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Luckily, it’s not as hot as it has been for the past few weeks, but getting the heat out of your home? Go on. It is still stuffy in the house and air conditioning in all rooms 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. This is not the case, according to Lisanne Havea. The 34-year-old from Utrecht is assistant professor of Building Performance at TU/e in Eindhoven.
“It sounds strange, but don’t point the fan at yourself, but at a window.”
Havea thinks a fan is extremely useful for cooling. Once it cools down in the evening, she recommends opening the windows upstairs and downstairs. Then comes the trick: place the fan in the upper room about one and a half to two meters from the window.
“Sounds weird, but point that fan at the open window. This creates negative pressure in the other areas. A sort of chimney effect that draws in and exhausts warm air. Preferably do this at night, with good sure of burglary protection measures.You can also set the alarm and do it early in the 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 the Eindhoven Institute for Renewable Energy Systems (EIRES). It is therefore responsible to the government for the development of new recommendations for sustainability. And they’re desperately needed, Havea says, because homes are overheating mostly because of the way we’re 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. This 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 housing associations working on sustainability, for example, but insulation doesn’t make your home cooler. This is claimed everywhere, but it is really a myth. And they don’t feel responsible for sun protection.
“With every ray of sunshine that enters your house, think: help!”
sunscreen. The big word is out. “By far the biggest culprit is solar radiation. Closing all doors and windows helps, but making sure no sunlight can enter your home is task number one. It really doesn’t have to be expensive because these days you have cheap sunscreens that you can stick to your windows with suction cups. It can be as simple as that. With every ray of sunshine in your home, you should be thinking, “Help! Work on that, because the summers really won’t get any cooler in the years to come. »
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