Cheapest and most efficient home cooling

[mallmagician]

Im interested in peoples experiences.

My wifes house has the foil insulation under the roof tiles but thats it. The house gets hot and we use fans and air con.

Im hoping to cool the house with the aim to save money in the long term.

Some ideas that I would be interested in your thoughts. ....

Paint or replace the dark charcoal colour roof tiles with a cream colour (are cream tiles even available? )

Install a misting or sprinkler system on the roof which cpuld be turned on a few times using a timer or something throughout the day.

Installing a roof mounted whirly twister thingy vent.

Install some solar panels to bring down the cost of running fans and air con..

Install fibreglass and foil thick insulation above the ceiling.

Which of the above would be the best bang for my limited buck? Or combo of the above?

Im very interested in other ideas too.

The ultimate aim is to become more independent from the air con and reduce monthly costs in the process.

Thanks.

Phil

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[Riley'sLife]

Pointless painting the tiles etc.....

best advice is to insulate immediately above the ceiling using StayCool or similar proprietary insulation rolls. Vent the roof void too, either by design or mechanically.

Create as much shade for the exterior walls as possible by foliage etc., or extending the eaves overhang. A 3m overhang would give almost permanent shade on a 3m high wall, for example. The East wall and the west walls are particularly important to shade -obviously, as the sun is lower in the sky. Wall insulation could be effective. Cross-flow ventilation and an open-plan design is conducive to cool breezes within the rooms

After that, ventilate the house at night using fan/s to pull in the cool air and also to expel the warmer air, and try to keep the cool air inside for as long as possible in the mornings. If you use aircon, try to use it in a small, extremely well insulated room with a low ceiling to keep costs down.

Without knowing the exact mode of construction, room layout, building orientation etc., it's difficult to advise you further.

Hope that helps!

[IMHO]

What Riley said, plus:

Install solar backing on curtains that catch morning and afternoon sun.

If you have a central water heater in the house, you may want to consider switching it to a heat-pump style and gain extra cooling that way.

If the East, West or South walls are contributing to the heat problem, consider cladding them with Shera/Smartwood/Conwood using c-line to create an air-gap between the cladding and the wall.

[doglover]

^^^^

I have thought about doing this on my home. However I think the installation would have to allow for cooler air to enter the bottom of the cladding and rise out the top to be more effective. Of course some sort of screening would have to be installed at the air entrance and exit points to keep out the critters.

Not as effective as a longer eave or shade from a tree. But realistically one will not plant a tight perimeter of trees around the entire house. So this cladding would help in the spots where direct sun is hitting the walls between the trees and the lower parts of the walls.

Has anyone installed ventilated "conwood" cladding/siding?

[doglover]

Went down a side path with the siding thing there. Certainly not the best bang for the buck.

1)wall shading - with cheap trees that grow quickly, will produce a lot of shade and not attract ants.

2)natural ventilation - ensure attic has allowance for cooler air to enter at bottom and hot air to exit near the top (or at peak

with some products (cpac monier system on a new build for ex.)

3)whole house fan - (or a smaller fan in the ceiling of each room to keep noise levels down and to allow closing of doorwhilst

still allowing air transfer in each room.

3a)window screens - if not already installed will be required as this system will primarily be used in the evenings

That's my top three picks!

[bunnydrops]

I think the ceiling insulation would be my first choice. Ceiling fans work well for an all around cooler feeling but they are blowing air that is heated by the ceiling. They have a "cool" roof tile now, they are almost white or very light blue. Water on the roof may work but you would be increasing the humidity around the house.

I have seen photos of second walls made out of brick done in designs with holes for ventilation put on to houses in the mid east. Here I would think you would have to screen the holes---- That brings me to screens, I have a shaft in the middle of my house, the idea was to have somewhere for the hot air to to rise and also to cause a convection current. It works except the screens here in Thailand are so tight (small holes) I have to open the screens to get maximum air flow.