Forum Topic

Using sash windows best to keep cool

I see so many sash windows not open in the best way to keep the house cool.  Here's an explanation of how this Victorian design works:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1438187/Experts-reveal-best-way-to-keep-cool-open-the-window.html

Philippa Bond ● 2315d47 Comments

If you are ever unfortunate enough to be incacerated in Ealing Hospital, wonderful clinicians but falling apart from the day it was built, you are lucky to find a window that opens at all not that you can see through them as most seem not to have been cleaned this decade.

N V Brooks ● 75d

Pearl, this is May - used to be your neighbour in Green Dragon Lane. Went round there last year to see if you are still there. shall we connect?

May Tha-Hla ● 75d

The hospital lighting is so bright and patients mostly have to look straight at them if they cannot sit up, dreadful and as you say Windows that only open a few inches they are like prisons.

Janice Evans ● 496d

I don't how this thread reappeared since there is no no 2023 posting.  Something removed I guess.Following on from Bobbie's post it is true that there are convalescent homes or certainly hospices with verandahs or patio areas where beds can be rolled outside. These also have the most beautiful of gardens.  In hotter climates residents would move up to the hills in the summer when the weather was hot. Several months ago I was visiting Hammersmith Hospital which has a garden (or remains of one) on one of the upper floors which desperately needs attention. Unfortunately the decking is rotting so it cannot be accessed.  Certainly in spring when the remaining daffodils flowered it really lifted the spirits.  It is well known that gardens and views out of hospital windows improve both mental wellbeing and any speed of recovery. No wonder people talk about hospitals all the time as if they are imprisoned - waiting to be let out - because they are so often trapped in buildings where you can't open the windows or feel a breeze get a breath of fresh air let alone see any greenery.

Philippa Bond ● 496d

Victorians and or Edwardians subscribed very much to cool air being efficacious to recovery from illness. Wasn't 'open air' designed into numerous buildings domestic and municipal with an abundance of south facing French windows below together with upper verandas wrapped around the frontages? There are some lovely old convalescent home buildings (those that still remain) indicating fresh air policies which facilitated patients able to be rolled out from interior confinement still in their beds to take the fresh air on the verandas overlooking nice tended gardens. Todays hospitals are so dreary by comparison.

Bobbie Carnegie ● 1215d

I read today that if you chill a pair of socks in the fridge and put them on as you go to bed it will help you sleep in hot weather. And also a hot water bottle filled with ice.Not sure about the socks tbh.

Stewart Jones ● 1221d

You can also open the hatch into the roof space to allow hotter air to rise.

Philippa Bond ● 1221d

Philippa,  I like your ideas of air vent above the front door that would be ahelp in the hot weather and the window above my front door like many others is non opening.  Could have a large air vent area there.

Janice Evans ● 1221d

Ouch.  With the window locks on you can open ours enough and they can't do that - just as well because the older double glazing makes them heavier.  I'd forgotten that before double glazing the bedrooms and bathroom when it was cold outside there was always condensation on the glass.  We don't get that now.  I meant of course that my brother replaced the sash cords rather than mended them on the older ones. There are companies that speialise in refurbishing as well as replacing wooden sash windows.

Philippa Bond ● 1221d

They were quite loose with a lot of movement which I was grateful for at thetime. I push the outside one up to close it and the inside one down thenwhen about to lock with a slide lock in the middle the top one fell and trap my hand between the top and bottom frame, fortunately there was someone with me to release the top frame, no broken bones think thefact I was wearing a ring kept the pressure off my hand.  The cords hadworn.

Janice Evans ● 1222d

My brother mended some sash cords - he didn't seem to find it particularly difficult.  The old wooden windows were draughty and used to rattle and move around a lot and the new ones have seals and a trickle vent and are much better.  There is now a thinner type of double glazing available than was not available or easily available then.I'm still not convinced that the windows that tip open work as well in creating the air movement that sash windows do to cool rooms.

