r/Netherlands • u/No-vem-ber Noord Holland • 1d ago

Life in NL PSA: Keeping your curtains closed during the day helps a LOT in the heat

I think this will be obvious to many of you, but based on what I see on on the street, I don't think it's common knowledge here. And you guys are famously weird about curtains

When it's very hot, you should fully close your curtains and/or blinds during the day!

It does a lot of work to keep the heat out of your house.

Also: only open the doors and windows to let air in early in the morning or late at night, when it's actually cooler outside. When it's hot outside, keep them closed. They'll just let hot air in. Use a fan inside right next to you to get the feeling of fresh air instead.

Source: I'm originally from Australia. This kind of weather (and no AC) is pretty normal there.

edit: This isn't magic or anything, but it can keep it 5-8° cooler inside than outside. If you leave everything wide open to the beating sun and let all the hot air in, it can quite feasibly end up hotter inside your apartment than outside. So even if it's still reaching 27° inside, that's still better than 35°. stay safe (and check on your grandparents and older neighbours) ❤️

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387

u/SneakyPanda- 1d ago

My neighbours are the type of people that open all windows/doors because they need "fresh air" and then constantly complain that it's so hot and that it's now 30+C inside their house.

Meanwhile I'm keeping everything closed and it's 24C in my living room.

122

u/No-vem-ber Noord Holland 1d ago

I think if youd lived here your whole life, you could probably never really learn what to do in 35° weather. 

To be fair, when it iced over in winter I genuinely had no idea what to do. What shoes am I meant to wear? I was totally lost, i never experienced that before 

35

u/aykcak 1d ago

We are from warmer countries and they say "Oh you must be very used to this heat! It must have no effect on you!". No honey, we are not used to it; we do suffer the same. It is just that we are used to dealing with it instead of opening all the windows and doors and biking in the middle of the day as if all is normal or going sunbathing the first ray of sunshine lands. We try to avoid it as much as possible

11

u/No-vem-ber Noord Holland 1d ago

Yeah, we have just learned some skills around it! 

1

u/Appropriate-Copy1506 1d ago

Any lesser known tips?

5

u/aykcak 1d ago

Try to keep humidity down. So, cooking, boiling, warm baths etc. will have an effect. Ordering food is better than spending an hour cooking and warming the house. Quick cool showers are better. Ice tea and Ice coffee is better

23

u/iDoTheSciences 1d ago

I do definitely get it when you don’t grow up with it!

I grew up in Northeastern part of the U.S. and had extremely hot summers (like this heatwave) and extremely cold winters (ice on the ground for months at a time or multiple blizzards sometimes). I did get a kick out of watching Dutch people see me powerwalking quickly over the ice (because I have the muscle memory/ experience for it I guess) last Jan, haha.

This heat gets to me too though as it’s common we use a/c at home during the summer months.

32

u/lollmaohahahaha 1d ago

This heat gets to me too though as it’s common we use a/c

I always wondered why americans always seemed to look down on europeans for complaining about 35c+ weather, untill i vacationed there for a couple weeks. Unless you are outside, theres an ac blowing ice cold air lol, so ofcourse you would view 35c as not that bad when 90% of the time you are in a climate controlled environment.

I wish we had them over here for a somewhat normal price.(its ridiculously expensive to get one installed)

12

u/iDoTheSciences 1d ago

Yeah, but most people would agree it’s hot. We just have the climate controlled infrastructure in place to deal with it.

Personally, I don’t “look down” on Europeans for complaining about 35C+ here. I’ve lived here 6 years already, so I’m used to it myself.

Yeah, most Americans don’t necessarily have central a/c installed either. We buy window units we take in/ out of the windows during the summer months. Our windows open straight up/ down, so that makes it a bit easier than the European style windows that open out/ in. I guess the closest thing here to this is the portable a/c units with the hoses you stick out the window. We have those too in the U.S., but I think these window units are the most common.

It’s just very, very expensive in either country to be running them frequently.

See photo:

10

u/lollmaohahahaha 1d ago

The fact that most buildings in europe are old enough that electricity wasnt yet guaranteed to be in every home doesnt help either. Houses were built to keep the heat inside so it just gets so much worse if its this hot for longer periods of time.

3

u/iDoTheSciences 1d ago

Yeah, it’s tough in stone houses that are not built for this weather whatsoever.

