Hello all,

I have observed that in periods of hot weather, the loft gets very hot
to over 50 deg C and appears to have a stagnant volume of air sitting
under the felt and roof tiles.

I do have vents at the eaves but NOT at the ridges.

So I've been wondering if its worth fitting thermostat controlled wall extractor fans at the apex of each of the gable end walls to suck this
hot air out and draw cooler air from the landing and bedrooms.

I was also thinking about a 2nd inner loft hatch door fitted with comper
case 12 volt fans to essentially pull the cooler air into the loft to
create a push-pull effect with the extractor fans at the apexes of the
gable walls.

Has anyone tried this in order to achieve a cooler house to sleep in
over night?

Coincidentally, I have fitted rafter insulation to my garage roof which includes the necessary 50 mm ventilation gap and the garage loft does
not feel anywhere near as hot as the main house loft.

So would rafter insulation in the main house roof also work? It would
prepare the loft for an eventual loft conversion if we ever went down
that route.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

SH <i.love@spam.com> wrote:

Hello all,

I have observed that in periods of hot weather, the loft gets very hot
to over 50 deg C and appears to have a stagnant volume of air sitting
under the felt and roof tiles.

I'd have thought it would be ok to have a loft full of hot air - you're protected from it down below by the insulation, and it's only the top of the rooms below that will be affected. It's more of an issue that hot air
collects at the top of rooms and has nowhere to go.

I do have vents at the eaves but NOT at the ridges.

So I've been wondering if its worth fitting thermostat controlled wall extractor fans at the apex of each of the gable end walls to suck this
hot air out and draw cooler air from the landing and bedrooms.

It does help to make a convection cell where the hot air trapped in the upstairs can escape into the loft, and the hotter loft air can escape
outside. But once you have some loft ventilation you can do that just by opening the loft hatch so the upstairs air can travel upwards and displace
loft air which leaves via the vents.

I was also thinking about a 2nd inner loft hatch door fitted with comper
case 12 volt fans to essentially pull the cooler air into the loft to
create a push-pull effect with the extractor fans at the apexes of the
gable walls.

I think convection should handle that without needing fans. It's only if
you want to push that air downwards (eg towards soffit vents) do you need
fans. Or if the vents are insufficiently sized.

Has anyone tried this in order to achieve a cooler house to sleep in
over night?

Not the same setup, but in a loft conversion I have the option of closing
the windows and trapping the solar gain and risen heat from the floor below,
or opening the windows and allowing the air out, even though it's baking
hot outside. The latter is cooler.

Coincidentally, I have fitted rafter insulation to my garage roof which includes the necessary 50 mm ventilation gap and the garage loft does
not feel anywhere near as hot as the main house loft.

So would rafter insulation in the main house roof also work? It would
prepare the loft for an eventual loft conversion if we ever went down
that route.

I think it would help, but you need to consider moisture control carefully.
If the loft is warmer in the winter it's also damper, and it needs careful design to ensure the timbers get enough ventilation to dry out and not rot.
If you went with fully insulated rafters (either insulation under the tiles
or with eaves to ridge ventilation flow, insulation inboard of that, and a fully conditioned loft that would be one idea. But you really need to think about vapour control when doing so - a halfway house might be warm enough to
be moist.

(My usual tool is to go to https://www.ubakus.de/ select demo mode, and
then draw the stackup of layers I'm thinking of having. Then it shows
whether there's a condensation or drying problem and what the U-value is)

Another option is solar panels. They offer shading which would reduce the amount of sunlight hitting the roof, and they turn about 20% of it into electricity. Once you've paid for the scaffolding the panels themselves are
so cheap nowadays that if you can find a cheap mounting system you could consider them for shading first and electricity second.

Theo

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 20/07/2025 21:47, SH wrote:

Hello all,

I have observed that in periods of hot weather, the loft gets very hot
to over 50 deg C and appears to have a stagnant volume of air sitting
under the felt and roof tiles.

I do have vents at the eaves but NOT at the ridges.

So I've been wondering if its worth fitting thermostat controlled wall extractor fans at the apex of each of the gable end walls to suck this
hot air out and draw cooler air from the landing and bedrooms.

I was also thinking about a 2nd inner loft hatch door fitted with comper
case 12 volt fans to essentially pull the cooler air into the loft to
create a push-pull effect with the extractor fans at the apexes of the
gable walls.