Philippa Bond ● 1222d

That is a great improvement, the outside cords seems to wear most on theold window frames.

Janice Evans ● 1222d

We had small bolts on the sash windows we inherited.  We have sprung sashes on the newer double glazed ones.

Philippa Bond ● 1222d

You also need to check the sash cords regularly for wear or it's possible for the window to fall which happen to me some years ago.

Janice Evans ● 1223d

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2003/aug/06/highereducation.uk1What the scientists say about why they were designed this way shows why they are still so successful.  Just make sure they are secure.  We have window locks.

Philippa Bond ● 1223d

If you can no longer read that Telegraph article I believe that it was an investigation by Imperial College on how to use sash windows best - opening a little at the top and a little at the bottom.  It causes the cool air to come in the bottom and the hot air to go out the top.  It is both safer than the wide open windows I see around from the point of anyone falling out and also anyone gaining access.  It can be done with window locks on if you have them in the right place.There are lots of low tech ways to stay cool and we had several threads on this at one time.With more and more people now relying on electrical fans and a/c without a thought of the consequences it is just a matter of time until it all goes wrong and many will have no low tech solutions.

Philippa Bond ● 1223d

Thank you - great tip!

Ed Saper ● 1225d

bump

Philippa Bond ● 1225d

Good to let the cool air in but very tricky to keep the Eastern European sticky fingers out!!!

Beverly Roberts ● 1566d

We're here once again.  I hope that many of you will be abl to access any articles behind paywalls.Basically with Victorian and Edwardian sash windows they were designed to be kept open top and bottom to ensure that hot air left at the top and cool air entered at the bottom.  It doesn't need to be wide open.  It does work and it doesn't rely on electricity!Think also about security.  Any locksmith worth his salt should know where to put the window locks so that you can do this.

Philippa Bond ● 1568d

It's worthwhile thinking about it now before any thunder storm and electricity cut!It's a shame that developers nowadays don't think more about building buildings which don't rely so much on electricity!Here's the Palace of Breezes designed to keep cool without depending on electricity:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Mahalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Mahal

Philippa Bond ● 1969d

Its not that warm :) A Dyson fan should do the trick, too busy to wonder about age old cooling techniques although have a few Linen shirts to hand!

James Wright ● 1970d

There's another generation out there who are likely to be reaching for the electric switches before thinking about how they can keep cool without using it.  What would happen if there was an electricity cut?

Philippa Bond ● 1970d

I'd forgotten about all that cheesecloth!  Those were the days before creditcards when you were less likely to buy on a whim and a fancy.  You saved up.In one of the places we lived we had windows which were louvred from top to bottom on each side on the house which let the air flow through from one side of the house to the other.  You couldn't leave anything small and valuable to you in view as it was vulnerable to being "fished" out by anyone so inclined.

Philippa Bond ● 2308d

Cotton Lawn, cheesecloth, lightweight linen, thin woven viscose all ideal,especially if loose flowing styles.

Jennifer Selig ● 2310d

I've managed to get back into a cotton kaftan I wore as a teenager in the early 70s.  So comfortable!Which of any new fabrics are really good in the heat?I know that they can be tempting because they are quick to dry and don't need ironing but...  hanging carefully to blow in the breeze can work better than a tumble dryer - or nearly as well as in this weather.

Philippa Bond ● 2310d

Love this article, makes perfect sense!

Fiona Bell ● 2310d

Well the cold hot water bottles didn't work because I couldn't get any water into them.I do think that wearing less or nothing, cooling the room down and cooling yourself down especially pulse points before you go to bed works.  In the past we always wore cotton and silk - or you can get used to the crumpled linen look.  T-shirt material is too uncomfortable to wear in the heat as it sticks to you.  You want material and design that touches the body as little as possible eg Hawaian shirts and shift dresses.Even when there was A/C we never used it at night except to cool the room down before going to sleep because that was how people became ill.Paperweights are important together with not lifting children up in the air when you have those central ceiling fans! 

Philippa Bond ● 2311d

Found someone who wants it!