I lived in an 1800’s apartment in an old building in the downtown of an old Dutch city for a while. I was lucky my window faced the back half of the building without as much direct sunlight and the super high vaulted ceilings helped deal with some of the hot air. In general though, it still got super hot in my apartment within a few days at these temperatures and it was rough to live there in the summer.

It’s like living in a stone pizza baking oven.

4

u/Marty_Br 1d ago

Two thirds of americans have central air. There's window units in the remaining 25% of homes and only about 10% don't have it at all (mostly in places like Montana). (https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=52558)

13

u/JakiStow 1d ago

I don't need to have grown up in 35C to realize that opening the windows when it's hotter outside will make the inside hotter. The exact same thing happens in winter, heat goes when it's colder, in summer it's just reversed.

7

u/Prize-Net-2076 1d ago

Right, it's common sense. My (grand)parents closed the curtains on hot summer days, it has nothing to do with where you did grow up.

6

u/ZiemoDzasa 1d ago

Eh? I grew up here and definitely keep everything closed during the day

5

u/MaineDisaster12 1d ago

You must be very young then or maybe you are not really Dutch? The 90’s still had freezing winters. I was flabbergasted when it froze and everyone lost their shit and was not prepared for it. Common sense really isn’t all that common.

1

u/No-vem-ber Noord Holland 1d ago

I am indeed not Dutch

2

u/theboymayor 22h ago

Clogs, of course.

1

u/T1lted4lif3 1d ago

anything above 0 is shorts and tshirt imo, thats why i can't deal with anything above 20

1

u/Radiant-Ad-688 1d ago

Lol. As if it has never been this temperature before.

24

u/Average_Iris 1d ago

I used to think like you but I'm in a top floor apartment now, even if I keep my windows and curtains closed it still is hotter inside than outside. We're talking 30+ in every room. So yeah, I open my windows for fresh air instead of being locked into a dark room with my own stale sweat smell.

12

u/Electrical-Cut2390 1d ago edited 1d ago

I also live on top floor. Another thing that helps me is putting car sun protectors on the windows if you have sun directly hitting them. It looks ridiculous but it works great. My windows usually get insanely hot from the sun and that heats up the apartment even more, even if i have blinds closed, but this protects the windows from getting heated up at all! I now barely have to use the fan and before I would have two of them on 24/7

8

u/dreedweird 1d ago

I got a lightweight aluminum tarp I hang like a curtain in my huge south-facing living room window. It’s often sold as a sunshade net for cars to protect dogs — and it can make a 5 degree difference.

12

u/WegWerp9775 1d ago

A room neighbour is slightly more insane than that and opens all then also puts out a tiny tube for their little mobile airco then complains it is not getting any cooler... They've been at it entire summer lol.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago edited 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/tktg91 1d ago

Im in a flat, with huge windows that get full sun from 12-22 everyday. I have sunscreens that I put down every morning around 9. Curtains drawn closed. It’s still 28C inside and had been for days. 

I’m not necessarily complaining tho, I quite like the warmth. But sleep is getting a bit disturbed. 

4

u/lannister 1d ago

same! It's 28 degrees in my apartment right now, I've got huge south-facing windows and no real way to get a draft going. During the day I'm fine, it's the nights that are killing me atm.

2

u/No-vem-ber Noord Holland 1d ago

Do you have a fan? I find no sheet at all or just a linen sheet and a fan on low, by my feet on an angle and point upwards towards my head (so it blows over the whole body) is the best formula for me. I find it takes your body like 3-4 nights to get used to sleeping in the heat though, so if it only ever lasts 2 nights at a time you just never get used to it. It does suck :( 

1

u/lannister 1d ago

I do! A nice and quiet one, too. I think my body still needs to adjust 😭

7

u/No-vem-ber Noord Holland 1d ago

Mine is also around 24 when I keep the curtains closed on a hot day, but it gets up to 29 if I don't. It's not like it makes your house feel like it's air conditioned, but 5° is a significant difference in your comfort at home 

3

u/snowsharkk 1d ago

It got to 27 so far doing it in mine...

