Cooling effect of trees

[tombates]

I am not sure this is the best place to ask this question. There were two large trees in my backyard which provided a lot of shade. I had to have them removed, and I thought that my house would be much hotter at night. I do not use AC. With the trees removed it seems as if the house is cooler. The only two reasons I can come up with is that the trees blocked evening breezes, or that the trees absorbed heat during the day, and gave it off at night which made my house hotter at night. Would this make sense?

Thanks

Tom

[David E. Ross]

I'm a docent at a showcase garden. When I conduct a tour, I always ask the guests to grasp a leaf on one of the trees near the entrance (white mulberry or liquidambar). The leaves are cooler than the air around them. Trees are natural air conditioners. In the garden, shade from the trees is cooler than shade from the picnic umbrellas or in the Japanese pagoda.

[Dave]

The breeze blockage theory makes some sense. However, you never indicated if those trees provided any substantial shade for the house itself. So, the shade theory is lacking for evidence.

Having lived in a house without air conditioning while growing up, and a few houses like that in my early 20s, I understand how the sun and the house work in producing heat inside the house. The worst of the heat is just before sunset dragging out to many hours into the night. It may be substantially warmer in the house at night. Some call it "the house giving up its heat". Bet you at least got a swamp cooler. Dave

[Sheldon]

Too many details missing but in general the same trees that shade a house during the day increase humidity inside a house, which make it feel warmer at night. Tree limbs should never be permited to hang over a roof, the constant shade causes moisture accumulation in roofing materials, which can cause severe damage to roofing materials and roof sheathing. Also the heat that builds inside an attic during daytime radiates into the house by inversion as soon as the outside air cools at night. Have you logged indoor temperature and humidity levels? Trees cannot take the place of good insulation, light blocking window blinds, and air conditioning. Attic ventilation and radiant barriers can help somewhat but they do not eliminate radiant heat inversion. Trees however do offer substantial cooling, if you're a bird.

[symplastless]

When there are no leaves on Cornus florida you can touch the stems and tell which stems maintain a symplast. The ones that maintain a symplast are cold compared to symplastless stems.

S>> I am not sure this is the best place to ask this question. There were