Stack ventilation and cooling a hot bedroom Help and information on all topics relating to your central heating, air conditioning and ventilation issues.

[Bikerman]

Not a problem right now but anxious to find a solution for next year! I live in semi detached house with a large bedroom that's proved a nightmare to keep cool throughout the summer.
The bedroom is SE facing with a large bay window and a door on an adjacent wall. The bay window has a huge central panel which cannot be opened and the smaller side panels which can be.
It's a beautiful bedroom but the layout makes it very difficult to cool this room throughout the summer, despite trying all the tricks to keep the heat out and running fans (even watering the strip of concrete below the window) to cool it in the evenings. Some nights the room was at above 30c, despite outside temperatures dropping to <20c.
I've been reading about stack ventilation but I've found very few practical suggestions. Will having larger windows downstairs to allow cooler air in help force the hot air out upstairs? Should I instead concentrate on larger windows upstairs, will they only help in that room or would a larger window in the bathroom for example help? Do I need to balance both? Right now my loft space seems to sit around the same temperature as the troublesome bedroom, would a velux window in the loft and an open loft hatch help the most?

Thanks

[ericmark]

I have also looked at over heating, there are two methods, venterlate and ambient temperature is lowest it can go, or stop heat going in, there are plastic sheets that stick to the window to reflect the sun, plus old idea of shutters, or veranda roofs to stop sun.

However you need to venterlate at around 4 am to 6 am to cool to start with.

I have looked at differential thermostats to switch fans on off, but still need to open/close windows.

Not found a way of opening doors so local cats don't roam the house.

[Bikerman]

Thanks for the reply!
The advice about keeping heat out is good, the room has white blinds and we keep blinds/curtains closed while all rooms face the sun.
But with high temperatures lasting a week now, heat finds its way into upstairs rooms eventually as people move in and out or as we sleep in them.
Ventilating at night is also a challenge, curtains block the morning sun but also block cooling fans.
I'm really hoping to avoid mechanical ventilation but maybe that's where I'll end up.