The most frustrating thing is that when the external ambient air
temperature cools down (or at night), the internal air temp seems to
rise! :-(

The house is an 1800s end-terrace with (solid) walls, white-rendered
at the south-facing front, and it becomes incredibly hot during these
spells of hotter-than-normal weather. The 1st and 2nd floors are much
warmer than the ground - thankfully the basement remains at 20 deg or
below. The 2nd floor's pitched roof is insulated both under the felt
and above the ceiling joists.
I've tried covering a large section of the end wall with insulated
plasterboad but this doesn't seem to have made any difference.

Any ideas? Or does the large amount of solid brick wall mean that I'm
condemned to very slow changes in temp?
--
Mr B

The message
from Mr B contains these words:

The 1st and 2nd floors are much
warmer than the ground - thankfully the basement remains at 20 deg or
below. The 2nd floor's pitched roof is insulated both under the felt
and above the ceiling joists.

Leave the loft hatch open in hot weather. Makes quite a difference here.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Mr B wrote:
The most frustrating thing is that when the external ambient air
temperature cools down (or at night), the internal air temp seems to
rise! :-(

The house is an 1800s end-terrace with (solid) walls, white-rendered
at the south-facing front, and it becomes incredibly hot during these
spells of hotter-than-normal weather. The 1st and 2nd floors are much
warmer than the ground - thankfully the basement remains at 20 deg or
below. The 2nd floor's pitched roof is insulated both under the felt
and above the ceiling joists.
I've tried covering a large section of the end wall with insulated
plasterboad but this doesn't seem to have made any difference.

Any ideas? Or does the large amount of solid brick wall mean that I'm
condemned to very slow changes in temp?
--
Mr B

Well, hot air rises to the top of the house, so it's not surprising.
Temp rises at night - electric light bulbs pumping out heat ?
You need windows open downstairs and a ventilation system that pulls
air up the house and out of the roof in order to cool things down at
night.
And what loft insulation does the loft room *actually* have ?
White rendered wall ? Should help to keep heat out.
Simon.

Guy King wrote:
The message
from Mr B contains these words:

The 1st and 2nd floors are much
warmer than the ground - thankfully the basement remains at 20 deg or
below. The 2nd floor's pitched roof is insulated both under the felt
and above the ceiling joists.

Leave the loft hatch open in hot weather. Makes quite a difference here.


I used to open the loft hatch at night. But I think the OP has a loft
room.
Simon.

Mr B wrote:

The most frustrating thing is that when the external ambient air
temperature cools down (or at night), the internal air temp seems to
rise! :-(

Lots of thermal capacity is a good thing, insulation is better on the
outside. When you rerender one day, then you can insulate at the same
time.

Night time temp is below daytime, so copious ventilation at night will
gradually cool the structure, and that coolth is stored into the next
day. IOW it indirectly causes cooler days. Locking all the windows 1/2"
open at night helps, adding fan ventilation helps more.

There are threads on this sort of thing, check google ukdiy archives
for more options.


NT

The message .com
from "sm_jamieson" contains these words:

Leave the loft hatch open in hot weather. Makes quite a difference here.


I used to open the loft hatch at night. But I think the OP has a loft
room.

So leave the rooflights open!

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

On Tue, 13 Jun 2006 10:59:08 +0100 someone who may be Mr B
wrote this:-

Any ideas? Or does the large amount of solid brick wall mean that I'm
condemned to very slow changes in temp?

Passive ventilation. Have some windows slightly open at the top of
the house and the same at the bottom. The gentle current of air will
keep things nicely cool. Any accessible windows need to be locked.

Properly designed vents can do the same thing.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

Any ideas? Or does the large amount of solid brick wall mean that I'm
condemned to very slow changes in temp?

Yes - we have a similar problem in a similar property - seems a bit
like living in a large storage heater in the current weather

charlieB wrote:
Any ideas? Or does the large amount of solid brick wall mean that I'm
condemned to very slow changes in temp?

Yes - we have a similar problem in a similar property - seems a bit
like living in a large storage heater in the current weather

Maybe it's the direct sun heating up the wall. Insulation on the
outside would help to reduce this effect, whilst maintaining the
advantages of the thermal mass effect.
Simon.

"sm_jamieson" typed



charlieB wrote:
Any ideas? Or does the large amount of solid brick wall mean that I'm
condemned to very slow changes in temp?

Yes - we have a similar problem in a similar property - seems a bit
like living in a large storage heater in the current weather

Maybe it's the direct sun heating up the wall. Insulation on the
outside would help to reduce this effect, whilst maintaining the
advantages of the thermal mass effect.
Simon.

My house is cerainly not any cooler overnight since the wall cavities
and loft were insulated. :-( It's a 1930's red brick semi, with a dark
roof. It's intolerable overnight at present.

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Mr B
saying something like:

Any ideas? Or does the large amount of solid brick wall mean that I'm
condemned to very slow changes in temp?

That's about it, really. I'm cursed/blessed with 10" thick solid walls
too.

One thing you could do is to clad the outside with 2" of foamboard and
render, to cut down the heat soak. Allied with improved ventilation,
this would probably provide a solution.

The other side of the coin is, in wintertime your walls will absorb a
fair bit of heat and keep your internal temps reasonable.
--

Dave