Hot steamy nights

[JonathanM]

I don't like hot weather, especially at night.

But it's actually fine if there's a breeze in the right direction, because it blows the nice cooler air in from outside the window into my bedroom. Even if the outside night time temperature is no lower than 18C, it still reduces the room temperature pretty dramatically. It quickly knocks three or four degrees off.

I have often wondered if there is a way to get that nice cool air in to my room when there is no wind or the wind is blowing the wrong way. In these situations the room temperature hardly drops at all.

Presumably a powerful extractor fan would suck air in. But how big would it have to be to reduce the room temperature as much as a natural breeze? My feeling is to get the same number of air changes per hour would need an absolutely massive fan.

 

[Mrs Doubtfyre]

I don't like hot weather, especially at night.

But it's actually fine if there's a breeze in the right direction, because it blows the nice cooler air in from outside the window into my bedroom. Even if the outside temperature is no lower than 18C, it still cools the room dramatically.

I have often wondered if there is a way to get that nice cool air in to my room when there is no wind or the wind is blowing the wrong way. Presumably a powerful extractor fan would suck air in. But how big would it have to be to replicate the effect of a natural breeze?

The noise will keep you awake.

 

[JonathanM]

The noise will keep you awake.

I'm actually not too bad with a constant noise. And I think a box fan in the attic could be quite quiet.

It's just so frustrating knowing the nice cool air is inches away, but inaccessible.

My room faces west, so about two thirds of the time the wind blows the right way. But the really hot, humid weather usually comes with an easterly or southerly breeze.

 

[ellal]

I recall in my various backpacking travels around the world, rooms were often advertised 'with air conditioning'...

Which very quickly I got to realise that meant a ceiling fan or a bedside one...

Both work as they use airflow to cool you...

Don't waste money on an extravagant solution, and a tower fan on oscillating mode at a distance will do the trick...

But after all, the number of warm nights in the UK don't happen that often and they are not exactly 'hot and steamy'!

 

[Jurassicspark]

Just buy a fan. It will give you the cooling effect.

 

[motorbiking]

What you want is a split air-conditioner.

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The noisy bit goes on the outside and the quieter bit goes on the inside. You can also get 2, 3 or even 5 way splits so that one unit can cool or heat multiple rooms. It's 3:1 more efficient that using electricity to heat (in the winter).

You need to make sure you get one that is pre-gassed otherwise you need to be qualified to buy.

 

[Ihavenojob]

Leave windows downstairs open when opening a window upstairs, a chimney effect. I leave my loft hatch open as well.

 

[JonathanM]

Leave windows downstairs open when opening a window upstairs, a chimney effect. I leave my loft hatch open as well.

I once read about a way of designing houses to keep them naturally cool, so that air is drawn in from downstairs and then it vents the hot air somehow out of the top. But I can't remember what it's called.

I would feel silly having an air conditioner bolted to my wall up here in Yorkshire! So, occasionally I think about natural solutions.

The other natural solution is some way of stopping the heat getting into the house in the first place. Almost all of it comes in through the glass. Some way of blocking it on the outer side of the window pane would be really useful.

 

[Ihavenojob]

The other natural solution is some way of stopping the heat getting into the house in the first place. Almost all of it comes in through the glass. Some way of blocking it on the outer side of the window pane would be really useful.

We've had our curtains shut today.

 

[JonathanM]

We've had our curtains shut today.

Same here. It helps quite a lot. And upstairs we have black out linings on the curtains. But actually blocking the sun on the other side of the pane would be massively more effective. It would be great if you could push a button and your windows turn into reflective glass!

 

[Scarum]

I recently uprated my double glazing and it is even more efficient. A well insulated loft leaves my house requiring less gas to heat during the colder months but it is now prone to warming up inside, particularly when I work in the office and I have 2 computers on the go, along with myself warming up the area. There is also the increase in the humidity. Opening a window will help up to a point but if there is no breeze, as you say, it will unlikely make a difference and the room will probably get hotter from the outside air.

I have reflective film on the inside of the windows, it reduces light in the house (which I prefer) and the rate of heat absorption so helps keep temperatures lower.

Quite a few people rubbish portable air conditioners but I bought one earlier this year for the hot spells, but I had a plan. I designed and had made up a sheet of Perspex made to spec to fit over the inside of half of the office window, allowing the air-con duct to attach with little or no leak of the hot air from outside making its way in. Today is the first real test. The outside air temp reached 30C, the office was 25C with a stuffy 65% RH. Within an hour of running the air-con the temp in the office is now 23C and the humidity down to 59%. Yes, the air-con unit is quite noisy but I have active noise cancelling headphones and can happily listen to the First Night of the Proms with no distraction.

 

[Mottie]

I leave the bathroom window open as that gives a through draught.

 

[Brigadier]

I leave the bathroom window open as that gives a through draught.

And takes away the stink

 

[Mottie]

I'm a morning crapper so no benefit there for me.

 

[JonathanM]

I recently uprated my double glazing and it is even more efficient. A well insulated loft leaves my house requiring less gas to heat during the colder months but it is now prone to warming up inside, particularly when I work in the office and I have 2 computers on the go, along with myself warming up the area. There is also the increase in the humidity. Opening a window will help up to a point but if there is no breeze, as you say, it will unlikely make a difference and the room will probably get hotter from the outside air.

I have reflective film on the inside of the windows, it reduces light in the house (which I prefer) and the rate of heat absorption so helps keep temperatures lower.

Quite a few people rubbish portable air conditioners but I bought one earlier this year for the hot spells, but I had a plan. I designed and had made up a sheet of Perspex made to spec to fit over the inside of half of the office window, allowing the air-con duct to attach with little or no leak of the hot air from outside making its way in. Today is the first real test. The outside air temp reached 30C, the office was 25C with a stuffy 65% RH. Within an hour of running the air-con the temp in the office is now 23C and the humidity down to 59%. Yes, the air-con unit is quite noisy but I have active noise cancelling headphones and can happily listen to the First Night of the Proms with no distraction.

That's all very interesting. I think 25C upstairs, with two computers, when it's 30C outside is actually pretty good! Maybe the film on the glass really works.

For some reason I'm bothered by it a lot more at night. But today is just a one off so it's not had time really to build up yet. And I've been wearing my summer pants today.