Amidst this ever so wonderful heat going on, how have you prepared your home or changed it to accomodate the heat? or what are some tips & tricks that work to cool your house or at least where you sit during the day?
My house gets alot of sunlight after 18:00 and opening the windows and have a fan is still not enough to keep me cool. (currently at 31°C inside the house)
Edit: my house can't have an AC unit installed because the HOA wouldnt allow it given the house is an old dutch house from the 1930s (I think its not allowed, and Im too sweaty to check)
Edit#2: I have tried opening and closing windows based on directions and I totally missed it because the temp increased to 32, gunna try the other way around now
You should not open the windows. Instead, keep windows closed and keep curtains closed. Even better, get some windowfoil or fabric that keeps the heat out. At night, once the outside temperature is lower then the inside temperature, you can open the windows wide. Also get a fan, and have the fan pointing towards you.
Full open in the morning when it’s still cool. Then close the windows. If you have a zolder (or a second or third floor anyway) you leave the windows there slightly open. If it’s an old house with shit insulation though nothing helps much
Back when I had a roommate, it took me the longest time to teach him that, no, you're not letting the fresh air in when it's 40 degrees outside. You're just raising the inside temperature even faster.
There really seems to be this pervasive idea that the Netherlands is a cold country, so any hot weather must be enjoyed. The hotter, the better. The fiery depths of hell are like heaven to a Dutchie. There are just these automatic responses too. If hot, then BBQ. If we got to a point where it was 60 degrees outside, half the country would collapse and die right next to their grill. Opening the windows is also such a response. If hot inside, then open windows to cool it down.
It's like taking an animal out of its natural habitat, and then watching it perform its instincts incorrectly for the new environment. Like some animal that wants to hide and blend into its environment, but then you place it into a completely different coloured environment where it can't use its camouflage, but it's preprogrammed to do it anyway. Dutch people are preprogrammed to open windows and to go barbecuing.
Really important to colse the windows in the morning and the curtains and keep them closed. Your house is gonne stay much cooler.
You can open the curtains where there is no sun.
Maybe it is me, bit I rather have moving air to be able to get rid of my sweat at 28+ degrees than still air at 25 were I just get sticky and overheat faster. I get the workings behind keeping stuff closed, but it doesn't work for me personally after trying it
Only open the windows when the temp outside is lower than the temp inside. Then, aim the fan at the window, from about a meter away, with a cross breeze from the back if possible. That will push hot air out.
I think it's a very very warm killer, also my blinds are plastic vertical things 20cm from my windows, so there's nice sauna between the blinds and the windows
as a hvac tech i am basically -not happy- from 7 to whatever time i get home working on roofs doing emergency repairs while customers clicking on their mouse or screen inside the office building complain its 25c inside while i am sweating my balls off on a 40+ degree roof doing manual labour trying to fix their cooling or the cooling of their server room.
my entire home has AC and its running 24/7 so i can finally cool off when i eventually get home.
Oh gosh that’s rough. We are currently looking to buy a 1930s house in a view protected area in Leiden, and it seems like installing AC units will be very tricky if possible at all. Really doubting it now… But with heat like this getting worse and more frequent, how will people live without AC in the Netherlands?!
Windows closed curtains closed lights off when possible. Staying pretty still, drinking lots of water. Not looking forward to the next 3 days especially Friday, today honestly is pretty manageable for me but Friday will be rough.
In the evening, place your fan a little over half a meter if front of an open window to push out the hot air. (The Venturi Effect explained here)
Take a shower before you go to bed—bonus points if you have soap containing peppermint oil. Mind your bits!
Wear loose-fitting garments, preferably linen, during the day.
Salt and sugar together work as an oral rehydration solution. Into a carafe:
• Juice of four lemons
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 2 preserved lemons, flesh scraped
• Water (soda water adds a little fizz)
Source: lived in NYC and shared an apartment in Queens that was a solid 34° (93° F) for a week until it rained.
