revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Reading an article this morning about heat and UK homes and they put it very succinctly. They're designed to keep heat in. (The article is mainly about how we avoid going down the energy-hungry air-con route).

I think my plan is to take a leaf out of the continental book and put external shutters/blinds on the windows at the rear of the house, including the main bedroom. Closing the curtains just traps heat inside and, if you go to places like RHS Wisley, you'll see that the blinds on the succulents/cacti glasshouses are all on the outside. Much more effective. I guess louvres would work pretty well because then you've got a shade+ventilation option.

Quite a few places around with what look like decorative louvred shutters ie not hinged, just stuck on the wall either side of the window. I suspect people might be investigating putting hinges on.

Problem is with the width of the bedroom window. Might have to just hang the two central ones during the scorchio season. Could probably have all of them installed like that at the back of the house tbh. Stick 'em in the garage and hang 'em when things hot up.

If you head to Puglia you'll find many old 'trullo' houses, with conical roofs. The theory is that the convection effect pulls cooler air in and funnels it up, thus negating the need for air con.

Utter bollocks. Having stayed in one during a very hot Pugliese summer, I can assure you that I would have given my right arm for an air con unit during the night.

WAs meltingly hot in the house yesterday.
Left @ 06:00 with rooms at 19, 21 & 20 degrees, all blinds, drapes and curtains kept closed, returned @ 18:00 with every room sitting at 30 degrees

Got the lounge down to 25 and the bedroom 20 degrees before calling it a day at 23:30

I've got 8 of them 7 are 9,000 BTU's with the big boy in the living room being 18,000 BTU's. I don't use them much during the day unless it's over 40 degrees, the thick granite walls tend to keep most of the heat at bay, with the downside being that they tend to release it later in the evening, hence why most of my air con use is at night.
I also use 4 of them through winter, mostly in the mornings before I get up set to timer. I find them very economical, adding about £20 to my monthly electric bill (though it is cheaper here). They've made my pellet central heating system redundant as they're so much cheaper to run, though once the real winter arrives (well into minus figures at night) the wood burners take over in the evenings.
Shouldn't take more than 45 minutes for a 2 man team to fit, assuming one of them isn't just standing there passing the tools

When I finally get PV panels intalled I'll get aircon as well, might as well put that extra summer energy to good use.

Our cooling system is in the garden
It's 9m x 4m x 1.5m deep.

It's got a clever solar cover which heats the water and stops the heat escaping at night
It was 32c 3 days ago so took off the cover and it's dropped to 29c. Much more refreshing.

On of my (many) exes had it fitted a couple of years back.

The unit is in the loft. It's now causing the ceiling below to deform. The aircon goons are denying any responsibility.

I have the portable units and a ceiling fan in my bedroom (and one in the living room shortly once decorated). The fan works great, and once it started getting hotter the air-cons came out. I have the exhaust out of the window through a piece of ply that is sealed to the window frame. Works well, the units were cheap and theyll get put away again when it cools down.