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 🥵🥵🥵

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)

See my house is a Georgian build and we are melting. Not sure if it's because we're on a south facing corner but we really struggle to keep it cool even in winter when its a sunny day.

Ignore - cross post.

Sorry, thought it was a house. Flats are often awful for overheating. With little insulation between units there isn't much you can do. Even if you do everything 'right', everyone else can ignore it and overheat your flat.

Yes, I would try and move in that situation - sorry!

Yes it's a flat. And lots of reasons will make it hard to move right now!
It was ComfoCool that I was looking at, not ComfoAir. And it's better for houses, apparently. I keep thinking that there shoudl be something they could design that would work, given that all the ducts are there. Maybe in the future. The trees will have grown by then, too!!

It's the windows that are badly designed, floor to ceiling and along two exterior walls - facing, in my case, south and west, with no real exterior shading apart from what I put up.

Surprisingly, it's not all that warm in the winter, although I'm sure better than most houses. But I do have to turn the heat on a lot. We have a stupid communal heating system, which I've also read can contribute to over-heating because of the pipes and things. It's also quite expensive (very high standing charge) even if you don't use much heat, so hasn't really helped bills be lower. These eco-friendly alternatives aren't always what they seem!!!

These eco-friendly alternatives aren't always what they seem

If the house is designed by someone who knows what they're doing, they will work very efficiently, be warm in winter and cool in summer. Unfortunately very few people know how to design like this. Passivhaus is a good qualification to look for.

Come to Scotland. We have torrential rain. I would love a heatwave...

Problem is, that if the people below you have the same window set up, Then even if your windows are shaded, the heat from their flat will rise up to you. Developers don't care about this issue so don't prioritise dealing with it properly.

"we do live in the UK after all, there’s generally about ten warm days a year if we’re lucky*

Where were you last summer then?

Yeah the theories of the eco-friendly stuff is good, but they're just not always implemented well. This communal heating is more of a disaster than it's worth, as it's so badly implemented. I'm sure it could be good though. And things like the low-water stuff - would be good, if it worked, but you have to flush the toilets several times, take much longer to rinse hair etc, and I'm not sure it saves water in the end. The builders even know that, and said so when they did the inspections - that they had to do it all to get the eco-friendly 'tick' from the government, but they know that people will replace it with stuff that works properly, which causes even more landfill etc. Made me cross that they were just cavalier about it.

I"m still trying to figure out if the frosted glass is better than the clear glass, as I could buy some more umbrellas etc, but still woudln't cover it all - might try to cover the clear areas first.

Our house is 5yrs old and is pretty much a sweat box. We open windows and doors, close blinds where the sun is and open blinds where it’s not, changing through the day as the sun moves round. This does help but it is seriously hot esp by bedtime x

In that sense, I'm lucky being ground floor, as no-one else's heat to rise up! The upper floors have more enclosed balconies, too, rather than just wide expanses of glass like I do. I think that's why the building passed, even though individual flats are at risk of overheating. Many of them are not so bad. The disadvantage to ground floor is of course not being able to open windows and doors at night, and not being able to vent portable air con through the windows at night for security.

This is a game changer ... the end of my living room is four glass panels two of them being patio doors, last summer it got so hot in here I just couldn't use this room so I bought a door sealer for an air con unit ( I have the same but for a window in my bedroom ) and it's so comfortable in here now.

We used to live in a new build and on the Hurd floor where the last two bedrooms were it was unbearable during a heatwave. Get some air con OP and you'll be a lot more comfortable.

We have insulated walls. It's so hot.

Used to live in a new build flat. For 90% of the year it was great and we barely touched our heating- maybe used it once or twice a year. During a hot summer it was literally hell. We had a massive shock moving to an older house and discovering we needed to put heating on in the autumn.

I kept the curtains drawn, ie closed, and it's made a big difference. Might try keeping the windows shut more tomorrow. 1930s house here.

ah, that's similar to the door sealer I was looking at. Similar for windows.

If you cool it during the day, does it last OK at night so you're comfortable?
Is it the Trotec sealing? That's the only one I found that I thought would work with my windows.

How easy is it to take off when you open or close the door?

There is the reflective film for windows that's supposed to keep things cooler? I'm sure you can get some that just static clings rather than sticks on so you can easily take it off when the heat wave is over. But I really do think having a fan in every room, leaving all internal doors open and as many outer doors and windows open as possible is essential in this heat. We aren't in a new build but it's been so unbearable here today.

Honestly not trying to be goady but what is going on in your houses???!!!

It was 27 degrees here today which is nicely warm in my book.

I just checked thermometer and it is 22 degrees now. I could easily sleep in that. Am pottering around the house in cotton pyjamas doing chores and feeling cool enough.

Are you saying that your houses are hotter than like 30 degrees and that is why you cannot sleep? Really sorry, I am a bit confused as to what is going on. I imagine most of us can easily sleep in around 27 degrees in a sun lounger round the pool, so why not in your own house?

Disclaimer: I do not have to share my bed with a heat radiating human just a small cat

I just checked our thermometers, it was about 30 outside today and the whole house is about 24c and I have had windows and doors open, so pleasantly warm.

Ground floor makes things a bit tricky for opening Windows at night but at least you don't get other people's heat. Boosting MVHR overnight then when you can't leave Windows open to get as much cool air in. You could also look at adding a Brise Soleil to the windows to reduce the solar gain as an alternative to an awning.

I was think of the zehnder thing for cooling but if you already know you can't do that I am afraid I am not sure of alternatives.

couple of days of the sun and people start moaning...it will be winter soon enough and that will be a whole new moaning thread!

Opening the windows is never going to make it cooler inside than it is outside - you really don't want all the windows open on a hot day.

We have as many windows open overnight as is safe and open everything else as well first thing in the morning until 9.30 ish (or whenever it gets hotter outside than in). It's then close all the windows, and shut the curtains / blinds on whichever side of the house is currently sunny. We have an awning on our big glass doors (coat about 120 pounds and we fitted overselves). Our house hasn't got above 23 C downstairs - which is completely comfortable even at nearly 8 months pregnant. It got up to 32 C plus outside and is still about 27 C - we'd be a lot hotter inside if we'd opened all the windows!

"Where were you last summer then?"

YY @codemonkey It didnt take long for the rewriting of history to start.

I steam cleaned the sofas today so had windows and doors open to aid drying, it was only 24 inside no not too hot