To think buildings in the UK need to be adapted to this heat?

[Glaceonn]

I know I’m not alone in this, I wonder how it is in high rise flats? My flat is 40 degrees plus in some rooms. What is the answer though because air conditioning as standard would make environmental issues even worse.

There’s no air conditioning in hospitals, care homes, on the tube, buses as far as I know.

Some people simply can’t cope in this heat, I know I’m speaking from a biased viewpoint but I’m not the only one. I can’t remember the last time I wore a jacket in the day, so it’s not just ‘a few days of heat’ where I am.

It’s making me have panic attacks, there is barely any air. If it was extremely cold but we had no heating, we’d be able to expect our landlord to make the place warmer for us.

I’ve had one hour of sleep and can’t articulate my thoughts very well!

@RobinPenguins

It’s more than just the odd day. I’m in the north but it’s been a week so far of temperatures too warm at night to easily sleep.

I know what you mean OP, average temperatures are getting hotter and our homes aren’t designed for it. And the heat causes excess deaths even in this country, which I thought we all cared deeply about now.

Things like external shutters, coated windows, creation of more shade could be part of a government scheme in the same way solar panels were, and insulation measures.

Everyone having AC units doesn’t seem like the answer due to environmental impact, much as selfishly I will probably buy myself one this year.

Absolutely agree, it really isn’t just the odd day, I’ve been increasingly feeling like this for the past few years. And yes people are dying because of the heat, it’s concerning.

@WorldsBestBoss

Depends what part of the Uk - south of England could definitely do with air conditioning in homes. Scotland never really gets hot enough for it to be worth it. Can't comment on other areas as not lived anywhere else long enough to know.

Really? Scotland doesn't get hot enough for it to be worth it? I've barely slept over the last 3 nights, the fan on all night isn't even cutting it! It's plenty hot up here and has been for a good while now, believe me!

@Mypathtriedtokillme

In the meantime close your blinds/curtains during the heat of the day, get a fan and open your windows in the late evening until you go to bed. We spent 10 years living in Sydney without aircon when it’s so hot that it’s still over 30 at night then you can’t cool down as me need aircon!

Oh no that sounds awful!! Don’t know why but I just assumed Sydney would have air con everywhere. The nights can be hardest I think when you’re exhausted but physically can’t sleep. We do all that with the windows and curtains, I wish it helped more.

@Mypathtriedtokillme

A Cold shower just before bed helps too!

This probably is the only escape tbh, in fact I started weighing up last night whether I could sleep in the bath with the shower running over my feet all night! 🙈

Triple glazed windows are designed to keep heat out . less heat from the sun will be able to make its way into your home, while double glazing lets more heat from the sun in. A well insulated house means you have slow movement of heat between two spaces, which means that during the summer it prevents your house from over heating. Here in Ireland we are only lucky to see over 20 degrees heat for like week out of the whole year, so i am going to suck it up an enjoy the heat while it lasts because by the weekend we will have the rain back

I live in a European country with hot summers sometimes over 40 degrees and freezing cold snowy winters sometimes as low as -15. It is definitely technically possible to have a house that is warm in winter and cool in summer.
The walls are very thick, we have shutters on the windows.
Basically we close the windows and shutters on the sunny side. We also have a massive umbrella which I open up at lunchtime to cover the patio and patio doors to keep the sun off. My neighbours have awnings on their windows.
Once it goes cooler about 7pm we open everything up including attic windows to let the heat out.
We have several fans.
Air conditioning is actually not that common here. Supermarkets have it and offices but that's about it.
Do physical stuff early in the morning and the rest of the time accept that you are best doing as little as possible.
We work from home so sat at the computer anyway.
Cool showers a couple of times a day, sleep with just a sheet on. Fans work best if you wet your skin a bit so I sometimes spray a bit of water on my face then sit in front of the
fan for a while.
When it gets truly unbearable everyone heads for a lake or river to swim. There are outdoor pools too and lots of people have paddling pools etc.
Older UK houses stand the heat much better because they have thicker walls and higher ceilings.
It's probably a good idea to start thinking longer term about how you can make your home stand up to the heat better. Things like shutters and awnings really make a difference. Shutters are also good for security.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

Our house is South facing and tell insulated. Too well insulated - our bedroom was 30 degrees in the middle of the night here.

