You're creating a false dichotomy there.Biospace wrote: ↑26 Jan 2023, 9:53pm As someone who now lives with UFH for 99% of our 'set fire to it' space heating, it's a shock coming from an old house which had its slightly unconventional heating systems installed and designed by me - anyone remember my description of the Army M67 in the greenhouse feeding radiators or the best part of a tonne of bricks surrounding the metal woodburner to capture and slowly release otherwise lost radiation?
I miss the intense, bone-warming radiation of the woodstove which would cure anything this side of frostbite within minutes (but lack of it makes those first hot rays of sunshine in April even more precious), of the total control of cooking on wood (I hate the induction hob and miss preparing kindling from a variety of wood all with different qualities), the feeling of a house coming up to temperature from roaring flames and the freshness and cleanliness of the air with draughts.
Houses used to rely on the mass of the structure for insulation, now we have plastic insulation with concrete floors and stone worktops (yuck) forming the heat storage - which can make things feel very cold even when internal temperatures are quite reasonable. In prolonged summer heat (which is what the global warmists promise us more and more of) many modern builds become uncomfortable days before older properties.
Someday I will build or modify a house to how I'd really like it, perhaps a hefty wooden frame with mud and straw infill for walls and the heat mass storage around a central fire, probably a form of rocket mass heater, with solar heating optimised for when the sun is at a low angle. There'll be no plastic liner to prevent 'breathing', in a mild, breezy climate we don't need such extreme measures - mould is more dangerous than a few cooler corners.
Insulation and a properly specified and constructed wall profile is the best way to control indoor temperature, humidity and air quality.
There is next to nothing that can be said positively about the insulative qualities of older buildings. You can't equate mass of structure to insulation.
In an ideal world, you want a fairly thick wall profile, with ample insulation and a build up of moisture permeable materials that encourage moisture transition from indoors to ourdoors. Thermal mass within the insulated envelop is great, and will help to stabilise temperatures a bit. You also want some sort of hygroscopic material within the building to regulate humidity. Lime or clay plaster, or exposed wood.
To hark back to traditional building techniques as a solution for modern housing is like looking at the Ford Model T for modern transport.
The UK may well have a mild climate, but it's getting increasingly and uncomfortably hot in summer, and winter storms strip heat from houses incredibly quickly.
The UK just needs to up the game massively on new house building. Ditch the big builders (who have the councils and the government in their pockets) and start to focus on building houses that people actually want to live in, rather than houses that people have no choice but to settle for.