Gigantic Purple Slug Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Part of the problem is that houses these days are much better insulated than they used to be, so they retain the heat during the night better. I blame global warming or whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehead Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 58 minutes ago, Gigantic Purple Slug said: Part of the problem is that houses these days are much better insulated than they used to be, so they retain the heat during the night better. I think you'll find this thinking is incorrect. The heat is not retained by the air in the house. This can be exchanged easily. The heat is retained in the brickwork. Modern houses have two leaves, the inner wall and outer wall, separated by the cavity. During the daytime the outer leaf is subject to direct sunlight and warms up. In a house w/o insulation, this warm outer leaf will radiate heat to the cold inner leaf. The inner leaf can then radiate heat into the interior of the house. It will continue to do this during the night, acting as a storage heater. In a house with cavity wall insulation (properly fitted, not this retrofit shambles), the inner leaf will remain cooler for longer since it is insulated from the hot outer leaf. That means it will have less heat to radiate during the night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigantic Purple Slug Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3076091/Summer-danger-red-hot-eco-homes-Insulation-used-buildings-warm-winter-traps-heat-potentially-putting-residents-risk.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougless Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 1 hour ago, Sledgehead said: I think you'll find this thinking is incorrect. The heat is not retained by the air in the house. This can be exchanged easily. The heat is retained in the brickwork. Modern houses have two leaves, the inner wall and outer wall, separated by the cavity. During the daytime the outer leaf is subject to direct sunlight and warms up. In a house w/o insulation, this warm outer leaf will radiate heat to the cold inner leaf. The inner leaf can then radiate heat into the interior of the house. It will continue to do this during the night, acting as a storage heater. In a house with cavity wall insulation (properly fitted, not this retrofit shambles), the inner leaf will remain cooler for longer since it is insulated from the hot outer leaf. That means it will have less heat to radiate during the night. Although I broadly agree with this it is complicated by these two factors: One - older building made of dense materials will gradually warm up and retain that heat like a 'thermal flywheel' so prolonged periods of high heat input will become problematic - hence many of us Brits moaning about temperatures when it continues for more than a few days. If we only have a few days hot weather, older houses are usually OK. Currently we are over a week into this heatwave in the South and many of us in older building will suffer. Two - highly efficient modern buildings not only retain (and reject) heat, they also conserve heat produced within the structure. Heat sources can include lighting, electronic equipment and of course cooking. The issues with modern housing and excessive internal temperature has been with us since the 80's. Proper heat exchange ventilation systems can alleviate this but they are rarely used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trampa501 Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 A good 10 degrees cooler today.. Looking at the forecast the heatwave is probably over - at least for a couple of weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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