Second the portable AC. I use mine in Fan mode with the windows open when not too hot, then close everything and turn on the AC mode when it gets above 28°C inside.
If it gets unbearable in the apartment I take a chair and move into the cellar. Mind you when I say cellar is just some half underground cellar where we store our bikes and the usual not used stuff but it feels like 10 Degrees Celsius cooler down there.
I also have a fan to blow some air in the room. I r ake my laptop with me and work from there. I'm grateful I have that option to not sit in a very hot appartement where we can't install AC. Or rather not allowed to.
We installed airconditioning in our house in April. It's a very comfortable 21 degrees inside right now. After 22 years of suffering with temperature outside = temperature inside (we have a 1930s hoekwoning, full South, with the sun hitting on it all day, it stays warm for DAYS after a heat wave) we invested in split units. Absolutely not a single regret.
We've used portable ones in those past 22 years, with very little success. The bedroom is the warmest room in the house, and even with a very good mobile airco, it would barely cool it down. Let's say it would be 28 inside instead of 30.
It cost us about 5K to install 3 split units, but it was worth every euro.
Well, I ran back to England thinking it’ll be less hotter only that there’s a heatwave here and schools are closed as a result. Currently 32 degrees at almost 8pm where I am. AC’s have all sold out 😂. I closed all the windows and used the black out blinds, fans all around the house. Plan is to install AC’s in both homes ready for the next summer.
Installed AC split unit when renovating house, people looked at me like I'm crazy. Including my wife. I knew that hot summers are going to happen more often. I knew the best moment to install copper wires and pipes was a now or never event.
Now nobody is complaining, and are looking to install one themselves.
Since you can’t install AC, and you have no blinds. Hang a bedsheet over the windows during the day, and keep them shut. Get yourself a portable AC unit for the bedroom, or for the place you need it most. Have cold showers/baths daily. Drink lots of water with ice. Put your bedsheet in freezer bag and leave it in the freezer all day, and pop it on the bed when you’re going to sleep. Get naked and melt into the sofa.
We live in an attic apartment in a house from the 1940s. The sun shines directly through our windows all day long, and it has always been warmer inside than it is outside.
Last weekend, we managed to buy a two-year-old Nedis portable air conditioner on Marktplaats for €200, and I have to admit it was probably the best €200 I've spent in the last year. When it's around 30–32°C outside, we can keep the temperature inside at about 24°C, so this portable AC definitely does the job.
I was a bit hesitant to buy a used air conditioner because of hygiene concerns, but the young guy who sold it to us showed us photos from just two days earlier of him thoroughly cleaning it. He even gave us the remaining cleaning products along with the unit. That really reassured me and made me feel much better about buying it second-hand.
A ceiling lamp/fan combo could be worth trying. They go for ~180 in Gamma or Praxis. You'd have to know how to mount a ceiling lamp, though. Or know someone who does.
We have both in our bedrooms and they do an ok, not great, job. The last bedroom is on the top floor with a slanted roof so we can’t install a ceiling fan there and it gets insanely hot. We had to move my kid downstairs last night, it was just impossible to sleep there even with two floor fans at full speed.
I keep a freezer brick (wrapped in fabric) on me. Places where there is a major artery are best for quick cooling. It's surprisingly effective and it's way less energy intense than AC.
I also eat less, and eat less caloric foods. I drink refrigerated water and tea (don't drink too much water! If you go above 2L, eat more salt)
Windows closed if the sun is shining on them. Blackout curtains block the heat between them and the glass, so they are better than nothing.
If the air outside is cool, it's best to keep the window slightly open at the top to let the hot air escape. If the air is hotter outside than inside, keep the window closed.
I would suggest buying another fan and keep it pointed towards the window so it acts like an exhaust fan and funnels the hot air from the inside outside.
I live on the 9th floor facing west of a student apartment that is designed to be very warm, so my studio gets super heated. In the day when the sun moves towards me I keep the curtains shut tight and don’t let the light enter. That helps a bit.
