Does keeping the actual windows shut help?

[Crunchymum]

I always keep the blinds / shutters / curtains closed but I've never quite managed to keep the actual windows closed too (I open them early or have them all open a crack or even have them wide open behind the shutters)

If it genuinely works I will do it properly tomorrow 😓

I’ve had the windows shut all weekend (initially to keep the pollen out). It’s gloriously cool in the downstairs of my house.

Yes, definitely.

If it's hotter outside than inside you should have them closed.

Apparently it all depends on whether your inside is as hot as the outside?

And breeze...our house is cooler inside so i have closed windows on the sunny side and put white Sheets up.

On the less hot side I have windows open.

We’ve had them closed since dawn and the house is 25 degrees, vs having them open the last time it was this hot and it reached 28 🥵

We have to have ours open, we live in a flat in a converted church so have a very high arched ceiling and after experimenting it just heats up too much with the windows closed. So I guess it depends.

Really not looking to the next two days though!

Of course it blimming does, you wouldn't leave your fridge door cracked open with a tea towel hung over the opening instead, would you?!?!

Windows and curtains open overnight, everything shut in the day.

Cool and stuffy is better than hot air flowing through, no?!!!

Will give it a go and report back tomorrow evening 😄

(Old Victorian house, not a new build or top floor apartment)

We leave windows shut, blinds down and curtains drawn all day when it's hot. Our house is not too hot atm. We will open windows about 8pm to hopefully get a bit of a breeze.

I have windows open, blinds and black out curtains closed, works for me.

Wide open windows from the shady side (N) brings cool air in which pushes hot air out cracked/barely open windows on other side (S) of the house. My house is currently at 22C and it is 31C outside right now per my weather app. So it’s hotter outside than in, and yes my windows are open. And yes, hot air isn’t coming in, my house is pleasantly cool. I’m in a more modern house too, 1980s. So it’s not a cottage with metre thick stone walls or anything.

Yes, definitely. All windows & curtains in my house have been closed since 11 am. All upstairs windows were open all night. It’s currently 30C outside & a very comfortable 22C inside.

Me too and it’s working beautifully with the breeze.
We’ve been really comfortable all day.

It depends on window positions, inside and outside temperature and whether there's a breeze. We were keeping them closed on the sunny side when the outdoor air was hotter than inside, but today there's a breeze and so have them open but light blocked. It's been fine.
So, it varies!

How can "cool" air be coming in, when you say it's 31c outside??

Doesn't make sense.

We've finally opened some windows because there's a breeze and high cloud. The thermostat has risen a degree or two.

So in December when it’s -2 outside and you open the window, the cold comes in. In July when it’s 32 degrees, you open the windows and the heat comes in. It’s really not rocket salad. Our sitting room patio doors leading to a roasting hot conservatory, have been shut all day and curtains closed - it’s a bit stuffy but certainly not unbearable.

I disagree with this

My house feels hotter with the windows left shut. Mine is a new build and unless I leave every window in the house open all of the time it's like an oven.

It's quite breezy here in Staffordshire so I've got the curtains closed at the front where the sun is but every window in the house open and it's lovely and cool.

I'm not sure what I'll do over the next couple of days when it's forecast to be a good 10° hotter than today.

We have doors and windows open but blinds closed as there's a breeze today, tomorrow we'll shut down properly.

If the air outside is hotter than the air inside, then close the windows and draw the curtains / blinds.

Our house faces east - west, so late afternoon we open the windows on the shady east side where it is cooler. Our back garden is a furnace.

A breeze means the hot air is moving, it doesn't mean the moving air is cooler.

Same as a fan in a hot room just blows hot air around.

Have you actually measured the temperature?

Windows are all open, there is a cool breeze running through. The blinds are closed in rooms where sun shines. Fans are on too.

I also disagree,I like my windows open day and night,both ends,Of our bungalow, even south facing,it's cooler than any house we've ever lived in.i hate being shut in. My NDN haven't opened their blinds or windows in 10years,yet,you can see the lights on in there.

Put a thermometer in a room to take the baseline temperature. Open the window when it is hotter outside and watch the temperature increase. Keep the window closed and the temperature is stable.