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The problem

Why is my house so hot in Panama?

The short answer: your house gets sun all day, and the roof and walls turn that radiation into heat that enters by conduction and radiation. The useful answer is below.

Quick answer

Your house heats up because a surface exposed to the sun, almost always the roof, absorbs radiation and transmits it indoors. In Panama this is made worse by humidity, which keeps the body from cooling off, and by increasingly hot nights.

The three culprits, in order

1 · Radiation

The sun on the roof

A conventional roof exceeds 65 °C at the surface. That's the main source. See evidence

2 · Design

No ceiling, no shade

Without a ceiling, the roof radiates straight inward. Without eaves, windows let the sun in.

3 · Humidity

Heavy air

High humidity stops sweat from evaporating, so the same temperature feels more stifling.

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Sources for this page

Every important claim links to its evidence. Tap to see the source, its context and its limits: DOE Heat balance MiAmbiente. Full bibliography in the evidence library.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask most

It's usually differences in the roof (material, color, whether there's a ceiling), in solar orientation, and in shading. A house with a dark metal roof and no ceiling gains far more heat than one with a light roof and a ceiling.
Humidity doesn't raise the air temperature, but it stops sweat from evaporating, so we feel hotter at the same temperature. That's why moving air helps so much.
Keep reading

Related paths

Roof

The hot roof

The most common cause.

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Night

House stays hot at night

Why it doesn't cool off after dark.

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No A/C

Cooling down without A/C

What you can do right now.

Read →