Heating off, fans on ?

MrsStepford

It hit 26.4C in husband's office in Surrey today and was 23C here. Usually, when Spring is much warmer, we would have been in Summer cooling mode since May. 

When husband came home, we rearranged our bedroom a bit and put a tower fan back in there. We have a Levoit air purifier on 24/7 365 because husband has COPD and we both have hayfever. There's a Himalayan pink salt lamp which goes on at night, as well. There's another identical Xpelair tower fan in husband's home office area and a pedestal fan in his study. 

We keep Avant, Evian and San Pellegrino waters on hand, to keep us hydrated and a cooler for it in our bedroom.

Obviously, we aren't using thick duvets and blankets during warmer weather. I tried those pillow inserts that supposedly keep your head cool, but during the night they actually warm up ! The bedroom has thermal blackout roller blinds to keep us warm in winter and cool in summer, in theory.

We looked at air conditioning but we don't have enough space between window and ceiling in any room. When I lived in Canada we had air conditioning units in the actual windows, but I haven't seen those here.

What do you do, to keep cool ? Do you have fans ? Blinds ? Do you keep water in bedrooms ? Do you have portable air conditioning units or air humidifiers ? Do you eat more cold food ? Ice cream ? Ice in drinks ?

Any obvious tips that I'm not doing ? 

Brambling

When it's really hot I put a filled hot water bottle (cold water) in the freezer and put it in the bed.  I have read that if you add a bowl of ice in front of the fan it will be cooler air.  

A friend of mine swears by the cooling mats you can buy and sleeps on it all summer but she is menopausal but I haven't tried one.  I do dine sleeping is a natural fabric helps i have a couple of old baggy raw silk tee shirts which I find very cooling 

if the early morning is cool open all windows and doors to bring in the cooler air then shut everything and close and curtains which does help but only if we have cool mornings so last year's ultra hot temperature it didn't work pass the first day.

Green_hopeful

If it’s cooler outside than in I open the windows. If is warmer outside then I close the windows and curtains. It would be better to have blinds outside but I will only do that if we have very hot weather. We realised in the winter that some of our rooms are warmer than others. We haven’t done it yet but we might move into a north facing room or a ground floor room. 

Nelliegrace

I close the windows and curtains on the sunny side of the house to shut the heat out.

I made a jug of lemon squash with honey and put it in the fridge to chill today. Extra fluids through the day and a cold drink in a flask for the night. It is easy to forget the extra fluids so it’s one out, one in. A nice hot pot of tea can be cooling too.
If I do have to go out in hot weather, I take a cup and a Zigg type metal bottle of tap water, and a flask of tea and mugs in the car. 

The cold hot water bottle for me too, though just from the cold tap. ( I have some old stoneware water bottles for the dog bed.)
Damp face cloths, and a bucket of cold water to soak my feet.
A quick, cool shower.
An old fashioned fan helps, usually it is just a sheet of card, but I bought a proper one for Tai Chi. 

Keeping still and quiet with a book to read or audio book. If the heat is getting unbearable, I read Winter Holiday and imagine the snow and ice in the Lake District. 

If the heatwave continues DH will take me to the local Sainsbury’s superstore so I can do some walking in their air conditioned environment.  

Rosa_Damascena

I bought one of these recently, cost around £1. That and opening the windows are as far as I will go, electric fans are just too noisy.

Floss

I open the loft hatch & leave it slightly open. Blinds stay down in my bedroom, windows open behind them. Bathroom window gets opened at night for a through draft. If it gets seriously warm at night then I sleep on the sofabed downstairs where it is cooler.

Mnoee

I just use fans - 1 in the bedroom which is running on low overnight at the moment, 1 in the living room, and a recent addition of a portable neck fan. The neck fan is pretty noisy, but I've found it great at keeping me comfortable while doing jobs like hoovering or cooking.

We have jugs for water so there's always one in the fridge and one on the coffee table - I find I'll keep hydrated throughout the day if there's water to hand, if it's a chore to get up and get a glass, I'll often not bother! 

PipneyJane

Having grown up in a much hotter country, I think the best approach can be summarised in 3 words:  windows, trees and screens.  

Windows. Open as many windows as possible, to enhance airflow.   If the majority of your home’s windows can’t be opened, consider replacing them.  Closed windows are a source of passive heating (radiant heat), which will make your home much hotter than outside.

Trees.  Plant deciduous trees where they can shade your house in summer.  In winter, without their leaves blocking the sun’s light, hopefully there will be a build up of radiant heat in your windows when the sun shines.

Screens.  If you can find them, consider fitting canvas awnings to your south/south-west facing windows, to stop the sun cooking your windows.  If you’re building a new home, include verandas in the design.  (One can but dream!)

- Pip


ETA:  We keep bottles of tap water in the fridge to drink, year round.  (They’re recycled Evian bottles.). 

Katiehound

^^^^ better to use glass bottles (oops, need to drink all that wine!) because there are chemicals that can leach out of plastic bottles over time.

Only open windows if they on the cool side of the house otherwise hot air comes in. 
Currently sitting by a cool open window but in 2 hour's time it will be warm air- then window shut & curtains closed.

 Sadly our housing stock wasn't built for extremes of weather but at least my Victorian terraced house has got high ceilings.

Nelliegrace

There’s a thought @Katiehound. I bought fizzy pop in glass, clip-top bottles from TKMaxx and Aldi because they were much cheaper than buying empty bottles. Most of mine are full of sloe gin.

Rosa_Damascena

Floss said:

I open the loft hatch & leave it slightly open. Blinds stay down in my bedroom, windows open behind them. Bathroom window gets opened at night for a through draft. If it gets seriously warm at night then I sleep on the sofabed downstairs where it is cooler.

I would be reluctant to do so for fear of an invasion of spiders. Having said that there was a giant domestic spider lurking in my bathroom that gave me the shock of my life when I switched the light on last night. I have built up my tolerance to an extent but I will never like them.

Speaking of shocks, a friend told me that they were taking a fan into a nursing home for their relative as the home wouldn't supply one! We've had a 4-day heat wave warning from UKHSA and yet some care hones don't recognise the risk to their frail and vulnerable patients?