185: Hot Rooms & Higher Standards

Video Transcript (Audio differs slightly) 

Stacy  Grinsfelder (00:00)
I'm Stacy Grinsfelder, and you're listening to True Tales From Old Houses. It's still the Minisode for today.

And welcome to the show. I totally screwed up the Minisode poll results on Substack last week. Minisode or not, there were votes. But before I get into that, I do want to say a thank you to our sponsors this week, Sutherland Welles, Brouns & Co. Linseed Oil Paint, Heritage Supply Co., and The Old House Shop. I also want to remind you that we are in the last few days of early-bird pricing for the Wood Window Workshop at Blake Hill House.

Next episode will be in May, so early bird pricing ends April 30th. Quick heads up.

If you've been in the information phase of window restoration and you are ready to move into the action phase, is exactly what this workshop is built for. It is the most direct way to learn using best practices. It's hands-on. There are real windows. I'll be there to guide you the entire way

And this is all in service to the Windows at Historic Epworth Hall.

I'm not going to lie, it is a lot of work, but you're going to learn so much, and you'll be able to go right back to your own house and hit the ground running.

This is probably one of the most comprehensive window restoration workshops that you'll find.

And our window campers always describe it as an excellent value. are two weekends, July 10th through 12th and July 17th through 19th. You choose one or the other. As of right now, there are two, maybe three spots left for July 17th through 19th,

and we're a little over half full for the 10th through 12th. You can learn more and reserve your spot at my personal website, which is Blakehillhouse.com

All right. Let me tell you what happened with the minisode poll. I totally screwed it up on Substack. First of all, I was very excited that Substack had a poll. I figured that would make it much easier for you to tell me what we should do with that minisode name. So I set it up for six days. You know, should we keep the minisode? Should we let the name, or I'm just here because I like voting in polls.

Then I sent the newsletter out, and pretty much everybody who read the newsletter voted right away.

But then I wanted to tell you the results today, and that was going to be sooner than the poll ended. So I thought, well, no big deal. I'll just go in and shorten the poll, give everybody maybe one more day if anybody's kind of straggling in to read the newsletter and vote. And when I did that, it wiped out every single vote and reset everything back to zero. I thought, no, what am I going to do?

So, going from memory, I had checked the results every now and then over a few days. And here's what I remember. Results were 50-50 most of the time. So I wanna tell you, thanks for nothing, everyone. At one point, I will say dropping the minisode name altogether did pull ahead a little bit. And then right before...

I screwed everything up. I had checked the results and it showed that it was pretty much back to 50-50 with dropping the minisode name altogether slightly ahead. So I am making an executive decision. I'm going to call it and just drop the minisode name. Now I'm such a people pleaser that making this decision without a clear winner, it feels unsettling to me, but I'm trying to change my ways and just

take charge. henceforth, all shows shall be True Tales From Old Houses. And the minisode name has been placed in the archives.

and speaking of the archives, True Tales from Old Houses is rounding the bend towards 200 episodes. I was just, that hit me the other day. This is episode 185, and then we're gonna close the season somewhere in the 190s.

As I was processing that, I was kind of realizing that, you know, the true unsung hero, which I usually mention at the end of the season, but the true unsung hero of this show is our sound technician. His name is Nick. He lives in Toronto.

You would not believe the mess that I hand him sometimes. I thought it would be fun to share a little behind the scenes of that process, a tribute to Nick, if you will, on Substack this week.

So you'll get to learn a little bit more about how that process works.

All right, to bring you up to speed about what's happening here in Blake Hill House.

I guess I should say I am already back in NewYork. I probably should have led with that. If you're watching on YouTube, you can see that I'm in my studio here at the house.

I was supposed to be back on May 1st, but then I had to come back early for some banking business. All good, just a change of plans,

My time in Salt Lake, it was great, but I will say this house has its own pace, and I fell right back into it. picked up my to-do list and started checking things off.

Last summer was crazy. I thought I was going to sell the house. So all I did was work, work, work.

But this summer should be a little bit more relaxed. I realized I only have two more windows out of 30 upstairs to fully restore, and they're just two over twos. Not really fancy at all. You know, I restore windows. teach window restoration, but I'm like everybody. I have time constraints, budget constraints, nothing gets done as fast as I would like it to, but it.

