Building a home in a hot climate is undeniably appealing. You’ll probably imagine that life in a location like this will be all blue skies, sunbathing, and pool parties. And, to some extent, you wouldn’t be wrong.
Unfortunately, there is also a darker side to owning property somewhere scorching. As with all extreme weather elements, really hot weather can take a harsh toll on your home.
This is especially true if you don’t consider the potential for heat damage at the design stages. While you won’t be able to avoid every single heat-based setback with clever design, you can keep the worst heat damage at bay by thinking about the following priorities.
# 1 – Choose Roofing Materials Carefully
Logically, your roof will take the largest brunt of the ongoing hot weather, as it’s fully exposed to the pounding sun. This can lead to significant damage over time, especially on a material like shingles, which commonly curl, crack, and even wear down during the worst of the heat.
To some extent, all roofing materials in hot climates are liable to need more regular roof restoration and repairs, but it’s also true that some materials are better suited to this kind of weather than others.
Top heat-safe roofing materials particularly include clay tiles, like those traditionally used in hot Mediterranean countries, thanks to their slow heat absorption and release capabilities, or ‘cool metal roofing’, which has a dedicated reflective coating to bounce solar rays right back off your home before they do damage.
# 2 – Use UV-Deflecting Window Films
Adding glass to an already hot house is asking for trouble, but you need the natural light and ventilation that windows bring, so what can you do? Well, choosing UV-deflecting films at the design stages is a great get-around.
These window films are designed to reflect UV light, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be sitting in the dark. This clever design ensures you can still enjoy natural light in your home, but without any of the heat buildup you’d face otherwise. That’ll make a huge difference to indoor heat temperatures and will ensure a cooling oasis, rather than an endless heat-trap of a home.
# 3 – Design Around Ventilation
You’ll want to keep your home cool by any means possible, and adding air conditioning to your overall design plans is a great option for that. But, aircon won’t do much to help your home itself from falling foul of heat damage and problems like mould. For that, you also need to ensure you’re designing with ventilation in mind.
This could include installing exhaust fans or air filtration systems in key heat spots like your kitchen and bathroom. Make sure that you’re also giving air vents a little air time, as adding these to your windows, and even in your attic, can go a long way towards keeping things a little fresher, whatever the weather.
Hot climates hold a whole lot of potential problems for a newly designed home. Offset them using the worst of them using top tips like these.