Is this weather making anyone else consider changes to their house?

[Taggiesbeefdaube]

I’ve had a quote for air on for the bedrooms which isn’t cheap (£13k) but is doable. The units would also give heat in the winter. We have solar panels so don’t needto worry about the cost of running the air con.

also considering shutters or brise soleil (mini pergola like things above the south facing windows)

I have thermal blinds on the biggest windows which stop some of the heat in the house.

Wondering about planting for shade closer to the house.

I might just buy or make a room divider type screen and find a way to slot it onto the outside of my bay window to prevent sun hitting the glass.

I have let my garden overgrow quite a bit over the last few years too as I noticed that the shade created meant that my garden stayed green in the 2022 during the 38C temps, whilst everyone else's turned brown.

Really interested in these ideas. Ceiling fan in bedroom would be my first thing. We have fans that live in the loft the rest of the year and they’re making a huge difference at the moment.

DD’s south facing room has a sash window so thinking shutters or a hard slatted blind like I have seen in Spain. Hadn’t heard of brise soleil before, or thought about an awning so maybe that would help on the outward opening window.

We’re in a north-south terrace with patio. Best thing we ever did was make a raised bed at the back of the patio and plant a cherry blossom tree. 15 years on and it’s big and shades half the garden, and looks gorgeous in spring and autumn.

Ideally I would renovate and install a heat pump and solar panels and the best loft insulation. Though seeing as the loft is currently as hot as Death Valley, seems that having a tonne of stuff in there is acting as a kind of insulator from the rest of the house.

No.

I’m feeling pretty miserable ATM. It’s not supposed to be July Hot in June here in N. Italy.

Hate ceiling fans. Spent 5 years sleeping badly under them in Thailand. The “Final Destination” part of my brain was convinced it was going to find a way to escape from the ceiling and decapitate me. No amount of logical reasoning would convince it otherwise.

Running portable air con in two bedrooms would cost a fortune and they would have to be turned off if the washing machine or dishwasher was on in the daytime cos we have a top whack of how much electric can be used at any single time and the trip switch goes if we exceed it. Which is already a big enough pain in the bum.

Welcome to the North, @DustyMaiden !

I'm currently thanking the Lord that I have anti-glare film on the windows (the sitting room and bedrooms are all south-facing, with nice big 1930's windows) and internal shutters. I have thermal blackout curtains over the shutters, just to make it look more homely and less echoey, and warmer in the winter, as this house gets cold.

I've been reading up on air source heat pumps, which can apparently help with cooling houses in hot weather, but would prefer to get solar panels and batteries first, plus extra loft insulation. I also wished that the house windows had automatic solar vents like my greenhouse, as there are a lot of them to open and close!

We're looking into having Aircon fitted. I've been researching solutions to shade the outside of the windows but nothing seems to work for us, our soffits are really low so we can't put awnings up because it would mean that we could never open the windows! Shutters are difficult because I can't find any that are for outside in the UK, I know that's because UK windows open outwards but I wouldn't be opening the windows when the shutters were closed so I can't see the problem, perhaps there's not enough demand for them? We are currently living in the dark when the temperatures are higher outside and opening everything up overnight but because our house is newish and designed to retain heat, it's still like a furnace. It's a bit cooler in the afternoon and early evening but last night my bedroom was 33 and only dropped 2 degrees overnight. I'm vulnerable to the heat and feel quite poorly being trapped in a furnace! We already have solar so if we get air con, we would just run it when the solars powering it, we could then overcool rooms ready for the night time! It's not ideal from an environmental point of view but I can't cope if it's going to be like this more often and for longer periods.

I’m saving for ac.

you can’t have shutters on outward opening windows because you wouldn’t be able to close the shutters unless you did it from outside

This is interesting as I live in a HA flat, 2nd and 3rd (top) floor with a flat lead roof. Massive single glazed windows on landing (gives a good through draft) and in tiny kitchen (can only stay in kitchen for a few minutes between 4 & 7pm on most sunny days let alone now). I’ve been trying to think of budget ideas and ideas I’d be allowed to do. I’ll look into the window film and I’m thinking of thermal backed roller blinds? Funny thing is, the communal area is nice and cool with its utility flooring and cool walls!

my friend has wooden shutters fitted on the insides of her windows.

Dehumidifiers are a great way to help make upstairs rooms more comfortable for sleeping. Removing moisture from the air makes the bodies own cooling systems far more effective.

I did not believe this at first until I tried it.

If you are not already doing so also ensure you keep the curtains closed during the day to reduce the amount the rooms are getting heated in the first place.

We have had a quote for aircon and think we are going to go ahead with it. But ours is in 2 bedrooms only, the guest room will have to wait! Our quote was £1900 so yours OP sounds really expensive unless you have 10 bedrooms!

Last winter I was mentally planning to get the suspended floors insulated but I've changed my mind now. It helps quite a bit keeping the temperature down. I'll just buy some more rugs for the colder seasons.

Yes I meant external ones

Doesn't the dehumidifier also warm the room up? The ones I have seem to produce quite a lot of heat.

Ive been told off on several threads on MN, because I have AC fitted in 3 rooms, all so called smug and the environment will suffer because of it etc.

I had mine fitted when we hit 40 in a heatwave years back, and i planned not to go through it again.

But saying you have AC and I planned ahead gets you told off on here 🙄.

Depends on the individual unit I guess.

Yes DH was pricing up solar panels yesterday 😆

Hmm, no we have five bedrooms so that is a big difference. I need to get another quote.

Unless all the ac moaners are vegan and refuse air travel then they are as much of the problem as the rest of us.

@AllJoyAndNoFun our ceiling fan has a really bright (white) light, in fact it’s so bright we don’t use it & have lamps instead.
it has made such a difference, the lounge is the only room comfortable overnight & I’ve been sleeping in there since Tuesday night

I said exactly this on a couple of threads, one in the Preppers section.

Anyone living in Western Australia will tell you that a dry heat beats humidity every single day.

To be fair it's a significant environmental issue if our climate is changing to the extent that we need heat in winter and cold air in the summer. Its effectively doubling our impact in that area.

I personally wouldn't be considering air con if we didn't have solar panels and batteries since I am concerned about the environmental impact. Its one of the reasons I started the thread - to see what other steps can be taken.

Definitely thinking of planting larger scrubs and trees nearer to the house, and considering some external blinds too. Already have blackout blinds on all velux windows, and blackout blinds and/or thermal lined curtains on all windows (apart from bathrooms).

You can get electric roller shutters though that don't need the window open to operate them. No idea who would supply them to UK bedrooms though.

I not sure there's a great deal I can do to my house sadly.

However, the neighbours opposite us built a west facing conservatory a few years ago, and made it clear to anyone who would listen that their house is now better than everyone else's. I can currently see him sitting on a chair in his drive through (alongside his bins) because it's the only place with shade. He's been there for 3 hours, because apparently the temperature in the house is now roughly what you expect to find in Hell, and it gets so hot the house doesn't even cool down at night.

In summary, there's not enough money in the world to make me buy a conservatory. Aircon, however, would be great if I could afford to run it..