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?

There's nothing fresh about 30C heat

I live in a new build, if we didn't open all the windows and patio doors we'd probably bake and get heat stroke! That's even with all the curtains closed and fans on.

There is when it comes with a nice breeze through the house.

It's 27 outside right now and we have the door wide open - we have a nice breeze coming in and the animals are all pottering in and out. It's lovely. I'm sat in the shade inside.

Open on the shady side, closed on the hot side. Reverse as the sun moves over during the day. Everything open at night, strategic fans.

A memory that winter is very long.

I closed mine late morning and closed all blinds and curtains, then D flippin H cooked mackerel for lunch and the whole house stinks of it. I've had to open them again!!!

All the windows and doors are open. I live at the seaside. It's lovely here.

I can't think of anything more miserable than sitting indoors in the semi gloom with all the windows, blinds and curtains shut on a glorious day⁴. It sounds horrific.

We have every window in the house thrown open, double doors open and a side door open so we get a bit of a through breeze. Ddog is wandering in and out at leisure and I'm sitting on my sofa in the shade, looking at the garden through the open doors and listening to the birds. It's lovely.

I always keep the curtains and windows closed during hot weather. The air temperature is far higher outside than in. I open the windows as soon as the sun starts to set.

Yes, I grew up in a hot country and that's how we did it, outside awnings drawn down once the sun came up, curtains drawn inside, all windows closed, until evening when it was cooler then reverse the process.

I work on the theory of; shady side = windows open / sunny side = blinds/curtains closed. Keeps the airless/stuffiness at bay whilst keeping the rooms cooler.

Works for me and I certainly noticed the temperature difference when I went outside to the bin earlier.

Doesn't work unless you've done it from the temp change in the morning all you did was trap the already hot air.
Everyone who visits says my house is really cool even next door who have windows open

Also depends on your property. If you are fortunate enough to have a garden, double doors, air conditioning and live in the countryside, no problem!

Our house get the sun on 2 sides all day and it happens to be the 2 sides where most the windows are! We keep windows open all night and early morning to let cool air in.

Once the sun rises, we shut windows, blinds and curtains. House is surprisingly cool despite it being a new build!

I can't think of anything more miserable than sitting indoors in the semi gloom with all the windows, blinds and curtains shut on a glorious day⁴. It sounds horrific.

I'm with you - sounds horrendous! It's so nice sitting with the doors open, the sun out and the animals pottering about as they choose.

This is what I do.

All internal doors closed as well so the rooms which face the sun don't heat the rest of the house.

Windows open and curtains drawn, keeps it much cooler.

Horrific 🙄😂

Yes me too!!

And if the dogs go out the door gets closed behind them and ditto when they come back in.

Anyone who leaves a door open gets glared at!

Well I do this and it’s 22 degrees inside compared to 30 degrees outside.

The idea of deliberately letting 30 degree air into my nice cool house - that sounds horrific.

We are in the SE UK,it was 20c overnight. I got up at 6, the sun coming up from the east very quickly turned into 24c..I don't have any internal doors,apart from the bedrooms and bathroom, open plan bungalow, living room, kitchen, conservatory. . So windows open both ends to get a through breeze.air con on now. Above 23c I feel ill, sluggish, find it difficult to do anything.

I shut everything during the day, having throughly aired the house first thing, and got all the lovely cooler air through overnight. It was 21 degrees inside this morning when I shut the windows and curtains. Indoor breezes provided by fans during the day - I won't open the windows on either side of the house, because the air would still be coming in hotter than it is inside.

So right now, it's 32 degrees C (poss 33) outside, and 25* inside - makes all the difference.

I did have to get over the 'what about the spiders?' question, though 😂

On the plus side, I'm getting through loads of laundry!

Exactly the same 😊

Took us a while to figure out what works best for our house but we've landed on: all windows open at the start of the day when we get up to let the cooler air in. At around 9am close windows and blinds at the front of the house (close to the road, houses across the street, in the direct sun) but keep the ones at the back (no direct sun, open space outside) open. At 2ish when the sun swings round, close windows and blinds at the back as well. At 8ish once the sun has dipped behind the trees at the back, open everything and let the heat out - prop open internal doors for a cross breeze. Close the windows when we head to bed because we live in the city and we'll definitely get robbed if we leave them open 😑

Most of the time this helps keep things managable - only time we've really struggled is when temps haven't dropped significantly overnight and everything just ends up a bit stale and clammy.

We are N/S and have all the South facing rear windows shut and curtains drawn from about 9am until 6.30pm

All the N facing front windows are open though, there isn’t hot air coming in that way and we need some air movement.

Our neighbours over the back of us have their rear windows open all day but they obviously have the reverse orientation from us so it makes sense to me!

First thing in the morning - all windows and doors open. They will be closed by 9am and curtains drawn.

I have an east facing kitchen and the room heats up as I can't cover the full glass door.

I open the east facing windows around 3pm to get fresh air in again. By then the sun is full on at the west facing windows, so again, all curtains drawn.

I am currently in France and nobody hear has open windows during the day, we have 32-33 degrees. They all have their shutters or outside blinds closed.