This comment makes no sense. The source of heat is the sun, which is outside the house. If your house is well insulated, it should keep the heat out in summer, and in in winter when the heat is provided inside the house by central heating. Insulation does its job in both seasons if you let it - keep windows, doors and curtains closed in summer and only open them in early mornings/at night when its cooler.

It comes in through the windows and can't escape through the insulated roof

the other problem with aircon is that you need to close everything for it to work otherwise you end up cooling the world. If you have a portable one, you need to have it in one room with doors and windows of that room shut.

yanbu
well insulated houses are the key both for heat and cold.
and windows that can be shaded and can be opened in a way that helps good aircirculation in the home.

however, I often see people having the windows open and no shading on the sun side. no wonder their home is unbearably hot.

Really? Scotland doesn't get hot enough for it to be worth it? I've barely slept over the last 3 nights, the fan on all night isn't even cutting it! It's plenty hot up here and has been for a good while now, believe me!

I know - I live in Scotland. Yes it's warm and I struggled to get to sleep last night but it is nothing compared to the heat in the South East. I would struggle to breathe in the night it was that bad. Regularly woke up feeling like I was suffocating. Kids fainting at school. Fans did nothing, just moved hot air around.

Architect here. Global warming & carbon emissions are a very important topic in our field and avoiding solar gain is part of building regulations already (and has been for a while). There are lots of techniques for avoiding overheating through design and material choices instead of air conditioning, ranging from glass coatings to passive shading.

However, building regulations do not apply retrospectively. That means if you live in an older house, it does not need to be retrofitted with shutters or better windows etc to make it meet regulations. It is what it is until the owner chooses to upgrade it.

That said, a temperature of 40 degrees in your flat sounds terrible. Although it is often good advice, I think closing the windows is counterproductive in your case. If it is hotter in your flat than it is outside, you need to let the hot air out of those rooms and the cooler air in, even if it is just a few degrees cooler.

Heatwaves are the only time I miss my old flat.

The air was cool and fresh as it was blowing in from miles away (probably from somewhere over the North Sea and then straight over miles of farmland before it reached my windows) without pooling and heating up on concrete and houses and I wasn't even hot on the day it hit 100 Fahrenheit - I was wearing shorts and a vest top because it was just comfortable. And a small fan in the bedrooms did everything needed overnight.

On the other hand, compared to no more than around a month to six weeks in summer on some years, I froze my fucking arse off from November to February every single year as it never, ever got warm in there - the last winter I spent in that place, the temperature in my bedroom next to the radiator was minus 4C. I'd got so accustomed to being cold/cool, when I moved into my house and it snowed for the first time that November, I was clearing the front path wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

I despise heat. I've got used to working around it by keeping the sun out the house during the day and making full use of the cool patches. I do suspect that I will invest in aircon shortly after the instant it happens my first hot flush, though, even though I am aware that using aircon is environmentally awful.

Whilst there may well be a case for considering increased temperatures, it's more relevant to look at making homes healthier and warmer in winter - and insulation can help this, as it reduces heat gain in summer as well as loss in winter.

No of course houses don’t need to be adapted for hot weather in this country. I see you backtracking on wanting AC as standard now the environmental costs have been pointed out to you.

It would be a disgusting waste of resources to add shutters, fans etc to houses/apartment buildings as standard too when the vast majority of people won’t use them. It is and should remain to be down to the individual to adapt their home for them.

The environment isn’t just about running AC on electricity it’s all the resources used to manufacture, run and maintain things.

Our country is nowhere near hot enough and if it’s affecting you this much you should see a doctor.

As well as buildings, way of life should be able to adapt. Where I’m
from in summer everything shuts for midday and people don’t move or go to sleep!

@housenerd

Architect here. Global warming & carbon emissions are a very important topic in our field and avoiding solar gain is part of building regulations already (and has been for a while). There are lots of techniques for avoiding overheating through design and material choices instead of air conditioning, ranging from glass coatings to passive shading.

However, building regulations do not apply retrospectively. That means if you live in an older house, it does not need to be retrofitted with shutters or better windows etc to make it meet regulations. It is what it is until the owner chooses to upgrade it.