Has anyone tried this in order to achieve a cooler house to sleep in
over night?

Coincidentally, I have fitted rafter insulation to my garage roof which includes the necessary 50 mm ventilation gap and the garage loft does
not feel anywhere near as hot as the main house loft.

So would rafter insulation in the main house roof also work? It would
prepare the loft for an eventual loft conversion if we ever went down
that route.

In a sense I've gone the other way, using the excess heat in the loft as
a convection engine to cool down the house core.
A number of wedges in the uppermost overlap of the sarking sheets to
open up an air path to the tiles and hence outside.
Summertime replacing the wooden loft hatch with expanded metal sheet. Monitoring the outdoors shade temperature and the house core temperature
, and when colder outside ,night time mainly, opening a small ground
floor window with its own expanded metal sheet, as anti-burglar and
anti-bug measure.
Along with African sail shades raised over the outside of windows to
prevent solar gain, works very well. Not the nonsense advice to close
curtains to prevent solar heat gain, you want the " curtain" heat
absorbing function on the outside of the glass, where that heat gain
cannot penetrate the glass by radition or convestion

--
Global sea level rise to 2100 from curve-fitted existing altimetry data <http://diverse.4mg.com/slr.htm>

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Mon, 21 Jul 2025 09:42:20 +0100, Theo wrote:

N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote:

[quoted text muted]

It's sensible advice - if you've exhausted other options.

It's much better to keep shading outside, but that assumes you have
access to the outaide to install shading.

Canopies work well if you can fit them.

They must work, as they aren't subsidised.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote:

Along with African sail shades raised over the outside of windows to
prevent solar gain, works very well. Not the nonsense advice to close curtains to prevent solar heat gain, you want the " curtain" heat
absorbing function on the outside of the glass, where that heat gain
cannot penetrate the glass by radition or convestion

It's sensible advice - if you've exhausted other options.

It's much better to keep shading outside, but that assumes you have access
to the outaide to install shading. If you're on the first floor or above (eg live in a flat) that may not be possible. We don't tend to have external shutters in the UK, sadly, and our use of overhangs is woeful (something the Africans do understand).

Curtains and blinds trap heat next to the glass and reduce hot air mixing
with the rest of the room. Yes ypu get some mixing, so it's much worse than putting shading outside (even simple tinfoil on the outside is better). But some of the heat from the hot glass will radiate outside rather than coming
in.

ie if all you have is curtains, it's better to shut them than leave them
open. It coats you nothing to do, unlike installing proper shading.

Theo

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 21 Jul 2025 at 09:42:20 BST, Theo wrote:

N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote:

Along with African sail shades raised over the outside of windows to
prevent solar gain, works very well. Not the nonsense advice to close
curtains to prevent solar heat gain, you want the " curtain" heat
absorbing function on the outside of the glass, where that heat gain
cannot penetrate the glass by radition or convestion

It's sensible advice - if you've exhausted other options.

It's much better to keep shading outside, but that assumes you have access
to the outaide to install shading. If you're on the first floor or above (eg live in a flat) that may not be possible. We don't tend to have external shutters in the UK, sadly, and our use of overhangs is woeful (something the Africans do understand).

Curtains and blinds trap heat next to the glass and reduce hot air mixing with the rest of the room. Yes ypu get some mixing, so it's much worse than putting shading outside (even simple tinfoil on the outside is better). But some of the heat from the hot glass will radiate outside rather than coming in.

ie if all you have is curtains, it's better to shut them than leave them open. It coats you nothing to do, unlike installing proper shading.

And open the windows to let the (very) hot air out?


--
Cheers, Rob, Sheffield UK

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:

On 21 Jul 2025 at 09:42:20 BST, Theo wrote:

ie if all you have is curtains, it's better to shut them than leave them open. It coats you nothing to do, unlike installing proper shading.

And open the windows to let the (very) hot air out?

Yes, if they open. At least when they are getting the sun.

Theo

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 21/07/2025 09:42, Theo wrote:

N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote:

Along with African sail shades raised over the outside of windows to
prevent solar gain, works very well. Not the nonsense advice to close
curtains to prevent solar heat gain, you want the " curtain" heat
absorbing function on the outside of the glass, where that heat gain
cannot penetrate the glass by radition or convestion

It's sensible advice - if you've exhausted other options.

