An Elizabethan mansion's secrets for staying warm • Hacker News Board

Re: An Elizabethan mansion's secrets for staying warm

#21

Post by rapsey » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 6:13 PM UTC

cwillu wrote: post #13

Brits will do anything except properly insulate their damn homes.

Brits, Dutch, Belgium, Northern Germany. They all have this incredibly outdated building style that they refuse to change. Bricks with no insulation. I live 1000km to the south of them and it is pretty standard for us to have tripple pane windows and thick insulation on our houses. But they for some reason prefer to live in cold houses during the winter and overheated houses during the summer.

I have had multiple conversations with people who lived a while in that area. Rich, educated countries, modern economies, but they live like they are poor farmers in the 19th century.

Re: An Elizabethan mansion's secrets for staying warm

#22

Post by lm28469 » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 6:17 PM UTC

vl wrote: post #9

vosper wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Passive house thinking comes from an era of peak oil concerns, no solar, and no heat pumps. None of those conditions holds anymore. Further, passive houses are notorious for overheating and because they’re so airtight they require expensive mechanical ventilation and make-up air systems unless you want indoor air pollution problems. People building houses today are much better served by spending their money on solar…

But any modern house is too airtight and essentially requires ERV. Which brings us to next interesting problem - you would think that ERV should be built-in into modern cooling/heating systems, but it’s no the case.

Yes, it's one of the cheapest way to reduce your energy needs and have clean air, plus it's fairly low tech system

Re: An Elizabethan mansion's secrets for staying warm

#23

Post by solidsnack9000 » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 6:24 PM UTC

The central spine of the building, 1.4m of stone or brick, could probably help cool a house, as well.

Re: An Elizabethan mansion's secrets for staying warm

#24

Post by gehsty » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 6:24 PM UTC

rapsey wrote: post #21

cwillu wrote: post #13

Brits will do anything except properly insulate their damn homes.

Brits, Dutch, Belgium, Northern Germany. They all have this incredibly outdated building style that they refuse to change. Bricks with no insulation. I live 1000km to the south of them and it is pretty standard for us to have tripple pane windows and thick insulation on our houses. But they for some reason prefer to live in cold houses during the winter and overheated houses during the summer. I have had multiple con…

British building regs literally require insulation? It is not a law that old builds have to be brought up to code, but there were government schemes where you got free loft and cavity wall insulation in old houses.

Re: An Elizabethan mansion's secrets for staying warm

#25

Post by IncreasePosts » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 6:25 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #20

It's an interesting article on this one particular mansion, but the idea that "the same tricks for more efficient heating can be used in modern designs" seems pretty silly. We don't use fireplaces anymore (a major "trick" being to put them in the middle of the house rather than in the exterior walls), and while using large windows to capture sunlight and heat works great in the winter, it also leads to overheating in…

> while using large windows to capture sunlight and heat works great in the winter

That's what awnings (or solar overhangs, or light shelves) are for. You block the high/hot summer sun but let in the low/cool winter sun.

> the idea that it has something to teach modern architects and builders is pure fantasy

Isn't the idea of mcmansions that they co opt smart classic design ideas, but use them in a manner which doesn't let them fulfill their function purpose(skeuomorphism)? So someone certainly has some things to learn

Re: An Elizabethan mansion's secrets for staying warm

#26

Post by dyauspitr » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 6:29 PM UTC

ynac wrote: post #10

When we lost power for 10 days a few winters back we attempted to use the fire place for heat. It was a fail. Post and beam house (large wide open floor plan) with a large transfer from 1st to 2nd floor, and apprently my lack of skill for optimizing heat over beauty in the fireplace, left us without much of a thermal bump. To this day I swear we were pulling heat out of the chimney faster than we were heating the hou…

Yeah fireplaces don’t make sense to me. Hot air rises and it sucks the existing heated air in the house which all flows out. The only way to heat the space is you need something with a lot of thermal mass that heats up in the process and then radiates heat. So a lot of bricks around the fire, some sort of baffle to enable the heat transfer and a system that sucks in air from the outside.

Re: An Elizabethan mansion's secrets for staying warm

#27

Post by dpark » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 6:30 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #20

It's an interesting article on this one particular mansion, but the idea that "the same tricks for more efficient heating can be used in modern designs" seems pretty silly. We don't use fireplaces anymore (a major "trick" being to put them in the middle of the house rather than in the exterior walls), and while using large windows to capture sunlight and heat works great in the winter, it also leads to overheating in…

It feeds into people’s desire to feel superior. “You and me, dear reader, we’re two of the very few smart ones in a sea of incompetents.”

Re: An Elizabethan mansion's secrets for staying warm

#28

Post by crazygringo » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 6:32 PM UTC

IncreasePosts wrote: post #25

crazygringo wrote: post #20

It's an interesting article on this one particular mansion, but the idea that "the same tricks for more efficient heating can be used in modern designs" seems pretty silly. We don't use fireplaces anymore (a major "trick" being to put them in the middle of the house rather than in the exterior walls), and while using large windows to capture sunlight and heat works great in the winter, it also leads to overheating in…

> while using large windows to capture sunlight and heat works great in the winter That's what awnings (or solar overhangs, or light shelves) are for. You block the high/hot summer sun but let in the low/cool winter sun. > the idea that it has something to teach modern architects and builders is pure fantasy Isn't the idea of mcmansions that they co opt smart classic design ideas, but use them in a manner which doesn…

> That's what awnings (or solar overhangs, or light shelves) are for.

Right, this is my point. We already think about these things.

> Isn't the idea of mcmansions

I don't think McMansions, or whatever your favorite example of bad architecture is, shows that we've somehow lost knowledge. Architects and builders are aware of all of these things, but that doesn't mean there aren't still clients who want less energy-efficient designs for all sorts of reasons, like aesthetics.

We know how to build energy-efficient buildings that are appropriate for the location and seasons. We also know how to build buildings for other purposes, and are aware of the tradeoffs in how they use more energy. Energy conservation isn't the only goal in home design.

Re: An Elizabethan mansion's secrets for staying warm

#29

Post by secondcoming » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 6:33 PM UTC

Glawen wrote: post #17

cwillu wrote: post #13

Brits will do anything except properly insulate their damn homes.

And make a bathroom practical and enjoyable. Sink with hot and cold tap, electric water heater in shower, come on...

I don't think I've ever been in a UK home that didn't have these, except perhaps the electric shower; older homes may still use immersion heating for hot water.

Were you in prison when you experienced the above?

Re: An Elizabethan mansion's secrets for staying warm

#30

Post by dpark » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 6:35 PM UTC

IncreasePosts wrote: post #25

crazygringo wrote: post #20

It's an interesting article on this one particular mansion, but the idea that "the same tricks for more efficient heating can be used in modern designs" seems pretty silly. We don't use fireplaces anymore (a major "trick" being to put them in the middle of the house rather than in the exterior walls), and while using large windows to capture sunlight and heat works great in the winter, it also leads to overheating in…

> while using large windows to capture sunlight and heat works great in the winter That's what awnings (or solar overhangs, or light shelves) are for. You block the high/hot summer sun but let in the low/cool winter sun. > the idea that it has something to teach modern architects and builders is pure fantasy Isn't the idea of mcmansions that they co opt smart classic design ideas, but use them in a manner which doesn…

I think the idea with McMansions is that they are just tacky. Poorly aped styles. Columns that don’t do anything and are proportioned wrong for the load they are intended to look like they carry. Complex roofs that do nothing useful but “look fancy”. 100% style over substance, but with style that snooty people look down on.

I imagine that McMansions are generally about as energy efficient (per square foot) as other contemporary homes, though.