Fortunately, it is no longer as hot as the past few weeks, but getting the heat out of your house? Come on. It is still sweltering in the house and air conditioning in every room is no longer the solution in 2022. But then what?
An air conditioner consumes energy and running a fan is not a solution. We all know that. Not so, according to Lisanne Havinga. The 34-year-old from Utrecht is assistant professor of Building Performance at the TU/e in Eindhoven.
“It sounds weird, but don’t point the fan at yourself, but at a window.”
Havinga believes that a fan is extremely useful for cooling. Once it cools down in the evening, she recommends opening windows upstairs and downstairs. Then comes the trick: set the fan in the top room about one and a half to two meters away from the window.
“It sounds strange, but point that fan at the open window. That creates a negative pressure in the other areas. A kind of chimney effect that draws in and discharges the warm air. Preferably do this at night, with of course measures for burglary protection. You can also set the alarm and do it in the early morning.”
“It is very strange that we in the Netherlands have few requirements for summer comfort.”
Havinga is also a member of the management team of Eindhoven Institute for Renewable Energy Systems (EIRES). She is therefore responsible for the government for the development of new recommendations for sustainability. And they are desperately needed, says Havinga, because the overheating of houses is mainly due to how we are used to building.
“It is actually very strange that we in the Netherlands set many requirements for winter comfort in homes, but not for summer comfort. We assume temperatures of 10 degrees below zero and strong winds. That rarely happens anymore.”
“We should pay much more attention to living comfort in the summer. When designing houses, overheating can really be limited. I see that housing associations are working on sustainability, for example, but insulation does not make your home cooler. This is claimed everywhere, but that is really a myth. And they don’t feel responsible for sun protection.”
“With every ray of sunshine that enters your home, think: help!”
sun protection. The high word is out. “By far the biggest culprit is solar radiation. Closing all doors and windows helps, but making sure that no sunbeam can shine into your home is task number one. That really doesn’t have to cost much, because nowadays you have cheap sun screens that you can stick to your windows with suction cups. It can be that easy. With every ray of sunshine in your house you should be thinking, ‘Help!’ Work on that, because the summers will really not get any cooler in the coming years.”