What's up /diy/
I live in the Vegas valley and summer is slowly creeping up on us. It will be 100+ degrees in a matter of two weeks. The problem that I have is my bedroom window.
My bedroom window is huge, and directly faces the sun as it rises every morning. The heat that emanates from my window is so powerful that even on a morning like today (78 degrees) I can't touch it. This makes my room at least 5 degrees warmer than the rest of my house.
What can I do to block the heat of the sun? We've installed solar screens, but could only install the lightest one due to the HOA here, so the effect from that has been negligible.
I've looked on Google and saw a lot of ideas, but I thought maybe I'd see if someone here has experience with a similar issue.
Thanks brehs
>>998144
inb4 everything, but aluminum foil, glossier side out.
I heard legends about Elvis using it on his bus, tried it myself during a fairly hot summer (I'm not in the desert, but before the climate got all fucked up we'd have a few 100+ days where I am, and humid), and between that and a window unit running maybe a couple of hours a day it was just perfect in my room.
Just one layer will block everything, cheap, reversible, nothing needed but tape for installation.
It does obviously look like shit if you're worried about that, and everyone may think you're crazy or at least joke about it, just like this board will for me suggesting it.
>>998145
>everyone may think you're crazy
I'd have more doubts about the sanity of those choosing to live on Death Valleys Doorstep, desu. OP, here is the news - GTFO bro.
>>998145
It's funny you say that because nowhere online recommended that but I myself thought it might work. The only concern I have is safety. Not sure how, but could it be dangerous by absorbing too much heat or does it do a good job of reflecting heat?
>>998148
The whole point is that it reflects heat. Even if it didn't, it's not going to do a better job at absorption than your window.
>>998148
In my experience it reflects pretty well. I had it on the inside of the glass, and the inside of the foil was cool to the touch. I had a west-facing window though, and in a totally different climate, so your mileage may vary.
Foil doesn't really absorb heat too well, I guess because of how reflective it is, or maybe it's so thin it just radiates back out pretty quickly. I've noticed if I'm baking something covered in foil, the pan may be too hot to touch, but the foil comes out relatively cool.
>>998144
thick black curtains
![Foil-faced%20bubble%20wrap%20-%20Amazon[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/zTnGJG2.jpg "Foil-faced%20bubble%20wrap%20-%20Amazon[1].jpg")
>>998144
This shit right here works great for your application.
>>998161
Correct, foil has a low thermal mass.
metallic window film.
same sort of stuff used on cars. makes the window a mirror that reflects a high percentage of heat and light.
>>998203
Only one person got it right.
You can buy household tinting sheets at any home improvement store. They range in tint. the mirrored ones usually are the best. One thing to be cautious of is that they work backwards at night when you have your lights on. People can see in, you can't see out.
If they are against solar screens, I'm sure the HOA will love the aluminum foil...
>>998144
Instead of aluminum foil, look for those kind of metallic blankets that emergency services use.
>>998410
Mylar thermal blankets?
>>998393
Non burger here. Do you guys really have neighbourhoods where a group of jumped up soccer mums get to decide what you can and can't do with your houses? Fuck that so much.
>>998190
Why black?
>>998144
Hey Op, I have the same problem in the same exact area, except my window faces the sun as it's setting. I had a solar screen a while ago, but it blew off during one of the random wind storms. Now I use a curtain that's white facing the window and another curtain that's dark facing the inside. You can feel an immediate difference when you draw the curtains while the sun is shining in. I'm hoping to find a better solution before next Thursday (it's supposed to be 99 degrees) so I guess I might try the foil as others have suggested. Maybe I'll sew it onto the curtains or something.
>>998436
Yeah I wonder aswell... ffs I do what I want with my house!
plant trees in front of it.
>>998439
Black absorbs heat you big dummy. He'd turn his room into a boiler room
you put the screen on the outside of the window, right?
>>998144
If youre dealing with a HOA then your best bet is the get blackout blinds from the store. Ideally the insulated ones. They'll have a white back panel and the front portion of the panel that faces into the room, and a sandwiched layer of thin insulation between.
The darkening screen outside will help so keep it, and the white side of the panel will reflect a lot off light back out, and the thickness of the blinds insulation will help mitigate heat transference.
Even better, something I made for my third shift weeks was a lightweight box that slides into the window box. My blinds are mounted inside the frame, so i cut up some sturdy paper board from some gatorade palletes to size to slide into the frame. A piece of 2'thick insulation foam makes up the main panel and structure. The inside of the cardboard is painted with the same white paint as the walls. And so is the styrofoam panel. From the outside you cant even tell when its installed if the blinds are closed. And it sits so flush to the wall the only thing that gives it away is the window sill and the small metal handles on the backside.blocks out 100%of the southern sun, and keeps the room cool in summer and kills the winter draft
Why not plant some hardy kiwis? It's a vine that grows over 6 feet in the summer.
Though it does demand a lot of water, I imagine you people have some kind of restriction on that.
>>998144
>>999819
Pretty good applied physics, right up there with using a magnet and steel skateboard to levitate yourself into the air.
>>999834
>>999819
better would be to do like earthship houses do.
run pipes from just outside the house to deep into the ground. then back up to open up into your house. Then the house is designed and vented so hot air is constantly leaving out the highest point in the house. Which draws air through the pipes. the pipe air is cooled by going through all that cool earth thermal mass.
>>998436
>>999895
Ausfag building design student
You know councils have plans too right? If they let anyone build whatever they want towns/cities would look like shit, it would just be a mess of wacky buildings that don't go together. That is why they have rules like "you can't have reflective surfaces as the cladding to your house" or "If you're building a home it has to be x distance away from this boundary" otherwise some douche is going to build a giant box of mirrors that takes up their whole plot of land reflecting the sun directly into your eyes at all times.
Sometimes the restrictions get a bit tight (especially if you live in a heritage area where they would prefer if you get your buildings looking traditional) but most of the time it's just to make sure people like >>999895 this dick don't build a moat around his home.
I would rather live in an area with a HOA (though I've never had to deal with them before, just councils) than live in a place where people can build stupid eyesores on their land.
>>998145
Do you want to look like you're growing weed?
Cos this is how you make it look like you're growing weed
Aluminium foil and/or mylar sheets are how growers keep heat in/out of a grow room
And silver windows reflecting for the world to see will stand out
>>998144
Get blackout curtains that completely block all light. Trust me it will fix your problem
If you are worried about the HOA, you can put the foil on a foam project board. Then put it up and take it down easily. Not a permanent or semi permanent installation, so they can gripe but they can't do anything, and after summer is over you can throw it in storage till next year.
>>1000041
Nightshiftfag here;
Even just project boards by themselves work pretty well, just glue a white project board to a black project board and put them against the windows white side facing out. From a distance, they kinda look like blinds. Obviously foil would be a few percent more effective, but normalfags tend to get irrationally pissed off if you use it.
I used corflute board to provide some additional insulation and now I actually get more heat coming through the bricks than I do through the window.
>>999895
Knew someone that had a tree in their front yard. Some idiot drag racing totaled his car on it and destroyed it. HoA came by three days later with several thousand in fines because his yard was a mess and he was removing the tree without their permission.
>>1000014
>Black absorbs light
>radiated as heat
Oops!
What you need is a blackout curtain (or board) OUTSIDE your window any absorbed energy is dissipated outside harmlessly. In fact it doesn't even need to be black, the majority of heat energy is in the infra red, glass is pretty ok at absorbing ir, so how about a sheet of glass outside your window if you want to see through it still.
