I'm in need of some tips. Our cottage is getting very warm at night, yesterday it was 27c in the bedroom and after a few hours of getting more and more uncomfortable I retreated to the basement.
I'm wondering, what are the options to cool the room down - I'm wondering about an air con unit, but will that be costly? We can't move to the basement permanently because we're about to invest in a new bed and for the price I want to sleep on it, not on the spare bed downstairs!
Also, when we moved in we were told it had just been newly insulated, and my understanding was a well-insulated house should be cool in summer and warm in winter... Was never sure how that worked, but I'm now wondering if its a trade off and to save heating in winter you have to cook in the summer. We're just renting just now so I'd like to know more about how this works before we buy/build in the future!

It is possible to cover windows the sun shines on, keep windows closed and then open them when/if cooler at night and close them again to keep cool through the day.

But sometimes it's just too hot and you need aircon. Our ageing aircon packed up last summer and until it was replaced fans helped a lot.

I always believed anything with a motor - like a fan - was expensive to run, but they don't seem to be here.

A window unit is good - but it needs the right sort of window. We have a duplex and a tenant had one in the kitchen window and it kept the whole apartment nice.

If you just want to cool the bedroom then buy a window a/c unit - you can buy a basic one for around $100. If you need to cool other areas too then you might consider a portable a/c unit, but they are more expensive.

Standing fans can help move the air around too and if it's relatively cool outside you could also consider a window fan (though I don't personally like them).

If you didn't have reasonable insulation your house would be significantly hotter in summer and colder in winter.

When you say newly insulated, what does that mean? Walls included? In addition to good insulation, you need good windows and doors. What shape are the windows and doors in?

You can put window a/c units in but they block light, are noisy and a real pain to install, remove, re-install. Another option is to install wall units into each room. Or you can install central a/c but this will also mean installing the ducts if you don't already have them.

http://www.homeadvisor.com/article.s...eat.15406.html

Also the insulation has a limit. It won't keep a house temperature constant - it simply minimizes heat transfer. If it's hot outside, eventually the house will heat up inside too unless you have a/c.

My tips to deal with the summer heat/ humidity

Use Fans to maintain comfortable sleeping conditions (cheap as chips, pennies a day)
Get a Window AC unit or one of those free standing units (MOre $, maybe a buck or 2 a day but probably worth it)
Cover the windows on the outside to prevent some of the heating (next to nothing)
Go hide in the basement
Wait a month or two...

My additional tip:

Go to North-West France for July & August.

A beautiful day today, a perfect 24C and set that way for a month.

Quite easy with a sash window though. Raise window, remove screen, stick unit in, pull window back down to hold in place and extend the thingies at the side.

Then - depending on security - leave in place for summer.

Any 'hum' and cool is better than baking. But I think our tenant had his in the kitchen so the sound didn't extend elsewhere and it really was cool in the other rooms.

Have you tried opening the windows at night?

Or the usual trick of having a fan in one room pointed in (in front of a window) and another on the other side of the house pointed out to increase air flow through the floor.

My problem with doing those things is that it's very dusty around here so yeah, you need an AC unit if you've got that problem. They do cost a fair bit in electricity to run.

Another trick I learned many years ago is to put a big wet towel over the window, that stops the dust and makes the room cooler. But it gets a bit annoying endlessly cleaning towels if it goes on for too long.

Nice, but unfortunately that would make for a hell of a daily commute...

There are workarounds.

thanks for all the tips

I'll investigate a cheap air con unit - even just cooling the bedroom would do.

re. covering the windows, more houses should be built with continental European style shutters

re. the insulation, I don't know to what extent it was redone (think I will enquire!). The windows are fairly standard - some newer with double glazing, some older 'storm windows'. The doors are older I think.

steve - yes I've tried having the windows open

iaink - I think the 'move to the basement' option might end up winning!

Keep the blinds and curtains closed. Get a ceiling fan for over the bed. If you get too too hot then put ice cubes in a plastic bag, wrap that in a teatowel and put is on the back of your neck.

No better tips for you than what has already been said, Izzi, but I feel your pain. Scotland to 30 degrees plus is indeed a shock to the system.

Our rental is relatively newly insulated and also hot as hell.

Off to buy some fans after I've stuck my head in the fridge for a wee while.

Believe me, I did that in my current house with 5 units for almost 10 years until I couldn't stand it anymore. One of the units was a beast. I eventually gave up and had central a/c installed about 3 years ago.

There are a few problems with window units.

- They are OK for enclosed rooms. With larger, open spaces you can still get pockets of heat and often have to have fans running to help circulate the air better.

- They can be noisy and they get noisier as they age; additional noise can be created if they make the window frames and windows vibrate.

- You often have to insert screws/hardware into the windows and sills to keep the units in place and stop people from being able to easily enter your house through the open window if it's on a lower floor. So you end up with unsightly holes in the window frames and sills.

- It's hard to get a good seal so I often had bugs entering the house through the gaps - particularly at night when the inside lights were on. I had to keep spraying bug spray around it inside and out to stop the bugs coming in - although still not 100% effective.

- The fact that you have to open the windows to install them and you still have some gaps around the sides, means that you have reduced the insulating effect of the windows.

- As you get older, it becomes harder to carry them around and install/remove them.

- They typically don't last that long. It seemed that I was replacing at least one of the units every year.

- They are not cost effective when compared to central a/c.

- They block light and make rooms darker - especially if a room only has 1 window.

So, yes, having them was better than baking in my house but installing central a/c was the best thing I did. That was costly because I also needed the duct work installed but it's now also more difficult to sell a house in this area if it doesn't have central a/c.