Phew! Down here in the South it's getting hot, which can make for uncomfortable conditions, both indoors and out.
You can't really influence outdoor conditions very much, but before you run for the cooling fans indoors, here's a couple of things to think about.
Unless you have the luxury of full aircon, everything else is about creating the illusion of cooling and that means movement of air. A fan is just moving air about, but that movement makes you feel a little bit cooler.
Fans today are very low powered, so you don't have to pay too much to achieve a little comfort, however it is still using power, so are there alternatives?
I recently attended a seminar, where they talked about natural ventilation, this is air movement along a corridor, so if you create that corridor, you will get some air movement and achieve the fan effect for free. Ideally you will have a room with a double aspect, open windows at both ends and, depending on prevailing weather you will get an air pull through the room.
Convection (hot air rising) can also help this effect. especially in the evening, when the outdoor temperature begins to cool, open ground floor windows, leave internal doors open and upstairs windows open, this should allow the hot air, built up in the building through the day to gradually escape through the upstairs, sucking cooler air into the lower floor.
I saw this in America many years ago, where they had something called an 'attic fan' installed. This was a large propeller like device, installed in the roofspace and vented to outside through the gable end of the house. all doors had air gaps deliberately left to allow air movement and downstairs windows were fitted with trickle vents. when the fan was on it pushed out the hotter air, creating a vacuum to suck cooler outside air into the house - quite effective too.
I wouldn't go as far as such an installation, but letting the air move about can make a big difference to the comfort inside the house - and it doesn't cost you anything, so open up the internal space and allow the house to breathe.
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I agree entirely about keeping the windows open (unless you've got the builders in who are making lots of dust outside:((). I also keep the curtains closed if the sun is shining in to prevent excessive heat build-up, but open them after the sun has gone down to let the air circulate.
ReplyDeleteIf you have the windows open, make sure there's nothing in danger of being blown down and broken - I broke a vase of grasses today that was in the bathroom window. Luckily not a valuable one.