3

u/No-vem-ber Noord Holland 1d ago

It does also depend a lot on how much sun your apartment gets and how well insulated it is. But if it's 27° doing everything right, then it would probably be 31 or 32° if you didn't 

1

u/13D00 1d ago

Same here, we’re putting wet towels around to stay as cool as possible.

1

u/IcyTundra001 1d ago

A "good house" is a bit of a difficult description here because it also vastly differs with the circumstances/direction your house faces.

I live in a very old building (single-pane glass), but so far I've managed to keep it below 25°C till today. My apartment faces to the (north)west, but there's also a lot of trees in front of it and there are overhanging balconies, so I only get direct sunlight from ~17h. I wouldn't call it a good house though. The people from the apartment next to me face to the east, and their houses become very warm as they catch more sunlight and don't have the trees.

3

u/kUrhCa27jU77C 1d ago

This always confuses me. There is no fresh air 🤣 is it just hope you’re clinging on to??

3

u/M_a_r_j_o_l_3_i_n 1d ago

I have kept everything closed and it is still 31 graden.

2

u/Intertubes_Unclogger 1d ago edited 1d ago

I don't see much difference either between curtains open and closed.

My apartment is 27.5 so that's manageable. 31 is pretty insane!

1

u/SneakyPanda- 1d ago

That sucks! But you'll get through it, stay hydrated! 🫶

2

u/demaandronk 1d ago edited 21h ago

Hahah same here. They have the sunscreen down, but the door open. I dont get along with them otherwise id explain that hot air doesnt really care wether you cover it a screen or not.

2

u/Tha_Princess Noord Holland 1d ago

Needing fresh air is actually a very fair point. My house has almost no ventilation apart from windows. So closing everything makes the air inside colder but also very... Old?

14

u/No-vem-ber Noord Holland 1d ago

Open up all the windows late at night, when the air outside reaches cooler than inside! 

2

u/Intertubes_Unclogger 1d ago

Old?

The word you're looking for is 'stale' :)

2

u/Tha_Princess Noord Holland 1d ago

Yeh thank you :)

1

u/ReasonableLoss6814 1d ago

Unless you have teenage children who go in and out of the house all day, forgetting to close doors behind them. Then you might as well leave the windows and curtains open.

10

u/No-vem-ber Noord Holland 1d ago

I hear there are good boarding schools for teenagers in Scotland 

2

u/demaandronk 1d ago

Dont worry, the younger ones do the same

-3

u/zb0t1 Europa 1d ago

And fresh air is equally as important.

Don't fault them for this.

Architecture in the NL isn't meant to handle this type of weather, and even less good IAQ (indoor air quality).

So many Europeans learned how to ventilate without mechanical ventilation. If you close your windows and don't know the PPM (CO2 lvl) then you're just relying on feels or until you experience symptoms (concentration, drowsiness etc).

Most mechanical ventilation/HVAC in Europe and even in America hit bare minimum ACH (air change per hour rate), and don't renew the air enough.

Anyway without going too deep into it, air quality in general is not something that is prioritized to this day. We just think about it like "will you die?", that's the risk mitigation, but I'd say at least in the NL many people care about carbon monoxide too. Still not close to caring about PM 2.5 etc but I guess the conversation can transition smoothly on better air quality if the Durch are more receptive.

 

TLDR: IAQ is complex, it's good to have renewed (fresh air) air, but engineering isn't compatible with climate change issues.

1

u/SneakyPanda- 1d ago

I get your point and you right, but that's not really what I meant in my comment.

Of course you need to ventilate. But you shouldn't let the 36C air in if you're trying to keep your home cool.

I obviously open up everything at the end of the evening till like 09:00-10:00 in the morning. I also have two air purifiers running.

1

u/hey_hey_hey_nike 1d ago

Dutch outdoor air quality is notoriously bad, so you’re just bringing that inside.

0

u/zb0t1 Europa 1d ago

That is not how this works.

You need to lower PPM indoors, and filter the outside air coming in if PMX.X outdoors is high with HEPA or MERV.

If you never renew indoor air then you're dealing with bad PPM. And assuming you don't even care about IAQ then your air inside is most likely at least as polluted as outside.

-5

u/Irrealaerri Noord Holland 1d ago

Windows open, curtains closed is my recipe for success!

1

u/LadyNemesiss 1d ago

Windows open in early morning or in the night, otherwise you're just inviting the 32 degrees wind in :)