Musings - climate change, more heatwaves and pigs?

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

We have a more extreme range of temperatures here in Switzerland, than we did in the UK.

This Summer we have rarely had days below 30 degrees, and in some places temperatures are regulary close to 40 degrees.
Nights have been warm too, and then suddenly in the past week the daytime temperatures are still around 30 degrees but night time temps have 'plummeted' to around 15 degrees!
It is wonderful for the cooler nights, but I have had to rush around and put light blankets back on all the beds, and this morning when my daughter came down she said it was freezing! But it will get to around 30 degrees today, and we will be swimming in the lake before lunch.

Winter temperatures can get as low as minus 10 where we live, and are always below freezing for several months of the year. Snow is common for at least a couple of months, and we are talking about several feet of snow - not just a dusting.

But having said all of that the houses here are generally very well designed, built and insulated.
We don't have air con, although we do have heating, and even on the hottest days, using careful airing and window shutters (which all houses have) the temperature inside never got above 21 degrees.
In Winter we have heating, but it is underfloor which quickly and efficiently heats the entire house, and the well insulated building maintains the heat very well.

I think design is key. Old cottages and houses in the UK have thick walls and small windows and keep much cooler than newer builds, where the philosophy seems to be more about building them cheaply (and selling them expensively). I think shutters are a great idea and have been effective across the rest of Europe for centuries. Plus they look fab!

 

[eileen]

Shutters maybe a way forward.its very ! formative post.why does the UK adapt these measures....not even AC is involved.

 

[Bill & Ted]

We stayed pet sitting in East Sussex for daughter in the last heatwave. her house consists of a very old cottage with a fabulous new build tagged onto one side of it. The old cottage has stone flooring and small windows, the new build part has large windows and by fold doors right across one side of it, you can guess where we spent most of our days. The new build part was totally unbearable during the day

 

[Princess Dustmop]

We have a more extreme range of temperatures here in Switzerland, than we did in the UK.

This Summer we have rarely had days below 30 degrees, and in some places temperatures are regulary close to 40 degrees.
Nights have been warm too, and then suddenly in the past week the daytime temperatures are still around 30 degrees but night time temps have 'plummeted' to around 15 degrees!
It is wonderful for the cooler nights, but I have had to rush around and put light blankets back on all the beds, and this morning when my daughter came down she said it was freezing! But it will get to around 30 degrees today, and we will be swimming in the lake before lunch.

Winter temperatures can get as low as minus 10 where we live, and are always below freezing for several months of the year. Snow is common for at least a couple of months, and we are talking about several feet of snow - not just a dusting.

But having said all of that the houses here are generally very well designed, built and insulated.
We don't have air con, although we do have heating, and even on the hottest days, using careful airing and window shutters (which all houses have) the temperature inside never got above 21 degrees.
In Winter we have heating, but it is underfloor which quickly and efficiently heats the entire house, and the well insulated building maintains the heat very well.

Sounds very much like here in New England, except we get down to closer to -15°C, occasionally -20°C. Snow is a definite here, too; anything under a few inches is just run of the mill.

We've got about 26-31°C predicted this week during the day with nighttime lows around 14-17°C. It's wonderful after the last couple weeks of mostly 35°-40°C (it's bad when 33-34°C is a relief ...).
Apparently, over the past month the overall temperature (averaging all highs and lows) has been about 26.6°C ... it set a record for the area. I don't want to set those records! I live in the northern states for a reason! I don't know how those in the southern states do it.

Houses around here have a mix of air conditioning statuses ... most at least have window units, though there are people who get by without. I am not tolerant of heat, so central air is a must. We have forced air heat, since the house was built before radiant was a thing.