Best way to cool a boiling kitchen in summer?

[Threecouldbefour]

We are planning to put our house on the market this Spring. Our kitchen is completely south facing and the last two summers have been unbearable - I simply cannot describe the heat in there. Like a sauna. Even with three tall fans the air was thick with heat as the room is bathed in sunshine all day (sounds nice but I was trying to wean a baby and having to feed her in a sliver of shade behind the fridge). It is STIFLING.

I know this level of heat would be really off putting for viewers if they end up coming in the summer. Any ideas as to what we can do? We have patio doors onto the garden so have considered a (modern) awning, blinds or some sort of better cooling fan. I'm loathe to spend too much money but it really will be a problem (and I will be heavily pregnant and can't go through a summer with that sort of heat!) Would an awning really make the room cooler? Blinds would be cheaper but they would block view of garden and be less practical in terms of having doors to garden open both for viewings and for our toddler.

If anyone has any brain waves I'd be really grateful!

I'd consider an air conditioning unit personally. We paid around £250 for ours and it chills a large room easily. However it is noisy.

Your other alternative is air con installed into the one room only. Still expensive though I should think

I think an awning would make a difference. They've helped hugely in holiday properties abroad in worse heat than the UK. If you have huge patio doors, you need to put those in the shade.

Can you change the glass in the windows? I'm sure there is some thermal type glass.

Look up temperature control window film. A number of companies will come and fit to for you.

Another possibility is room blackout honeycomb cellular shades versus blinds. You can get ones that fit onto the windows or French doors which is helpful as it's nice when it cools down in late evening and early morning to open the windows and doors and let air flow.

The cellular shades are better insulation.

My house is mercifully north west facing. I will never ever ever buy a south-facing house! However our garage-conversion home office gets a lot of sun, and my DP bought a portable aircon unit for it last summer in lockdown as it was unbearable. The unit was about £300 and works brilliantly but it is a bit noisy and a faff - it has to vent to the outside so we have a big pipe going through the window and the unit is floorstanding and large. We considered getting a unit fitted with a hole in the external wall but decided it was easier and cheaper to get a portable unit. It certainly would be a nuisance in a kitchen and as a buyer I would see it as a red flag. I guess, you could use it for a few hours before a viewing then move it out of sight eg to the garage.

If you do buy an aircon unit you have to think about the volume of air it is cooling and STILL take other measures eg have blackout thermal insulation drapes and keep them shut when sun is on the house, have the window film or honeycomb blinds, have external shutters or awning.

Good luck

We have solar control glass and an electric awning. The awning does make an enormous difference in the summer especially if we remember to extend it early before the room starts to heat up. It’s a godsend actually and also provides a nice shaded eating area outside, as well as shading the kitchen. The kitchen is still the hottest room in the house though and there’s a couple of weeks a year when it’s stifling.

Occasionally I think about air con but it would only be used about 1/2 weeks a year and we’d have to keep the doors shut which would be a pain in summer when we’re in and out all the time. Also, the environment...

Only thing that will really work is air con.

Thank you so much for those helpful replies! I'm glad I'm not the only one not so delighted about being south facing @SillyOldMummy! Frustratingly we can't have those fitted honeycomb blinds as the tops of our French doors have teeny tiny windows which are smaller than the minimum dimensions you can get them.

Aircon unit is a possibility but like you say it's tricky having to keep doors shut and isn't very practical with a toddler who likes access to the garden and would need to be hidden for viewings.

Does anyone have honeycomb blinds that are just roll down ones and not fitted into the glass? Are they still effective?

And the film for the windows? Surely this is tinted? I'm worried about detracting from the look of the kitchen.

It sounds as though an awning may be best solution but I think even for a basic one with no electric mechanism, we'd be looking at £3K minimum?

Gah... I too will never buy a south facing house like this again! The sitting room is so dark too!

We put an electric awning up last summer. The heat in our kitchen was insane and I used to have to stand there cooking in sunglasses.

It's made a massive difference.

I didn't want blinds because they would have been a nightmare to clean.

Laughing at the way it sounds as though I'm saying our toddler would need to be hidden for viewings! Although I suspect that's also the case.

Hi @idontlikealdi - that's interesting. Can I ask who you went with and how expensive it was please? It's just the price that puts me off but then we want to sell the house and I don't want to end up in hospital with heat stroke!

Our house faces East/West and it gets hot in the evenings on the back wall - well I say that but we are in Scotland so that is usually only an issue a few days a year...It helps if you can a through air current, so the front and back open to allow the cool to travel through from the other side, or the heat to escape. Not sure if your layout would allow you to do this?

I would have thought for £3k you could definitely get something electric and fairly swanky. More basic models will be a lot cheaper but won’t look as good or last as long, though longevity may not be such an issue for you if you’re moving.

A cheaper option is to get one of those enormous cantilever umbrellas and put it up just outside the back of the house (preferably with a seating area under it so it’s less obvious you’re using it to shade the kitchen ). You could obviously take this with you to any future house.

@WaxOnFeckOff thank you. We can do that but have a lot of issues with doors slamming (we have a neodime magnet door catch on kitchen door into hall because of this). But our toddler just opens and closes doors at will now so would stand little chance of this working unfortunately!

@minipie that's not a bad idea actually. At least you can move them to where you need them. I tried to buy one last summer but they were all sold out.

I just think we can't be spending £3K on something that's just for the purposes of selling. But a basic model might be ok if it does the job.

@idontlikealdi

We put an electric awning up last summer. The heat in our kitchen was insane and I used to have to stand there cooking in sunglasses.

It's made a massive difference.

I didn't want blinds because they would have been a nightmare to clean.

I can so relate to cooking in sunglasses. I've done that too!

Regarding holding doors open - I have a doorstop which wedges under the end of the door (rather than from the side) and would be very hard for a toddler to remove. Will find it and post link. Through draughts won’t solve everything but they are really helpful.

Oh yeah, forgot about the toddler - you must have hidden them too well! :o We had one bolter and the other wasn't too bad. However one evening the almost 3 year old bolter was under surveillance whilst we were trying to cool the house down before bed time and other almost 4 year old was happily playing out the back. Then a neighbour came to the door with him. He'd decided to go over to her house and play without her knowing and wasn't until her 7 year old asked if he could get 3 ice-lolly's (including my DS which was kind) that she realised she had an interloper. He must have only have been gone about 15 minutes but we were suitably horrified. We'd only moved in a few weeks before!

doorstop

@WaxOnFeckOff that's so funny!  I'm sure he made quite the impression on your neighbours! Rather impressive he knew where he was going for a play and a lolly!

@minipie thank you for the door wedge link! Sounds good.

@minipie ordered a six pack! Think they will be extremely useful, thank you.

It's a fairly small cul-de-sac and he'd been out playing with all the locals already (while us parents introduced ourselves and had a wee chats). We'd moved from a similar set up so he was used to playing out and in with neighbours, he just hadn't appreciated that this was normally already arranged with the parents and he wasn't randomly just popping in to play :o

Until he was about 4, DS2 would just bolt off in any direction whenever he got the opportunity.

What about that window film that reflects heat? Cheapest option I think.

A shade sail outside?

www.primrose.co.uk/kookaburra-square-blue-breathable-shade-sail-knitted-p-121885.html

You can have air con fitted in the room for about 1500 quid! Far cheaper than the 3k for other solutions you're considering

@TheVolturi

What about that window film that reflects heat? Cheapest option I think.

Thanks - I have thought of that but if it tints windows then it might look strange? I'll look into it though as would be cheap option.