Dave m Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 My house gets bloody hot at the moment but having a window open on opposite sides makes a massive difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 When my house gets too hot I lift the loft trapdoor -Hot air rises our through the roof vents, especially if the windows are just open a little. http://www.andrews-sykes.com/air-conditioning/split-air-conditioners/pac60-portable-air-conditioner/ Is a two part chiller that would help get heat out at the cost of 25A mains. Heat goes out via a water circuit and an external heat exchanger. Has wheels but weighs in at a lot 300 kilos or so. You will not likely find one now for this year, BUT it might suit your need for "portable equipment that can be plugged and used without a full installation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howartp Posted July 2, 2015 Author Share Posted July 2, 2015 When my house gets too hot I lift the loft trapdoor Did that at home yesterday - then we had the torrential thunderstorm that hit parts of the UK last night - loft now rather damp... (...and Conservatory roof got holes in it...) EDIT: Ah, sorry, just realised you said trapdoor - I was thinking skylight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 When my house gets too hot I lift the loft trapdoor Well, I ventured into my loft last evening to see if I still had any desk fans up there (I didn't :( ) but MAN it was hotter than a hot thing!Clearly my roof space doesn't have anything like vents to let hot air out..! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 The eaves should be ventilated to prevent the timbers getting damp, but the eaves are at the bottom! My house certainly cools by leaving the trap door up and I can leave that up and go out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave m Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 getting a bit6 off topic but my 50's house had asbestos cement boards as soffits with no vents but was replaced by vented UPVC. Fortunately I added loads of insulation to the loft, unfortunately my hatch folds down pretty low ( to allow for the loft ladder) so leaving it open over night might prove dangerous for a sleepy midnight loo visit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the kid Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Maybe a split topic but does anyone / has anyone retrofitted the mirror film to windows for heat ? is it any good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_s Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 if you have rooms with large south facing windows, mirror film alone is unlikely to solve the problems. A room in our new building (as it was then - now 10 years old with retro-fitted chiller unit!) was reading well over 40C on the thermometer. the film offered a reduction (in theory - obviously in the real world many factors affect this) of 30%,* so even if it actually manages this, the room temp would be brought down to maybe 30C, still pretty sticky and uncomfortable. This is assuming you are not introducing heat into the room in other ways, for example with IT equipment, catering equipment or whatever. A better way of mitigating the heating effect of direct sunlight is to stop the sun hitting the window in the first pace, with shades, external blinds and so on. Curtains inside the windows help a bit. Or very small windows and really thick stone walls (eg castles and cathedrals) But what's the point of having really big windows if you then blank them out with curtains and blinds? So the only real answer is to spend shed-loads of money on chilled air. Anyone who proposes a building featuring a lot of glass and then says it can be kept comfortable by any other means is not being very realistic. Also - think of the effects of sunlight reflecting off the window and being focussed onto objects in the street, sounds mad, but damage to vehicles was attributed to this in the City of London, necessitating big modifications to the building. *just to add you can get different grades of film offering smaller or larger reductions in the heat transmission, but also affecting the transparency of the windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emsgeorge Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I kid you not, the heat problem was solved in a small south coast theatre by buying a freezer unit on ebay from a large industrial walk in fridge type of thing, cutting a hole in the plant room, and butting the outlet of the chiller up to it ......... We all laughed when we took the theatre over as this was the 'building skills' of the last set of people to run the theatre (who were booted out), but, it worked like a charm !! Just put the air handling system onto re-circ, turn the unit on, and it chilled the air nicely, even in the dressing rooms. Tried it out when there was a show on, on a hot summers day, and we had difficulty getting the audience out at the end, they felt it was so nice. Edited to add: because the plant room had its own fans / air handling, no issues with the units heat output or water output. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave m Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I fitted mirror tint to a crewbus once and it did reduce the interior temperature, but as mentioned above (and not really practical on a van) those louvred panels that you have on some buildings are intended to stop direct sunlight giving solar gain. We have some on our building foyer and they work. But we also have posh thermostatic motors and the ventilators open and close according to the heat. If the building is fine empty but with an audience it is too hot, then I doubt the mirror tint would do much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam2 Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Maybe a split topic but does anyone / has anyone retrofitted the mirror film to windows for heat ? is it any good? Yes, I have fitted this on a DIY basis domestically and have also had it fitted to an office building. It is very effective at limiting RADIANT heat from direct sun, but wont help at all with heat produced internally from plant and machinery or from body heat. Also of course it wont help in warm and humid weather that is cloudy. D0m3sticly it improved comfort very considerably in sunny weather and also reduced glare a lot. In the office building, it was installed to reduce the energy consumption of an existing cooling system, and saved about 25%. The above examples are however of limited relevance to a purpose built performance space with a very small window area. Worth considering IMHO though for schools and similar places with a lot of glazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 We've had it done at work with similar results. Insolation reduced dramatically, so the room is OK when the users arrive, but after the PCs fire up, and you fill the room with kids, the need for A/C is obvious (except to the Works manager with the purse and a total aversion to A/C) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.