It's much better to keep shading outside, but that assumes you have access
to the outaide to install shading. If you're on the first floor or above (eg live in a flat) that may not be possible. We don't tend to have external shutters in the UK, sadly, and our use of overhangs is woeful (something the Africans do understand).

Curtains and blinds trap heat next to the glass and reduce hot air mixing with the rest of the room. Yes ypu get some mixing, so it's much worse than putting shading outside (even simple tinfoil on the outside is better). But some of the heat from the hot glass will radiate outside rather than coming in.

ie if all you have is curtains, it's better to shut them than leave them open. It coats you nothing to do, unlike installing proper shading.

Theo

For first floor windows, I have a pair of dinghy pulleys fixed above the
window and a couple of loops of cord down to low level cleats, hopefully
the cord is weak enough to break if a wind gets up.
4 small plastic carabiners on the greenhouse shading plastic hessian
sail to clip onto small loops on the cords
Another possibility is brise soleil but that is getting rather
structural and limited to one sun angle.
The only continental wooden shutters I see are non-functional faddish
piffery.

--
Global sea level rise to 2100 from curve-fitted existing altimetry data <http://diverse.4mg.com/slr.htm>

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote:

For first floor windows, I have a pair of dinghy pulleys fixed above the window and a couple of loops of cord down to low level cleats, hopefully
the cord is weak enough to break if a wind gets up.
4 small plastic carabiners on the greenhouse shading plastic hessian
sail to clip onto small loops on the cords
Another possibility is brise soleil but that is getting rather
structural and limited to one sun angle.
The only continental wooden shutters I see are non-functional faddish piffery.

Agreed, if you can rig up an awning that's a relatively cheap way to go.
Wind loading is a problem though - you have to remember to bring it in when
the wind gets up (or some of the electrical ones have a wind sensor and will stow themselves away).

Unfortunately continental shutters tend to require windows that open inward, which we as a rule Don't Do. Replacing your windows is an expensive affair
and could mess with your internal layout (eg block a doorway or passageway).

Shutters with louvres are best because when closed they allow air flow with
the inner window open, while keeping the sun out. Alas our window designs
get so much of this wrong.

Theo

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Mon, 21 Jul 2025 10:10:45 +0100, Theo wrote:

RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:

On 21 Jul 2025 at 09:42:20 BST, Theo wrote:

ie if all you have is curtains, it's better to shut them than leave
them open. It coats you nothing to do, unlike installing proper
shading.

And open the windows to let the (very) hot air out?

Yes, if they open. At least when they are getting the sun.

AIUI the old sash windows - gap at top and bottom - were ideally designed
to allow passive cooling to work.

Again, no subsidies in that. Using centuries tried and tested designs is
so ... well last century.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 21/07/2025 09:42, Theo wrote:

It's much better to keep shading outside, but that assumes you have access
to the outaide to install shading. If you're on the first floor or above (eg live in a flat) that may not be possible. We don't tend to have external shutters in the UK, sadly, and our use of overhangs is woeful (something the Africans do understand).

That is what we do, close vertical blinds, on the sunny side of the
house, it certainly makes a huge, and very noticeable difference. We
keep windows, and doors fully closed during the day, just one door open,
fitted with a fly screen - I hate flys in the house. The blinds, prevent
the solar gain landing on furniture and floors, to reradiate into the room.

Once the outdoor temperature falls, on an evening, we fling upstairs
windows wide, to vent the heat stored in the fabric of the house, when
there are no insects about.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Harry Bloomfield Esq <harry.m1byt@outlook.com> wrote:

On 21/07/2025 09:42, Theo wrote:

It's much better to keep shading outside, but that assumes you have access to the outaide to install shading. If you're on the first floor or above (eg
live in a flat) that may not be possible. We don't tend to have external shutters in the UK, sadly, and our use of overhangs is woeful (something the
Africans do understand).

That is what we do, close vertical blinds, on the sunny side of the
house, it certainly makes a huge, and very noticeable difference. We
keep windows, and doors fully closed during the day, just one door open, fitted with a fly screen - I hate flys in the house. The blinds, prevent
the solar gain landing on furniture and floors, to reradiate into the room.