Being this close to the finish line, having only two left out of 30, it feels amazing. I do have to replace three missing storm windows upstairs, not downstairs. And there's still some woodwork around the windows to repair and paint. Some of it looks pretty bad.

If I get all of that done and I'm not putting too much pressure on myself, but if I do, I start on the windows downstairs in the living room. None of that is urgent. They all still look pretty good. And I worked on some functional maintenance last year, you know, roping and getting some open, but they could use some attention. So if I have a chance, I'll start on them. But if I don't,

not really that big of a deal. We'll see.

So those are really all the updates I have from the house right now. I don't have the rest of the summer planned by any means,

But you know, I'm letting some ideas roll around in my brain.

It's time to pivot. Last time, the Good, Better, Best Q&A segment was a huge hit. So we're gonna do it again this week. I'll be back after the break with a new question and a voicemail from a listener that made me realize that I missed one of the most obvious solutions. We'll be right back.

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Welcome back, everyone.

During the first Good Better Best approach to musty smells, I talked about things like humidity and dampness, and I made suggestions like wash the woodwork and dehumidifiers, and then I just escalated things from there. And then this week, I got a voicemail from longtime listener, two-time guest, Ron. He was a guest on episode 16. I kid you not, episode 16. And then he was back to celebrate our 100th episode.

And anyway, his message, it makes me laugh at myself, not at Ron. Just take a listen.

[Ron's Voicemail]

all of those solutions I offered, all of them. And not once did I think to say, open a window, let in some fresh air.

Thank you, Ron, truly. So I just wanna say that's probably gonna happen again. And when it does, I appreciate that you all keep me honest.

I'm going to start leaving a little space at the beginning of these segments for listener feedback like that. My dream is that you'll leave me a voicemail like Ron did by clicking the mic icon, 

which is at the bottom right-hand corner of the True Tales from Old House's website. But if not, it's okay. You can send me a message too.

Dreams aside, I've got another good, better, best question for you today. And it is this. How do I deal with a room that is too hot during the summer? All right, and here's the good solution. You know I've got to say it right. Open a window, let it in some fresh air. But really, all kidding aside, if you do have two windows on either side of the room,

A good solution is to open them up. Even if those windows are on opposite sides of the house, you can create a cross breeze. A cross breeze from one side of the house to the other or from one side of the room to the other, that can really help, especially in the cooler times of the day, like the early morning or in the evening.

But before we fully jump into the good, better, best solutions, for them all to make the most sense, I do want to give you a little bit more information.

When one particular room gets too hot during the summer, it's usually due to a passive solar effect, also known as too much sun blasting through a window, or in sciency terms, solar heat gain. It can also happen due to a poorly designed HVAC system, or maybe it's a combination of both of those things.

So a lot of us who have this issue don't have central air conditioning. So I'm gonna tackle the question primarily from that point of view, but a lot of the suggestions are gonna work regardless. And so if you have central air and the room is still too hot in the summer, my ideas will help you save some money on your energy bill. It'll be a win-win.

Let's talk about solar heat gain,

I want to give you a little brief tutorial on something called solar heat gain coefficient. Solar heat gain coefficient is a measure of how much of the sun's heat makes it through the window. It is expressed as a number between zero and one, and the lower the better.

In the US, I don't know how this works in Canada or in other countries, but a replacement window has a sticker on it with four ratings from the US Department of Energy and solar heat gain coefficient is just one of them. The four ratings have to meet specific energy efficiency requirements in all

climate zones, but those requirements change depending on the zone. For instance, if I buy a replacement window in North Dakota, the numbers on the rating sticker are not going to match the one in Louisiana because those climates are vastly different. The Department of Energy requires a lower closer to zero solar heat gain coefficient rating on the replacement window in Louisiana

Even though in the dead of summer, I bet someone from North Dakota is still struggling with a really hot room. It's just that in North Dakota, they have a much shorter summer.

All so why am I telling you this? I don't like replacement you didn't turn on this podcast to listen to me talk about solar heat gain coefficient, but it is important. Those four ratings are one of the main ways that replacement windows get sold. The pitch is usually that your old windows aren't energy efficient and that there's no hope for them. That is untrue.

The book that I co-wrote with Scott Sidler, The Case for Historic Windows, The Truth About Energy Efficiency and Old Windows, That book debunks that idea and offers actionable solutions for the ratings on that sticker.

