To ask how are people not dying in new builds with the heat?

[icantbreathehelp]

Our new build is a fu..ing joke!! We are actually going to have to sell our house before next year or live downstairs because it is so hot upstairs at night that a newborn baby would over heat and end up in hospital without a doubt!

How the hell are people coping with the heat in new builds? We live in a redrow house, we have to shut all the blackout blinds at the back and open all the windows at the front and even with 2 metal fans on its still like sitting in a sauna! I don't want to go to sleep because I am scared DC is going to over heat.

I cant cope 🥵🥵🥵

Googling it seems like a common problem. Builders really should be taking this into account. There's no sense in building homes only to kill the occupants off. I really struggle on hot days and the heat from my loft can be quite something but what you're describing is so far beyond that. It sounds like hell in more ways than one.

Get one or more portable air conditioners, if necessary you can get a window sealing kit off Amazon to facilitate putting the exhaust vent out of the window, the kit creates a barrier between hot outside air and cooled inside air.

www.amazon.co.uk/HOOMEE-Universal-Window-Portable-Conditioner/dp/B07KF7CPYK/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&crid=1MKROMNCXVCJF&keywords=hoomee+500cm&sprefix=hoome%2Caps%2C131&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1561758294&sr=8-1

We just didn’t spend any time in our house during summer. It was hellish-and also completely unnecessary! It’s really not cold enough here to justify all that insulation. Now we living in a Georgian property-it’s brilliant!

Top floor new build flat, 39 weeks pregnant, lovely huge south facing windows onto balcony. We’ve never turned on the heating since moving in 2 years ago except to keep the pipes ticking over, 30 degrees yesterday indoors!
Have been doing quite well with a dyson pure cool plus normal fan, switched mattress to one better for warm weather. Eating mini ice lollies. At least it’s better than last year.

I bought the most compact portable air conditioner I could find earlier this week, price was only £230 before delivery, by the day after I ordered it it had gone up by £10, and see now it's gone up another £10. I'd buy sooner rather than later, I suspect once an actual heatwave arrives they will sell out.

They’re fantastic in the winter tbf and we do live in the UK after all, there’s generally about ten warm days a year if we’re lucky .

Just buy some fans!

There's no sense in building homes only to kill the occupants off.

Probably not the preferred way to solve the housing crisis.

It's awful.

So many new builds are energy efficient, which means over insulated and so hot.

And covered in floor to ceiling glass on several sides.

I didn't have much choice as it was a sudden move. But it's awful in the heat. Really needs something like air con or external shutters, but both are expensive and both would involve messing with the external walls, which might not be allowed, as it's leasehold.

Ground floor makes it hard to leave windows open at night, too, for safety reasons, and because it's v noisy.

I have a tower fan, and a new duvet that is supposedly 'cooling'. we'll see

The windows are the wrong shape for the portable air conditioners, but I might have to try with some of the various sealing kits and see what I can concoct, but still won't be any good at night.

Wondering about what actual air con would cost, how it would fit, where it woudl fit, whether I'd be allowed to vent through the walls, what a reputable company is etc. Such a massive decision. And pretty ugly, too, with a big box on the wall. But I have no idea what kind of ceiling I have, and there's certainly no access from above, so I'm sure that rules out anything less obtrusive.

We live in a new build, and we manage to keep to a pleasant 27 inside whilst over 45 outside.
Currently all the windows are open, and all internal doors to allow to air overnight. Will close tomorrow starting on the side of the house the sun hits first at 8, windows closed, shutters down. Continue as soon as the sun moves. Sun shades out (top floor flat) and the final door closed by 9. Cook all the food e.g.pasta before breakfast so I don't need to use the oven or hob during the day.

I'm in a stone built house, 150 years old, haven't even had to put the butter in the fridge yet, we're lucky with the orientation and high ceilings but our heating bills in the winter are pretty huge!

