Fortunately, Dr Zoe De Grussa, Research Manager at CIBSE (The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers), believes we can look to continental Europe for budget-friendly advice on how to cool down a room and keep houses comfortable.
“Countries that are used to dealing with very hot summers can provide some great tips on keeping cool as it gets hotter here in the UK,” she says.
Below are CIBSE’s expert-approved cooling tips for stifling the heat in your home today, along with long-term solutions for the future.
How to keep your house cool in a heatwave
Ever wondered why many continental homes have those pretty shutters? It’s a solution for hot days. To help keep your house cool, close external blinds and shutters when the sun shines on windows. If you don’t have these, keep internal blinds or curtains closed during the day.
Close your windows when it’s sunny
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends keeping your windows closed to prevent heat from entering your home. Then at night, if safe to do so for a while, open the windows to allow cool drafts in.
Open windows early morning, evening, and overnight if safe, ideally on opposite sides of the house to create a through-draft. Use the chimney effect by opening windows at the top and bottom of multi-storey homes to draw hot air out.
For instant relief from the heat in your home, use a fan. There are many to choose from, both handheld and standalone, depending on your budget. Some Standard recommendations are this £10 M&S mini fan and these Amazon cooling fans.
There are plenty of fans on the market to match any budget
Local Library
Avoid using ovens or heat-generating appliances during the hottest hours.
Find the ‘cool spots’ in your home
Identify the coolest part of your home and spend as much time there as possible.
Long-term solutions for heatwave-proofing your home
Longer term, try to use trees or plants to provide shade around the building during summer and make sure that your house is well insulated. Insulation not only keeps warmth in during the winter, it also keeps heat out in the summer.
Provided you have good ventilation, well insulated homes will be more comfortable all year round.
“We’re expecting summer temperatures in the UK to rise quite quickly over the next decades” explains Dr De Grussa.
REUTERS
CIBSE uses Met Office observations and climate projections to provide weather data for people designing the buildings of the future.
“By the end of the century all our summers are likely to include prolonged spells of temperatures in the high 30 degree range,” she said.
“We’re just not used to it and our buildings are not designed to deal with it, so we have to get used to taking simple practical steps to help make hot summers more comfortable.”