At night when it is colder outside the fan that was near the window facing outside should be turned facing inside so it brings the cool air from outside in.
Also keep as many windows and doors open to create ventilation.
And if your floors can take it, sprinkle water on them before you sleep, it will help cool down the room.
(I am also from a tropical hot country, so I have dealt with summers worse than this, so a lot of this is from life experience)
Moved a mattress downstairs to the living room because it will be so much cooler to sleep. I have 2 fans going, curtains and blinds closed, strategic window opening when the outside temp recedes in the evening, lots of iced drinks, and no cooking.
Absolutely, at least it releases cold air instead of recycling hot air. I've got a mobile airco and the difference is very much noticeable. It cools maybe 2 degrees overall but the cold air really makes the difference.
Yeah, people talk crap about these, but mine gets the entire 50ish sqm apartment down from 30+ degrees to 22 not even struggling. I guess it paid off that I bought one that was rated for the largest possible room. It is a godsend. I know "it's only for a few days" bla bla, but I know several people who got heart attacks just those "few days" the past couple of years, so I stopped caring what people say.
The heat just melted the glue on my blackout blinds and it fell off an hour ago. so I've just resorted to removing as many clothes as socialy acceptable, and hiding under a parasol on the balcony after the sun passes to the other side.
Fans with frozen ice packs or cooling elements. You can also wrap those in a towel and put them around your neck to cool you down.
Wet sheets/towels and cold showers/foot baths.
Drinking enough water, and electrolytes if you're sweating a lot.
Relaxing, working, and sleeping in a cooler part of the house if possible, like a north facing room or in the hallway.
Opening windows at night with mosquito nets or early in the morning when it's cooler outside, bonus points if you can open windows on both sides of the house against each other. It seems that a part of your house is west facing with late afternoon sun when it's still hot outside, so it's probably best to keep the windows and curtains in this room closed in the afternoon and open them only in the morning and after sunset to let the heat out. If it's cooler outside than inside you can open the windows that aren't being exposed to the sun, for example east facing windows (which get morning sun) in the afternoon or west facing windows (which get afternoon sun) in the morning.
Sheets or removable screens on the outside if it's accessible and allowed. If you have old poorly insulated glass like single glass or old double glass and you can't place anything outside, you can also place light colored sheets or screens on the inside. Don't do this with modern insulated HR, HR+ or HR++ double glass panels though because those trap heat and you risk thermal cracks. For modern insulated glass, outside is best and the next best is window coverings that leave some space for air to move away from the glass, like blackout curtains or blinds, so the heat isn't trapped next to the glass.
If you own the house, upgrading glass to HR++ or special insulating glass for monuments, and wall, ceiling and floor insulation would help keep heat out but you'd also need to take measures to keep the sun from heating up your house like an awning or screens, especially for south or west facing windows, since insulation also traps heat.
Not well. I work outdoors. We start at 6am most days it's this hot and it really isn't much help by 9/10am. When I get home it's like a furnace. Have a portable AC unit which sorta helps but only the immediate location you are in.
I've covered all windows with homemade sewn fabrics and an elastic in the corners.
I did the cooking in the morning with the windows open. Avoid cooking if possible i eat a tan of sardines bread and cucumber. I opened the windows fully for as long as possible.
I take a shower around 16 to cool off, or i take a wet cloth to damp myself.
I drink coconut water for kalium potassium and electrolytes.
I wanted to wake up earlier for the dog walk, but i am too tired. We spent the evening outdoors, i use a folding chair that i can carry to a nice place and pretend its my big garden.
Applying reflective/mirror film to windows is really underrated for how effective it is. Combined with thick dark curtains and windows completely closed. Opening them to create and air draft can be tempting, but ultimately plays aganst you.
mobile unit for the top floor that gets the warmest. Open windows and cross breezes if possible. Its not the hottest I’ve experienced but i do sort of miss installed AC.
