Heat and ME/CFS

[ukxmrv]

There is a mention of a man with 'CFS' in this article about overheating London flats. It's towards the end and the para starts with 'Chris Brown ....'

‘Do not buy these flats’: residents warn about unbearable heat inside London new-builds

Experts say many new homes being built in the UK not designed to withstand extreme summer temperatures

www.theguardian.com

It's going to be 33c where i live in England today. I am finding this heat really hard to live with. We have a portable air con unit though.

 

[hotblack]

Same. I have a portable air con which helps me avoid some of the impacts I used to get but summers still break me. Every year.
While before I had ME/CFS I used to love weather like this.

We’ve had a few discussions about it on here but like many factors it seems to very with some affected and others less so. Like a lot of things I do think the seriousness of it seems to be ignored by responsible authorities/bodies when considering how we’re supported and cared for though.

 

[Wits_End]

Being at the top of a high-rise block will only make matters worse, of course. When we were living in a first-floor flat (and even now we're in a house) the temperature difference between the ground floor and first floor (note to US readers: UK usage here!) was very noticeable. If you're on the top floors of a high-rise, with nothing around to provide shading or otherwise mitigate the sun's heat, it must be hellish in weather like this.

 

[Yann04]

I’m on a higher floor but think here it’s balanced out a bit because when lower down you get heated up by the concrete island effect.

 

[Utsikt]

There’s some advice on coping with heat here if anyone are struggling. I’ve benefited greatly from a silent fan and a bucket of ice water with washcloths that my carers prepare every morning.

https://www.s4me.info/threads/coping-with-heat.43951/

 

[ukxmrv]

That's interesting @Yann04 about the concrete effect. When we lived in London it was on floor 2 of a new build with concrete floors. It could reach 40c inside during heatwaves.

I don't know how hot it got on other floors but the flats had large windows and patio doors which (even with good blackout curtains) let in a lot of light and heat.

I noticed that neighbours were installing air con as we left. I think shutters may have helped but how these could be retrofitted onto the flats I don't know.

My current house is too hot even with good blackout blinds. All the simple measures to control the heat in the house are failing. I've got good fans, ice packs, cool mats.

It's the nights which are worse. Even at midnight the house doesn't cool down. I read recently that it is the type of insulation in new build houses that are causing this problem.