't quite believe the result!

SueDonim Thu 25-Jun-26 20:21:28

I’m in Scotland so not as badly affected as those down south but I sympathise.

I’ve seen mentioned in a couple of places that people are fixing those silver survival blankets, like rescue teams and athletes use, to the outside of their windows to reflect the heat and it works quite well. They’re pretty inexpensive, too, from £1 each.

Temps here have dropped suddenly this evening and I think there’s a storm brewing. I hope you’re all more comfortable soon.