But going back to the question and why I'm telling you this, when a room overheats in the summer, it's often because too much sun is coming through the glass. And that's not just an old window problem, it's a sun problem. So whether or not you have an old house with an old window, or an old house with a new replacement window, or a newer replacement window, you've still got a sun problem.

And now that we know that we can talk about what to do about it, we need to cover those windows or at least manage the sun coming in throughout the day, So let's get back to those good solutions.

One of the simplest and most cost-effective things that you can do is block it, block the sun. And that can be as basic as a piece of cardboard wrapped in foil or one of those reflective bubble insulation sheets.

Neither of those is going to win any design awards, but they'll work. And you can buy reflective bubble insulation in a roll and then just cut it to size. You can also use what you already have. You can close blinds or curtains during the hottest part of the day, especially on a south or west-facing window. That can really make a noticeable difference. Light colored curtains and blinds, they're better, but not sheers. Sheers don't really make a huge difference because they let too much sun through.

if you're at work all day, which I understand a lot of us are, you'll want to close everything up before you leave. And if you use the curtains and blinds that you have in combination with reflectors, that's even better. If you don't have curtains or blinds, you can use old sheets. I still use old sheets seasonally in my upstairs hall. I have a bedroom that I still do that with because curtains and blinds are expensive.

I buy a few every year, but I still haven't covered all my windows.

Now, another option, and you're probably not going to like this one, is a temporary shade on the outside. Even something like a drop cloth or a tarp can help because anything that blocks sun before it hits the going to work better than dealing with the heat once it's already inside. The reason why I said you're not going to like this is because, of course, a tarp hanging on your window would look hideous. and if you live in a place with an HOA, that's not going to fly anyway.

But if you're trying to save a buck and it's on a less noticeable side of your house, then maybe it's not a bad idea.

Once you have the window problems addressed, there's also airflow. You know, a simple box fan can help push hot air out or pull cooler air in from another part of the house if you've got a temperature difference. And if it cools down at night where you live and it's safe for you to do so, you can take advantage of opening windows and drawing in cooler air with that same box fan.

There are fans that are sized to fit directly in the windows. And they actually work in two directions. They can push hot air out cool air in. But then in the morning, before you leave for work, before the temperature starts rising, take the fan out, close everything up, blinds, curtains, put up those reflectors.

Make that room a cave, and it should stay much cooler during the day.

Now, if that room already has a working window air conditioner, type of heat management is especially important because otherwise that unit is working overtime, and the sun is basically just undoing all of that hard work.

To sum up, the good solutions are all about quick, low-cost ways to deal with the sun, and reflecting it. It's also about moving hot air out, we're doing all of that together. Are these solutions perfect? No. Are they pretty? Also, no, but they work, and you will notice a difference right away.

All right, moving into better. This is where maybe you're willing to spend a little money. Maybe be more intentional about it.

of adding a window air conditioning unit if you have a window that would support one. And for some rooms, that really works great. You just pop it in seasonally,

take it out during the winter, but in an older house, you can run into electrical limits. If you have too many rooms on the same breaker, or you just have too many things pulling power on that circuit, a window unit can push it over the edge, and you're gonna start tripping a breaker every time it kicks

still a good idea, but just know that you might be opening a new can of worms, and you'll have another problem to solve.

Better solutions still stay focused on the same idea, though, controlling the sun,

but in a way that's a little more permanent, definitely prettier, and a little bit easier to live with. This is where something like window film comes to reduce that solar heat gain, but it lets light in. So you're not completely blocking the window the way you were with that reflective bubble insulation or that hideous

But because window film is semi-permanent, I really only recommend using it in southern climate zones and preferably on your storm windows.

You can also step up your window coverings. Things like cellular shades or heavier curtains, even blackout versions of both work great. They're still doing the same job. They're blocking and slowing down that heat, but they look better for sure. And they're easier to use. Home Depot. They have some really reasonably priced cut-to-size cellular shades that I like a lot. I've used them in a couple of bedrooms upstairs. And that's, you know, I said, I don't have coverings in all of the rooms, but

room by room I'm adding more of those. And then Amazon, I know, know what you're thinking, but they have really nice heavy velvet blackout curtains in a ton of colors for a really great price

They keep the heat out in the summer and the cold out in the winter. I have those in my bedroom. They work great. By the way, I'm going to put links to all of these options in the show notes and on Substack this week, so you can refer back to those if you want to. If your house already has HVAC, if you already have central air, this is a good time to call a technician to have them look at the system and figure out that the room isn't cooling properly.

