As I said Dom, earlier 
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We also have a gas barbecue with an oven and a five hob gas ring on my range.
Lectric oven, gas hob, flatop woodburner, gives us a fair chance of warming summat up, whatever
Until a few years ago, an elderly neighbour was still doing some of her cooking using a contraption hanging over her open fire. Her son had bought her a bottled-gas stove, but she refused to use it for certain things, reckoning they did not taste the sameā¦ 
Her house was so cool indoorsā¦ that the fire would be acceptable, even in a heatwaveā¦ 
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Traditional houses where I lived in Portugal, had a ceiling made of bamboo on which a membrane was laid,(often old cement bags) then the 'pan tiles laid on top, so air passed freely. The floor, unglazed, so porous bricks or tiles.
During spells of hot weather ā¦
In the morning, water was spattered over the floor with a brush, soaking in, this evaporated during the day creating a cooling effect, the warm air passing through the roof, very effective system
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Canāt let OH see this, or heāll have me washing the tiled floors every morningā¦ 
Nothing to do with getting them clean Stella 
maybe not , but water on our tilesā¦ mmmmā¦ cleans ā¦ and thinking about it, might not be such a bad plan as I would have to sit quietly while everything driedā¦ so as to avoid slipping/falling/breaking (which I do far too often).
Regarding my post Stella, you would be unlikely to slip on āunglazedā, wet tiles
Hi Billā¦ I thought is was clearā¦ I am talking about my tiled floorsā¦ which are not unglazedā¦ 
Ok 
I also made it clear Stella, I was talking unglazed tiles, so porous tile/brick floors, hence the slow evaporation/cooling effect
I understand, Billā¦ I was jesting that OH will probably think it a good idea to have a try with our tilesā¦in this heat (40C again today)ā¦ I might just lie on the tiles and let him chuck a bucket of water over meā¦
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I lived for 20 years in Texas, USA. Specifically, Austin, where in summer the temperatures and humidity too might be similar to what Bill describes in Portugal. The unglazed tiles there were called āsaltilloā and provided that cooling effect when āwateredā as he describes. Also, there was the simple method of architecture for a home, called a ādoglegā which is where the house is built to include a long hall in the middle through which the wind can form a current and blow to cool things. The porches, if built in the right way, were deep enough to allow air to cool before entering the house. All of this kind of thing is fascinating, I think. Iām interested in not having electric power, and solar power is a great energy source in my opinion; but before even doing the solar it seems important to consider the use of materials like saltillo (unglazed terracotta clay) and heating/cooling via utilizing good house structure. I appreciate this discussion and the comments! Cheers.
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The bamboo ceilings, in combination with, the evaporation from the terracotta/saltillo floors in Portugal were amazingly efficient Mary, not daft the ānativesā
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So much that our ancestors knew, without the benefit of internet
Adobe houses, long in existance in all parts of the world. My grandmotherās house in Kent had laithe, plaster and horsehair walls, great for insulation but not so good if a fire takes hold 
Clay tiles, again lots of houses had these and still do, both for the floors and roof.
Roofing, well straw was the popular choice because it was cheap and practical, it also looks so pretty on a cottage, especially in the Cotswalds and here in France but again such a big fire risk.
My first house in France was an old farmhouse, one of the few with a central corridor. It was built of local stone with very deep walls, an enormous fireplace that I could easliy fit in, and small windows. Of course all this was to conserve the heat in winter and to keep the house cool in summer. We visited so many houses that were built with the idea of keeping the āstockā adjacent or under the house for the same reason.
I now live in a more modern house, it too has a central corridor and that works well. However it is much more difficult for d.i.y. The one bonus is that is has central heating, no more shifting 15 steres of wood to stack for the winter, no more cleaning of wood stoves every morning and all the ashes in the air ā¦
I do think that we, the human race, are quite adaptable and can cope in emergency situations, long term not so sure !
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The main roofing for traditional houses in the Cotswolds is Cotswold stone tiles.
When we extended our house just below Minchinhampton Common, we had to use them.
They are in short supply and we managed to swap our large ones for some smaller ones, so two houses were able to have ānewā roofs.
The Victorian brick houses in Stroud mainly had Welsh slate roofs.
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My house in Portugal, as here had 1mtr thick walls, here though, stone, there compacted earth, small stones and straw, amazing how durable that is!
I had to have 3k new bricks made for the floors, the roof had to come off, new eucalyptus poles, new bamboo, most of the old tiles I managed to save, they looked much more pleasing than new ones, new wiring and plumbing (incā a septic tank which hadnāt existed).
It was a great experience rebuilding that place.
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Sounds amazing, do you have any photos of it Bill ?
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It was lovely Ann, The S. Alentajo, with great views of the R Guadiana, Spain on one side, Portugal on the other. To be honest, I donāt know where any pics I had, are 
One down side was the heat for a month or two, itās been warm here, but nothing compared to there. Impossible to do anything much, from 11.30 am 'til 6.30pm at this time of year.
Though cool in winter, saw snow once, and ice quite often.
Enjoyed converting the āCoo Hooseā here and wouldnāt move unless we had to, i.e. for Bās work.
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