It’s that they’re designed to keep heat in, don’t have reflective insulation in the attics/crawl spaces, have tiny windows that poorly ventilate, and honestly don’t have AC. That’s my conclusion as a U.S. brick house dweller.
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As someone who's experienced Finnish residential architecture and lived in various English houses: British houses are not designed to retain heat. Always draughty. I'd say British houses are built in a climate where extremes of temperature were rare, cold temps just get heating ramped up.
jul 12, 2025, 11:40 pm • 0 0 • view
Example: in Finland, triple-glazing is mandated. In England, I've lived in houses where you couldn't seal windows shut, and grew up in one where ice flowers would form on the inside of the (single-paned) glass in winter.
jul 12, 2025, 11:44 pm • 0 0 • view
Live in an edwardian brick house and grew up in a victoriana brick house. Cold as tombs. I have to put a cardie on in the kitchen, even today when it's 30° outside. So it's not the brick that's the problem. Maybe it's the era in which they're built? Older houses are generally colder in the UK
jul 12, 2025, 2:36 pm • 0 0 • view