I've Never Been Cold in a Well-Built House from 1870

Walk into a viewing for an old house, and someone inevitably whispers it: "But what about the heating?"

There it is again. The assumption that anything built before underfloor heating must be a drafty nightmare. That thick walls are the enemy. That comfort comes only in the form of ductwork and digital thermostats.

And yet, here we are in a house from 1870. High ceilings. Stone walls. No plastic sealants or foam-stuffed cavities. And warm. Not just tolerable. Actually warm.

Modern buyer psychology - particularly in Luxembourg - has been shaped by decades of marketing that insists newer is better, sleeker is smarter, and insulation must always be thick enough to muffle thought.

But those rules don’t apply to older homes. They were built with knowledge of air flow, light, and seasonal variation. Our house for instance is wonderfully cool in summer, particularly on the ground floor and first floor, here the thick walls really make a difference. And in winter the warmth from the two working fireplaces is distributed to the entire house.

The real question isn’t whether a historical house can be warm, it’s whether you’re willing to look beyond the brochure logic.

Because heating comfort isn’t about gadgets. It’s about fit. It's about how well a system suits the structure it lives in. And sometimes that means fireplaces, clever zoning, and discreet modern additions like infra-red panels that warm you, not just the air.

And often, it even means, like in our case, lower energy bills than your thoroughly modern neighbour with the heat pump that hums through the night. Particularly these days with very high electricity costs, a heat pump actually seems less and less like a clever solution.

If you’re a buyer standing in front of a charming old façade and nervously picturing frozen mornings, take a breath and relax.

These homes have lasted centuries. They know what they’re doing. What they need is understanding, not renovation by default.

A modern heating system is just one layer. The house already brings the rest.

For the full story of how we heat our 1870 home with charm, practicality and not a heat pump in sight, head over to the main blog post.

written by Helen M. Krauss