+1. 'Cellular blinds' are cheap and make a decent difference: https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/hoppvals-cellular-blind-white-00290622/

Although once you're hotter inside than out due to solar gain then opening windows allows that heat out.

Once the outdoor temperature falls, on an evening, we fling upstairs
windows wide, to vent the heat stored in the fabric of the house, when
there are no insects about.

Stand fans help in flushing out the hot air, especially if there's no
natural cross-flow of ventilation.

Theo

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sun, 20 Jul 2025 21:47:53 +0100
SH <i.love@spam.com> wrote:

Hello all,

I have observed that in periods of hot weather, the loft gets very
hot to over 50 deg C and appears to have a stagnant volume of air
sitting under the felt and roof tiles.

I do have vents at the eaves but NOT at the ridges.

So I've been wondering if its worth fitting thermostat controlled
wall extractor fans at the apex of each of the gable end walls to
suck this hot air out and draw cooler air from the landing and
bedrooms.

I was also thinking about a 2nd inner loft hatch door fitted with
comper case 12 volt fans to essentially pull the cooler air into the
loft to create a push-pull effect with the extractor fans at the
apexes of the gable walls.

Has anyone tried this in order to achieve a cooler house to sleep in
over night?

Coincidentally, I have fitted rafter insulation to my garage roof
which includes the necessary 50 mm ventilation gap and the garage
loft does not feel anywhere near as hot as the main house loft.

So would rafter insulation in the main house roof also work? It would
prepare the loft for an eventual loft conversion if we ever went down
that route.

I lived in Missouri for a year, and it got hot in summer. The house was
fitted with a Whole House Fan, which sat in the loft, and when turned
on when returning from a trip, it sucked cold air at a great rate from
the cool basement up through the house, thereby cooling the house down.
Opening windows provided more distributed cold air entry. It had intake
vanes that were normally closed, but the airflow opened them. You had
to have ear defenders handy, but, boy, it worked. The roof was fitted
with two vents that rotated automatically with heat flow, and when this
fan was running, they looked as though they would take off.

--
Davey.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Last heatwave we kept curtains closed on the East and South facing
windows. There is a storm porch that acts as a canopy over the rest of
the South facing side of the house.

Then windows and front and patio doors open which created a gentle cross draught that met in the centre of the house.


It wasn't perfect, but very cheap.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:25:20 +0100, Pamela wrote:

(2) Open ground floor patio doors and throw a bucket of water onto the
patio. This is supposed to make the outdoor air drawn into the house
cooler by a few degrees due to evaporating the water it passes over.

My grandparents in Sicily used to sluice the pavement in front of their
house. It seemed to work. (Their entire front was a set of "round the
corner doors" they would open at 7 and leave them all day with dangly
ribbons fluttering and sit and watch the world go (slowly) by.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sun, 20 Jul 2025 21:47:53 +0100, SH wrote:

Hello all,

I have observed that in periods of hot weather, the loft gets very hot
to over 50 deg C and appears to have a stagnant volume of air sitting
under the felt and roof tiles.

I do have vents at the eaves but NOT at the ridges.

So I've been wondering if its worth fitting thermostat controlled wall extractor fans at the apex of each of the gable end walls to suck this
hot air out and draw cooler air from the landing and bedrooms.

I was also thinking about a 2nd inner loft hatch door fitted with comper
case 12 volt fans to essentially pull the cooler air into the loft to
create a push-pull effect with the extractor fans at the apexes of the
gable walls.

Has anyone tried this in order to achieve a cooler house to sleep in
over night?

Coincidentally, I have fitted rafter insulation to my garage roof which includes the necessary 50 mm ventilation gap and the garage loft does
not feel anywhere near as hot as the main house loft.

So would rafter insulation in the main house roof also work? It would
prepare the loft for an eventual loft conversion if we ever went down
that route.

I did contemplate fitting a Velux style loft window with an auto-vent
giving the benefit of cooling in the summer and daylight, and longer views.

However that is ell down the list at the moment.

Cheers



Dave R

--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 10 x64

--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 22/07/2025 12:39, Jethro_uk wrote:

On Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:25:20 +0100, Pamela wrote:

(2) Open ground floor patio doors and throw a bucket of water onto the
patio. This is supposed to make the outdoor air drawn into the house
cooler by a few degrees due to evaporating the water it passes over.

