Heatwaves: five reasons why Victorian houses are cooler than modern buildings

Environment
A row of typical Victorian houses in the UK

More than four million homes were built in the UK during the Victorian era.

Victorian homes were constructed long before the  used today to design buildings were invented. Yet, these homes, built over 100 years ago, are .

Here are some fundamental  reasons why this is.

  1. Shutters

Many Victorian homes featured  to block the sun’s heat before it entered the building. The Victorians knew that blocking the sun’s heat before it enters the building is among . Few homes built in the 20th century in the UK have external shutters on windows, partly because modern homes use outward-opening hinged casement windows which cannot be used with external shutters.

Homes in southern and central Europe have tended to keep their external shutters, because they have historically faced hotter summers than the UK. With a changing climate, parts of the UK are expected to have a climate similar to the .

Victorian homes were also equipped with internal shutters.  at reducing overheating because the sun’s heat has already passed into the building. Yet, they are still more effective than a completely unshaded window, particularly if the shutters are painted a light colour which reflects some of the heat back out.

Their main benefit, however, is . Many Victorian internal shutters survive today as they are less likely to have been damaged due to weather exposure or have been removed when sliding sash windows were replaced with other alternatives.

Continues…

 

For the full article by Dr Ben Roberts visit .

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