Village House Rooftop

[rkenia852]

Hello,
I am thinking of renting a village house in Mui Wo and was concerned that the apartment and rooftop might get too hot for most of the year.

Just curious how other families manage living on 2/F with a rooftop - any strategies to avoid the heat? The landlord is firm that the rooftop cannot include any permanent fixtures.

Thanks in advance.

[PLamHK]

I did spend a few of years living in a top floor apartment. Don't underestimate what this does to your electricity bills, particularly if you need to keep the apartment at a comfortable temperature throughout the day.

[Morrison]

It really depends on many factors, if there is a mountain and a sea around that bring a cool breeze then it is probably ok, not sure that is the case in the village houses near Muiwo.

[Flat Hunter]

Used to live in top floor of a village house in Sai Kung. It was like walking into an oven if you had been out all day. Now in a G/F apartment and a significant difference.

[rkenia852]

It really depends on many factors, if there is a mountain and a sea around that bring a cool breeze then it is probably ok, not sure that is the case in the village houses near Muiwo.

The village house I have my eye on is smack between the mountain and the beach.

Any tips on how to reduce the solar reflectance or otherwise negate the heat effect in the apartment?

[rkenia852]

Used to live in top floor of a village house in Sai Kung. It was like walking into an oven if you had been out all day. Now in a G/F apartment and a significant difference.

Ooooh. You think G/F is better to avoid the heat? Giving up a few hundred square feet of space...

so I am curious if installing fans might help?

[Morrison]

The village house I have my eye on is smack between the mountain and the beach.

Any tips on how to reduce the solar reflectance or otherwise negate the heat effect in the apartment?

That’s awesome. I can cope quite well with the heat so never found it to be a problem.
Don’t even use aircon much, just to cool down the sleeping room before going to bed.
During day time a stand alone fan.

But everyone is built differently and for older people it’s probably a problem.

If your landlord is so strict perhaps gardening and splashing water with a hose is the only thing you can do up there.
Make sure to have at least cool water for showering.

[PLamHK]

Ooooh. You think G/F is better to avoid the heat? Giving up a few hundred square feet of space...

so I am curious if installing fans might help?

Well yes, not having the sun pounding the top of your apartment all day will make a big difference. Fans will not. The fundamental problem is that the fabric of your apartment (the roof particularly) get heated to a much higher temperature than the lower apartments. When I had a top-floor apartment it took at least 45 minutes with the aircons on full power to get it down to a tolerable temperature if I came home after being out all day. This is both an uncomfortable and an expensive 45 minutes to go through every day. I guess these days you might be able to set the aircons to start at full power 45 minutes before you come home, but still the electricity bill will be steep (and even more if you want to run it all day).

[saltywetman]

Anything that shades the roof from direct sunlight will help- astroturf, foam tiles, planks, shade sails, plants, furniture, literally anything that catches the sunlight will make a huge difference. If there is something lying on the tiles and you compare the difference between under it and the exposed roof, you will find a big difference, Hosing with water will draw additional heat out, I have used a sprinkler before.Good fun with the kids skipping about in the warm puddles.

Mountains and breezes will have little impact from direct solar heating.The sun will heat the concrete and it is a radiator onto your apartment below, it will keep throwing heat down all night, you can feel it if you hold your hand out. Or bask bare chested...

It is very manageable but does need to be considered and take a bit of planning and management to make it tolerable (if you are like me). Totally worth it for a roof.

[Zelensky2]

Define "permanent fixture".

I'm not actually asking you to do that, just think about it. Put up some steel poles with a large canvas like awning. The poles will be removable easily enough if you think about it.

This really is the only thing that matters - Its ONLY radiant heat that is the issue you're dealing with, so by far the best way to keep the temperture down is to stop the radiant heat hitting your roof.

It won't look great, but you can take it down for 6 months of the year. In the winter months - free heating!