Thread: It's Too Hot . What To Do ?

This is going to be my longest stint in Thailand and it will make or break any idea of staying .

And I'm finding the heat too much .

The problem is specifically two walls which get a battering of direct sunlight all through the day .
I wasn't around when these were built .
I had not read a single Construction Thread when Missy was giving the cousin clearance to go ahead and make the walls in single concrete block construction .... which gather in loads of heat and keep it !
He must have bought a load of those bricks they use in Night Storage Heaters .

What can I do ?



It's this wall facing you with the single window and the wall around the corner to the Left which are the heating problem .


The solutions which come to mind are --

1. Try to extend the shortish overhang . But this is not easy . It's a long way up and then it would have to come out a long way and probably angle down to put the walls into shade .
Supporting that wouldn't be an easy thing .

2. Put insulation onto the interior wall . Cover that with board and screed it .

3. Build a second Q-Con wall on the inside ?

4. Spray the walls to cool them down ? A bit primitive and tedious .

Any suggestions from you much more technically-gifted people would be appreciated .



Wasp

You could install some of those wooden slat sunscreens from roof to floor on the outer edge of your balcony. Seems all the new apartment buildings and shop houses have them now.

Originally Posted by Wasp

What can I do ?

Put too many ceramic roofs on her
'?

Originally Posted by Dillinger

Originally Posted by Wasp

What can I do ?

Put too many ceramic roofs on her
'?

Sorry Dill .

I don't have any idea what this means .

Iss funny yes / no ?


Wasp

Originally Posted by misskit

You could install some of those wooden slat sunscreens from roof to floor on the outer edge of your balcony. Seems all the new apartment buildings and shop houses have them now.

Misskit --- this sound an interesting idea .
But I can't picture it .
Can you put a photo to show the result ?




Wasp

Something like this, though the slats and spaces tend to be wider.

Install a 'Karn Sard" over each window to shield the sun from blasting thru.

Originally Posted by Dillinger

Originally Posted by Wasp

What can I do ?

Put too many ceramic roofs on her
'?

Insulated metal roofs - while not aesthetically pleasing to the eye as ceramic tile, are a better bet for the climate here in LOS.

Your idea of the Q-con bricks on the inside sound like it will be a major help.

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

Insulated metal roofs - while not aesthetically pleasing to the eye as ceramic tile, are a better bet for the climate here in LOS.

i reckon there's a method in that Thai madness..... I'd elevate the roof

Originally Posted by Dillinger

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

Insulated metal roofs - while not aesthetically pleasing to the eye as ceramic tile, are a better bet for the climate here in LOS.

i reckon there's a method in that Thai madness..... I'd elevate the roof

I believe I would have build it counter to the path direction of the sun, creating more natural shade in the appropriate places - a much more extended roof would add to the comfort as well.

But it's water under the bridge.

Stop being kee neow and get some air con.

Plant a sunscreen of trees to shade you. Also, that roof is stupidly designed. It needs to be pitched much more. The window to surface area is too small. Get rid of it and re- design.

Or move.

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

Or move.

Indeed. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but I'm afraid I find that design quite hideous. Sorry.

Paint the offending walls a high gloss white to deflect the heat first and foremost. Simplest solution. That blue will soak up all the heat and store it. On the roof section you can buy and strap on some plastic sheeting, white shiny like they use on signs for new developments. These two would be the quickest and cheapest solutions.

LAstly install one of those roof spinning air vents like this



That should suck up most of the ambient heat in the room.

...or, perhaps the general climate is disagreeable.

Many don't acclimate very well to tropical climes - and never will.
Thinking too much about it.

If you think its hot now, wait untill April. When we build inThailand, we only use Qcon ( heabal ) bricks, much better insulation.

easiest way...

Some really good ideas here Wasp. I would put the QCon on the outside though - saves the room inside and might even be more effective. Misskit's idea is cheap too, and paint the slats white. . . . or move.

Wasp.
Adding my two cents to the previous priceless advices:

The sunshine in these months is very strong since the air is very bright, with sun laying quite low. This is in contrast with the summer months when the air is somehow dizzy, sunshine coming more vertically. Then, the a roof extension could help, not much now. So, the advice to wait up to April is not quite right, at the end of the day it will not be so bad.

Perhaps you are looking for an immediate and cheap cure before you tear all off (something like the clever R.Reagan once advised to Mr. Gorbatchov in Berlin).

Surely a simple screening out the walls will help a lot. If not by a hard material (wood), even a plastic gardening sheet (they call it slam, green, blue) stretched up in front of the wall will do the job. (Then, when you touch the slam you will feel the heat that the walls are spared of.

And something for insulating the roof: you can insert pieces of cardboard paper under the roofing, supported by pieces of split bamboo stuck un der the roof construction. Furthermore, in case you have got a ceiling (the usual Thai style of white smart sheets), lay on from above again some sheets of cardboard paper or of newspapers, they are quite a good insulation material.

And more important: do not get mad from all the advices, take it easy...

Air con is a must and its not even hot yet!!!!

you can buy bamboo slatting made up for use as a base for the outdoor gazeebos/platforms etc that you see everywhere

hang it with 4mm nylon rope from the eaves to stop the sun hitting your walls - either peg it to the ground or concrete blocks

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

Another thing I insisted upon was not having those great big sun magnifying windows

I was gonna say, knock one of these 2 windows out and fit some patio doors

Normally I try to reply with thanks to every individual writer but there's too many here .

So thank you all.

Especially for the photo misskit .

I don't mind at all buying aircon dogcatcher . I mind waste .

And I don't want aircon fighting against two walls that are hot to the touch when they can be cooled with some low-tech solutions first .

Plus aircon .

Klondyke ...... very interesting stuff . Yes I'd like to find some immediate inexpensive actions to cool things down .

Gerbil and Seekingasylum ...... it's not a question of style at all .
On someone's Thread a long time ago I wrote a defence of the work that somchais do . Now as I explore this building I have to cancel that defence .
Everything I'm finding is just shite that's been hidden behind panelling or under paint .
But the building we have is the building we have . If I ever determine to stay long-time then many shekels will be dragged out of my sealed-up wallet and stuff will happen .
In the meantime I just want to deal with two bloody hot walls .



Wasp