Summer Heatwave - Lopez Style

It started on Friday with a forecast high of 78°. Before that, I don't think we'd broken 70°. OK, I'm sure that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it sure doesn't seem like we've spent much time in the 70s this summer. In fact, a couple weeks ago, I actually lit a fire in the wood stove. That's the only heat source we use in the big room (aka the "nave") and it was 65° when I got up that morning. I was cold, it was rainy and the forecast was for more of the same with a high of 60° - so I wasn't going to get any help from the sun.

I haven't built a fire since then, but we haven't had any really hot days either. We'd been told by the previous owners (Mike & Jen) that the place really never got hot inside. I thought I'd monitor what happened during out little Lopez heat wave.

Here we are on Friday morning at about 7:30 am with a nave temperature of 65°. (Yep, that's right, with absolutely no air-conditioning the inside temperature on the morning of August 3rd was 65°.)

About mid-day, I opened up all the windows to let in all that lovely heat. By 4:45 pm we had actually cracked 70°. (Sorry about these dark photos.) The only time, I'd seen inside temps above 70° before was when we had a fire going. This was exciting!!

I closed up all the windows again to try and preserve the warmth. The actual high for Friday was 79°.

With all the stone on the buttresses, we do have a little heat sink (when we get enough heat that is) and on Saturday morning it was still a balmy 70° inside. By about noon, it had actually dropped down under 70°...

but it was warm outside with a forecast high of 78°, so I opened up all the windows again.

By late afternoon (4:45-ish), we were up to 74° in the nave. Here's a late afternoon photo, with the windows open and the sun coming in through our high window on the west gable end.

And another dark photo (temp at 74°).

The actual high on Saturday temps was 85°.

On Sunday morning it was still 70° and our forecast high for the day was 81°!

In the interest of marital harmony, I decided to end my "how hot will it get" experiment and instead dust off my old skills at keeping houses cool on hot days. (Bill much prefers a cool inside temperature.)

So, first thing in the morning, I opened up all the doors and windows and managed to get the inside temperature down to 68° before it was time to close everything up and preserve as much of that coolness as possible. By late afternoon, it was only 72°.

That was the end of our heatwave. Today's forecast high is 70° and the rest of the week is more of the same (highs of 68-70 and lows of 50-54). At a little after 9 this morning, the temperature in the nave was back to 68°.

Now for the results of my 3-day experiment:

Friday, August 3

46°: recorded low

65°: 7:30 am, inside temp

70°: 4:45 pm, inside temp

79°:  recorded high

Saturday, August 4

53°: recorded low

70°: 7:30 am, inside temp

68°: 11:45 am, inside temp

74°: 4:45 pm, inside temp

85°: recorded high

Sunday, August 5

54°: recorded low

70°: 7:30 am, inside temp

(end of "how hot will it get" experiment; switch to "keep it cool")

68°: ~10:00 am, inside temp

72°: ~5:00 pm, inside temp

84°: recorded high

Monday, August 6

52°: recorded low

68°: 9:10 am, inside temp

So, if you want to keep cool during a Lopez heatwave, our house is a good place to be.