A guest article by Paul Kershaw, Oakington retrofit expert and member of Cambridge Retrofit Hub. An abridged version will appear in the August/September Oakington & Westwick Journal.

Shading

Have you noticed anyone putting up shading over their windows in the village? I don’t mean the white flags with the red cross, although they inadvertently serve the purpose well but people draping old sheets, towels and even one expertly designed set of shades made from Space Blankets. With our third heatwave under our belts already this year, it’s time to stop moaning about the heat and do some simple DIY. Anything you can do externally to stop the sun from reaching your window glass and your brick walls will have much more of an effect than closing your curtains. If there are young, elderly or infirm in your household, the difference it makes can be life saving. The number of degrees indoor temperature change can vary per house, even between a pair of semi-detached houses, but even a couple of degrees is not to be sniffed at. The difference in external temperature between a bare brick wall and one painted white can be more than 10ºC.

At Cambridge Retrofit Hub we’re running a series of Summer Shading and Cooling Workshops in and around Cambridge. After the one in Histon during the last heatwave, we received numerous photos the following day of actions that people had taken to create shading; although no-one had taken up my suggestion of painting your windows with Greek Yoghurt, no…on the outside; it cooks straight away so doesn’t go mouldy and can just be washed off.

photo: Laura, parent, Histon – you only need your bedsheets at night, give them a good airing during the day

photo: Peter, Cambridge – turn your house inside out

Other tips to stay cool

• Dark material will stop more heat than white.
• Open your windows or doors early morning and evening when the temperature outside is lower than inside. To increase ventilation place a fan pointing outwards about 1m/3’ from an open window.
• Keep your windows, doors and curtains or blinds closed during the day.
• Hang out a damp towel or two in the room you’re occupying to benefit from the evaporative cooling effect.
• Fans don’t cool air, they just push it around. They have a cooling effect when they are directed at you but none when you have left the room.
• To cool down quickly, place a cold wet towel around your neck, behind your knees or at your wrists.
• Heat pumps can provide cooling as well as heating (needs to be specified/requested).
• Older people are less likely to notice they are becoming dehydrated, and less likely to hear or act on Weather Warnings, so…
• The most important thing to do during a heatwave is to check on your elderly friends or relatives.

See www.cambridgeretrofithub.org for details of future Shading Talks