The coming temperature record…

Yes please!

I have a chalet bungalow, 2 bedrooms upstairs with sloping ceilings. Well insulated yet my bedroom was 29 degrees when I went to bed last night.

Sleep downstairs on the warmest nights?

Basically what people in hot countries do. All doors and windows closed while the outside temperature is higher than inside, curtains and blinds closed on sun-facing windows. In the UK, we don't do outside shutters, which would be better, though in a prolonged period of sunshine, we string some greenhouse shading fabric over the south-west facing windows. Then upstairs windows open when the outside is cooler i.e. overnight.

Years ago we put ceiling fans in the main rooms, and have a couple of mobile fans for elsewhere. In this kind of weather, there's usually little or no wind, so this is the only way to get moving air.

Windows, curtains and blinds shut when in sunlight, open when not.

Turn on the solar powered aircon. ;-)

Tim

Our bungalow lounge is triple-aspect. The front faces south, so it's in the sun more-or-less from dawn to dusk. I open the windows early in the morning when the outside temp is lower than that inside, but as soon at it's risen to that inside, I close the windows and curtains. It's reversed in the evening, but has rarely cooled down enough outside to open the windows, and it's a security hazard if I forget to close them before we've gone to bed!

The front is "protected" by a big wisteria on a pergola. That is deciduous, so we get full light through it in winter, but which normally has grown enough to provide good shade in summer. Unfortunately the heat has come too early this year as it's grown well but hasn't got dense coverage yet.

However, in the heat we're getting at present, the lounge needs positive cooling from mid-afternoon. I have a small portable a/c unit (Honeywell) which vents the hot air outside. It works well, and isn't too power hungry. It averages about 400W per hour throughout the day (plug-in energy meter). At 27p per kWh, that's less than a £1 to cool the room between 2 and 10pm.

The bedroom in on the ground floor north and west side. Fortunately the west wall is mainly hidden by the garage, so that keeps the afternoon and evening sun off. At most a small fan might be required to circulate the air.

I'd consider that pretty much uninhabitable! My attic rooms got to about 26 yesterday and it was quite uncomfortable after 30 minutes or so.

If I were you and I had the money I'd be looking at air conditioning and solar/battery. Even a split unit AC on its own wouldn't be too expensive to run or buy - so maybe just that in the short-mid term. I think John Rumm and maybe others have looked at DIYing?

I wouldn't go for one of those standalone units - especially in a bedroom. They're too noisy and cumbersome IME.

I have a feeling these hot spells are going to become more common . . .

I did get one three years ago. It broke down after two years. They wouldn't honour the five year extended warranty, citing multiple spurious reasons.

I gave up in the end. But for those of you out there...

AVOID AIRCONDIRECT

(I stopped pursuing it as I was one of many, and they had all failed)

The greens are all out in Cambridge with their portable hair dryers. The loss of RCP 8.5 has hurt them badly

Given the limited length of the records garnered by the same methodology, its likely that a record is broken somewhere every week

So far I am luxuriating in not feeling cold for the first time this year

If it continues, I might even turn the Aga off,,,

If it gets onto the high thirties I close all the drapes by day, shut the windows and move to the ground floor when the mass of concrete makes a huge cooling heatsink,

By night the windows are opened and the drapes drawn back to radiate and conduct as much heat from the house as possible during those hours

Oh FFS. Just go live in the tropics for a few months. Without aircon

Christ on a bike. All that technology...juts for a slightly warm night

In message snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net>, Spike snipped-for-privacy@mail.com writes

Well I try to avoid Kew Gardens. Likewise In December I never go to Braemar.

Here in the frozen North I discarded my "big coat" today. It was 14C here and has climbed to 18C. The heatwave is only a South of England problem and it only lasts a few days. Enjoy it.

You could get the power companies to reverse the wind turbines to create a cooling breeze using excess solar farm output .I'm sure with the right subsidies ....

Brian

Canopies/awnings are the secret weapon.

Now you know why US houses - especially in the south - look like that.

I have done that in the past, drag the Futon mattress downstairs :-)

First time I've deployed my African sail shades this year. Dark coloured greenhouse shading "hessian" hooked over ground floor windows, and hoisted by a couple of pulleys under the eaves for the upper windows. Along with summer replacement of loft access cover with expanded metal sheet and keeping all windows closed until outdoor nightime temp drops below indoor core temp, and burglar/rat proof shutter over an open window then. Means 4 to 5 degree C lower house core temp. I suppose the next consideration is researching the best white? paint to paint the rendering. Of course the idea of filling the brick cavity with insulation is total bollocks in my opinion, with such warm winters these days.

Astonishingly butch.

FYI, above 32C can be dangerous without active cooling. High humidity makes it worse. Familiarity, preparedness, suitable housing (air flow and shade for example), and long term adaptation tends to prepare people in hotter climates

- we're simply not used to it in the UK. And our housing is, in general, very poorly suited.

Also, the ability to regulate temperature declines with age. Not for everyone

- you seem to be immune, bless. But for most. So it's a good idea to be aware during spells of especially hot weather.

Depends entirely on humidity.

I am not immune., I cant stand the cold any more

I would imagine other factors to *perceived* body temperature will be whether you are in full sun or in the shade (ie whether you are subject to radiant heat) and whether there is a breeze to cause cooling by evaporation of sweat.

I've been in 120°F (49°C) without aircon, but at 10% humidity. Stay in the shade and keep drinking water. Dehydration is the danger. Ive been 35°C 100% humidity,. That was worse. sweat pours out of you but doesn't evaporate.

Only answer is to move only slowly. And wait for the inevitable thinderstorm

Got to the 100/100 (38°C/100%RH) in Madagascar many years ago. It was bad enough, but most of the party had salmonella too! Endless bottled water, rehydration salts, and Imodium was required.

Where was your 120/10? If the USA, Arizona or maybe Death Valley?