We have external awnings/canopies to keep the sun out. They reduce the air temperature by 6C in the kitchen which has a large south facing window. They also prevent personal overheating by reducing sun baking.

Ours are manual roll in and out and need to be rolled in when windy. They kept rooms below 26C in the last heat wave (south England ~35C). No need for air conditioning. We then vented the house after the evening cooled ~8pm onwards, but kept windows closed during the day, so no heat build up.

I'm surprised you haven't had more responses to this, @editor.

The obvious top energy-saving tip for the warmer months is to use the car less and muscle power more. Obviously that's not appropriate for all journeys nor for the plenty of people with mobility issues but most of us could, I suspect, do at least something extra in this area - I know I could (and should).

One intriguing tip for this time of year when we're starting to plant seeds in the greenhouse is the old practice of heated raised beds. The idea is that a deep raised bed in the greenhouse is half filled with fresh horse manure, then a fairly deep layer of potting compost fills the bed to the top. The warmth from the manure as it rots down raises the soil temperature for the seeds just enough to guard against frost and then once the seedlings are potted on the planter can be dug over entirely and what's in there transplanted into the garden as fantastic well-composted soil. No need for greenhouse heaters at all.

Which leads on to another energy-saving tip; grow-your-own. Whilst I realise a lot of veggie growing requires a garden that not everyone will have access to, there are plenty of options for vertical gardening that can make use of walls, balconies or even just window sills. If the only thing you manage to grow is some chives in a pot, that's one pot of chives that didn't have to get transported to the supermarket and one pot of chives you didn't have to go to the shop to buy.

As for dealing with the hot weather, we have found we can adapt to a surprisingly high ambient temperature as long as we can maintain a bit of air movement hence opening both the french doors at the back and the front door to generate a through draught. In fact, our biggest obstacle to coping with the heat is that our bodies don't always get the chance to adapt; I have to work in the office two days a week and so that means using a climate controlled car to get to an air-conditioned office and back again, which resets my body's expectation to "cool" and sets back my acclimatisation to the warm weather. Ho, hum....

We continue to use the heat pump for hot water during summer and also leave it on for heating albeit with setback so it hardly comes on. But keeps pumps used from time to time so there is no nasty surprise just when needed most in Oct/Nov.

We have an East facing glassy extension that gets great solar gain. A few days in summer we open the bifolds and pull the nets (voile) curtains to reduce heat and get airflow.

As a matter of interest I believe most (all?) heat pumps can be configured to cool as well ax heat but it's "switched off" to meet MCS regs? I suspect relatively easily switched back on or reconfigured with dip switches etc? Bit not something I've felt inclined to try. 

Posted by: @tim441

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As a matter of interest I believe most (all?) heat pumps can be configured to cool as well ax heat but it's "switched off" to meet MCS regs? I suspect relatively easily switched back on or reconfigured with dip switches etc? Bit not something I've felt inclined to try. 

What our installer explained to us was that if you configure an air to water heat pump to cool then anything the cool water flows through will inevitably produce condensation to a greater or lesser degree, and that you have no idea where the condensation from your pipework will collect. Uncontrolled damp in inaccessible bits of your house is not a great idea, of course, so in general it's not recommended to have an air to water system doing any cooling.

@majordennisbloodnok fair point but if only used when air temps are (say) 20 deg+ I suspect it would not be a significant issue? 

I think the main reason is more around the gov & mcs net zero targets and wanting to avoid 'waste' of elec for unnecessary cooling?

Posted by: @tim441

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@majordennisbloodnok fair point but if only used when air temps are (say) 20 deg+ I suspect it would not be a significant issue? 

I think the main reason is more around the gov & mcs net zero targets and wanting to avoid 'waste' of elec for unnecessary cooling?

Oh, I'm only repeating largely verbatim what was explained to me. Definitely not going to put myself forward as an authority in this.

That said, I'd've thought that the higher the air temp when cooling is used the more significant would be the condensation and therefore the potential damage. That's my guess, though, and if I'm wrong then I'd definitely be interested since we get a big solar gain in our house.

Likewise I have no special knowledge. 

My thoughts would be if cooled only when temps are higher then evaporation would likely take care of much of the condensation? 

@tim441 The south (ish) facing side of our abode has windows with vertical or roller blinds and these are used to great advantage in sunny weather. We have a sort of regime whereby the windows on the north (ish) side are opened by mid-morning along with the south (ish) windows and doors that were opened earlier. As the sun moves around, the south wide windows and doors are closed and blinds closed until evening. Not needed more than the three stand fans around the house to keep some air flow and us cool. Regards, Toodles.