Hmm, surely the insulation will stop the heat from getting in? The house I’ve lived in that was worst in the heat was a crappy uninsulated 70s build; it was hotter indoors than out. My new build is definitely cooler than outside.

Saying that, we have a three story house with a big south facing roof. It’s pretty hot in the bedroom on the top floor. We have the blackout blinds on the veluxes closed all day and open them up when we go to bed. We also have a ceiling fan which we often have on all night.

In our previous appartment we had a mobile airco. Expensive thing but the apartment was permanently 5 degrees hotter than outside. We now live in a 70's bungalow. The insulation is shitty 70's and we love it. Downstairs is miuch cooler than outside. Upstairs heats up during tge day but cools off nicely in the evening. I'm never living in a new build ever again. I need a leaky (air wise) house.

my house is not new new (about 10 years old) but is coolest house I have been in for a while. north facing helps I think, it is painted white outside, and that with being on top of windows/blinds and loft hatch keeps it bearable.

Yep! Same here! Relatively small room sizes/ceiling heights plus a fuck ton of insulation.

I can actually feel the change in air temp as I climb the stairs. It's fucking sweltering upstairs.

We’ve discovered sleeping with all the bedroom doors open, some of the bedroom windows and the conservatory roof windows.

We have a good air flow and keep cool.

That doesn’t sound good! Mines a new build too but never uncomfortably warm. Do you get a lot of direct sunlight during the day? If so it might be worth keeping your curtains closed during the day.

The first night we moved into our new build on a not particularly hot day in June 2013 the thermostat said it was 28 degrees in the living room at midnight.

Long story short, we no longer live there. I am currently in jeans and a long sleeve top in my cool, high ceiling old house and will sleep soundly tonight.

It's supposed to be the hottest day of the year so far in my city, but I've been cold for much of the day. Don't you have a very strong cold wind today?

Close your curtains in the rooms your not using. Open windows for draft.
Buy an air conditioner. When it gets dark close the windows and turn the air con on.

I just get used to it.

Don't use the oven or anything that generates heat. Switch off computer, laptop, don't leave phone on charge, drink lots of water, eat salads and cold foods. Have cool showers. Wear fabrics that are good in heat. Make sure to do the curtain trick.

Get the Dyson cool air thing.

On the plus side, my apartment only drops 1 degree overnight even in the winter, it's amazing.

I live in a cottage with lowish ceilings I am all snug in my bed with my duvet on. This is the most comfortable house I have ever lived in thermally and that included my new build in the USA which had air con.

Problem is 16th century thatched houses are not two a penny oh and you wouldn't want to pay the insurance!
But they knew how to build an efficient house it is lovely and cool and like someone else on the threat our butter is still out, it is nicely soft.

I second opening the loft hatch that has worked will for me in the past.

my flat is about 20 years old but the same OTT insulation regulations applied. It is horrendous. I don't know how I managed last year. all the tips people give are no use at all in a place that hits 35c with all the tips being followed.

I bought a cheap, noisy, horrendous air con unit which didn't vent properly through the bonkers tilt and turn windows but still brought the temp to about 28 at night. That and a lot of pills and I got some sleep.

i came straight from work to mum's house tonight but for a social thing, I will have to head back to my flat tomorrow about 5pm and spend the night there - unless I want to spend an hour on a hot Tube trekking back to mum's. Though frankly I'm tempted. it's much easier to sleep here. I think this house was built in the 1920s? It's okay to heat in winter but keeps sun out nicely in summer.

if you google new builds, there are loads of people having this problem.

they are going to start to need putting air con in if they want to keep up with the crazy level of insulation!

Last summer I did sleep downstairs (new build) and then luckily DH managed to get an air con unit hooray
We rarely have heating on but since I grew up in a Victorian property I’m more of a “put an extra layer on” person so I can tolerate cold.
We didn’t have central heating as kids till around 1989; before that you could see your breath in the mornings. Brrr. I hated washing and got good at doing so without removing clothing.