Took this technique I learned in prison to make it bearable during the heatwave:
- Wet the window with a sponge or rag.
- Put aluminium foil up against it. Shiny side out. Cut beforehand on angled windows like that or use the roll on vertical surfaces.
- To cover the overlap, just wet the foil already on there, but be careful not to pull it off at the edge. An overlapping strip will stick to the other ones.
- Use masking tape to cover any overlapping edges that come away, as well as the edges that have a hard time connecting to the windowsill.
This keeps out an incredible amount of heat; you can feel how hot the foil itself gets during the day, while keeping the inside nice and cool.
https://www.ecofoil.com/collections/bubble-foil-insulation
Just one brand, there are more than this, but basically… NASA invented fancy-pants aluminum bubble foil, literally to protect astronauts and equipment from 100% unadulterated sunshine.
https://spinoff.nasa.gov/node/9314
It is stupidly cheap for how well it works.
They basically open sourced the patent, but, the industry that makes insulation stuffing for your attic is extremely not fond of this stuff, as… you basically only need 10% of their product, if you line the inside of your attic with radiantbarrier.
I got like a 10’ x 4’ sheet of it, put it between the two panes of my south facing window. Definitely works, makes the AC’s job significantly easier.
And, if you actually do this, you can poke a small hole in the foil and create a camera obscura!
there is UV absorbant window foil that you stick to the outside of your window and it heats up the inside a couple degrees less
I got “one way” reflective film for the window that gets the most sun exposure and it definitely makes a difference, ones provides privacy during the day while still letting me see outside
Fuck me, that’s such a good solution.
My flat has all windows facing west-southwest, and I live on the top floor under the roof. I’ve had 30 degrees inside when it’s been 24 outside today. Tomorrow’s going to go up to 29. I’m going to boil in here.
The downside is obviously you get zero natural light. And your neighbors might think you’re weird, but they’re roasting while you’re not so fuck em.
You could probably tape the foil to a piece of cardboard cut to size and that would make it easy to remove once the sun isn’t shining straight at your window and put it back before morning. I don’t know if the cardboard would affect it, however.
I’d use a piece of insulation foam board, cut to fit the window. Lighter than something like plywood, way more insulating, and can be easily squished into place once it is cut to size. Just hole the board up to the window, mark where your cuts need to be made, line one side with shiny foil, tape it along the back, and you’re done. Now you have an insulating reflective panel that can easily be popped in during the daytime heat, then pulled out at night.
You might also try a “swamp cooler” to cool down with:
Grab a bucket and a fan, and pour ice water into the bucket. Put the fan on behind the bucket and sit in the cool breeze it makes. It’s like having your own little a/c unit.
The one downside to this is that the evaporating water will eventually make the air humid and make it harder for your sweat to cool you down, but it works great in the short term.
Swamp coolers unfortunately only work in arid places. Where I live, it is often too humid for a swamp cooler to effectively cool anything.
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Ignore me, didn’t see the description until it was too late lol
Bro I gotta ask… You don’t live in Sweden by any chance?
If they lived in Sweden they’d have AC in prison.
I do not. Wish I did; I like Sweden.
It’s not that great for what it’s worth.
Agreed, but you do have cheap bacon and beer. Which makes up for a lot.
I got 3 inch foam board from lowes and cut it fit my west facing windows.
I didn’t know lowes sold that sort of thing! ;)
Upside down Lowe’s does not.
But if you want some sweet slacks and dacks, they’ve got you covered… AT LOWES
What about West Texas Lowes?
Put aluminum foil on the OUTSIDE of Velux windows.
My friend’s parents were velux installers the amount of windows they had to fixed that were burst or cracked because of people putting aluminum foil on the inside instead of the outside is staggering. The heat gets trapped in a very small pocket with the very heat conductive aluminum, the thermal shock can crack it.
Breaking the windows might be a nice little side effect when you are doing time.
Velux windows are a (brand of) type of window installed in a sloped roof. Why would they be different than other windows?
I think these kinds of windows are often called Velux even if they are from other brands, just one of those brandnames that got synonymous with the product itself.
I’ve always been told never to put anything on the inside of multi-pane windows that can cause thermal shock.
I’ve heard “velux” applied generically to windows in a sloped roof, not just to ordinary double glazing.
Yes same. But I’ve heard the advice applied to both.
I imagine this applies to other windows as well, as long as it’s normal glass.
Seems like personal experience from their comment
small trick: put it on the outside.
Most modern window glass heats up as it filters out UV and a few other light bands. My previous flat had windows that would go as high as 95C!
All that heat WILL radiate inwards and through the foil.
if you out the foil outside, you prevent that heat buildup and radiation.
You can also buy cheapo reflective film you can install on your windows permanently, for the same effect.
Would if I could get on the roof!
My boi still in prison 😞
Is it not a “flipable” window? Like, can’t you flip the window for cleaning etc?
Not far enough
The sun is putting out roughly 1kW/m^2, so for every square meter of your roof you cover, you’re keeping out 1kW of heat (obviously not strict math here). You can decide if you are more concerned about looking crazy or suffering in heat. Emergency blankets, space blankets, mylar(they’re actually polyester) blankets, are cheap.
I use emegency blankets. They also work and are more robust than aluminum foil. They are also cheap.
Everything reflecting shoud be attached outside the window, since the reflected heat can result in shattering the window glass.
I use emegency blankets. They also work and are more robust than aluminum foil. They are also cheap.
We did that during my military service in the shitty barracks we had. In the summer silverside pointing outwards to reflect the sun, in the winter silver side pointing inside to keep more warmth inside.
True but I found it easier to do it on the inside in this case.
When you have your windows replaced, they will most likely do it from the outside.
“that’s good advice. but work”
Why is this a shitpost? For lack of anything else, this works.
Post anywhere if it works. People need to know how to survive heatwaves.
Honestly didn"t know where to post and figured this would work well enough.
hey I think it’s fine here. but in the future it could go on one of these:
Diamond in the shit
Could also cross post it too for visibility
Go ahead and crosspost
I use this product on all the windows in the summer and winter. It insulates a bit and also reflects back.
The one thing better than inside is to have something on the outside, but that’s not possible for me, because it gets really windy here.
Another heatwave life protip, put damp towels in the freezer and then sleep under them instead of a blanket. Use more than one so you can rotate out. Rolling them up will maximize freezer space, but I’ve also just wadded them in there as well.
I do a reverse hot water bottle, just pop a half-filled hot water bottle (or just any plastic bottle) in the freezer, it’s delightful to hold or use as a pillow.
Just get a roller shutter. I have a similar roof window and mine was like €40 with some DIY, which was years ago and has saved me tons of headache
Roller Shutter: €40 (at some point in the past)
Tin foil: €2 for a 10m roll.
I have one on another window but it’s dark blue and turns out that heats the space up even more so I did this as a short term solution.
Also the other comment was kinda right; it was the only way to keep the sun out in prison, although I’m out now.
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Aren’t we all just imprisoned in the capitalist heatdeath of society?
Did you miss the past tense in OP’s explanation?
