Wide open day and night, surrounded by trees which work like evaporation coolers. No AC.

22 hours ago, GlennSN20U5 said:

Open door/window and fans on. If you keen on staying outdoor, get a mist water fan. Just make sure it is adjustable.

Most water fans work in dry climates not humid ones , look online 

23 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Start using the AC

 

the humidity is a very important factor in the comfort and using AC reduces it considerably

As the air outside is always hotter than the temperature inside I don't see any reason to let it come inside. 

So from mid morning onwards I keep doors and windows closed. I should add that this is after doing the opposite previously. 

Open windows, ceiling fans on at night to store and cool the tile floors. Close up most windows when the temp is even inside and out.

I have high ceiling in middle of the house (6 meter) for the heat to rise to. Also the main living area is painted ice blue.

What about air quality. Currently unhealthy in Chonburi with advice to keep everything closed and use a mask outside. Most of Thailand the same. Coupled with stubble burning exhaust fumes second hand smoke cooking drains and not the least Wuflu best to keep what little oxygen there is to myself. With everything closed it's fans in the day and a/c at night turned off immediately sun hits the house as then a/c goes overdrive and freezes me

We recently moved from Phuket to a new build in the north. I used AAC type blocks for the walls and a metal roof with the thin stick-on foam insulation attached. The roof is very high and ventilated.

It's currently 33 degrees outside, but comfortably cool inside. Apart from an initial test I have never turned on the ACs in the bedrooms. The expensive ceiling fans covering the whole house are also rarely turned on, never at night. If there are breezes during the day we open the large sliding doors and some windows, to take advantage. All are fly screened. We lock up at night for security reasons.  Of course I've yet to experience the hot season here.

After the heat and humidity of Phuket I'm finding the cold nights and mornings to be the biggest discomfort. I've had to buy warm clothes again, and now sleep under a quilt. However, I do love the low humidity after many years of constant sweating in Phuket. 

 

The downside of the AAC blocks is that we are experiencing some cracking along the joins.

The lack if any insulation in most Thai houses means that the temperature outside and inside are always almost the same in my experience. I run my a/c in my small office only when the outside temp is above 32 C (90 FC) and have it set for 26-28 deg inside. Now, let's say I have that 5 or 6 degree differential and I turn off the a/c. The room temperature returns to ambient (outside) temperature in about 20 minutes! That's because the brick & concrete walls so common in Thailand don't insulate at all; in fact, they conduct heat pretty damn well. That means that the energy you're using to cool your house or room is largely being wasted, leaking rapidly right through your walls.

 

The best situation would be to live in a shaded, well insulated house. Of course, if you rent like me, you're stuck with a building that nobody ever thought to insulate. Is that because people think insulation is only for conserving heat? I shake my head in dismay as I watch buildings going up all over Chiang Mai with zero insulation and no solar equipment.

15 minutes ago, AlaskaDave said:

The lack if any insulation in most Thai houses means that the temperature outside and inside are always almost the same in my experience. I run my a/c in my small office only when the outside temp is above 32 C (90 FC) and have it set for 26-28 deg inside. Now, let's say I have that 5 or 6 degree differential and I turn off the a/c. The room temperature returns to ambient (outside) temperature in about 20 minutes! That's because the brick & concrete walls so common in Thailand don't insulate at all; in fact, they conduct heat pretty damn well. That means that the energy you're using to cool your house or room is largely being wasted, leaking rapidly right through your walls.

 

The best situation would be to live in a shaded, well insulated house. Of course, if you rent like me, you're stuck with a building that nobody ever thought to insulate. Is that because people think insulation is only for conserving heat? I shake my head in dismay as I watch buildings going up all over Chiang Mai with zero insulation and no solar equipment.

One of the points I was trying to make in my post above is that the AAC blocks do keep the place noticeably cooler than conventional bricks.

Locking down traps the heat, better to open up and switch on the fans

If it is a decent breeze I find open one or two windows in one area and a door to outside in the other , otherwise it’s fans and air con .

If you just open all the windows etc and not much breeze it doesn’t do much , but if you open a window or two in one area and a door to outside in another it tends to draw the air in and move it to the door quickly I find. Bit like drawing air for a fire by covering it with newspaper.

Surely it depends on a few factors.  If the house is in the shade and well insulated then closing everything up may well be cooler.

 

But if the house sees a lot of sun then closing up would turn it into an oven.