Third extended heat wave within 6 weeks.

The previous one exceeded 40°C, and the buildings not yet had time to completely cool down from that one before the third wave hit.

I was considering putting up a tent in my garden myself, but as I own a ground floor flat, the indoor temperatures did, with the help of some additional cooling measures, thankfully not exceeded 27°C.

That's not even a tent tent, it's a child's pop-up toy "tent". An adult can barely fit inside it and there's no way to stretch out and sleep.

Edit: Ooo, which means it is not vented, and so it likely gets very hot inside.

Damn, that's actually not the worst idea...

I once lived in a basement one room suite, so no balcony or any outdoor space. During the summer it was hotter than the outside. I remember lying down in the bathtub running pure cold water to cool down, then trying to sleep for a bit but having to repeat cooling off every 2 hours.

Basements are usually cooler unless theres a very inefficient furnace/boiler situation.

Be free, sleep on a mattress on the balcony!

Some nights, I'm seriously considering sleeping in the hammock on my balcony. The only problem is that the sun would wake me up (and probably roast me) way before my alarm clock.

I think it might be some kind of minimal beach camping tent, like this one:
https://www.ironsnow.com/products/ironrain-camping-tent-beach-play-tents-2-person-waterproof
Had to probably do with a tiny one, as it would be the only one to still fit the limited space.
The opening would be directed at the balcony door.
So no ventilation issue, but you might have do deal with some mosquitos (but those thankfully haven't been much of a problem here this year as it has been also exceptionally dry so far...)

Nope, not even that fancy. It doesn't have separate poles, they're just permanently integrated. The whole thing folds up into a circle. And without real ventilation, even with that circle door, they get hot inside.

Was thinking so myself.
You would have to deal with the noise, though.
It is an urban area, so quite some people packed into a limited space, all with their windows open during the evening and night (or sitting on their balconies or in their garden patches having lively conversations until past midnight...)
So I was happy not having to resort to that measure in the end :-)

They don't have windows or fans or what?

Maybe just save up $200 and buy a portable AC unit instead of a tent

Hammock would be the way to go!

You can see the separate poles

Rediscovering of old ideas. Sleeping on the balcony is what some people did in hot urban areas for ages

When it's 40°C outside during the day and 27°C during the night the apartment doesn't get the chance to cool down and fans only move hot air around. Portable air conditioners keep the dead alive with their noise while also cooling about as well as a wet rag.
I totally understand the desperation of just sleeping outside during the night.

Maybe just save up $200 and buy a portable AC unit instead of a ten

I own one. The portable ones have a rather limited efficiency. Ours brought the air temperature down to 23-24°C in the sleeping areas during the daytime.
After switching it off for the night (the things are incredibly noisy...), temperatures quickly rose to 26-27°C again (at least at reduced humidity due to the AC).
And that was in a ground floor apartment...

And opening windows doesn't really help any more if the minimum outside temp still is >20°C during the night and the air is basically motionless.

Gah, you're right. I have not had enough coffee yet.

That's good advice for people who have $200

You might want to try a sleeping mask

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_porch

I sometimes do sleep in a tent outside in the garden (Not out of heat reasons yet, but because of fun events with the kids).
I wouldn't worry about being woken up by the sun, as what will actually wake you is not the sun, but the relentlessly enthusiastic birds chirping away at the top of their lungs almost an hour before sunrise already ;-)

I doubt the birds would wake me. I sleep with my window open anyway so I'm used to them.

Must've been something like that. I was next door to the boiler room.

I doubt that helps much when the sun shines directly on my face. I'm more worried about the heat than the light.

fans only move hot air around

That's what I was talking about, move it out the window

I have slept in one of those children's tents before. I was going backpacking, and a friend offered me his "backpacking tent" that was much lighter than mine.

It turns out it was lighter because it was a children's tent that was about 80% the length of my body, so I had to sleep with my knees up. We got snowed on, and luckily it held up.

More likely for children to play in. A tent gets very hot in the sun - even more so than an apartment.

I just woke up. I'm not even up. My body just woke up to go poop, then it's back to bed.

I read "sleeping mask", but my brain interpreted that, and imagined a gas mask. Filling the inside of the mask with sleeping gas.

But it cools down again rapidly at nighttime, other than the apartment that essentially keeps on staying at the same temperature.
I assume that's what they are trying to profit from here.

While the sun is still up, it doesn't make any sense at all staying in the tent.
Better stay in the apartment with the blinds down and some fans running, as in most cases it will still be cooler inside than outside during daytime, and only switch to the tent during the night.

That does work (mainly at night). But it's annoying when the walls don't cool down. I've found that it's better to have very large windows because they don't retain the heat (just close the blinds during the day).

I have a split one. And an obnoxious neighbour who smokes pot and complains a lot.

I also have pot smoking neighbours. But at least they are really nice!
(I get to eat all the crazy excess foodstuff they buy while getting the munchies... 😁 )

I've tried this many times over the years but when the walls are already heated up and the temperature outside stays high during the night it makes very little difference to confort levels. The heat just radiates from the walls and heats the inside air all night. Until I got proper air conditioning installed I just suffered during the summer.

Has a balcony; $200 is too much....

Have you used a portable AC made in the last decade? They're quiet / on par with central AC these days. I have a Midea one and unless it's on full-blast, it's hardly noticeable beyond the sound of air moving

Balconies are pretty much standard in German housing.
Actually, interestingly they are common especially in poorer neighbourhoods (the notorious "Plattenbau-Siedlungen").
The photo was taken in a mixed neighbourhood, with self-owned flats interspersed with social housing in the same apartment blocks.
So the argument doesn't apply in this case...

Sounds like a reason to get some earplugs

I work in a foundry, and this is what I've experienced. During a heat wave the building is hot the first day, hotter the second day regardless of difference in temp, then hotter the next day. It then levels out pretty much, because the extreme heat is fighting to change not the air temp, but the building materials temp, in this case concrete and steel. It takes longer for the materials to heat than the air but once it starts going, the building materials continue to warm, because they also cool slower. Then even at night, it doesn't really cool off because it takes a long time for concrete and steel to release heat. Honestly the furnaces don't make much of a difference unless you're right up on them.

That is surprising. I've had two in the last dacade, the last one bought 3 years ago and they are around 60dB which is standard from what I've seen. I checked the local midea models and they still say >60dB in their spec. No decent central or split system gets close to that kind of noise and personally I find it impossible to live with.

I used to keep a loaded nerf pistol with me for this exact reason.

I have a tent like that. It's for two people. Probably the most common type of cheap tent I see in Finland

You wouldn't be sleeping in it during the day

The cheap ones are noisy

I bought one used for 95€. It's a real blessing after working in the sun all day. It does cool down the apartment but the noice thing is true in that it does make some noice. But I don't mind it when it's a constant humm, nice to sleep during that

Or smoking 😔

Sucks not being able to open the windows because half the complex has smoke that loves to come right in uninvited.

1. Fan
2. Open windows

Where is this? It has outdoor-style shutters and what I suspect are German-style windows behind them.

I love those outdoor shutters. Not only are they great for keeping the heat from getting inside, they also mean you can have a TV in a room with big windows. If you want to watch a dark movie, or any movie that would be ruined if things are too bright, you can also lower the shutters. They'd probably also be good in a violent storm.

Doubt, with external shutters and solar balcony

Still not enough in some cases. My bedroom for example. It's on the southside of the building and even with every window open and fans running till late in the night, I can still feel the temperature difference between north and south side rooms.

27°C is still too hot to sleep in