Best method of keeping upstairs cool

cepheus

I have a constant battle to keep the upstairs rooms cool from 3pm onwards in summer and through the evening. This is partly due to west facing windows which allow through a lot of solar gain. The curtains contain a white backing but these don't seem to be too effective, and air conditioning is cumbersome and of course not ideal for cost and the environment.

For other reasons I am replacing single glazing with C grade double glazing, although it is unclear if this will make things better or worse.

Would a white roller blind or venetian blinds be be more effective than curtains? I notice there are some cheap ones from Tesco. In which case what are the relative merits of vertical to horizontal ones, particularly with respect of ease of fitting. (I know the vertical ones can be cut to size). Another option might be external blinds but these are more expensive.

For the sake of the summer months I am apt to stick a white sheet outside or even silver the windows, but I guess this would annoy the neighbors due to the reflection!

torbrex

The rising hot air needs somewhere to go so good ventilation is sometimes the best solution to keeping upstairs cool, I always have at least 2 windows open a little so as to allow a draught to form.

phill99

White blinds etc will allow the sunshine in. You would be better with blackout blinds or energy saving blinds as these have a reflector on the back to keep the cold (or heat) out. My House gets pretty hot and I have venitians upstairs as this keeps the rooms pretty cool.

Alternatively, use heavy curtains with liners.

Also try and do what the mediteraneans do - have windows open at night to allow the cool air in, then shut them in the morning when temperatures start to rise. Combine this with heavy curtains / blinds to keep the heat out and you will be surprised how cool it will remain.

cepheus

I do have blackout curtains which are white and totally opaque, but they seem to be useless for keeping the heat out, perhaps they are too far away from the window, neither can I sleep at night with the noise from the windows being open and every insect attracted by the lights.

Some of the Tesco roll blinds are blackouts but it isn't clear if they are all reflective on the other side, is this always the case?

jennifernil

Outside shading, to stop the sun reaching the windows, would have the most effect.

Owain_Moneysaver

You can get solar tint film which isn't highly reflective and it's diy-able.
http://www.windowfilm.co.uk/ResidentialHeat.aspx

27col

Curtains are not going to have much effect. By the time the heat hits the curtain it is already in the room. As someone has said, outside shading will have much more effect. Though, the reflective film should work as well and would be cheaper than outside shades.

cepheus

I suspect providing you get the blind near to the glass they are more effective than curtains which hang outside the window recess, in which convection currents carry away the heat into the room. However some blinds are 'cut to size'. Does anyone know how that works? Surely the roller itself is a fixed width? Reason I ask is that my window recess is about 116 cm whereas the standard size of roller is 120 cm.

SpikyHedgehog

DS1's bedroom faces west (my bedroom & DS2's face east) - now it's the school holidays, he opens his curtains & window when he gets up, then closes the curtains at lunch time. If we're out all day, the curtains stay closed all day. At the front we reverse that, so the east facing curtains stay closed till lunch time (or till we get home if we're out all day).

My room has a blackout bind outside the recess, DS1's room has curtains with blackout linings and DS2's room has lined cotton curtains. The blackout blind & linings work best!

lizzyb1812

SpikyHedgehog - have you got a loft hatch? If you prop this open a bit a lot of the hot air will escape into the loft. It's free and certainly worth a try.

SpikyHedgehog

lizzyb1812 wrote: »

SpikyHedgehog - have you got a loft hatch? If you prop this open a bit a lot of the hot air will escape into the loft. It's free and certainly worth a try.

Oh, I'd forgotten about that! Used to do it at old house, but haven't felt the need so far to do it at this house (4 years and counting). Old house ran south - north, and the front of the house just got unbearable without opening the loft hatch.