Keeping the house cool

[Reluctantadult]

I'm interested to hear if anyone has retrofitted measures to keep the house cool? Such as shutters, screens, different glass, awnings, ceiling fans... Not really meaning ac units. I'm surprised shutters are not becoming more of a thing!

Bump for the hot folk

I am sorry for your lonely thread. What are your curtains like?

My LL invest in very expensive, heavy material for all our curtains, and when it gets really bad, we are able to keep out probably 5 degrees of heat by strategically closing various curtains in various parts of the house at certain times of the day.

Btw, have you considered portable air con units to get to sleep.

OH invested in one about three years ago when he lived in Germany. €300 Euro. Put it on an hour before bed and it gets a room 15ft X 20ft like an ice box before you get to sleep. Probably too expensive to run during the day these days but it helps somewhat avoid sleepless nights.

I’ve tried it all, and only proper AC worked.
Wall mounted units aren’t expensive - as long as you own your home they’re a cost effective solution to the problem.

We have portable air con units in every room it was over 50 degrees in the conservatory today so we vented that and shut it off. Air con cooled inside from 27 to 21 quite quickly

I play the curtain game too! Usually keeps the temp bearable. I really think shutters would be fab, but they don't seem to be a thing in the UK yet. Then I just went down a thought hole about climate change adaptations that could be retrofitted to a property.

Otherwise everyone will get air con, which will be more energy consumption and more carbon.

Yes ! We have installed triple glazing and the VELUX windows have an external shutter. We have also insulated externally. It's made a massive difference.

But actually curtains still make a difference.

I recently got thermal blackout lining for one of the bedrooms where the curtains are still fancy but let in a lot of light. It's made a MASSIVE difference to the room temperature at a cost of between 30 and 45 per set (some of our windows are massive).

Shutters cost thousands, I can understand people not investing for the sake of a few hot weeks.

We have fitted thermal double glazed units as we’ve replaced blown double gazing. Apparently it is supposed to be better than standard double glazing. We have also installed one way film on the windows, which does seem to cut a lot of the heat on its own.
Windows are only opened when the outside air has cooled. Shut very early in the morning to keep the cooler air in.
Blackout blinds and lined curtains help. But the biggest thing is putting a tower fan in the open chimney, as it pulls the cold air down the chimney and blasts it around the downstairs. I guess similar to air con! The house stays at a comfortable 21 degrees.

External shutters are the dream. Meanwhile I'm experimenting with blackout fabric on the outside of the window.

I already have interior blackout blinds which are shut all day. The windows are opened when the air outside is cooler than inside and then closed again first thing in the morning.

Doesn’t it pull soot down?
I’m tempted but anxious 🤔

The window film and the chimney fan are interesting ideas!

We have think thermal curtains which we keep closed during the heat. We also keep the lift hatch open so the head can keep rising. We have brise soleil along the top of the south facing windows (like trellis above the window to cast shade)

Most uk windows aren’t really designed for shutters. We have window ledges which make them a more difficult option.

Loft hatch

Even just cheap frosted privacy film makes a bit of a difference. Had to apply it in a flat and it was balls off cold all summer. I guess it deflects the light?

I recently bought some for our bathrooms because our LL put ordinary glass in and people turn up on tractors at all hours. It doesn't even apply with adhesive. You wet the window and squeeze moisture and bubbles out with a credit card.

Bought a ceiling fan for my son’s room, it’s not amazing but it’s definitely the coolest bedroom in the house and for £80 it was a good buy.

@RoyKentFanclub I hadn't heard of brise soleil. What do yours look like?

I use a combination of blackout curtains and blinds and this seems to work OK.
The installation and running costs of AC are very high and not worth it for a few short weeks a year.

Recently got a special blind from Hillary's which absorbs the sun. It's made quite a difference having it shut from early in the morning so the room doesn't heat up massively in the first place. £300 for a very large blind incl measuring and fitting. Worth it if not a game changer.

Last year I bought habitat thermal/ blackout curtains for the front room and both bedrooms, it has made a huge difference to how cool the rooms stay. Tower fan by the bed at night too.

Is that the Duette one? We have that and blackout curtains for our son's bedroom window and it makes a difference

We just fitted external
curtains on our wide patio doors. We get the sun on that side from early morning and it heats up our lounge astronomically. Shutters were too expensive to fit. And an awning can’t be left out over night in case of wind. So my dh came up with a really clever and cheap option. Two long poles (one top and one bottom) made of galvanised steel. Ordered online from an electrical supplies company. Brackets on the walls outside with upturned hooks that the poles sit into. Special blackout external curtains designed for outdoor pergolas which have rings tops and bottom for the poles to go through. (Bottom needed to stop the flapping about). Total cost was about £200 in materials. We pull them across at night before bed. They stay shut in this hot weather until about 1pm when the sun has moved around. The difference it has made is phenomenal. The room never heats up so keeps a comfortable temp all day. They are not pretty from the outside but I don’t care!

@GiantKitten no it doesn’t! Our chimney is swept annually and is fitted with a cast iron multi fuel burner. Just the cold air is drawn downwards and out into the room.
If you have an open fire grate, I don’t think the down draft would be enough to pull soot down - the chimney sweep has to push brushes upwards with more force than a fan uses to move air around. But if you are concerned, just use a desktop style fan rather than a tower fan. A desk top will only draw the air from the surrounding brick work which will be acting as a cool sink (touch them and they will feel cooler than other walls), as it will be way to low to draw the air down the chimney.