How to keep your house cool in summer
Discussion
We have a thread about the cheapest and best ways to heat our homes, so I thought it would be good to have the summer equivalent.
With hotter summers seeming to become the norm, what are people doing to keep their houses cool without sending the electricity bill through the roof? I know the PH answer is to get Air con ( I have 2 portable units BTW) But anything we can do to help reduce that temperature in the first place would work wonders!
I live in a 1950s semi, and I'm always looking at ways to stop the heat getting in rather than trying to cool the house afterwards. I've already fitted solar window film to some of my east-facing windows and I'm planning to add more. I'm also looking at external blinds or awnings for the south-facing windows that can be lowered during the hottest part of the day.
I'm looking at something that could help with the math of how big they need to be?
Longer term, I think solar panels will help in two ways. They'll act as a bit of a buffer on the roof, reducing how much heat reaches it, and they'll generate the electricity to run air conditioning much more cheaply when I install some split units.
And who knows... I'm even considering an above-ground pool in the garden as somewhere to cool off on those really hot days!
So, what are you all doing to combat the heat? Any clever tips or ideas that have made a noticeable difference?
With hotter summers seeming to become the norm, what are people doing to keep their houses cool without sending the electricity bill through the roof? I know the PH answer is to get Air con ( I have 2 portable units BTW) But anything we can do to help reduce that temperature in the first place would work wonders!
I live in a 1950s semi, and I'm always looking at ways to stop the heat getting in rather than trying to cool the house afterwards. I've already fitted solar window film to some of my east-facing windows and I'm planning to add more. I'm also looking at external blinds or awnings for the south-facing windows that can be lowered during the hottest part of the day.
I'm looking at something that could help with the math of how big they need to be?
Longer term, I think solar panels will help in two ways. They'll act as a bit of a buffer on the roof, reducing how much heat reaches it, and they'll generate the electricity to run air conditioning much more cheaply when I install some split units.
And who knows... I'm even considering an above-ground pool in the garden as somewhere to cool off on those really hot days!
So, what are you all doing to combat the heat? Any clever tips or ideas that have made a noticeable difference?
My house is built out of gritstone and the trick seems to be never letting the heat in.
My neighbour added radiator-back insulation (foiled bubble wrap, essentially) to his front windows and lowered interior temperatures by over 10°! The downside is that he looks like a loony, with tin foil on his windows but it allowed them to sleep without A/C or a fan last week.
As well as the gloriously lower temperatures, I noticed that the nice ladies who came to talk to me about God and who left a lovely hand written note about my salvation; clearly walked past his gate - they looked, and thought that he was past redemption.
My neighbour added radiator-back insulation (foiled bubble wrap, essentially) to his front windows and lowered interior temperatures by over 10°! The downside is that he looks like a loony, with tin foil on his windows but it allowed them to sleep without A/C or a fan last week.
As well as the gloriously lower temperatures, I noticed that the nice ladies who came to talk to me about God and who left a lovely hand written note about my salvation; clearly walked past his gate - they looked, and thought that he was past redemption.
Edited by 944 Man on Thursday 2nd July 12:23
Just look at places like the south of France where they’ve had to deal with this for hundreds of years.
External shutters on windows and a brise soleil are passive means of reducing internal temps.
My east facing beach house has Georgian external shutters, the hinges are rusty steel and no longer work, but I’m considering replacing them with stainless steel parliament hinges to bring them back into use.
External shutters on windows and a brise soleil are passive means of reducing internal temps.
My east facing beach house has Georgian external shutters, the hinges are rusty steel and no longer work, but I’m considering replacing them with stainless steel parliament hinges to bring them back into use.
944 Man said:
My house is built out of gritstone and the trick seems to be never letting the heat in.
My neighbour added radiator back insulation (foiled bubble wrap, essentially) to his front windows and lowed interior temperatures by over 10°! The downside is that he looks like a loony with tin foil on his windows but it allowed them to sleep with A/C or a fan last week.
As well as the gloriously lower temperatures, I noticed that the nice ladies who came to talk to me about God and who left a lovely hand written note about my salvation; clearly walked past his gate - they looked, and thought that he was past redemption.
I'm still putting my winter 100mm celotex panel into the bedroom window frame each night before closing the shutters - I'm expecting a visit from the mental health team any time . Not quite sure how to explain it.My neighbour added radiator back insulation (foiled bubble wrap, essentially) to his front windows and lowed interior temperatures by over 10°! The downside is that he looks like a loony with tin foil on his windows but it allowed them to sleep with A/C or a fan last week.