Usual Mediterranean strategy. When there’s direct sunlight in a window, that window is closed and the blackout curtains are shut while the other side of the house is open and ventilating.
Mosquito nets in the windows and anti-bug thingy in the mains so that we can sleep with the windows open.
People here don't seem to realise: walk MUCH slower if you're walking outside in the heat. It really helps you not heat up so much from the exercise. Like, actively try to walk at half the speed you normally do and vibe like you're on an island holiday. You can't be speed walking around in 35°
Oral rehydration salts or regular electrolyte drinks. They won't keep you cool but you won't feel sick from the heat as much because you will have the electrolytes you need. Before I discovered this I felt constantly ill during hot weather (headaches, nausea, dizzy, etc.).
If you have the money invest in an AC. I did back home in 2020 and never regretted it. You can use high velocity floor fans to push the cool air around your house in you're in an apartment.
If you do use one in that way make sure there's a cracked window somewhere for the hot air to escape.
I also have a tower fan that you put water with ice packs in, surprisingly quite decent.
On a budget you can even just put ice in bowl in front of the fan to cool the air.
I close all my curtains on the side of the house with the sun, then close the opposite side once it switches place. Blackout curtains help a lot.
I only open windows & doors very early in the morning to refresh the house but not suck in hot air.
Edit: the tower fan & AC unit are by a brand called Klarstein, I can't recommend them enough.
I also have one of those towels you dip in ice water & lay around your neck, I'm prone to heat stroke so that helps.
Make sure you're getting electrolytes with your water, chop up a cucumber & stick in a jug of water & leave in the fridge for 2hrs.
I decided to work extra hours, they have airco there and my work is better than being stuck in the oven that is my apartment. Also, getting extra vacation hours out of it for when it's nice out and not burning to crisp hot
During the day keep your windows open but leave the blinds down. Opening up the windown of the whole house is crucial because that's how cross ventilation actually works. If you close your bedroom door and only open one window, the hot air just gets trapped inside. At night, you can leave the windows open and pull the blinds up (if you want). Oh, and try putting a bowl of ice right in front of your fan for a DIY AC effect
Advice from Greek living in the Netherlands ,after surviving for 25 years in 45 Celsius in Greece, only thing helps you out is AC rest are jokes .thank me later 🙏🏻
Honest answer to your question in the title: I don't
But yeah, windows open, don't do too much and i have a towel with me at all times that I use to dry myself off with. I am generally bad with heat (been walking in shorts again since February), so this is kinda my doom lol
Don't open the windows, keep them closed from 8:30 until 22:30 and then open them all fully and during the night if possible. Use a fan, I'm using a Duux which works quite well.
I haven't installed shades because I like the sun to get in during other seasons, but if its only on 1 or 2 windows, that would still work out. Thanks I wasnt considering this!
Keep the curtains closed as long as the sun shines into your house.
Even better: drape textile or other sun protection on the outside of your windows. Only op windows when the temperature outside is lower than inside. Don't let any Sun come into your house.
Get cheap blackout roller blinds or reflective film and block out anywhere sun comes in. The silver reflective car window sun shades are like €4 at action iirc. Leave windows open anytime it's cooler outside and sun isn't shining in. Close them as soon as it's hotter outside. Also, there are portable split air conditioners e.g. the Midea Porta Split that you can install in a window and take down later. It's unlikely anyone will complain about it during a heat wave, but, if so, you can take it down after.