My grandparents in Sicily used to sluice the pavement in front of their house. It seemed to work. (Their entire front was a set of "round the
corner doors" they would open at 7 and leave them all day with dangly
ribbons fluttering and sit and watch the world go (slowly) by.

I wonder if London will ever adopt the Paris policy of sending bowsers
of water around the city , early mornings , settling the dust at least
and maybe cooling things down a bit for a while.

--
Global sea level rise to 2100 from curve-fitted existing altimetry data <http://diverse.4mg.com/slr.htm>

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 22/07/2025 14:12, N_Cook wrote:

On 22/07/2025 12:39, Jethro_uk wrote:

On Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:25:20 +0100, Pamela wrote:

(2) Open ground floor patio doors and throw a bucket of water onto the
patio. This is supposed to make the outdoor air drawn into the house
cooler by a few degrees due to evaporating the water it passes over.

My grandparents in Sicily used to sluice the pavement in front of their
house. It seemed to work. (Their entire front was a set of "round the
corner doors" they would open at 7 and leave them all day with dangly
ribbons fluttering and sit and watch the world go (slowly) by.

I wonder if London will ever adopt the Paris policy of sending bowsers
of water around the city , early mornings , settling the dust at least
and maybe cooling things down a bit for a while.

Far too sane

--
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as
foolish, and by the rulers as useful.

(Seneca the Younger, 65 AD)

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote:

On 22/07/2025 12:39, Jethro_uk wrote:

On Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:25:20 +0100, Pamela wrote:

(2) Open ground floor patio doors and throw a bucket of water onto the
patio. This is supposed to make the outdoor air drawn into the house
cooler by a few degrees due to evaporating the water it passes over.

My grandparents in Sicily used to sluice the pavement in front of their house. It seemed to work. (Their entire front was a set of "round the corner doors" they would open at 7 and leave them all day with dangly ribbons fluttering and sit and watch the world go (slowly) by.

I wonder if London will ever adopt the Paris policy of sending bowsers
of water around the city , early mornings , settling the dust at least
and maybe cooling things down a bit for a while.

One of the streets in Cambridge has wide channels down each side, which act
as gutters most of the year but were originally the public water supply and
are fed from a local spring. When it's hot the spring tap is turned on and
it does help to reduce the temperatures:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/F3oxD7y2qVReXsH28

Theo

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Tue, 22 Jul 2025 14:12:11 +0100
N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote:

On 22/07/2025 12:39, Jethro_uk wrote:

On Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:25:20 +0100, Pamela wrote:

(2) Open ground floor patio doors and throw a bucket of water onto
the patio. This is supposed to make the outdoor air drawn into the
house cooler by a few degrees due to evaporating the water it
passes over.

My grandparents in Sicily used to sluice the pavement in front of
their house. It seemed to work. (Their entire front was a set of
"round the corner doors" they would open at 7 and leave them all
day with dangly ribbons fluttering and sit and watch the world go
(slowly) by.

I wonder if London will ever adopt the Paris policy of sending
bowsers of water around the city , early mornings , settling the dust
at least and maybe cooling things down a bit for a while.

When Boris bought some water cannon, he wasn't allowed to use them. I
wonder where they are now?

--
Davey.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote:

On 22/07/2025 12:39, Jethro_uk wrote:

On Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:25:20 +0100, Pamela wrote:

(2) Open ground floor patio doors and throw a bucket of water onto the
patio. This is supposed to make the outdoor air drawn into the house
cooler by a few degrees due to evaporating the water it passes over.

My grandparents in Sicily used to sluice the pavement in front of their
house. It seemed to work. (Their entire front was a set of "round the
corner doors" they would open at 7 and leave them all day with dangly
ribbons fluttering and sit and watch the world go (slowly) by.

I wonder if London will ever adopt the Paris policy of sending bowsers
of water around the city , early mornings , settling the dust at least
and maybe cooling things down a bit for a while.

