Help! Insulation has turned my house into a sauna!

tarkytarks

The flat cat looks a good idea, I think I will order some of these for some of our windows, I once found the cat out on an upstairs ledge between two windows - not something I want to witness again!

Our bedroom is south facing, it gets roasting up there! I leave the curtains shut all day, then as soon as it begins to cool down outside I open the curtains and the windows as wide as possible and close the door leaving the room as long as possible before bed. It does make a difference. I don't know whether your cats would just yowl outside the door, but our cat is always shut out from the bedroom at night, so we can have the window open. Is this an option for you, at least during the heatwave? Maybe some earplugs and !!!!ed off cats for a few hours are a better option in in the short term...

evoke

Tessie_Balloon_Juice wrote: »

This makes total sense, I just don't know how I can make cool air rise into the attic rooms!

You needs to have an unrestricted pathway for the air from the ground upwards and out of the attic windows. Leaving doors and windows open will be a help.

Hot air rises. It really is that simple. The problem you've got is that the hot air is collecting in your attic because it has nowhere else to go.

The 'chimney effect' i've mentioned requires that the hot air has somewhere to escape to the outside from once it reaches the top of your house.

Tessie_Balloon_Juice

tarkytarks wrote: »

I don't know whether your cats would just yowl outside the door, but our cat is always shut out from the bedroom at night, so we can have the window open. Is this an option for you, at least during the heatwave? Maybe some earplugs and !!!!ed off cats for a few hours are a better option in in the short term...

If only! They're not particularly vocal but they have a terrible habit of scratching at the floor in front of closed doors. The last time I tried shutting my bedroom door I got up in the night to open it again to save my poor carpet. They're usually good as gold and they don't disturb me in the night so it's easier to leave the door open.

Tessie_Balloon_Juice

Hello folks!

Today I found some emergency foil blankets in the pound shop, cut some holes along the tops, threaded them onto some tension rods and hung them at the dorma windows like curtains. The look a bit sill but hopefully they'll help to keep the upstairs rooms cool. I'll report back and let you know.

qurious

Put a hot water bottle in the freezer, and take it to bed at night frozen. Put it in front of the fan and keep the fan going for the night. Amazon sells ear plugs BIO-EARS and these help to cut out the noise of the fan. I have been using a fan for a few years now with these ear plugs and they do seem to be the best, have tryed others but they weren't as good. This year because of the heat i found that the fan seemed to be pushing the hot air round the bedroom so I tried the frozen hot water bottle a different version of water with ice-cubes and it really did work. Those ear plugs can also be bought from Boots.

Tessie_Balloon_Juice

Hi Folks,


Just wanted to let you all know that using the emergency blankets has worked a treat, even if they do look a bit silly. To be fair it has been cooler of late so its not the most scientific test but so far It seems to be working.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions!

Jem8472

I saw a post on another forum from someone that has lived in hot countries. They keep all their windows and doors shut during the day to keep the hot air out. Also keep the curtains drawn to keep the sun from heating up the room.

Then at night once the temperature drops open all the windows and doors to let cool air in the house. Also they do this in the morning before the heat builds up.

I have an indoor can and we can't open the windows much but we are lucky with our flat because the bedroom is north facing so keep cool.

In the past when I have been really hot and could not sleep I just get a freezer block wrap it in a tea towel and then use it like an anti hotwater bottle. I found the best way was to lay on my back and lay it on my chest over my heart. The tea towel kept it from getting too cold but also absorbs any moisture as it thaws.

Kernel_Sanders

One side effect from having solar panels fitted was the massive reduction in summer temperatures in my loft due to the dark grey concrete tiles. Mind you, the south slope is completely covered in them!

evoke wrote: »

Hot air rises. It really is that simple. The problem you've got is that the hot air is collecting in your attic because it has nowhere else to go.
The 'chimney effect' i've mentioned requires that the hot air has somewhere to escape to the outside from once it reaches the top of your house.

This is correct. May sound strange, but try putting the fan at the bedroom window directing air out of it.

Nagme

Another household that gets really hot upstairs here!

We have a detached house built circa 1970, and we wondered if it was the cement(?) roof tiles that contributed to the heat; downstairs is lovely and cool by comparison. We had a few sleepless nights when it was hot, and ended up sleeping in the lounge on airbeds.

I followed the advice of a friend who came from South Africa, closing all the windows, curtains and doors through the day and opening them in the evening, but it made no difference to our house, although I still close all the south facing rooms off.

I worked on a few house refurb projects years ago where a/c units would be installed to loft bedrooms, I wish we could afford to do that to our upstairs floor.