Keeping park homes cool in the summer – Any tips for a newbie?

Hi everyone! My husband and I only moved into our park home last autumn, so this is our very first summer here.

We love how cosy and warm the home was through the winter, but over the last few days, I've noticed the main living room gets incredibly hot in the afternoon sun—almost like a greenhouse!

Before I go out and spend a fortune on fans, does anyone have any clever tips for keeping the temperature down? Has anyone successfully installed exterior sun awnings, or are there specific types of blinds that work best for blocking the heat without making the room pitch black?

Hi there, and welcome to your first summer on the park!

You are definitely not alone in experiencing the "greenhouse effect." Park homes are incredibly well-insulated—especially if yours was built to recent BS 3632 standards. As you’ve found, that is absolutely brilliant for winter, but the downside is that once the summer heat gets in, the insulation does a very good job of trapping it there!

Here are a few things that work really well for park homes:

1. Blinds and Window Films
Internal blinds can help, but standard fabric ones just absorb the heat and radiate it into the room. You want to look for thermal roller blinds or honeycomb/cellular blinds with a reflective white backing. "Perfect Fit" blinds are very popular in park homes because they clip directly onto your uPVC window frames without the need for drilling.

Alternatively, a lot of residents swear by solar reflective window film. It’s a relatively inexpensive DIY job you apply straight to the glass. It bounces the UV rays and heat away before they even enter the room, and it doesn't block your view out or make the room dark.

2. Exterior Awnings
You are spot on with this idea—stopping the sun from hitting the glass in the first place is always the most effective method. A lot of residents do have exterior sun awnings or sail shades, and they make a massive difference to south-facing living rooms.

However, a quick word of warning: Before you order one, double-check your park's site rules and have a quick chat with your site owner. Many parks have strict rules about attaching fixtures to the exterior of the home or altering the external appearance. You also need to ensure your home's cladding can support the weight and tension of an awning bracket.

3. The "Reverse Ventilation" Trick
Because your home is so well insulated, treat it like a cool box. In the morning, open all your windows wide to let the cool air in. But as soon as the outside temperature gets hotter than the inside (usually by mid-morning), shut your windows and close the blinds on the sunny side. It feels counter-intuitive to close windows on a hot day, but it stops the hot air from blowing in and ruining your perfectly cool oasis! Once the sun goes down, open everything up again to flush the heat out.

Hope this helps, and enjoy your first summer on the park! Let us know what you end up going with.