Words and photographs: Janet Poliakoff

If your home is well insulated, you have an advantage when the weather is hot.  Intended to keep the heat inside in cold weather, insulation also stops heat from coming in from outside.  So, for several days it will stay cool inside, provided that windows and doors are kept shut.  Whenever it is cooler at night, open windows to let the cool air circulate. 

Blinds in a glazed porch reduce heat caused by sunshine.

Unfortunately, when the sun shines on a window, it warms up the air inside the room.  To reduce this, close any curtains or blinds and then most of the light will be reflected out again.  While the colour doesn’t matter for heat retention, a light colour is much better for reflecting the light.  Any form of shading such as shutters outside windows, as used in warmer countries, are still better at preventing heating from sunshine.  See also Keeping cool – ENERGY EFFICIENT HOMES IN BEESTON (weebly.com)

I hadn’t realised until recently that trees cool us not just by providing shade.  There is also a cooling effect as water evaporates from their leaves.  In the old days people exploited this effect by covering food with a damp cloth, known as a “poor man’s fridge”.  Ponds and lakes have a similar cooling effect.

Trees provide some cooling from the water evaporation from their leaves.