Cunning tricks to keep a house cooler in a heatwave
Discussion
It looks like a good time for sharing our top tips to keep a house cool.
I remove the loft hatch, but am never sure if it’s a help or a hindrance.
On the one hand, it gets incredibly hot up my loft. If the effect isn’t enough, I could be allowing more heat into the living area than removing.
On the other hand, hot air rises and it should go out under the eaves. If the airflow pulls hot air from the loft and cools the roof, it should help cool the building.
I don’t have a room thermometer, so I’ll have to get one and do the experiment. What do people expect, cooler hatch open or closed?
A mate of mine is Spanish. His parents are old fashioned and won’t fit air conditioning. They do it the way Spaniards did kept their houses cool before the advent of air conditioning.
They close all the windows and put lots of water on the marble floors. He says that the water absorbs the heat as it evaporates. When the water is gone, they open the house letting the humid air out and drier air in. Then they close the house, water the floor and repeat the cycle. Unfortunately, my floors are hardwood and I don’t fancy soaking them.
So what’s your top tip?
I remove the loft hatch, but am never sure if it’s a help or a hindrance.
On the one hand, it gets incredibly hot up my loft. If the effect isn’t enough, I could be allowing more heat into the living area than removing.
On the other hand, hot air rises and it should go out under the eaves. If the airflow pulls hot air from the loft and cools the roof, it should help cool the building.
I don’t have a room thermometer, so I’ll have to get one and do the experiment. What do people expect, cooler hatch open or closed?
A mate of mine is Spanish. His parents are old fashioned and won’t fit air conditioning. They do it the way Spaniards did kept their houses cool before the advent of air conditioning.
They close all the windows and put lots of water on the marble floors. He says that the water absorbs the heat as it evaporates. When the water is gone, they open the house letting the humid air out and drier air in. Then they close the house, water the floor and repeat the cycle. Unfortunately, my floors are hardwood and I don’t fancy soaking them.
So what’s your top tip?
Uncle Fester said:
It looks like a good time for sharing our top tips to keep a house cool.
I remove the loft hatch, but am never sure if it’s a help or a hindrance.
On the one hand, it gets incredibly hot up my loft. If the effect isn’t enough, I could be allowing more heat into the living area than removing.
On the other hand, hot air rises and it should go out under the eaves. If the airflow pulls hot air from the loft and cools the roof, it should help cool the building.
I don’t have a room thermometer, so I’ll have to get one and do the experiment. What do people expect, cooler hatch open or closed?
A mate of mine is Spanish. His parents are old fashioned and won’t fit air conditioning. They do it the way Spaniards did kept their houses cool before the advent of air conditioning.
They close all the windows and put lots of water on the marble floors. He says that the water absorbs the heat as it evaporates. When the water is gone, they open the house letting the humid air out and drier air in. Then they close the house, water the floor and repeat the cycle. Unfortunately, my floors are hardwood and I don’t fancy soaking them.
So what’s your top tip?
not too much cooler as i have already done that and its stil bloody humid and horrible..I remove the loft hatch, but am never sure if it’s a help or a hindrance.
On the one hand, it gets incredibly hot up my loft. If the effect isn’t enough, I could be allowing more heat into the living area than removing.
On the other hand, hot air rises and it should go out under the eaves. If the airflow pulls hot air from the loft and cools the roof, it should help cool the building.
I don’t have a room thermometer, so I’ll have to get one and do the experiment. What do people expect, cooler hatch open or closed?
A mate of mine is Spanish. His parents are old fashioned and won’t fit air conditioning. They do it the way Spaniards did kept their houses cool before the advent of air conditioning.
They close all the windows and put lots of water on the marble floors. He says that the water absorbs the heat as it evaporates. When the water is gone, they open the house letting the humid air out and drier air in. Then they close the house, water the floor and repeat the cycle. Unfortunately, my floors are hardwood and I don’t fancy soaking them.
So what’s your top tip?
JulianHJ said:
Neil_H said:
Open a window on each side of the house, there will usually be a pressure differential between them so you get nice a draft going right through.
Works for me too.
We have this dilemma at the moment, the south facing conservatory gets stupidly hot in the days, we have a TV, hifi xbox and fridge freezer in there and the heat will kill any plants left in there on a hot day- so they have to be removed. I think the door to the house should be left open to stop it getting so hot in there, but the house gets hot then 
The old man thinks it should be shut to keep house cool, but I really worry what it does to the leccy stuff in there, he is now on his third Xbox, we think that is cos of the heat we keep th elatest xbox in the house now as he really doesn't want to lose another one.
The old man thinks it should be shut to keep house cool, but I really worry what it does to the leccy stuff in there, he is now on his third Xbox, we think that is cos of the heat
we keep th elatest xbox in the house now as he really doesn't want to lose another one.If your house is suitably positioned. Keep windows and blinds closed on sunny side, windows and blinds open on the shaded side, when the sun moves over reverse the process.
Worked in a factory which got very hot, new boss from Czech Republic asked if we could spray the fire hoses onto the factory roof / walls to cool it.....we all thought it was a rather stupid thing to stay.....later on I thought that might not be such a bad idea....I might try it on the house tomorrow
Worked in a factory which got very hot, new boss from Czech Republic asked if we could spray the fire hoses onto the factory roof / walls to cool it.....we all thought it was a rather stupid thing to stay.....later on I thought that might not be such a bad idea....I might try it on the house tomorrow
Adj house thermostat 
The loft or attic open will help. In the South (of the US) the older houses without central AC have fans that fit into loft openings to pull up the hot air from the house, windows open on the shady side.
Further south they jusy buy a big sombrero and sit in the shade.
The loft or attic open will help. In the South (of the US) the older houses without central AC have fans that fit into loft openings to pull up the hot air from the house, windows open on the shady side.
Further south they jusy buy a big sombrero and sit in the shade.
Tyre Smoke said:
Loft hatch def works - well it does in my place where the hatch is at the top of the stairs. Heat rises up the stairs into the loft. Similarly, front and back windows open sets up a cool breeze upstairs.
But a modern loft space has a draft going through it, in some cases blowing the hot air back down into the house!
JulianHJ said:
Neil_H said:
Open a window on each side of the house, there will usually be a pressure differential between them so you get nice a draft going right through.
Works for me too.Last thing you want is to be blowing hot air into your house from outside.
The best way to manage it is to open all windows wide all night (inlcuding loft hatch) & get the place as cool as possible. Then shut everything (windows and bedroom curtains) before 8am & have some fans on to move some air about. If you must open a window then make sure its on the north side (out the sun) & possibly also shut doors of bedrooms on the south side. They'll get pretty hot during the day but shutting the doors will isolate the heat from the rest of the house & you can cool them down after 6/7pm.
Sitting here with my house all buttoned up & a comfortable 5-10 degrees below what it is outside
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