Preparing for extreme heatwaves.

[clv101]

That's a good call. There are 12V Makita battery chargers and you can run pretty much anything off their 18V battery system.

[adam2]

The first heat health warning of the season has been issued.
Level three which is SEVERE warning applies to large areas of the South East.
Be careful and stay safe, consider also those at particular risk due to age, illness or disability. Also remember pets and livestock.

Level one warning does not refer to any specific temperature and is the default warning level during Summer.
Level two warning is the least severe.
Level three is severe and comes into force shortly.
Level four is a national emergency and implies serious impacts on transport, food supply, water, and energy supplies.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/heat ... ity-agency

[adam2]

THIS country has escaped any severe heat waves so far this summer.
However the shocking scenes in Southern Europe and elsewhere should serve as a reminder to be prepared.
Bottled water, in case mains water is unavailable or unfit for drinking.
Electric fans, and at least one reasonable sized battery fan in case the power fails. Note that a fan does not actually reduce the temperature, but does make hot conditions more comfortable by encouraging evaporation of sweat.
Consider a portable air conditioner. These are available for about £300 and cost about 20 to 30 pence an hour to run. Be sure to get a "proper" compressor operated air conditioner with a hot air outlet to the outdoor air. Evaporative coolers are almost useless in UK conditions.

Keep a supply of non perishable food that can be eaten cold. Tinned fruit is particularly useful.

[adam2]

With Summer now here, it would be prudent to review ones preparations for any extreme heat event.
Lightweight ALL COTTON clothing and sheets.
At least two portable electric fans, test these to ensure that they are still serviceable.
A decent sized battery operated fan and plenty of batteries.
Bottled water.
Food that requires no cooking.
Consider a portable air conditioner, especially if in an urban "heat island" This must be a proper compressor type that actually refrigerates the air. Evaporative coolers are almost useless in UK conditions and should not be considered.

Consider also a camping stove to cook outdoors, thereby avoiding adding heat from cooking to the inside of your home.
Consider an open sided garden gazebo to provide shelter from the sun and plenty of fresh air.

[emordnilap]

There are fans (some quite large) that can be recharged via USB and potentially easily connect to PV.

We have one in the campervan which gets recharged via the panel on the roof.

[adam2]

There are fans (some quite large) that can be recharged via USB and potentially easily connect to PV.

We have one in the campervan which gets recharged via the panel on the roof.

Do you have a link to a supplier ? The only USB charged fans that I have seen have been very small and therefore of limited use.

[kenneal - lagger]

We use Ryobi 18V rechargeable batteries and tools and they sell lighting and fans for said batteries. They are now doing a range using 36V rechargeable batteries. With solar charging those batteries will last years. I still have the original battery in use that was bought over 10 years ago.

We don't bother with fans at the moment as our house will maintain a comfortable temperature using night time cooling and shutting up during the day. As temperatures get higher and more long lasting I would install shading over the ground floor french doors to stop the small amount of direct sun which gets into the house during the day in high summer. We can also use fans to blow air from our cellar into the main house. I would probably pipe the cold air into the bedrooms upstairs and let it percolate back down into the cellar. Once that runs out of cool(th) we could install a fan into an existing 20 metre long 100mm diameter underground pipe, 1.5 metres below ground level, that would provide cooled air for quite a time, I hope!! A 5W computer fan would provide enough air to cool our bedrooms for sleep comfort especially if directed directly at the bedhead. If that became inadequate a number of such fans could be used, one for each room.

I am uprating our roof insulation to 450mm of sheep wool throughout with cross ventilation available to the loft room for night time cooling. Over heating in the house is not what bothers me, it is over heating in our polytunnels. We would have to raise the hold down timbers of the polythene by about a metre so that we could roll the bottom up to allow more ventilation. Combining this with shade material would decrease overheating quite a bit.

My next significant building project for the garden is a semi buried glasshouse or poly tunnel where we will dig out the work area to a depth of 1.2 to 1.5 metres and pile the excavated soil up at the sides to give a headroom of about 2.4 metres and a wall thickness of a minimum of half a metre. This wall could be insulated to isolate the walls from the outside air temperature and connect it to the much lower natural ground temperature. This would provide a year round tempered growing area that would be significantly cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. With the addition of grow lights it could provide year round growing space. My mini digger is going to be asked to do a lot of work in the near future.

We know that temperatures are likely to increase along with rain fall so we should plan ahead for these conditions. Rain water storage for irrigation is another requirement as although there will be more rain its distribution timewise might not be even with glut followed by drought. Netting for insect protection in the garden is a useful thing to have now but sun protection netting may have to be an addition for the future. We already have temporary insect protection for some of our windows for night time cooling but as temperatures rise and it is used more often a more permanent installation might be useful. For towns this might have to include human intruder protection as well. Some window manufacturers are already advertising controllable protected timber screens in a window fitting as an extra casement.

