An American in Britain

As the weather gets warmer, we need to prepare for the invasion of the those pesky flying insects again.  Now, in the US, we usually get flies, then later in the summer we get the mosquitoes.  Here, since the weather gets warmer earlier and stays warmer later in the year, we have a longer period of flies, mosquitoes, midges, moths and other flying insects which I have yet to identify.  I have already talked about the “killer gnats”, so I really don’t want to get on the topic of insects again.[ad#ad-1]

What I would like to mention is the lack of screens on windows and doors.  Screens seem to be the mainstay of windows in the US and most houses also have screen doors on the outside.  This is to keep out the flying insects
when you want to open the windows or doors for fresh air.  This, of course, does not prevent insects from getting through when you go in and out of the doors.  But it does cut down on a lot of entry at other times.  I have yet to see a screen here.  And they can’t say it’s because they don’t have flying insects.  I don’t know what the reasoning is behind the lack of screens.

One of the features of windows that I see advertised quite frequently is double-glazing.  Essentially, it is two layers of glass, which is supposed to cut down on draughts and hold in heat.  We are not fortunate enough to have double-glazing on our windows, which may in part explain the temperature of the house during the winter months.  But, I cannot comment on how it affects the temperature during the summer months.  We had covered the windows with a semi-transparent plastic drop sheet for the winter (and have not removed them yet) and when the sun comes through, it really heats up the room.  I can just imagine what double-glazing would do.