The heat

I have internal shutters on all windows downstairs and perfect fit honeycomb insulated blinds on the 4 French doors. It has been a real struggle to keep the inside temperature down by a few degrees. They did work but it has been pitch black all day and I have used other measures too eg frozen water in front of a fan

I also have double glazing and when solar radiation hits that glass then the air inside warms up and keeps the room warm. The solution is to have something shielding the windows from outside and about an inch away from the glass.

I have been searching for outdoor blinds attached by suckers, I cannot find any. I don`t wan`t anything that costs a fortune, such as roller shutters which are permanently fixed. I had those once, black mesh for insects and they were great but the mesh deteriorated after 6 years. Just simple insulating blinds would do but make for outside

I am going to write to blinds 24/7 to see if they can do something. It would be a terrific business opportunity for a company

I don`t think greenhouse shading would work well enough but greenhouse shade net might work. I think I will get some suckers and try that on a couple of smaller windows. It would just need thin dowels, net and suckers

Iam64
Thermal lined curtains are the answer. I made ours.
But if you have a friend or relative who can measure and sew a straight line they can make curtains.
Plus you have a huge array of material.

I have found window suckers with hooks. on amazon I am going to buy some, I won`t need dowels and already have shade net.

We have blackout curtains at both windows in our bedroom and keep them closed during the day. They work very well. They came from Dunelm. We also have wooden horizontal blinds which we keep closed in this hot weather.

We have a similar problem. Our house was built in 2 halves and the upstairs bits of connected by a 'glass corridor' - rather like a conservatory on the roof. We have insulated it better since we have been here but it is soooo hot in this sort of weather. Any ideas welcome

My daughter bought me some fleece linings for my curtains, they have made a huge difference.

I closed the thermal curtains in my kitchen/dining room over the french doors today it made a huge difference.

I mentioned on another thread that I'd pegged greenhouse shading (the sliver mesh type) to the guttering around my south facing extention.
I got away with not having to close the blinds and curtains and it was cooler! From 4 'till 6 o'clock today it became hotter, but it was 34 outside!
Not a long term solution but cheap & very effective.
I did have I did also have a water cooled fan going but still couldn't quite believe the result!

I’m in Scotland so not as badly affected as those down south but I sympathise.

I’ve seen mentioned in a couple of places that people are fixing those silver survival blankets, like rescue teams and athletes use, to the outside of their windows to reflect the heat and it works quite well. They’re pretty inexpensive, too, from £1 each.

Temps here have dropped suddenly this evening and I think there’s a storm brewing. I hope you’re all more comfortable soon.

I do have greenhouse shade net here but have ordered 2 pieces of fawn shade fabric from temu, it should take 2-3 days to arrive. It has grommets all around so I will be able to do a tidy job of fixing it. Cost £20 and worth the experiment. I want to be ready for the next heatwave

SueDonim those silver foil blankets are a good idea

and so is the silver greenhouse mesh

Thanks everyone.

We have an awning outside our south facing patio doors it shades the room and is operated at the touch of a button. If you don't want a permanent structure , perhaps a gazebo or sail type shade which you can fix up outside to shade the room.

Thanks vegansrock. My husband fitted an awning which was good till it fell off. DIY never his strong point

I have found a good handyman, due to do some work here so I’m going to ask him about a pergola

The last 2 days it has been windy so much better than no wind we have lined curtains and a ceiling fan over the bed so we can sleep. So it's up early a do what's needed in the garden then watering after supper
We do need to watch our salt intake, if we are drinking a lot of water and eating salads every day. We need 6grams each day, Ive been adding extra and I do feel better despite the heat

Ive just calculated the salt content in my usual breakfast and lunch this week
Yoghurt and fruit plus a salad sandwich for lunch - only 1 gram
Fish salad planned for supper, also low in salt. Recommend minimum intake for an adult is 4 gram, so I do need to add

I have thermal lined slatted blinds plus thermal lined curtains. Together they keep the cold out in winter and a great help in this weather. I have thermal curtainsin my sitting room that help too. Unfortunately this extreme heat in my area has been brutal, 37⁰ yesterday! I'm so longing to get up in the morning to open the blinds all day.

To add, you can but separate ready made thermal linings that just hook on the curtain tape.

My daughter has fitted solar reflecting film on her second storey windows.
She says it made a huge difference.

Certainly fit blinds on the Velux windows, but on any window you can actually reach, outside shutters are more useful for keeping the sun out, and the temperature indoors reasonable.

Unfortunately, outdoor shutters and casement windows that open outwards are not on speaking terms with each other.

This means you either need casement windows that open in to your room, which will be well-nigh impossible to find in the UK, tthough the are standard fittings in Germany and the Netherlands, or you sill need to do as Spaniards do, and simply take your windows off their hinges at the start of the hot weather and put then on a gain come autumn.

Blinds and an outside shade - anything to keep out the sunlight!
My daughter has a fabulous triangular ‘sail’ - it’s outside but keeps the lounge area shaded

The foil blankets sound like a good idea, bu I am not sure how I would fix them. The wind is strong so it would have to be a method which would not tear the blanket. Can anyone share any tips please?

My kitchen sounds a lot like yours Iam64 and we’ve just had solar reflective film fitted. It has bought the temperature down somewhat but not enough in this exceptional heat. It wasn’t expensive so may be worth doing. You can see through it from the inside but not from the outside.

Thanks Bazza. I designed our kitchen big extension ten years or more ago. Love it. It’s so well insulated our heating bills didn’t rise despite its size. This is the first year the heat has been a problem. It’s unusual here to get such high intense temps over several days.
If I can avoid it I’d rather avoid spending yet more of the children’s inheritance. I imagine canny house buyers would anticipate the impact of big heat. I would