Quite a few towns and cities watered the dust down in the Edwardian era if
they had electric street tramways , streets tended to be dirtier with
Horse droppings and in dry conditions the dirt and dust build up on the
rails affected the traction current return via the rails which in extreme
cases could make the vehicle live giving passengers boarding or alighting a shock. If a tram did get stalled that way the conductor was supposes to
jump rather than step off and lower the trolley pole, then obtain a bucket
of water from a nearby premises or horse trough and give the rails and
wheels a soaking before putting the pole back on the wire.
So the water car was sent out in the early morning
Colourised Photo of a water car here <http://www.searlecanada.org/sunderland/images14/tramway005large.jpg>

GH

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 22/07/2025 14:12, N_Cook wrote:

On 22/07/2025 12:39, Jethro_uk wrote:

On Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:25:20 +0100, Pamela wrote:

(2) Open ground floor patio doors and throw a bucket of water onto the
patio. This is supposed to make the outdoor air drawn into the house
cooler by a few degrees due to evaporating the water it passes over.

My grandparents in Sicily used to sluice the pavement in front of their
house. It seemed to work. (Their entire front was a set of "round the
corner doors" they would open at 7 and leave them all day with dangly
ribbons fluttering and sit and watch the world go (slowly) by.

I wonder if London will ever adopt the Paris policy of sending bowsers
of water around the city , early mornings , settling the dust at least
and maybe cooling things down a bit for a while.

I remember them doing that in Gibraltar - but from fixed hydrants rather
than bowsers - and they used sea water (drinking water was too precious)
which gave the place a distinctive smell.

--
Sam Plusnet

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

In message <koE*yB+hA@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk>, at 15:08:34 on Tue,
22 Jul 2025, Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> remarked:

N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote:

On 22/07/2025 12:39, Jethro_uk wrote:

On Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:25:20 +0100, Pamela wrote:

(2) Open ground floor patio doors and throw a bucket of water onto the
patio. This is supposed to make the outdoor air drawn into the house
cooler by a few degrees due to evaporating the water it passes over.

My grandparents in Sicily used to sluice the pavement in front of their
house. It seemed to work. (Their entire front was a set of "round the
corner doors" they would open at 7 and leave them all day with dangly
ribbons fluttering and sit and watch the world go (slowly) by.

I wonder if London will ever adopt the Paris policy of sending bowsers
of water around the city , early mornings , settling the dust at least
and maybe cooling things down a bit for a while.

One of the streets in Cambridge has wide channels down each side, which act >as gutters most of the year but were originally the public water supply and >are fed from a local spring.

FSVO "local". It's about three miles south of Gt St Mary's

When it's hot the spring tap is turned on and
it does help to reduce the temperatures:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/F3oxD7y2qVReXsH28

Theo

--
Roland Perry

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 23/07/2025 11:29, Roland Perry wrote:

In message <koE*yB+hA@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk>, at 15:08:34 on Tue,
22 Jul 2025, Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> remarked:

N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote:

On 22/07/2025 12:39, Jethro_uk wrote:

On Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:25:20 +0100, Pamela wrote:

(2) Open ground floor patio doors and throw a bucket of water onto

the

patio. This is supposed to make the outdoor air drawn into the house
cooler by a few degrees due to evaporating the water it passes over.

My grandparents in Sicily used to sluice the pavement in front of

their

house. It seemed to work. (Their entire front was a set of "round the
corner doors" they would open at 7 and leave them all day with dangly
ribbons fluttering and sit and watch the world go (slowly) by.

I wonder if London will ever adopt the Paris policy of sending bowsers
of water around the city , early mornings , settling the dust at least
and maybe cooling things down a bit for a while.

One of the streets in Cambridge has wide channels down each side,
which act
as gutters most of the year but were originally the public water
supply and
are fed from a local spring.

FSVO "local". It's about three miles south of Gt St Mary's

The conduits runs all the way to kings College AFAICR

When it's hot the spring tap is turned on and
it does help to reduce the temperatures:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/F3oxD7y2qVReXsH28

Theo

--
Any fool can believe in principles - and most of them do!

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On 22/07/2025 14:12, N_Cook wrote:

On 22/07/2025 12:39, Jethro_uk wrote:

On Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:25:20 +0100, Pamela wrote:

(2) Open ground floor patio doors and throw a bucket of water onto the
patio. This is supposed to make the outdoor air drawn into the house
cooler by a few degrees due to evaporating the water it passes over.

My grandparents in Sicily used to sluice the pavement in front of their
house. It seemed to work. (Their entire front was a set of "round the
corner doors" they would open at 7 and leave them all day with dangly
ribbons fluttering and sit and watch the world go (slowly) by.

