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.
Bro I gotta ask… You don’t live in Sweden by any chance?
I got 3 inch foam board from lowes and cut it fit my west facing windows.
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.
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
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.
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.
“that’s good advice. but work”
Why is this a shitpost? For lack of anything else, this works.
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
Post anywhere if it works. People need to know how to survive heatwaves.
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?
I’ve heard a similar thing with plastic cling wrap. Tape it to the window frame with double-sided tape and use a hairdryer to further seal it to get that double pane window effect.
Or get the plastic wrap kit at home depot to avoid all that measuring and fusing them together
If the foil gets warm, it’s heating up the space like a small radiator, right?
Yes but by reflecting >95% of the light, it does not get nearly as warm as what the light would otherwise shine on. Also, if placed outside a multi-layer window (which you should or the window may overheat and crack), the heat exchange to the inside via convection/conduction is stopped, only radiation remains, and the 80°C foil radiates way less than the 6000°C sun.
I don’t think it has enough mass to do much. Outside would be better, but it’s probably reflecting more than it’s absorbing and reradiating
What about the neighbor getting a sun blast into his face? skill issue
Birds actually hate it. It blinds them. They’ll shit all over your window.
they should thank me I’ve not made it into a parabolic mirror
Archimedes, no!
Reminds me of the fryscraper
Nah the window is pointed up, it’ll just blind pilots instead.
Fuck em.
*Foils entire roof*