Pearl Pelfrey ● 2312d

As the upstairs of my house is 27 degs, After reading This I opened my loft hatch to see if it worked.Sorry to say after 12hours the temperature went up by half a degree.Discussion on TV this morning about NHS buildings, Old Victorian buildings with high ceilings and old sash widows were cooler than any modern building with Air Con.Modern developers need to go back to school if we are going to get weather like this more frequently.

Bernard Allen ● 2312d

If no takers it could be handed in to Cancer Reseach for sending to Hammersmith to be tested then sold in the shop in King Street.Otherwise put out with Hounslow recycling boxes.

Rima Jones ● 2312d

I swear by ceiling fans. I have one in every room. Lovely. In the bedroom, open the window and run the fan on high for a couple of hours before bed, then turn the fan down and close the window if you feel insecure sleeping with open window.  Not a huge electricity user. I just got a new one, so I have a spare one going. It goes on the ceiling light fitting, then balance the blades. Probs use an electrician unless you feel OK doing it yourself. Let me know if you want the fan.

Pearl Pelfrey ● 2314d

Just hope they don't leak.  They had been relegated for repurposing.

Philippa Bond ● 2314d

Several years ago I spent a lot of time in the summer visiting a modern (as opposed to Victorian or Edwardian) hospital that was excruciatingly hot.  Eventually they took out the glass in one window and put in a very noisy air conditioner. The windows of course were designed not to open very much at all.

Philippa Bond ● 2315d

It also depends on :-a) if the sashes are working properlyb) if you can stand the ceaseless noise from planes going overc) the noise and air pollution from traffic.

Rima Jones ● 2315d

Locks upstairs may have been for animals.  All my have bolts set so that cats can't get head through.  Learned my lesson when I left a window open a small amount and a rescue kitten that was still too small to spay managed to get her head under enough to nudge it up, got out, fell or jumped awkwardly and broke her leg.

Claire Moran ● 2315d

It's not the feet. Dunk your wrists in freezing water for 3mins and then have a cup of tea. It works! I lived in southern Spain for 3 years. This heat is nothing compared to that.

Georgina Flint ● 2315d

Got it! So opening windows can cool the house down. Who would have thunk it?

Carl Wynne ● 2315d

You only have to keep the sole of your feet cold to send a message upstairs which then sends a signal out telling you your nice and cool

Julian Pavey ● 2315d

I think it works - as well as having more air movement throughout the house - but you do have to be sure that you aren't leaving yourself vulnerable to thieves.When we moved in our downstairs sash windows had had bolts set at different levels on our sash windows which allowed choice.  Our upstairs new sash windows then had locks put where there isn't enough space to open them top and bottom.  I'm not sure why. They are far less vulnerable. Maybe it was because I wasn't at the time aware of the info in that article (which I have also seen from another university) and just relied on the locksmith.Does anyone have opening lockable fanlights above their front doors?  I think this would be a great idea to create more air movement from front to back of the house.There are other great ideas for keeping cool if you look on the internet including putting your sheets in the freezer but I don't think I can cope with that.One I read yesterday suggested taking a cold rather than hotwater bottle to bed with you.I don't think the answer is to immediately buy electrical equipment which itself actually creates heat too - especially when you are living in a building where you can open the windows. 

Philippa Bond ● 2315d

Ah....i have no sash windows,trust me, it works Kerry. I think

Julian Pavey ● 2315d

Don't say that!  I was just thinking I feel a bit cooler and now you've got me doubting myself.

Kerry Chandler ● 2315d

Load of cobblers if you ask me. I can understand having windows open each side of a house to create a tunnel for air to flow or opening the hatch to a loft if you have one as heat rises but positioning a sash window in a room with 3 walls so it has an opening top and bottom i am not so sure but ready to be proven wrong

Julian Pavey ● 2315d

Thanks, I'll give it a go!  It's another one for my list of domestic matters that begin with the thought "What would Philippa do?"

Kerry Chandler ● 2315d