Well, disadvantage of only barely affecting temperatures though. 3.5C max, 0.6 average is not nothing, but for me at least, part of the problem is the fact that if I don’t run AC, the temperatures just keep on climbing indoors. The 5-6C drop of tinfoil sounds more useful, but then they didn’t really mention what the average drop is.
Granted, I realize most people would rather get light through their windows. But personally in bedrooms I’d rather take 0 light as otherwise you only really get 3-4 hours of dark per day in the summer. For other rooms - maybe some of those heat-reflective films? 3M claims theirs manages reduce heating by quite a lot, but probably not as much as foil.
3.5C is when it’s hottest, which is presumably when it’s most needed.
It’s not a miracle, but 3 degrees is noticeable. And for the cost of practically nothing, it’s something anybody can afford to do if they need to. It’s not just about what’s the best solution, but also about accessibility.
Personally I can survive the extra heat in the daytime, when it’s the hottest. It’s trying to get any sleep in tropical weather in my actual house that’s becoming a bigger issue these days. I’m assuming that by going from the 3.5C max to 5-6C max would also raise the average from 0.6 to 1.0 hopefully.
My problems are as follows:
First off, with thick as hell walls and now for the last few years triple glazing instead of the original leaky two panes separated by an air gap, the heat just doesn’t want to escape. I live in an area where it also gets really cold in the winter. Winter of 23/24, I stayed up till 3 AM heating the furnace, woke up 8-9 AM to put a new batch of logs and briquettes in as the fire hadn’t completely died yet by morning. I actually kept the fire going for 2-3 weeks. Normally it’s been 1-2 fires per day and they die out in between. So that’s why the house needs to have as good insulation as possible.
Now the insulation is great at the beginning of the summer, when the walls are still cold. Doesn’t get too hot indoors, cools down nicely at night. It just sucks later in the summer when everything is already warm.
Secondly, it used to be that you’d consistently get <20C at night so you just open up the windows and things cool down and you finally get some fresh air in the house. Last week or so, I’ve had to keep the windows closed at night because the air outside is actually hotter at night too.
Thirdly, the bedrooms, which unfortunately are on the top floor (yay convection - helpful in the winter, makes you pull your hair out in the summer), have blackout roller curtains because, and I’m not making this up, there’s only 4-5 hours of dark in the summer here. It’s going to be light outside by 3 AM today and it’s not even midsummer day. So even if it IS colder than 20C outside, you can’t actually get air in through these windows, because then it’s too bright to sleep. There’s no ventilation either. My grandpa built this house in the soviet era. Ventilation was always “eh the windows leak enough, and we can open them if needed”. It’s not a McMansion, it’s the only place I can live rent-free and just happens to have multiple small half-floors, which makes convection heat up the upper half-floor…
Fourth, between all the stress I have and my already bad eating habits, I’ve gotten overweight which makes me hate heat more, and developed sleep apnea, which means I constantly feel like I’m suffocating when going to sleep. I fucking hate life.
I’m honestly just venting because I hate heat. I also hate climate change, but climate change is making it so that I have to turn on the heat pump in cooling mode and sleep on the couch. Which means I’m contributing to further climate change with the energy use.
The real long term solution is to get rid of the dark concrete walls and replace them with something that reflects more of the heat away, then add some sort of external blinds, and finally, a proper ventilation system. Unfortunately, I don’t have money for that this year and even when I will, I’ll have to do the roof first, as it’s leaking.
Well, disadvantage of only barely affecting temperatures though. 3.5C max, 0.6 average is not nothing, but for me at least, part of the problem is the fact that if I don’t run AC, the temperatures just keep on climbing indoors. The 5-6C drop of tinfoil sounds more useful, but then they didn’t really mention what the average drop is.
Granted, I realize most people would rather get light through their windows. But personally in bedrooms I’d rather take 0 light as otherwise you only really get 3-4 hours of dark per day in the summer. For other rooms - maybe some of those heat-reflective films? 3M claims theirs manages reduce heating by quite a lot, but probably not as much as foil.
Aren’t window awnings more effective and efficient anyway?
Probably. Sounds like actual effort to install as opposed to some tin foil taped to the windows though
3.5C is when it’s hottest, which is presumably when it’s most needed.
It’s not a miracle, but 3 degrees is noticeable. And for the cost of practically nothing, it’s something anybody can afford to do if they need to. It’s not just about what’s the best solution, but also about accessibility.
Personally I can survive the extra heat in the daytime, when it’s the hottest. It’s trying to get any sleep in tropical weather in my actual house that’s becoming a bigger issue these days. I’m assuming that by going from the 3.5C max to 5-6C max would also raise the average from 0.6 to 1.0 hopefully.
My problems are as follows:
First off, with thick as hell walls and now for the last few years triple glazing instead of the original leaky two panes separated by an air gap, the heat just doesn’t want to escape. I live in an area where it also gets really cold in the winter. Winter of 23/24, I stayed up till 3 AM heating the furnace, woke up 8-9 AM to put a new batch of logs and briquettes in as the fire hadn’t completely died yet by morning. I actually kept the fire going for 2-3 weeks. Normally it’s been 1-2 fires per day and they die out in between. So that’s why the house needs to have as good insulation as possible.
Now the insulation is great at the beginning of the summer, when the walls are still cold. Doesn’t get too hot indoors, cools down nicely at night. It just sucks later in the summer when everything is already warm.
Secondly, it used to be that you’d consistently get <20C at night so you just open up the windows and things cool down and you finally get some fresh air in the house. Last week or so, I’ve had to keep the windows closed at night because the air outside is actually hotter at night too.
Thirdly, the bedrooms, which unfortunately are on the top floor (yay convection - helpful in the winter, makes you pull your hair out in the summer), have blackout roller curtains because, and I’m not making this up, there’s only 4-5 hours of dark in the summer here. It’s going to be light outside by 3 AM today and it’s not even midsummer day. So even if it IS colder than 20C outside, you can’t actually get air in through these windows, because then it’s too bright to sleep. There’s no ventilation either. My grandpa built this house in the soviet era. Ventilation was always “eh the windows leak enough, and we can open them if needed”. It’s not a McMansion, it’s the only place I can live rent-free and just happens to have multiple small half-floors, which makes convection heat up the upper half-floor…
Fourth, between all the stress I have and my already bad eating habits, I’ve gotten overweight which makes me hate heat more, and developed sleep apnea, which means I constantly feel like I’m suffocating when going to sleep. I fucking hate life.
I’m honestly just venting because I hate heat. I also hate climate change, but climate change is making it so that I have to turn on the heat pump in cooling mode and sleep on the couch. Which means I’m contributing to further climate change with the energy use.
The real long term solution is to get rid of the dark concrete walls and replace them with something that reflects more of the heat away, then add some sort of external blinds, and finally, a proper ventilation system. Unfortunately, I don’t have money for that this year and even when I will, I’ll have to do the roof first, as it’s leaking.