A tip for Keeping the house cool

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I close windows and curtains on the south side during the day but open them on the north side. I've solved the problem of flies and moths coming in by hanging very cheap plain nets so even at night I can have my French doors open while I'm watching tv.

I like to have some air circulating through the house during the day (especially as we have a dog) so I fling open every door, window and rooflight. All bedroom windows are left wide open all night (except on the coldest winter night), we have insect mesh on them so no moths, and we never close the curtains as it's very dark here. All the windows at the front of the house are on stairs, halls and landings so we don't often open them which must make our neighbours think we live in an airtight box! The coolest room in the house is the Utility. The living room stays fairly cool as its an internal room with no direct windows. I remember that my mother closed the curtains on hot days, I've never bothered and several of our windows don't have curtains. Isn't it ironic that we often complain about not having enough hot sunny weather and then when we do get it we shut it out!!

Overheated homes is rarely a problem in north east Scotland, but I'll keep all your tips in mind if the occasion arises.

Lived in Australia for a number of years with no aircon so it's windows and curtains closed on the side of the house that the sun is shining and then open up later early evening. I must admit though that today I have a window open on the non sunny side of the house

I love having every window open - whatever the weather as it seems unbearable to have the windows shut; currently I would feel trapped inside in the heat. We lower the blinds slightly to cut off the direct rays, but have the sashes open at the bottom to allow cooler air to come in. Optimistic at the moment I fear - today feels like living in pea soup. Better weather on Friday - and if anyone intimates that they are enjoying this I won't be responsbile for my actions. Melt down is close - in every sense.

Nipsmum I’m in NE Scotland, too, and agree that overheating isn’t often a problem here! I do have one fan, though, as our sitting room gets very hot as it faces directly south. It can get too hot even in winter on a sunny day.

For those of you who are suffering with heat, a tip to use if you run a fan is to place a bowl of ice directly in front of the fan so the air blows over it. Or hang a damp sheet over an airer and let the fan blow through that. The evaporation helps reduce the room temperature.

It’s interesting to look at old buildings in the tropics, as they were built to account for the climate. The roofs have overhangs to prevent direct sun shining in. Rooms have high ceilings and there are gaps above each door and in the outside walls which draw the hot air and funnel it outside. When we lived in Indonesia I was fascinated to learn that on Bali it’s perfectly possibly to live without AC by careful positioning of buildings to catch breezes and utilising building methods as mentioned above.

Of course, they don’t have to later cope with freezing winters!

Agree with discogran. And when in the (North facing - -still too hot) sitting room I often have my feet in a bowl of cold water along with a fan blowing!

We like the heat, so leave the windows open and the blinds pulled down.

It's a brick house, which is easy to keep cool.

Amazes me that the Brits don’t close curtains and windows in hot weather. Having lived in Spain where it’s the norm, I always do. It amuses me when on programs like ‘a place in the sun’, people say that the windows are too small. It’s to keep the heat out or in depending on the season!

If you open both the back door and front door you get an amazing through draft that cools and is great to move stale air.

Afterthought...you can also plug a tray of ice in front of your fan. We used to do this for ITU patients to bring their temperatures down many years ago.

Put, not plug. Predictive text ?

I live in an upside down house. My sitting room, upstairs and facing due west, gets excessively hot. I do have blinds on the windows specifically to keep the sun out but, I do like the windows open.
Because we are surrounded by trees, the downstairs rooms get no sun. It is comfortable in my downstairs sewing room and my north facing bedroom is bliss in this hot weather,

My windows are open all the time, I have fans in the rooms that we go in, short of that I don’t do anything else, I don’t shut my curtains though

I am sure that I have read about hanging damp towels, sheets etc at open windows at night. Don't know if it works, but it might prove to be a good bug trap!

I hang white curtain linings outside the windows when the sun is on them. Neighbours think I have lost the plot, but it keeps heat from going through the double glazing. Once it starts to cool, off come the curtains, and I open all the windows to get air in. My house stays at a lovely cool temperature all day, so the neighbours can think what they please!

I was aware of this way to keep the house cool but we get so few sunny days (usually!) that I do not want to be inside a house with all the blinds/curtains drawn. It is depressing when the sun is shining brightly outside. I open all my windows when it is sunny and a breeze usually comes from the back to the front. I don't find that at all unpleasant.

outside the windows?

Well, I'm not clambering up ladders to try! What do you fix them to, Grannyguitar?

it is working well today, I needed to be out and came home at 3, outside temperature was 32 and inside 24. I didn`t dare open any doors to outside until 6 and then I scurried through. The air temperature outside is still 31 on the shady side.

This weather can make people feel ill and definitely lethargic and that is a clue that we need to drink water, to make a point of doing that because the thirst mechanism gets weaker as we age, I don`t feel thirsty most of the time but I use a large sports bottle, so I am fairly aware that I am drinking. Its pertty obvious when we don`t need to go for a wee

We bought air conditioning as DH has breathing problems made worse in hot weather. It was expensive as not used all that much but it’s given him peace of mind which is priceless.