As well as the gloriously lower temperatures, I noticed that the nice ladies who came to talk to me about God and who left a lovely hand written note about my salvation; clearly walked past his gate - they looked, and thought that he was past redemption.
Shutters and loft insulation probably give the best bang for buck. We live in Tuscany, and it can be oppressive at times in the summer. Shut the house down, close all the windows, and run a fan for a bit of airflow. Once the sun has calmed down, we open everything and ventilate the house as best we can. When we arrived I used to mock the area for it's little windows and the locals living in the dark. Only took my first heatwave to serve me all the humble pie I needed.....
Worth considering, a shutter does indeed keep the sun out, and the light. Having some nicer daylight lighting makes a big difference to the feeling of living in a cave...
Worth considering, a shutter does indeed keep the sun out, and the light. Having some nicer daylight lighting makes a big difference to the feeling of living in a cave...
Moved into a new build bungalow 9 months ago, which had solar panels. Electric air source heating, no gas.
Spent £8k on batteries so we could store cheap overnight electric and use it during the day
Spent £4.3k on 2x air con units for the main bedroom and lounge/diner/kitchen area
Including powering 2 EV's, our current electric bill is negative £50 per month currently including using aircon 24/7 when its stupid hot.
I estimate that the average monthly electric bill will be £50 per month all in (heating/cooling, EV charging, water heating)
Yes there was some hefty investment up front but long term it will pay back well.
I don'l do hot stuffy houses, and its only going to get worse.
Spent £8k on batteries so we could store cheap overnight electric and use it during the day
Spent £4.3k on 2x air con units for the main bedroom and lounge/diner/kitchen area
Including powering 2 EV's, our current electric bill is negative £50 per month currently including using aircon 24/7 when its stupid hot.
I estimate that the average monthly electric bill will be £50 per month all in (heating/cooling, EV charging, water heating)
Yes there was some hefty investment up front but long term it will pay back well.
I don'l do hot stuffy houses, and its only going to get worse.
Edited by MOBB on Thursday 2nd July 12:10
MOBB said:
Moved into a new build bungalow 9 months ago, which had solar panels. Electric air source heating, no gas.
Spent £8k on batteries so we could store cheap overnight electric and use it during the day
Spent £4.3k on 2x air con units for the main bedroom and lounge/diner/kitchen area
Including powering 2 EV's, our current electric bill is negative £50 per month currently including using aircon 24/7 when its stupid hot.
I estimate that the average monthly electric bill will be £50 per month all in (heating/cooling, EV charging, water heating)
Yes there was some hefty investment up front but long term it will pay back well.
I don'l do hot stuffy houses, and its only going to get worse.
Think you’re on the wrong thread …… the air con thread is over there .Spent £8k on batteries so we could store cheap overnight electric and use it during the day
Spent £4.3k on 2x air con units for the main bedroom and lounge/diner/kitchen area
Including powering 2 EV's, our current electric bill is negative £50 per month currently including using aircon 24/7 when its stupid hot.
I estimate that the average monthly electric bill will be £50 per month all in (heating/cooling, EV charging, water heating)
Yes there was some hefty investment up front but long term it will pay back well.
I don'l do hot stuffy houses, and its only going to get worse.
Edited by MOBB on Thursday 2nd July 12:10
Roof and windows. Basically the same starting points as keeping the heat in during winter.
If you insulate properly for winter then you are also insulated in summer.
Solar gain is then the aim focus. But the sort of heavy, thermal curtains used for winter, again, work well for summer heat.
In an ideal world you want to stop the sun before it gets to the windows rather than after though. As others have mooted, shutters and blinds as per hot countries are really best.
There is then air flow. You ideally want to get some form of chimney effect going where air is drawn in downstairs and exits upstairs. That's going to be very dependent on the size, shape and orientation of the property as well as security.
If you insulate properly for winter then you are also insulated in summer.
Solar gain is then the aim focus. But the sort of heavy, thermal curtains used for winter, again, work well for summer heat.
In an ideal world you want to stop the sun before it gets to the windows rather than after though. As others have mooted, shutters and blinds as per hot countries are really best.
There is then air flow. You ideally want to get some form of chimney effect going where air is drawn in downstairs and exits upstairs. That's going to be very dependent on the size, shape and orientation of the property as well as security.
DonkeyApple said:
In an ideal world you want to stop the sun before it gets to the windows rather than after though.
