To think that houses in the UK should have window shutters on the outside?

[FinanceLPlates]

These are standard in many countries and so useful. Keep the heat out, provide extra safety and protection against burglary, help with sleep as it’s easier to have the bedroom properly dark…

Why aren’t they a thing in the UK?

And yes I understand it would be difficult to retrofit them to Victorian houses etc but why aren’t they standard for new builds?

I suppose they might keep the wind out. About 15 degrees in my wee part of Scotland today

We have persianas in Spain, they're metal and the windows have to open inwards which I don't like. The cord gets damp in winter and gets mouldy and unless you're going to have them shut all day and sit in the dark, stuffy air then they don't keep the place cool. I do like how dark they make it at night though.

Why not just get blinds? We got some that you just slot in and they're great.

I actually like the potential security aspect. I love German windows.

As the heat tends to be short lived in the UK it does nake investing in infrastructure seem less worth it.

, I have found shading the windows from the outside works better than closing curtains and blinds alone. I've hung double sheets outside windows before as extra shade.

Unfortunately if you had inward opening windows and you opened them in the UK, chances are you’d have rain dripping off inside - unless you waited until the windows were completely dry!

This is a very southern England centric viewpoint. You really need to control for region here OP. I hardly think people in Northern Ireland or Scotland would get the benefit from what you're proposing. In my part of Northern England, we've had one day in the last 2 or 3 years where my house would actually have used them. I certainly wouldn't want building regs saddled with them.

That's not strictly true. We have blinds that fit inside our window frames, so there's no problem because everything moves together. They were originally developed for bifold doors, I believe.

Very good point - they can be fitted by home owners who actually need them (although I am one of those central south coast dwellers who loves my internal shutters and wouldn't be without them during these HOT summers).

You can't generalise like that. I live in Cumbria. We have a house where the majority of windows are south facing and very large (floor to ceiling). We might not be in the midst of the heatwave currently afflicting the southeast but we did have our own very hot spell earlier on and even without that, our windows gather every bit of sunshine going - great in the winter but uncomfortable in the summer. We use blinds and curtains strategically but shutters would be simpler. They would also be very expensive given the size of the windows.

Because traditionally our houses were built from materials that kept us nice and cool in summer and insulated in winter. I live in an old cob farmhouse. Cool as a cucumber here. I keep curtains drawn on summer days except in a couple rooms (that don’t have curtains) and we are never hot, even on hottest of days (house and garden both south facing).

Was speaking to someone yesterday who lives in a new build and she was saying they were roasting because the way it’s insulated, it captures heat and keeps it in.

Streets should have more trees. They help keep temperature down.

Do you do anything to prevent that though? Do you have the blinds closed during the day to stop the sun shining in and heating up the room?

Would a fixed awning outside be better for you to shade the whole area on the sunniest days?

My Edwardian (detached) house is absolutely fine in this heatwave. It’s south facing, with huge windows on that elevation, which have shutters on the inside. They, combined with high ceilings downstairs and upstairs, big rooms and plenty of windows on the north side too, mean that despite reaching 32/33 here for days on end it’s never got warmer than 24 downstairs (bar the kitchen, which has an Aga, where the temperature has hit 27 in the afternoon. Interestingly, despite being detached, there’s only one, small, west facing window.

The windows (single glazed, wooden sash) were fully refurbished shortly after we moved in, and the insulation in the roof upgraded and there’s no problem keeping it comfortable in the winter either, with a gas boiler.

An added bonus of a south facing house with a decent size garden and no neighbour within 10 meters left or right is that the garden always has sun, yet the terrace nearest the house is lovely and pleasant in the afternoon even in a heatwave. If I want to bake I just need to move 10 meters or so up the garden 😂

External shutters on new houses would seem like a sensible addition, and a complete overhaul of the required ventilation / insulation standards. It seems as if the current regulations are not fit for purpose. I’m not sure how we (as a country) lost the ability to build liveable houses!!

Yes, of course! I’m not an idiot 🤣.
It’s an east facing room so curtains and windows are closed all morning until the sun moves round. But the air was so hot and still yesterday, and it has 2 huge windows. Which was probably fine when it was built in 1850 or whenever 🤣.

I’m sure there are excellent UPVC options nowadays - I meant more that the dampness of our climate explains why, historically, external wood fixings were not a good idea, so they never became established here as they did in drier climates.

Ours hit 29 degrees last night too, despite being very sensible and using all the shading tactics.

On reflection, that was still 4 degrees cooler than outside which isn't too bad for upstairs south facing room.

Still its rainy and 20 degrees now so much nicer.

I mean this is the internet so in my defence, you never know. So if you want shutters get shutters then? But for huge windows they would be expensive, which is why they'll never be standard on new builds. If regulations change to force builders to keep the heat out, all they'll do is make the windows smaller.

Or get a ceiling fan, or a Dyson fan. These would prevent the absolute extremes of temperature and would be cheaper.

Yes, if you can only open half the window, you get a layer of HOT air between the window and the shutter.

I’m not saying I would get shutters - it’s a Victorian house on the edge of a conservation area so probably outrage would ensue 🤣 but I can see that they’re a good idea and should definitely be fitted in new builds in the south east.

We’re looking into a ceiling fan, I think that’s the best way forward. For DD’s room, which is west facing, an awning would be brilliant so I will continue researching somewhere that would do a small one for over a bedroom window.

We have to get creative!!

What I’d like is a Queenslander, which is a bungalow built on stilts. Hope springs eternal 🤣🤣🤣.

I’m in Scotland . We don’t really do heat here. The shutters would get rained on so often they’d rot.

I find them really claustrophobic so it’s a no from me. I also don’t want inward opening windows as I like a few decorative things on my sils. I also love hot weather so I appreciate I’m weird as I struggle to understand the utter hatred of a few hot days.

Nobody is saying someone outside southern England shouldn't fit whatever shutters they like to their house, especially when their house is a clear outlier. Crack on. But the OP is talking about building regs and standards for new builds, which is the actual generalisation here.

My 20 year old new build is remarkably cool inside. Maybe that’s why I’m a bit flippant. It’s a lot hotter outside. The living room is south facing but we have blinds that clip into the frame that can do at the top or bottom to stop the sun being in our eyes.

It wasn’t necessary historically but now - it agree. We just changed all our windows to inwards, specifically so that we can install the European style metal shutters.

Wooden ones are still a no-go though. Far too wet here.

We were broken into, so we have external blinds fitted over the windows and patio doors at the back of the house. They are electric, you just push a button. There’s a control in a double locked box outside the back door. I use them at night and every single time I go out.