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 🥵🥵🥵

Shading over the windows - any solid protrusion that shades the windows should work. Our (old) house has eaves that stick out about a foot or less, the house is never hot. Worth looking into sticking on some kind of external shade, I'd say.

Cross ventilation right from the first thing in the morning - windows/doors open on both sides to try and get as much of a breeze in as possible.

(I work in an architect's practise. Overheating is a big issue, and really shouldn't be - a proper design takes it into account and should cope with extremes of heat as well as cold.)

Sorry - I think a physics lesson is needed here!!

The problem is not insulation - the whole point of insulation is that it keeps heat in and out!

If the house is very hot it probably means it’s been badly designed and it might be lacking the right sort of insulation in the roof.

Dh has lived in a hot country for years (Rome) His advice is keep all the windows and doors closed, and curtains drawn from the minute the sun gives any heat out, say 9am, ( mind you we have a large tree outside the west side downstairs, which helps the living room)

And then, when the sun sets, and ONLY THEN, open windows and doors. Obviously you close the front and back door and downstairs windows when you go to bed... but the cool air circulates and hot air rises, and leaves the top windows, cool air from below replaces it.

the loft bedroom is still pretty hot though.

I had to wear a cardigan this evening downstairs though, his method is v efficient...

My home office/third bedroom has floor to ceiling 8 foot wide south-facing double-glazed windows. When the the outside temperature is 23 degrees, my thermometer inside is reading 27.

This room is always about three degrees hotter than its surrounding.

On the plus side, the master bedroom is the only north-facing room, is always a degree or two cooler than the rest of the interior.

Once central heating broke down just after Christmas when there was snow on the ground outside, 24 hours later the inside temperature had fallen to .... 16 degrees. Outside temperature was probably about 5 degrees at the time.

Last summer was so bad, day after day. I read people were sleeping on trampolines in the garden, that sounded like a really good idea.

Ground floor here, about 11 years old and it's actually quite cool when I come inside. I keep blinds down during the day

Try opening the attic hatch. Makes a lot of difference here x

The problem is not insulation - the whole point of insulation is that it keeps heat in and out!

If the entire south-facing exterior wall of a room is double-glazed glass, does the double glazing prevent direct sunlight heating up the room?

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

Same here. It's lovely and cool inside ( house is a bit older though - 200 years old)

I think external shutters would also help a lot - the problem is that once you have sunlight through glass, even with curtains drawn, blinds etc, you get the greenhouse effect. You have to stop the light coming through the glass and heating up the curtains and blinds.

In Rome of course they have external shutters and blinds. And flats are more expensive if they face North, whereas in UK we want south orientations.

Forgot to say if you have a gel ice pack or hot water bottle, stick it in the freezer then in your bed wrapped in a tea towel. Saved my sanity at night last year until the cat took to lying on it making blissful purr noises
Also lightweight sheet or large scarf, soak in cold water, wring out well and put it over you for sleep

The back of our house is west facing so whilst out garden gets lovely sunshine until late on, poor DS's bedroom which is at the back is always roasting at night in hot weather whist our room at the front is cooler.

I've had blinds down and window open in his room today though so maybe I should try keeping the window closed instead. Just seems unnatural not to open a window when you feel hot!

Air con! I bought my new build just before the early heatwave of 2017, it is so unbearably hot that I went straight out and ordered air con installed. We all agree that it is the only thing which makes the house bearable to live in.

It is hot upstairs most of the time as we have fixed skylights on the top floor. We also have a light well which comes down through the middle of the house so on sunny days the whole house gets ridiculously hot - so much so that I am worried my dogs will get heatstroke while I am out at work and put the aircon on timer for them for an hour in the middle of the day.

Bastard house has lots of glass and no way to lose heat as all windows are on restrictors so open about an inch and a half. We barely have to heat it in Winter but what I save on heating costs in Winter I spend on air con the rest of the year.

Hate it and am never living in a new house again. My small complex of houses won a design award when it was built - I think architects should be made to live in the houses they design...

I think it's meant to be a bit cooler here tomorrow, Scotland.

If you have a entire wall of glass you need a retractable awning. Or a sail. Surely it would only be on the garden side anyway, so an awning wouldnt be inconceivable?

I think those heavy duty external blinds/shuttering which comes down, that you see on the continent will become popular, not the fancy internal shutters.

Open the attic trap door. Hot air escapes up there.

We have shit soundproofing in our new build which explains why the air circulates easily. My friends new build is like a bloody oven upstairs - despite the kitchen being artic most of the time. But you can’t hear them poo.

Well one use of my draughty house is I may freeze all winter but it doesn’t heat in summer either.

@icantbreathehelp that sounds awful. Save the pennies for some air con

Thanks for all of the advice but we are already doing it all 🤣 its not funny really!!

Can people PLEASE link the air con machine they have that actually work? DH just been out for another fan as DC was over heating 🥵

If it doesn't cool down tomorrow ill get a blow up bed for downstairs, being pregnant isn't helping ....

We have 2 fans and a bowl of ice in little ones room! That does seem to have cooled it somewhat!

@LyndzB were do you put the ice? In front of the fan?

Late Victorian mid-terrace here, E-W facing, 2-storey rear extension, & attic with Velux windows. Reroofed 5 years ago with good insulating slabs, recent double glazing, no other insulation.

I am fanatical about keeping all windows shut whenever outside air is warmer than in, & drawing curtains against the sun too. Windows are opened at night once it is cooler out. We have half a dozen rotating tower fans around the house.

As long as the heat doesn't last longer than a week or so the house does actually stay cool inside. I often have to shout at people to remind them about shutting doors behind them but it's worth it!

Outside shutters would be amazing but so rarely useful that's not going to happen!

One of the small modern houses behind us has a roll-out awning above their rear, W-facing windows; I reckon many modern houses would benefit from one of those.

Social housing flat on the top floor here Built in the 1970s

Hell On Earth Ive had to throw out food from the kitchen cupboard that i didnt want to risk eating. Especially when a bar of Dairy Milk Choca Latte i bought for DH turned to liquid.

I cant store everything in the fridge.

allhail that is a brilliant idea re loft hatch. Hadn't thought of that (have a back loft over dd's very hot room which faces East), and my roof has vents of course, so attic will e-vent(pun!)ually refresh.

In the 70's we used to sleep out in the garden. Victorian house, but still got very hot, because my mum had installed extra windows on the top floor [foolish modernising]