And I suggest you bring in two or three companies for their opinions. That's good practice in general, but also because I am absolutely convinced that HVAC is as much an art as a and you're probably gonna get different solutions to the same problem. You just pick the one that makes the most sense to you or fits your budget the best.

Even if you're not planning to make any changes right away, just understanding how that system's performing or where it's falling short, that can help you make a better decision going forward. so to recap, this is a good time to evaluate your HVAC system if you have one, but still the solutions are mostly about managing the sun.

but in a way that's more consistent, more functional, aesthetic, definitely easier to live with long-term.

All right, now we get to move into the best category. And this is where you're going to invest or where you might want to invest more money and you'll be thinking long-term. At this level, more than just reacting to the sun. It's about controlling it before it ever gets to the window, making the house work better as a whole.

And exterior shading can really shine.

Things like awnings or shades that roll up and down. These can be really expensive, but they are incredibly effective because they stop the heat before it ever gets to the house. Now I will say that some people do not like that idea at all. They can't picture it looking good at all. But there are some beautiful period-appropriate options. If you are the kind of person who just can't visualize this,

do a little Google image search. Type in historic awnings and shades. You could just do that, or you could do historic awnings and shades on houses. And I think you're gonna be pleasantly surprised.

If the rest of the house is pretty comfortable overall, then you might actually consider adding a mini-split system to that room. A mini-split is a powerful and very efficient way to cool and as a bonus, it can also in the winter.

If you called the technician, this is where you would actually implement the changes. know, adjusting ductwork, improving the airflow, balancing the system, or making any upgrades that you need to make.

This is where you would also think about some more permanent window solutions, like professionally installed window film in southern climates, and possibly even upgrading your storm windows.

You know, in some cases, we're not gonna talk about this a lot, but in some cases it might extend beyond the window. Things like adding insulation in the right places, looking at attic ventilation, you know, addressing how heat is building up in that part of the house, but that's really beyond the scope of today's Q and

But that's what I have for you today, some solutions for a room that is always too hot in the summer. You can go scrappy, you can go thoughtful, or you can go all in, but it really mostly comes back to the same thing: too much sun and what you do about it.

Don't be afraid to make a few small adjustments and see what makes the biggest if you want to go deeper on this, because I honestly could talk about it all day long, this is exactly the kind of thing that Scott and I get into in our book, The Case for Historic Windows. It's a super helpful resource if you are thinking through energy efficiency in your old house, especially with energy costs being what they are. And I will link the book in the show notes. I'm not trying to give you a hard sell, but I will link the book in the show notes.

And if you've got a question you want me to work through in Good, Better, Best, send it my way. I would love to include it in a future episode. All right, let's take another quick break. I'll be back in a couple minutes.

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Welcome

want to touch on something briefly because it's been making the rounds on social media recently, and I think it's worth addressing. This Old House shared a reel about when it's time to replace old windows and they showed a beautiful original window. had a round top, probably on an Italianate, maybe a Gothic Revival, I'm not quite sure. ⁓ it had a storm window on the outside. It was in good condition.

There were no obvious signs of major damage or rot. And the person in the reel gave two kind of offhand reasons for considering a replacement. And they were know, air coming in when the window rattles in the jamb and a broken lock.

And he demonstrated that by grabbing the sash at the meeting rails and shaking it a little bit. And then he took the lock and showed that it was loose, maybe even broken. And then he walked over to show a custom replacement, same color, rounded top, and basically talked about how it was better. I had to watch the reel three times, at least three times, maybe even more, to make sure that I wasn't missing something that was

great for their engagement, but not necessarily for the right reasons. I was stunned, quite frankly. kept thinking, did I see what I just saw? Did that come from This Old House? I legitimately went to their profile. Maybe I'm on somebody else's profile, but indeed.

it was you know, what he was describing, of course, are simple fixes. Nowhere near window failure. You know, it's like calling a squeaky hinge a reason to replace a whole door. And what made it stand out even more is that it was absolutely a character-defining window. You know, rounded top, not the style that most homeowners could realistically afford to replicate in kind.

