Preparing for a torrid Summer

[stella1know]

The last two Summers were crippling. This year worries me because we have the possibility of another insane summer + virus and lockdown + secondary effects on market and harvests.
-Is anyone preparing, buying goods essential to you in anticipation of harvest or logistic issues?
-Are you doing anything in the house e.g. putting up extra curtains to block out heat? In heatwaves fans are sold out so better to look for offers now.
-in the garden investing in rainwater barrels won’t help if it doesn’t rain.
Any tips appreciated and support going forward.

Suncream
Mosquito repellent
Reflective blankets (buy in advance to not cause a shortage in Summer when everyone uses them maybe?

Does anyone know if you can use strong tApe on the outside of windows?

Sorry, meant to add the heading : New shopping list. Great suggestions, thank you. So much better than my brain working alone. I think ceiling fans may become a thing in Europe, they probably use less electricity than ACs and have less heat as a byproduct.
toddler kicking means crappy spelling

Does anybody have a recommendation for a cheap/reasonably priced air con unit that works well? Can cope if we have another summer like last couple I'm determined to buy one this year

We got an AEG one (AEG AXP26U338CW_WH) AO had a special offer and it was £399, currently £500 though so not that cheap. Keep an eye out for sales. I love it though, it doesn’t seem to cost more than the 3 fans we had going all the previous summers. It’s a bit noisy but not horrendous.

Quick tip for fans - freeze large bottles of water and stand one in front of the fan. Really does help.

The problem I have with opening windows, particularly at night, is that flying bugs are encouraged in by the light. I need to have a think about fly screens or nets or something. It drives the dc demented.

I’ve found that opening the attic about a half hour before bedtime helps to cool the upstairs a bit.

We have plans for a kitchen extension, that fortunately got delayed or we’d be in the middle of a building site now. Typically the architect has lots of glass and skylights and I’m starting to worry that we’re actually planning on turning our house into a greenhouse.

We have a water butt and it was always my intention to attract a perforated hose and run it through the garden, but I never got round to it. I have more vegetables this year so I might look at that, in case there’s a dry spell.

@Barbararara - our skylight is huge & does not open. We bought the house with it already built in. If I had a choice I'd rather have 2 or 3 smaller ones that could open. Do think about it.

We've had a portable air conditioner for a few years now - its noisy but a godsend in our new build which otherwise was hitting way into the 30s during mid-20s weather. If you suffer from heat like I do I really recommend them.

You have to prepare them in advance of a heatwave though; plan which window you'll pipe them out of and block all the air around the pipe somehow so you're not letting heat in at all.

I am getting a bit concerned by the idea of water shortages - partly because surely everyone's washing their hands a lot more and that must add up?

We have a screen for the back door similar to this: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06Y99RGNB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_TXtQEb42E0B5C?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Works well to keep bugs out of the house, uses Velcro and magnets so not permanent.

@Oxyiz I think you’re right. I can’t see how we wouldn’t have water shortages this summer. I’m slowly building up a bottled water supply with a few bottles every shop.

@Fefifofaff I’m sure I’ve seen screens like those in aldi/lidl. I might keep an eye out for them. I think they can be cut to size so maybe I could use them on the dc bedroom windows.

@ElephantLover I’m going to sit down and look over the plans again this morning. Although I don’t know how realistic it is to plan an extension at all now.

We have a Dyson fan, it is better at heating than cooling but does an OK job, I think aircon unit would be better though

We have skylights in our bedroom and have plantation style shutters on them which keep the heat out better than a blind and you can angle them so can still get airflow

Popping the loft hatch helped a little bit, as did having blinds and windows shut on south face and windows flung open on north face

we did consider sleeping downstairs on camp beds as so much cooler than upstairs, maybe this year ....

I'd like to thank everyone on this thread (obviously not myself) for making me think more seriously about this. I worked from home out of choice a lot last year and the heat was unbearable. We also had to keep windows closed because of the moor fires.
Thank you all.

Today was boiling, but I think our new thicker curtains helped a bit. I'm planning to sew another layer to them when it cools on Saturday and see if that helps even more.

I really want to buy the reflective mirror stuff but I'm worried it might somehow crack the windows.

Fingers crossed for a hot summer so the kids can play outside. My worries are vegetable and fruit harvest as they are labour intensive. Apart from a few tins I'm not sure there is much I can do?

@torthecatlady sorry, I'm a bit late to the thread but if you look on the back on your sunscreen you will see a symbol of a little jar with its lid open, the number on the jar is the number of months the sunscreen is effective for once opened e.g. 6, 12, 18 months.

Redwoods, yes! It’s called a PAO symbol (period after opening) and should especially be paid attention to on eye products and sunscreen! I used to work in the toiletry and cosmetics industry dealing with safety assessments, formulations and packaging so I could bore you on the details

I like the packaging and info symbols these days, makes shopping much easier! I was gutted today finding an almost full bottle of sunscreen with an 18 months pao but for the life of me I can't remember when it was first opened. Unlikely to be older than last summer but wont risk it - lesson learned to write on in marker when opened in future!

I struggle big time with the heat,more than I did years ago. I have a standing fan in the bedroom, a large fan in the living room, a paper fan and a handheld battery operated fan that also speaks water - bliss! Top tip: Loccitane sell cooling body lotion and shower products and it 100% works.

Paddling pools for the kids sold out everywhere last year too.

I have just bought a gym floor fan. It's meant to be good for high temps. I'll report back when it arrives.

We got the bedroom tower fan out of storage yesterday.

It’s so nice. I don’t want to get out of bed this morning as enjoying the breeze!

Am going to look for some of those handheld battery fans, and assess my wardrobe for cool summer clothing. Thinking of perhaps going for those baggy cotton dungarees that everyone got obsessed with in MN.

Are you talking about the UK? I don't remember it being particularly hot last year? We have an old stone house that stays cool, luckily.

Have planted more veg than usual including maincrop potatoes which I never do usually.

I predict things getting incredibly tough in January if students are allowed to return to uni then come home and the virus is still an issue so I'm planning mainly for then.

@ITonyah I just strayed on to Vt his by mistake but are you serious? Last summer was an absolute heatwave??

Was it sorry my memory is terrible.