[Ralphw2]

Having abandoned plans for air to water heat pump heating for my house, I am now considering air to air heat pumps to partially or completely replace the gas ch, which can also reverse and supply AC. Combined with a 20kwh battery and 4kw solar it would be reasonably economical , with an overnight cheap electricity tariff

[adam2]

Having abandoned plans for air to water heat pump heating for my house, I am now considering air to air heat pumps to partially or completely replace the gas ch, which can also reverse and supply AC. Combined with a 20kwh battery and 4kw solar it would be reasonably economical , with an overnight cheap electricity tariff

There is a lot to be said for this, the only drawback being that no government grants are available for heat pumps that are also able to cool.

[BritDownUnder]

We use Ryobi 18V rechargeable batteries and tools and they sell lighting and fans for said batteries. They are now doing a range using 36V rechargeable batteries. With solar charging those batteries will last years. I still have the original battery in use that was bought over 10 years ago.

I have had a lot of success with the 18V type but have had 2 out of 3 36V Ryobi batteries fail. They were for a lawn mower and a pressure washer (which had pathetic pressure). I bought one as a spare and it failed after being unused for about a year so makes sense to rotate them around frequently.

We don't bother with fans at the moment as our house will maintain a comfortable temperature using night time cooling and shutting up during the day. As temperatures get higher and more long lasting I would install shading over the ground floor french doors to stop the small amount of direct sun which gets into the house during the day in high summer. We can also use fans to blow air from our cellar into the main house. I would probably pipe the cold air into the bedrooms upstairs and let it percolate back down into the cellar. Once that runs out of cool(th) we could install a fan into an existing 20 metre long 100mm diameter underground pipe, 1.5 metres below ground level, that would provide cooled air for quite a time, I hope!! A 5W computer fan would provide enough air to cool our bedrooms for sleep comfort especially if directed directly at the bedhead. If that became inadequate a number of such fans could be used, one for each room.

Good idea but make sure that you don't get water condensing and sitting in the pipe. A moldy and bad smell will result. In other words make it sloping gently and have a 'sink' into the ground at the lower end of the buried pipe for the water to go. Also maybe a place where some bleach solution can be poured in to fix any smells.

My next significant building project for the garden is a semi buried glasshouse or poly tunnel where we will dig out the work area to a depth of 1.2 to 1.5 metres and pile the excavated soil up at the sides to give a headroom of about 2.4 metres and a wall thickness of a minimum of half a metre. This wall could be insulated to isolate the walls from the outside air temperature and connect it to the much lower natural ground temperature. This would provide a year round tempered growing area that would be significantly cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. With the addition of grow lights it could provide year round growing space. My mini digger is going to be asked to do a lot of work in the near future.

Again, a good idea. Maybe you could circulate hot air from the top of the greenhouse through pipes in the ground cooling during the day and warming during the following night. I have made a 6' x 6' greenhouse with a lot of thermal mass that stays about 3 degC hotter than the night time temperature minimum.

We know that temperatures are likely to increase along with rain fall so we should plan ahead for these conditions. Rain water storage for irrigation is another requirement as although there will be more rain its distribution timewise might not be even with glut followed by drought. Netting for insect protection in the garden is a useful thing to have now but sun protection netting may have to be an addition for the future. We already have temporary insect protection for some of our windows for night time cooling but as temperatures rise and it is used more often a more permanent installation might be useful. For towns this might have to include human intruder protection as well. Some window manufacturers are already advertising controllable protected timber screens in a window fitting as an extra casement.

Window and doorway screens are standard in Australia and there is brand called Crimsafe that does as the name suggests. You can also get very nice insect killers that are quite effective.

[adam2]

First UK heat health alert of the season issued, covers almost all of England.

[emordnilap]

There are fans (some quite large) that can be recharged via USB and potentially easily connect to PV.

We have one in the campervan which gets recharged via the panel on the roof.

Do you have a link to a supplier ? The only USB charged fans that I have seen have been very small and therefore of limited use.

The once I have is has the name 'Primevolve' portable folding fan, model PF11S. It's quite powerful and can extend to a height of about a metre. I can't remember now where I bought it but it comes up on the site-that-dare-not-speak-its-name.

[Ralphw2]

Tomorrow is forecast to reach 33C at least in the south east. Worth checking on your hot weather preps and keeping an eye on vulnerable family and friends.

[RenewableCandy]

Since May of 2022 my 'office' has been in our attic.

I bought two external roller blinds that fit the Velux windows. They were quite easy to fit. I think they lower the temperature here in the attic by about 3 degrees - but the difference between, say, 31 and 28 degC matters when you're trying to concentrate on your work! Highly ecommended.