I wonder if London will ever adopt the Paris policy of sending bowsers
of water around the city , early mornings , settling the dust at least
and maybe cooling things down a bit for a while.

When I worked at Barts Hospital in the mid 1970's, the Corporation
of London did precisely that, but only all around Smithfield meat market
which is opposite the hospital.

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On Thu, 24 Jul 2025 16:46:50 +0100
Andrew <Andrew97d@btinternet.com> wrote:

On 22/07/2025 14:12, N_Cook wrote:

On 22/07/2025 12:39, Jethro_uk wrote:

On Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:25:20 +0100, Pamela wrote:

(2) Open ground floor patio doors and throw a bucket of water
onto the patio. This is supposed to make the outdoor air drawn
into the house cooler by a few degrees due to evaporating the
water it passes over.

My grandparents in Sicily used to sluice the pavement in front of
their house. It seemed to work. (Their entire front was a set of
"round the corner doors" they would open at 7 and leave them all
day with dangly ribbons fluttering and sit and watch the world go
(slowly) by.

I wonder if London will ever adopt the Paris policy of sending
bowsers of water around the city , early mornings , settling the
dust at least and maybe cooling things down a bit for a while.

When I worked at Barts Hospital in the mid 1970's, the Corporation
of London did precisely that, but only all around Smithfield meat
market which is opposite the hospital.

That was to wash the blood away...

--
Joe

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On 24/07/2025 16:50, Joe wrote:

On Thu, 24 Jul 2025 16:46:50 +0100
Andrew <Andrew97d@btinternet.com> wrote:

On 22/07/2025 14:12, N_Cook wrote:

On 22/07/2025 12:39, Jethro_uk wrote:

On Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:25:20 +0100, Pamela wrote:

(2) Open ground floor patio doors and throw a bucket of water
onto the patio. This is supposed to make the outdoor air drawn
into the house cooler by a few degrees due to evaporating the
water it passes over.

My grandparents in Sicily used to sluice the pavement in front of
their house. It seemed to work. (Their entire front was a set of
"round the corner doors" they would open at 7 and leave them all
day with dangly ribbons fluttering and sit and watch the world go
(slowly) by.

I wonder if London will ever adopt the Paris policy of sending
bowsers of water around the city , early mornings , settling the
dust at least and maybe cooling things down a bit for a while.

When I worked at Barts Hospital in the mid 1970's, the Corporation
of London did precisely that, but only all around Smithfield meat
market which is opposite the hospital.

That was to wash the blood away...

No blood from carcases, Smithfield hasn't slaughtered animals for
a long time, but the fat from the carcases seemed
to end up on the markets steel trolley wheels and ended up
coating the pavements and concrete aprons.

The market porters used to sit on the benches around the
hospitals Henry 8th gate main entrance (as was) wearing their
coats covered in grease and some blood stains, which caused
some concern to outpatients and visitors attending the
hospital who (not surprisingly) thought that they were
hospital workers.

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On 22/07/2025 14:12, N_Cook wrote:

On 22/07/2025 12:39, Jethro_uk wrote:

On Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:25:20 +0100, Pamela wrote:

(2) Open ground floor patio doors and throw a bucket of water onto the
patio. This is supposed to make the outdoor air drawn into the house
cooler by a few degrees due to evaporating the water it passes over.

My grandparents in Sicily used to sluice the pavement in front of their
house. It seemed to work. (Their entire front was a set of "round the
corner doors" they would open at 7 and leave them all day with dangly
ribbons fluttering and sit and watch the world go (slowly) by.

I wonder if London will ever adopt the Paris policy of sending bowsers
of water around the city , early mornings , settling the dust at least
and maybe cooling things down a bit for a while.

I only got round to listening to R4 Inside Science today, on housing in heatwaves. A lot of overlap withhere and excluding esoteric reflective
paint and counterproductive AC (how did we get to this situation in the
first place.
One extra relevance, with your night time secure (presumably
anti-burglar but not explicitively stated) cool air intake, make sure
there is plenty of vegetation adascent to the intake, not heated
tarmac/patio etc.

--
Global sea level rise to 2100 from curve-fitted existing altimetry data <http://diverse.4mg.com/slr.htm>

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