Unused rooms, heat storage and heat transfer

The next intense heat wave will, I believe, be arriving in a week or so and next time I will be ready

We have a 3 bedroom house, the smallest bedroom is the least used, door is open, the other spare room is used for ironing and has an overflow wardrobe, so is accessed regularly.
You must have a much larger house karma.

I agree Karmalady, its alarming how long the build up of heat takes to dissipate. On Friday morning I thought I'd walked into a boiler room (normally my utility) after leaving the door closed overnight!
The hall was quite comfortable and so the contrast made me realise how insufferable the previous temps had been.
We're all, sadly having to learn a few more tricks to manage the heat

I keep the 2 spare rooms closed these days to keep Rosie out, but with the curtains closed and windows open they stay cool despite being S facing.
TBH I don’t do all this stuff about opening the loft hatch, just create a through draught wherever I can, use my silent Dyson fan and remember to shut curtains, blinds etc. The house faces due N/S and is relatively modern so there’s not a lot I can do about that. I try not to overthink things.

Our living room faces north and there are really big trees on the pavement outside, so the room is always shady. However, with the temperatures we've been getting, it still warms up uncomfortably during the day.

We are looking at good quality dans to buy before the next heat wave arrives in a couple of weeks. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Sorry, fans not dans.

I agree Karmalady, its alarming how long the build up of heat takes to dissipate

We have that problem too.

When we refurbished house about 30 years ago, DH put insulation everywhere.
He thinks that that is the cause.

My fans are all Dyson, I have pedestal fan, table fan and a hot/cool fan. Bought over a long time as very expensive

Jaxjacky why does the size of my house matter? The tips I have mentioned are for anyone in any house or apartment. Being a scientist and practical, I am always looking for a solution to a problem and do like to pass on anything that can help

Fancythat the upside is that insulated houses are much better at heat conservation during the cold months

The current problem that I am looking at is wrt keeping infra-red out while still retaining long wave radiation ie visible light. It is the infra-red which does the heating and all the stuff, flooring etc is absorbing that

Keeping IR out while still keeping the room light is my aim, the alternative is to live in cave-like darkness, not nice for MH

Sorry if I said the wrong thing.

karmalady

My fans are all Dyson, I have pedestal fan, table fan and a hot/cool fan. Bought over a long time as very expensive

Jaxjacky why does the size of my house matter? The tips I have mentioned are for anyone in any house or apartment. Being a scientist and practical, I am always looking for a solution to a problem and do like to pass on anything that can help

I have been looking at Dyson fans but according to the reviews, the quality has diminished from when they were first on the market. I'll look elsewhere as the Dyson ones are so expensive.

Fancyflowers yes mine were bought when my husband was still alive ie pre 2015. I could not afford them now

Anyway, I am reporting back, my bedoom temperature is now 21.5 from almost 26 this morning and the whole of upstairs feels at a nice temperature. I am still keeping my built in wardrobe doors open. Who would have thought that the wardrobe and contents would be acting like a storage heater

Btw the exhaust fan in en suite and bathrooms also helps to suck warm air out

I bought DD3 a Dyson fan when her first baby was born in 2019 as I remembered only too well what life in a London Victorian terrace had been like with a baby in 1976 and then I thought, hang on, don’t I deserve one too?
So I bought my first, now I have one upstairs, one downstairs and another on order when JL get them back in stock!
Yes they come at a premium but are more than worth the extra.

There's a thread all about fans...
Started recently.

There have been a few over the years I see, perhaps all that needs to be said has been?
I’ll shut up now!

No.
I think you should chip in MawsRosie - there are always developments - and sometimes we pick.up different ideas.

I used to like the big dramatic round fans on a "stick", the bigger the better!
Now I want something quiet and discreet really that takes up little floor space.

Insulation should work both ways, stop heat getting out in winter, stop heat getting in in summer. But remember the whole structure of your house is a heat store.

We once had a big Victorian semi. The whole of the long side faced south. The wall was solid brick between and 9 and 13 inches thick. The first week or two of a heatwave, the house stayed deliciously cool, but slowly and steadily the brick wall absorbed the heat until after a fortnight the wall was warm to the touch indoors.

When the heatwave ended the wall would radiate heat into the house for several weeks after the weather had cooled down.

Stop heat getting in??

Windows let heat in even when double glazed. The air in between the panes becomes hot and acts as a heat store and that heat is then transmitted into the house, hitting floors, wardrobes, walls etc. The trick is to stop the infra red energy (waves) getting through the window and into the actual house

The photo is my first experiment, the sun is about to hit my bathroom window. I cannot do anything on the outside but I did have some thin bubble wrap and placed that onto each window, just using a water spray. That window has mdf shutters which I have closed. I would have preferred bubble wrap with big air bubbles

All the other windows upstairs have perfect fit honeycomb blinds against the glass plus wooden plantation shutters on the inside. Typically difficult windows as they all open outwards so exterior shutters and roller blinds would not work

This might help, I`ll tell you later and it was cheap

I would try heat reflective insulation foam? I’ve got some behind my radiators in the winter, and I had the rest of the roll in my garage, so I cut it to put on the bedroom windows where the sun comes in during late afternoon and evening, and it definitely works. I’ve had it a few years, and it was inexpensive - less than £10 a roll, from memory.

Casdon I wanted light to come through, otherwise I would be living in darkness. Yes it would be an effective heat blocker, as well as light

If my experiment reduces heat transfer then I will be putting bubble wrap on the interior side of 12 tall window panes downstairs. They all have tilting wooden shutters and no perfect fit blinds so plenty of space for large bubbles

The 4 French doors and utility room door only have perfect fit insulating honeycombs so I could not fit bubblewrap

The stage after this will be to use suction hooks to put temporary shade fabric on the outside but only on the SE side. I will only do that if an amber heatwave is on the cards

I have a sheet of beige coloured (would have preferred white) greenhouse shading material coming from .amazon in July and will test it out.

W e have south facing patio windows double glazed but the heat gets in and I hope to hang it outside them. Am borrowing your idea karmalady of suction hooks. Not sure how heavy it will be. I think it will be trial and error. Bubble wrap sounds a good idea and will let light in which is so important otherwise we will all go mad.
Last year I had to use eye deops for 4 weeks which reduced my pupils to the size of a pin prick and let hardly any light in at all. I have never been so depressed.

So useful to share ideas and recommendations

Yes, point taken, I don’t leave mine up all day, I devised a very Heath Robinson blind, with a tension rod, I stapled the foam at the top so it hangs down, and I took it on and off each day whilst it’s been so hot, I saw somebody do it on YouTube so I thought I’d give it a go. It definitely works, but it’s not pretty.

fancythat

Stop heat getting in??

Yes.