SSummer, heat, thick air – this triad has shaped the atmosphere in T’s home in recent weeks. The young man is basically satisfied with his living situation. Two rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a nice balcony for a moderate rent, and all that in a lively district, what more could you ask for?
A roller shutter. More precisely: two.
Until recently, T. found external blinds almost as unsexy as washcloths, which have suddenly become trendy items since the energy crisis. Whereby the terry cloth stain will only really show its advantage in the winter months: 16 degrees in the bathroom, and then take a cold shower – well, thank you very much! In contrast, a small cold washcloth on the skin is almost cuddly.
37 degrees outside, 34 degrees inside
Now that it’s summer, T. would be right to be a little cooler. The sun beats incessantly on the two large south-facing windows and heats it up: a maximum of 37 degrees outside, 34 degrees inside. Luckily, during the week, the job and the after-work trip to the lake offer relaxation from the 58-square-meter incubator called the apartment. Unfortunately, every hot day is followed by a sweaty night.
T. has been ignoring the rule for a long time: Close the windows when it’s hot so that the apartment doesn’t heat up too much. It’s just unbearable, he complains.
Suddenly he is jealous of those in the house who can close the bulkheads if necessary and at will. It’s not just the tenants who are affected, as T. initially suspected. With the neighbors on the top floor, he has two fellow sufferers who are affected by the Mediterranean conditions even more than he is on the second floor. However, owners such as the K. family and pensioners B. also have to live without clever structural sun protection.
Owner advantage?
Some try to keep the room climate bearable with interior blinds, curtains and rigid window closures, others regularly flee into nature – or at least into the cooler apartment of their partner. T.’s neighbors on the floor, on the other hand, owners of old leases with low interest rates, let the shutters rattle. The shared flat on the third floor is also fine in this regard, and even the secretly pitied inhabitant of the ground floor apartment. Although he has the garbage cans in front of the window and the trampling and slamming doors in his ears, he can at least hide behind his damaged shade providers.
It’s impossible to go on like this, the small community of destiny finds. Especially when it gets even hotter. Unfortunately, there is no solution in sight. Certainly not a fast one. To install external blinds on the upper floors, you need scaffolding. It costs. Since the pensioner is out, T’s open-minded landlady as well as the family.
The neighbors advise him to try the interior blinds. T. will think about it until next summer. Next he gets himself a washcloth.