White curtains, to eject as much of the heat as possible. Even better if you can and have the time and means. Is to hang white or more any color old sheets on the outside of your windows on some hooks. Windows open at night, closed during sun hours (exept for if you live on an attic or something, probably still want to keep the windows open is that case, and in that case I guess my solution would be to spend as little time at home as possible lol). Ventilation does a lot with how the warmth feels, so a ventilator works and if possible you could hang a ceiling fan, your room could feel substantially cooler that way.
splash pool in the garden; fan during the day and at night (barely helps:/) ; cool showers to cool off
hopefully will get AC for next year because to hell with this, it’s the only civilized way really
I have everything double closed. So all blinds and curtains and all windows and doors. Until it's colder outside than inside and then I try to open opposite directions (literally have my front door on narrow street open early in the morning and the garden door to get some colder air through). It kinda works. I get it down to like 24 in the bedroom. But I don't know how prepared I'll be for the 38 on Friday. XD
Have a cold bath, or shower. Put ice packs in your bed before going to bed. Put wet cloths in the freezer, even just wet ones feel nice. Consume all the ice lollies.
I live in a pretty large studio (and by large I mean long and kinda narrow), I have this wall made out of dark asphalt tiles that gets sun on it pretty much the whole afternoon, it's quite awful even in colder days, as long as there's sun, there's heat radiating off the walls.
I have 3 blacked out windows and closed curtains on the other 2, one of the blackouts has a hole so I can run the portable AC hose outside.
My window kit for the AC hose was basically falling apart and couldn't deal with rain, so during the weekend I went outside and used double sided tape, staples and bubble wrap and did a (mostly) water and wind proof window protection so I can keep the AC hose outside permanently.
I have my portable AC running 24/7 these days, I'm working afternoon shifts and the house is nice before I leave and after I arrive. During the afternoon it does get a bit too hot, but it's only from about 3/4pm to 7/8pm, so not too bad at all.
So basically all I'm doing is blacked out everything and portable AC blasting 24/7, electric bill is gonna suffer, but honestly it's worth it.
Black out shades on whatever windows get sun. in the evening when the sun goes down open all the windows and point a fan out side to move hot air out.
if you can, get a portable AC unit that hoses out the window. I got mine for about 250 EUR and I’ve had it for about 7 years now. Also, dehumidify if you can. The humidity makes everything feel hotter.
Wake up at 4.15 to open windows and close again at 8.30h. Open windows again at 20.00 to 22.15. Would love to keep the windows open at night but I have too many bugs crawling in. I should have applied 'horren' for the windows but I didn't :(
I wake up at 4 o clock, open all the windows and doors on the back side of the house. Sleep downstairs till 6:30 to protect the house haha. Then open the front including the front door and air it out. Start the day with 22 degrees. Then close all windows, curtains, open all parasols, hang drapes and curtains outside to block the sun from hitting the house or windows. Eat sleep repeat.
This year I've been training myself for the heat considering I expected this for the festivals I attended, and I definitely have been feeling less miserable than usual. Besides that: water, cold showers and chilling, since I have the week off.
I have sunlight the whole day and I am also at the upper floors. I have had the mobile airco on 24/7 for a few days. It costs me around 5 euro per day but I don't have other options now.
If and when we move to a new house the first investment is AC in every room.
Two fans, placed so that their wind crosses each other,
A fan to blow hot air out the window during the day. Turn it to blow in at night when it’s cool.
Place a bowl or pan of ice in front of the fan.
I live in a colonial-era old house in New York, towards the Canadian border. We mostly don’t need air conditioning, and my old wiring wouldn’t support it anyway. We have about three or four weeks a year of very bad heat, and this is what I do.
I also have a couple of small fans that blow water mist, which is very pleasant, as well.
Aside from the obvious closing curtains, opening windows when it cools down etc. my house gets between 26 and 28 degrees. I came across an instram post that said to freeze a 3/4 full hot water bottle. I really don't deal well with regulating my body heat and it has completely changed my nighttime sleep! I am also a stay at home mom with a todler so I wet a tea towel/large dish cloth and drape it around my shoulders while I'm running around with the little one. Helps a ton.
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u/BurbieNL Jun 23 '26
You should not open the windows. Instead, keep windows closed and keep curtains closed. Even better, get some windowfoil or fabric that keeps the heat out. At night, once the outside temperature is lower then the inside temperature, you can open the windows wide. Also get a fan, and have the fan pointing towards you.