True, but internal shutters and blinds can be very effective.Also rendering/painting the house white - red brick absorbs sunlight all day, the radiates heat back through the night. Good when it's cold, bad when it's hot.
And opening windows when it's colder outside than in, closing them when it's not. Trap cool air inside. Doesn't work for a long heatwave though.
Closing the curtains on the sunny side of the house make a massive difference by stopping a lot of the heat getting in to the room in the first place. External shutters would be more effective though.
Once the sun goes off our bedroom we open the curtains and open the windows front and back to get some airflow through the house. One downside of this is a couple of times I've found bird s
t on the windowsill of the spare bedroom 
We have one floor above our bedroom, which gets noticeably hotter, leaving the roof terrace door open up there seems to work well, the house acts a bit like a chimney and the hot air is drawn up, you can feel a noticeable breeze on the stairs.
Long term plan is to fit solar panels on the flat roof, which ought to reduce the amount of heat getting through, and fit aircon in main bedroom. I wondered about an external roller shutter too. I have various things around the house automated with Home Assistant so could get motorised ones set to automatically open and close depending on the sun.
Once the sun goes off our bedroom we open the curtains and open the windows front and back to get some airflow through the house. One downside of this is a couple of times I've found bird s
t on the windowsill of the spare bedroom We have one floor above our bedroom, which gets noticeably hotter, leaving the roof terrace door open up there seems to work well, the house acts a bit like a chimney and the hot air is drawn up, you can feel a noticeable breeze on the stairs.
Long term plan is to fit solar panels on the flat roof, which ought to reduce the amount of heat getting through, and fit aircon in main bedroom. I wondered about an external roller shutter too. I have various things around the house automated with Home Assistant so could get motorised ones set to automatically open and close depending on the sun.
Sporky said:
DonkeyApple said:
In an ideal world you want to stop the sun before it gets to the windows rather than after though.
True, but internal shutters and blinds can be very effective.Also rendering/painting the house white - red brick absorbs sunlight all day, the radiates heat back through the night. Good when it's cold, bad when it's hot.
And opening windows when it's colder outside than in, closing them when it's not. Trap cool air inside. Doesn't work for a long heatwave though.
The most insulation for the loft is key as the heat in there will radiate through all night. Again that's a multi season gain.
And then when the outside temp drops below the inside temp in the evening, opening everything up.
An area where tech can help is automated and programmable blinds in the bedrooms so you can go to sleep with everything open and blinds drop at 4am to keep out the sunrise.
Aircon is great but ultimately needs to be a final resort after all logical and common sense passive work has been done.
Ultimately, you can't go far wrong investing in the basic solutions to keep heat in as these keep heat out. But also, if everyone in the property isn't on board and capable of following the simplest of guidance then all is moot. Along with remembering the media will do everything it can during a hot spell to enrage you and cause your blood to boil whether it's telling up everyone will drown next week or men in black vans will be coming in the night to take away your aircon unit.
And as you say, a three day heat spell is pretty easy to deal with but the duration of these events is getting longer and most of our British type homes will eventually capitulate after a week of high temp nights without some help from aircon.
A cheap, DIY split and plug in solar, when available, will be a simple solution for many although not stuffing 400 Greggs sausage rolls into far faces all day long is an even cheaper way to not spend summer like a beached whale and sweating like a pedo in a playground.
Ditch the lard and insulate the home then consider more extreme solutions such as aircon.
I'm quite tempted with this:
https://www.glassfilms.eu/product/glass-films/sola...
Has a VLT of 84% so light reduction is negligible too. It's also not reflective (which we do not want fitted).
(note - not recommended on rooms with lots of indoor plants)
Victorian house that generally stays cool, but the following help:
Close curtains on the sunny side
Open windows at night, preferably at the top of the window
My house has a loft hatch that opens up to allow heat out
A lot of people seem to leave their doors open, which is foolish if it’s hotter outside than inside
Close doors in the house if you have a hot side and a cooler side
Sleep in the cooler side
Unfortunately modern houses and anyone who sleeps in their loft will feel it.
Close curtains on the sunny side
Open windows at night, preferably at the top of the window
My house has a loft hatch that opens up to allow heat out
A lot of people seem to leave their doors open, which is foolish if it’s hotter outside than inside
Close doors in the house if you have a hot side and a cooler side
Sleep in the cooler side
Unfortunately modern houses and anyone who sleeps in their loft will feel it.
ukwill said:
A chum I trust did his conservatory with that (or similar) and reported excellent results. Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff