Windows open in a heat wave

[Stressedoutmama58]

All my neighbours seem to have their windows open and it’s 30 odd outside. We had the windows open last night but sealed up the house this morning, blinds and curtains drawn.

I have read windows north facing can be beneficial to open to help with a breeze.

Which style is better? Maybe I’m missing a trick?

If it’s cooler inside than out then you keep things closed until it reverses in the evening

I've just got mine open to allow for air to flow through x

I have mine open. My bedroom window is open 24/7 because I feel claustrophobic sleeping in a room with a closed window, but I have drawn the curtains to keep the worst of the sun out. Downstairs all the windows are open, but then I have tiled floors throughout and, with a nice breeze blowing through, it's quite cool down here.

It depends where you are and what's outside/around your house. Ours is full south facing so we DEFINITELY open the windows at the back all day, and we usually have the front windows open during the day as well. The house is set back a bit from the road so the greenery and the pond in the front garden cool the breeze a bit as it comes in. If the road was right outside or we were several floors up with heat rising up from several floors worth of hot brickwork then it would be different.

I have a friend from a hot country and she always says the British get this wrong. Curtains drawn (not open) during hot days keeps the room cool. It's seems so obvious but all the houses around me have their curtains wide open. Mine are closed in every room.

Open while outside temp is lower than inside as heat moves to colder air. Shut as it equalises close blinds and use fans. In the evening open up and use a fan pulling air out of window upstairs....causes droughts up the stairs and cools bedrooms.

Open upstairs windows to let heat out.I close the south facing window blinds everywhere ,open the North facing widow in living room and close the west facing curtains in the living room.
If there is a breeze I will open the patio doors in the kitchen which are south facing. I have insect screens over the space which are white so reflect the sun a bit .This give a lovely draft through the ground floor of the house .
I also have door curtains over the patio door which I will close if the sun is too hot.
Yep sounds like a lot but I'm a fat menopausal woman who is currently sitting in a cool living room .Bliss

Mine are closed with windows open. It's vastly cooler inside my house than out this way.

Unused rooms are blinds and curtains shut but everything is blackout and I don't want to sit in the dark in the living areas. Windows get opened later on.

My DH likes to close windows with blinds and curtains. I find it too stuffy so I open the north facing ones with the curtains drawn (not blinds). I don't think it makes much difference to the heat in our house but makes the stuffiness more bearable

North facing windows open, south facing windows closed and covered with blinds. Most of the house is cool, if a bit dark. Only the back sun room is overly warm but it’s mostly glass so to be expected.

Windows open and blinds closed. Bedrooms stay cool

Everything closed windows and blinds from 8am until 9pm. Then everything open all night I open it all up downstairs about 5am for the coolest part of the day to come into the house.

Our house is lovely and cool right now.

This. Draw air in from cooler areas using fans pushing air out of hotter ones.

It would be great to have external wooden blinds but we don’t do that.

This is what I do. Lovely cool fresh air filled the house at 5 am and the rooms have remained cool.

I prefer to be hotter but to have a breeze/fresh air so I have windows open.

Yes, this.
Even if 40 C, a no brainer for me.

I know the rule, but still open some of my windows. It feels too stale and stuffy with them closed

Windows open. All day and night. Far too stuffy to be closed all day despite the advice. Curtains closed naturally. House temperature is cool

I tried that 2 days ago,we took the dogs out for about an hour. I left blinds, curtains closed, windows obviously closed. Opened the front door, when we got back,went in the living room,it was absolutely unbearably hot.

If the day starts off to be coolish then I open all the windows till about mid-morning, then the windows are shut, blinds come down the curtains are drawn.
Yeah the house is dark but it feels cooler that way.
Sometimes I keep the north facing windows open till late afternoon if there's a breeze and it's not humid.
Ceiling fans are on, table fans too.

If it’s 30c outside and 23c inside why would you open windows?? Regardless of which direction you are facing

Windows closed, blinds drawn and air con on. We're 32 degrees outside now, inside I'm a blissful 20. Such a joy because I hate the heat. Why would I open the windows to make it 32 inside as well as outside???
Tonight, at around 3 - 5am it'll be cool, down to around 15/16 or similar. Windows open then to change the air, freshen it up and cool down. Then closed again. I'm never stuffy though, the air con cleans the air as well as cools it.

I'm sitting in my East facing living room right now with the window open because I'm cold! It's 27 degrees outside and I keep having to go out to warm up - my feet are cold! This room only gets the sun first thing in the morning when it's not as hot, and has a tiled floor. The dog is actually lying under a blanket (but she's an idiot, so don't take that as advice).

Because I'd rather have fresh air and a breeze.