17.06.2021 Heatwave warning. Day 1.

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Thursday 17th 67-84F, bright and windy but cloudy. The first day of a heatwave warning. Expected to reach 28C with strong, all day sunshine. 

Yesterday, we stretched a horticultural quality, shade net over the lean-to greenhouse. These greenhouses are foolishly described as a "conservatory" in the sales hype. A conservatory is something tall enough to lift the excruciating heat well above the occupants. Anything lower is a solar oven!

Stopping the sun from reaching the glass is the main idea behind the net. By the time the sun hits the glass it is too late. UV becomes infra red and heats everything. 

It was incredibly easy to arrange a rope along the top of the sloping roof. I had previously threaded the rope through the pre-made "buttonholes" of one, long reinforced edge. The net was light enough to rise freely up to the ridge as the rope was tightened and the netting seems almost immune to the gusty wind. 

Too early to say how well the net performs thermally. Temperatures would always soar out there in summer. Freeze in winter. Largely due to single pane glass. The roof vents made zero difference. Not even with double doors wide open at both ends.

We hang white cloth and lightweight tarpaulin sun screens inside but they have no discernible effect on soaring temperatures. Though they do make it slightly more comfortable to be lightly shaded. Unfortunately, most materials soon shred due to UV exposure. 

Expensive ideas for wooden slat shading on the outside never came to fruition. "Egg crate" panels would have been far too heavy and very difficult to fit and retain with such poor access. It would be a leaf and tree debris magnet and impossible to keep it clear.

Don't be taken in by paid models "relaxing" inside conservatories [greenhouses] in bright sunshine. It is an extremely uncomfortable experience to be in there for more than a few moments unshaded. Even in welding glasses and a wide brimmed hat! That is why the models are paid to do it. Nobody [normal] would do it voluntarily! Plants last a day or two. Unless they are hot, desert plants, like cacti.

I joined two, lean-to greenhouses, end to end, two decades ago. Hoping the 7 meters [or 22'] of glass would provide free solar warmth in winter. It does almost nothing, at all, in providing warmth when we most need it. It does shelter the southerly facade of Chez Hovel from the worst of the weather. The only way to gain warmth in winter is adequate insulation. Keep it in before it escapes.

What we should have done was to grow sheltering, deciduous trees. Something like birch would help in summer. Except that birch drops debris all year round. Beech trees might be better. How do you control the height and girth of sunshade trees without access to a professional, cherry picker platform? How do you use a hired one? When you have no access to the field in front of your own home? 

I see that Ireland is taking Climate Change very seriously. Homeowners can get up to 50% of the cost of improving their insulation and replacing inefficient heating systems. 

Denmark had a small pool of money available for energy efficiency improvements. The entire sum was gone within hours on a first come, first served basis, online. When it comes to fighting climate change it is deeds, not words, which matter. 

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