Can't stand the heat in my house anymore, any advice please I'm desperate!

[ColdandFrosty1]

Shameless posting for traffic sorry!

My house is ridiculously hot in this weather (currently at 29 degrees) and I honestly can't stand it anymore and have no idea if I can cope throughout the summer! It's all on one floor with open plan living/dining and 2 bedrooms. There is no shade anywhere from near by trees. The sun rises and shines directly into one side of the house and then from the afternoon it shines directly into the other side of the house leaving it all boiling. There are no big houses or buildings that can provide shade.

Fans do nothing but blow the hot air around and same with the windows (unless There is a nice breeze). I've tried white and black black out blinds which only helps a little. My front door is boiling hot to touch.

This must seem so trivial to most people but I'm spending these hot days miserable and uncomfortable and have been contemplating living elsewhere in the summer. Cooking dinner is hard with the extra heat as is running my sons bath, its making me angry and irritable too

Any tips would be appreciated so so much!

This?

The other thing that helped me survive a heatwave whilst pregnant was sitting with my feet in a bowl of cold water often with ice cubes in it!

Modern houses don't just get hot through the windows but also through the wall - a west facing wall get's full sun right through the afternoon and becomes warm.

Planting trees or letting climbers grow up that wall would make a big difference.

Another idea was to open the loft hatch - causing an upward draught.

@Summerhillsquare

The long term answer is insulation. Counter intuitive! My house is super insulated and never gets above 22 degrees, even with big south facing area, windows and door. We will all have this problem with climate change...

This.

We had cavity wall insulation done years ago, and the difference in hot weather was really noticeable. I find open windows and closed blinds makes a big difference too, but then I live at the top of a hill and we almost always have a bit of a breeze. If you're in a very sheltered area this might not help.

My late mother hung damp towels and tea towels over the windows in the summer of '76, she was convinced this made a difference. Never tried it myself!

Switch to entirely cold food and forget the cooking whilst it is so hot.

Variety of tapas like snacks in the fridge. Fruit. Veg. Make sure you teach yourself and kids how to make a nice wrap. They won't starve.

Takes the pressure off. Don't cook unless of course you want or have a barbecue outdoors.

If it is very hot and you are washing sheets, I have been known to do it in the morning and then hang them from the curtain rails with windows shut in daytime as suggested.

Roughly how big is that air cooler, please, @AppleCrumbleForBreakfast?

The website doesn't give dimensions.

Freeze some 2l (or bigger) bottles of water and then when frozen place them in front of you fan, it’s basically a cheap DIY version of an air conditioner.

Washing my carpets with a carpet cleaner chills my open plan, with massive windows downstairs, for hours.

We got an air con unit for the bedroom a couple of years ago and it's worth its weight in gold. It was about £400 and you have to vent it out of the window, but it cools the room to 17/18 rapidly. I think it's a Chilly one. If you have a large open-plan space though, you will need a very powerful (and more expensive) one, but I can deal with hot living areas if the bedroom is cool!

@ColdandFrosty1 I don't know what this is like but it just came through on an email deal

https://www.wowcher.co.uk/email-deals/shop/16873551/air-cooler-humidifier?miu=ef9a2817-4336-4883-bce2-c905d3dfea0d&midealid=16873551&misenddate=15-07-2021&ito=wowcheremailNationalV42021-07-15&cauth=ef9a2817-4336-4883-bce2-c905d3dfea0d&mcid=1094:5f5f678e735e313f171a7ebe:rm202107150700:5f075e71d83a3d75935ffaaf:1&$webonly=true

My house is like this. I keep the curtains shut when it’s hot out and we have a really old air conditioner which is on the lounge. It’s huge and bulky but there are much better ones now which are really small. In the bedroom I have a ceiling fan that is excellent at keeping the room cool.

If you're looking for a really good fan i can recommend Meaco, they are not cheap at around £100 but they are the best I've come across, they really seem to cool the room down and they are very quiet - ideal for the bedroom.
My Dyson fan is ok too but a lot more expensive.

I really sympathise. I don’t cope with heat at all well (I swell and bloat and don’t sweat) and I find it exhausting. I get very irritable too. I would feel as you do in your position.

I am exceptionally grateful for our old north facing house, which costs a fortune to heat in winter as it is so cold. But then is cool in summer.

We have a dyson fan for DS’ south facing room. It’s good, but so pricey. If it’s one or the other for you, I would absolutely put the money towards an air con unit.

DH’s Grandad keeps the curtains closed on the sunny side all summer, keeps his house pretty cool. Air con is an alternative option although pricey.

Domino20
There is a lot of adverse publicity about the Tundra Freeze online - worrying.

Sit with your feet in a bowl of cold water. This will cool your blood as it travels round your body.

These

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07RWBNMSZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_RFZ9EX8956E973WM26W6

Keep the curtains shut on the side the sun comes in in the morning. Then shut the other side as the sun comes round.

Get a fan and stand an airer with damp washing on between it and you.
Run cold water over your wrists till you can't stand the cold any longer. This will cool your blood slightly as the veins run close to the surface here.

I live in Queensland and get full western sun of an afternoon in summer. I put the thermometer out at the front door one day and it maxed out at 50 degrees - was no doubt higher. So it's a bit on the warm side.

What have I done that made a difference?

Ceiling fans do make a difference, trust me. Lounge has a fan, dining doesn't (open plan area), lounge is much more comfortable. There's also ceiling fans in the bedrooms. Ceiling fans are better than pedestal fans IME.

Curtains - i have heavy block out curtains which made a difference.

Outside I have a retractable shade cloth awning - prevents the sun directly hitting the large glass doors. Easy to install myself.

Over this winter I've put frosted film (static cling) over the dining room windows - more to stop seeing into the garage than for cooling. I still get the light but it's meant to reduce heat, so I'll see how that goes this summer. If it's good I'll do the big doors too, which will put 3 sun blocking layers on those. 2/3s of the front of my place is glass, so a bit of a heat sink.

The other thing is ceiling insulation. There can be 10 degrees difference between inside and outside temps with me doing nothing.

As noted above, while there's shade doors and windows can be open for cross breezes and to cool down overnight. Once the sun is up, shut everything up to keep the cool air as long as possible.

I did all of that for years before getting air con. I was much freer using the air con summer just gone. Usually I don't use it much as the ceiling fans really do help.

I found that a light coloured thin blind (like, sheer type material) kept our house much cooler than thick curtains, which I was really surprised about.

damp towel over the back of a chair in front of a fan. Be careful not to get water dripping on the electrics obviously.

Come and swap houses with me! It's been cold and raining most of the year. Today is another grey, hoody and trainers day. I'm longing for some warmth and sun. But I understand the curtains thing works to keep temperatures more stable.

I bought an air con for the bedroom, best thing I did. You could hang a wet sheet over an open window and the breeze will turn cool from the sheet’s moisture. Buy a cooling towel, they are really really good, we always bring them when we go to Florida.

I have frogg toggs cooling towel, it’s dry but very cold and keeps cold. It works really well. Even bought one for my dog.