So it’s gotten hot lately, although the external wall insulation is doing it’s job (inner walls are cold), there’s still some solar gain coming from the 2.4m/8’ wide door. There’s also my body heat as well as the computer and my 3 monitors.
I needed a plan, that was cheap! I used the wheel around air con unit I already had, but doesn’t get much use in the house (the house is generally OK) and lashed up this. Main intention is to get the hot air vent outside.
Just as a note, this isn’t as effective as it could be, because the incoming air to the unit is coming from the room itself, it’s far better if the feed air is coming from outside.
Yes. My living room gets direct sunlight all year round and having blind on all 4 windows helps massively. Also, I keep the blinds in my bedroom completely shut throughout the hot summer days and the temp difference between it and the rest of the rooms is insane.
It’s designed for external use, so it reflects the heat/light from the external face of the glazing. Being a constructiony guy, I’m also tempted to get a bri soleil, but I need to hit some contacts up for that
It definitely does help a great deal, I’ve got some plans for lots of changes, but priorities are always challenging. Plus after working on other peoples houses, I just don’t have the energy on my own!
I have to say, after several hours it’s a massive improvement on yesterday, and it was cooler then. It is noisy, but hey ho, that’s what over ear headphones are for!
It might be something to do with the new pi-hole I’m playing with, but I can’t visit that site?
Absolutely, though frequency of use is important - in the uk, we may have 5 ‘properly hot’ days a year. I think if it were nearer15-20 days I’d go for a proper solution.
Of course saying that, I did plan for a potential heating/cooling system early on (threw down some extra concrete for a base when laying foundations). So far it’s been so borderline, especially as I know that heating only takes an 800W oil filled radiator during the colder months (which we have the most of over here!)
An uninteresting update, it seems that one day was the hottest day of the year, other days have been tolerable enough without the air-con.
I am looking at getting a small MVHR unit, I’ll be interested to see how well it works. Something like this: HR100R/RS | Vent-Axia
I know of the perfect location too, in the store room to keep the noise down - though it’s really quiet based on what I’ve read. It’s also incredibly low power, but I must confirm this as it’s only 30W.
I remember when my old school put this up and the difference it made immediately was incredible. Can stand to have the windows uncovered, and definitely cheaper long term than air con.
One thing to keep in mind with these foils is removing them. One of my previous employers had used some of that stuff on the cafeteria windows and it started flaking, wasn’t pretty. From what I heard getting it off can be a nightmare (I’d assume depending on the quality of the product and/or how long it’s been on).
Dunno how they ended up addressing it as they sold the building around the same time I moved on to another job. Going to assume the new owner probably overhauled the whole building and just put new glass in, if they retained the space, that is.
Yeah, it’s sometimes easier to replace glazing, which is bonkers really! I’m quite happy with the door, but it was really cheap so I might replace it for another some time. I’m half tempted to punch another hole through the building and stick a high level window in. As a guide glazing should be around 10% of the floor area, but in my experience that’s really lacking. In this case I have around 25% glazing for the floor area and it’s OK. Then of course (in the UK) if you exceed a certain threshold, the glazing has to become expensive triple glazing
Yeah, which would be an issue for me. I own my flat, but not the building that it’s part of. I imagine putting this on the windows, especially if it’s not easily removable, would be disagreeable lol
the spectrum blocking foils are easily removable with the proper technique if it’s not already bubbling/flaking/whatever. It’s just like car window tint. Same stuff, pretty much.
I’m sorry if I step in. I have the opposite problem where i live. My windows(all facing south) have a film that let the rays in. Blocking heat going out. But today when its 28C I’m glad that I invested… Heat pump and 130m down in the bedrock. Summertime I start a extra circuit and use the cold media (after winter below zero 5-8C ) and I using for cooling before sending tha
t media down in the mountain again. Given some heat back.Try to have ~20C in my bedroom, downstairs ~22C. Sorry for a lousy photo(have one downstairs and on upper floor) but… What fits you doesn’t fit where I live