That said, a temperature of 40 degrees in your flat sounds terrible. Although it is often good advice, I think closing the windows is counterproductive in your case. If it is hotter in your flat than it is outside, you need to let the hot air out of those rooms and the cooler air in, even if it is just a few degrees cooler.

All of these replies are really interesting, thank you so much! It’s helping just to talk about this. I did wonder about the building regulations and what was actually law. Yes we do sometimes have to open the windows in the late afternoon because it actually feels like we can’t breathe properly when it gets that hot. As I said I have panic attacks when it’s like that.

I’m thinking the humidity is a huge problem, it makes everything feel more.

There is an enormous amount of inexpensive, environmentally friendly adjustments that could be required to make buildings more energy efficient and better suited to heat and cold.

The government won't insist that house builders do them because they are marginally more expensive for builders to implement.

It's a shocking and disgusting lack of foresight by the government and actually a step back from where we were with labour starting to put into place higher standards fifteen years ago.

@VanillaSpiceCandle

No of course houses don’t need to be adapted for hot weather in this country. I see you backtracking on wanting AC as standard now the environmental costs have been pointed out to you.

It would be a disgusting waste of resources to add shutters, fans etc to houses/apartment buildings as standard too when the vast majority of people won’t use them. It is and should remain to be down to the individual to adapt their home for them.

The environment isn’t just about running AC on electricity it’s all the resources used to manufacture, run and maintain things.

Our country is nowhere near hot enough and if it’s affecting you this much you should see a doctor.

Oh I’m sorry, I genuinely thought I mentioned about a/c and the environment in my first post..maybe I didn’t then. I didn’t mean to sound backtracking. I’m feeling lightheaded and ill I’m sorry I’ve probably explained myself badly and come across really selfishly 😞

I’m speaking to my gp later this week, thanks will mention this. I’m on quite a lot of medication which is probably making me feel a lot worse.

I see you backtracking on wanting AC as standard now the environmental costs have been pointed out to you

The first post by the OP literally says they don’t think AC as standard is the answer because of environmental impact.

Glaceonn
"I’m thinking the humidity is a huge problem, it makes everything feel more."

Yup, I have experienced heat in many places in the world and, while dry heat may have its challenges, humid heat is a lot harder to cope with. New Jersey was dreadful....the weather forecasters used to talk about a "two shirt day" or a "three shirt day" and at the time pretty much all sops offices malls and so on were air conditioned....my house was NOT

Oh I’m sorry, I genuinely thought I mentioned about a/c and the environment in my first post..maybe I didn’t then.

You did, that poster has misread or missed it. Hope you get some relief soon, I don’t know how you’re managing!

@Glaceonn fair enough. I read it as though you thought it should be mandatory! I am obviously concerned about the environment like most people are. But lots of people forget the hidden environmental costs - I learn something new every day.

You should definitely mention it to your GP. You really shouldn’t feel this ill in this temperature. It’s not normal and makes me think it could be really dangerous to you. Also having panic attacks because of it is a medical issue so you should be offered some help as it’s not fair to feel like this. If you’re not sleeping either you could have an accident. The list goes on.

Anyway my tip would be a wet t shirt sitting in front of a fan. Also a cold wet flannel on the back of your neck helps you cool down more quickly.

I’m in the SE I am not sure I would buy air con although I hate it and it’s giving me migraines I agree it’s not environmentally friendly. We just have a lot of cold showers and keep curtains closed

@godmum56

Glaceonn "I’m thinking the humidity is a huge problem, it makes everything feel more."

Yup, I have experienced heat in many places in the world and, while dry heat may have its challenges, humid heat is a lot harder to cope with. New Jersey was dreadful....the weather forecasters used to talk about a "two shirt day" or a "three shirt day" and at the time pretty much all sops offices malls and so on were air conditioned....my house was NOT

Oh no, that sounds awful! 😢 Yep definitely a humidity issue. Would you say dry heat feels easier on the body? I haven’t experienced it in a long time so can’t remember!

@RobinPenguins

Oh I’m sorry, I genuinely thought I mentioned about a/c and the environment in my first post..maybe I didn’t then.

You did, that poster has misread or missed it. Hope you get some relief soon, I don’t know how you’re managing!

Thanks so much 🥰

Buy an old house, ours was built in 1730 and has foot thick stone walls and high ceilings. It’s cool in summer and warm in winter.