Doors open or shut in a heatwave?

[Woollymummy]

Here's a topical question:

 

Do you keep your house doors and windows shut in a heatwave, or leave them open to get a breeze?

 

I am contemplating how to cool my difficult-to-cool lab next week at work (without using a fan, I haven't got one), maybe putting blankets/foil over the windows?

When I get home from a hot day out and find the house shut up and cool, it always seems like a good idea to leave the windows shut, but I always find it horrible not having a breeze. It is so long since I experienced proper heat . Last night the children couldn't sleep until I had opened every door and window in the house until it was dark and chilly.  And we haven't even started the heatwave!

 

What do you do? 

[Lauren]

Having the windows and doors wide open is not an option at the moment due to hayfever. When the subsides, we find having the windows open a little bit seems to be most effective. It seems to create more of  sort of wind tunnel effect, this bringing more cool air in. That may not be the case at all, but that's how it seems. Always have the bedroom window open though at night.

[Flash bang flash bang etc]

I remember my parents would open all the windows during a hot spell and I've always associated windows open with big storms ever since!

[hillbilly]

Would'nt make much difference in modern houses but old houses with thick walls can remain quite cool so you can restrict draught a little !

[4wd]

Upstairs tends to get too warm here now since the roof was redone with additional insulation.
Windows open front and rear help draw heat out but can also draw heat in if it's really warm.
A fan heater set on cold makes a huge difference just moving the air and if it's cooler outside after dark you can set by the window.

Downstairs stays cooler especially at the back of the house which only gets sun until mid-morning.
Also floors are stone flags or tiles, it rarely gets much above 20C so it's best to keep windows more or less closed if anything.

[davehsug]

I live in a first floor flat of a 2 storey building, so if you imagine what your upstairs is like in hot weather, that's what the whole flat is like! I've found that keeping the place closed up during the day, even closed curtains & the like, keeps some of the heat out & then open every door & window in the whole flat in the evening, to let any breeze pass completely through, helps a little. but ultimately, it's living in front of a fan for a few days!

[William Grimsley]

Windows open at night, especially when thunderstorms are forecast so if I fall asleep I get woken up before it arrives but also try not to leave them open if it rains in.

[Polar Maritime]

If your house is insulated properly it should keep it cool during the Summer, My house is very old with some walls 3ft thick so stays pretty cool anyway, But keeping curtains and blinds windows closed during the day and open at night is the best trick and one which i use especially in the bedroom as i like it as cold as possible when i enter the sack! 

[Nick L]

My room is on the ground floor and south-facing. Trying to figure out the best way to reduce the heat-related misery. Oh winter, how I miss you.

[Daniel*]

If your house is insulated properly it should keep it cool during the Summer, My house is very old with some walls 3ft thick so stays pretty cool anyway, But keeping curtains and blinds windows closed during the day and open at night is the best trick and one which i use especially in the bedroom as i like it as cold as possible when i enter the sack!

Well my house was constructed in 80's I sizzle in Summer cavity wall insulation and loft insulation makes it oppressively hot especially upstairs it is horrendous at times. As you may know heat rises as hotter air is less dense and the insulation prevents heat from escaping via the roof. It would be glorious if it was set to a mode for Winter only but that's just a fallacy. Nights do concern me the most sleeping should not be a chore.

[Methuselah]

My room is on the ground floor and south-facing. Trying to figure out the best way to reduce the heat-related misery. Oh winter, how I miss you.

Try sticking wee squares of foil on your windows?

[Nick L]

Try sticking wee squares of foil on your windows?

 

If it gets bad I might stick paper on the outside of my window during the day. It's all well and good shutting the curtains, but the radiation has already penetrated the window at that point.

[Dami]

Our house  retains heat, which is great in the winter, but it's nigh on 4am that it starts to feel cool, even with all windows open, so I'm not looking forward to the warm nights as it takes a while to drop off. We have blinds downstairs so if we have the windows open we have to draw them up, but saying that we don't get the sun really till it hits the garden in the afternoon.

[Andy Pepler]

cheap space blankets over the windows to reflect heat/radiation work great

[chionomaniac]

My theory is that you should close the windows and draw the curtains in the day and do so before the temperature outside rises above the temperature inside. And, in the evening when the temperature drops outside, open the windows in such a way as that any hot air leaves from upstairs whilst drawing in cool air from the open windows downstairs. Any prevailing breezes should be taken into consideration so as to maximise the cooler inflow drawer and fans can assist with this. 

 

I certainly wouldn't recommend having the windows open in 30ºC heat outside, because once that gets inside it becomes unbearable.

[Ross Andrew Hemphill]

Open during the day, closed during the night because I'm not having spiders crawling about trying to eat me alive!

[Nick L]

Turns out blackout curtains work wonders! Shut all day while at work, come home and it's a pleasant 20c in my room. Will open the windows when it's cooler out than in

[NorthernRab]

Open during the day, closed during the night because I'm not having spiders crawling about trying to eat me alive!

Other way round if you want to keep the house cool. Doors and windows open at night, closed during the day.

Edited June 29, 2015 by NorthernRab

[reef]

Turns out blackout curtains work wonders! Shut all day while at work, come home and it's a pleasant 20c in my room. Will open the windows when it's cooler out than in

 

I wish that worked here! We have blackout blinds and curtains all round due to me working nights, but our house is heavily insulated (we use only 8000Kwh of gas even in an average winter). The result is that the house heats up, just 'slower' than it would otherwise, before taking ages to cool down in the evening. There's also the issue that if the wind is WSW to WNW on an evening we get the disgusting smell from the Yorkshire water treatment works 2 miles away, so you can't always have the windows open.

 

We can't win really, its already 24.1C in here before the main heat arrives.

Edited June 29, 2015 by reef

[Mapantz]

Doors shut.

Not even on the "very warm" side here.

[Schnee]

I've got Air Conditioning so all windows and doors are usually left shut here.

[Nick L]

I've got Air Conditioning so all windows and doors are usually left shut here.

 

There is no suitable smiley to convey my jealousy.

[cheeky_monkey]

will be shutting all my windows and drawing the curtains before i go to work tomorrow morning

[Woollymummy]

Guess who went to work without closing the upstairs windows first? What a daft thing to do. Curtains now drawn everywhere and downstairs is deliciously cool, I think it will be fine for sleeping if we let out the stuffy air at dusk. I envy anyone with shutters.

[Jax]

Shut and drawn (just like they keep the warm in during winter they keep the heat out in summer)