What we often see instead, as you know, that the top gets filled in or squared off, and then they fit a stock replacement unit in, and that changes the proportions and character of the house in a very noticeable way.

Now, a lot of people had the same reaction to that video that I did, and you could see it in their comments. Now, to be clear, I didn't send anyone over to that reel to leave a comment. That is not my way. That's not how I do things

You know, and normally I can let bad content go because there's no shortage of that on the internet. I see it every day, but that reel it nagged at me for a couple of days. It just kept bugging me. kept coming back to it in my mind. And I thought, why is this getting to me so much? and what can I do? So very out of character for me, I created a short video rebuttal

explaining why that advice did not hold up, and then walking through how those issues could be addressed in very simple ways, replacing a window, because that's the kind of information that I think is important to put out there.

My video was, it was well received and it was shared quite a bit.

Then, a day or so later, This Old House disabled commenting on their reel and all of their comments, everything disappeared with that setting. Now look, I know we're all just a squirrel trying to get a nut.

Everybody has to pay the bills. I get it. This show, True Tales from Old House, has sponsors. And we've had some in the past that probably wouldn't make the cut today.

But there is a difference between paying the bills and presenting something as education when it's really just a sales pitch in disguise, or in this case, setting up or reinforcing a partnership with a company.

That's being a social media influencer.

Influencer 101 is taking something that's not really an issue and turning it into a reason to buy a product.

didn't think This Old House was positioning themselves as influencers. They're supposed to be a reliable source. Educators. Their profile says, Trusted Home Improvement Info and Expert Advice. That's why it's disappointing. And by the way, a few days later, they actually followed that reel up with a full-on ad for replacement windows.

from the company that's consistently filling all of our mailboxes with their flyers. You know the company, you know the one. But I think the bigger question here is maybe, you know, why do I care so much? And maybe why should any of us care?

And it comes back to people trust that platform. They've built credibility over decades through their TV show, magazine, and social media content.

When they speak, homeowners listen, and that carries a responsibility to get it right.

There seems to be a little hesitation, specifically in our old house community, to say anything because, truthfully, there aren't many champions of old houses.

and it feels like we should just all stick together, turn a blind eye to the loudest voices, whether that's a person or a company or a popular social media account, if what they're saying really doesn't check out.

And to that point, it's true. Even with different missions, we are stronger when we support each other.

But support doesn't mean we stop asking for better.

It means we get to have a say in what this community becomes, how we treat people, and how we preserve our historic resources.

That also means we don't have to make it all-or-nothing. This Old House has offered plenty of excellent education and guidance since it began in the 1970s. the baby out with the bathwater here. You I've always wanted to say that.

to the topic.

something like that, you know, that reel from This Old House, it comes across your feed, it's okay to expect better, trusted for a long time. And if it doesn't sit right, you don't have to be quiet, say something clearly, respectfully, and often. That kind of feedback is how we're going to protect old houses.

companies and large social media accounts accountable and help homeowners make the best decisions. All right, that's it. I needed to get that off my chest, and now I've done it.

Before I let you go, I do have two quick reminders. May is historic preservation month. We're going to wrap up that state of restoration project, so let me know how it's going, where you are. This is a voicemail-only project, so tap that mic icon down in the bottom right-hand corner of the True Tales From Old House's website. Let me know. Also, you can enter to win the book.

Skiing Sun Valley, a history from Union Pacific to the Holdings. that's a copy signed by author John Lundin. Nice hardcover book. That entry link is both in the show and on the website at trutalesfromoldhouses.com slash giveaway.

That's it. That's all I've got. So thank you for listening to True Tales From Old Houses. And thank you to our sponsors, Sutherland Welles, Brouns & Co Linseed Oil Paint, Heritage Supply Co., and The Old House Shop. To continue the conversation, follow True Tales From Old Houses and me, at Blake Hill House on Instagram. And subscribe to Notes from an Old House on Substack. If today's episode has you thinking, hmm, maybe I'll try to open a couple of windows and see what happens. I want to hear about it.

Instagram, Substack, email, the voicemail button on the website. I check them all. And if you enjoyed today's episode, leave a rating and review wherever you're listening. It's free, takes about 30 seconds, and helps more old house people find the show. Take care of your old houses and each other. Until next time.