Living in a house built 135 years ago has it’s benefits. I love the history of the property, I love the old world feel to the house, I love little things like the 11 inch woodwork that makes no sense, pocket doors, an amazing yard, on and on.
One thing I don’t like about an old house is that it is very hard to keep it warm. It’s a combination of a lack of insulation and inadequate duct work. If I had to do this house over again I would have installed radiated heat… but instead we have a blended system of forced air and electric heat. The result is that some areas are warmish while other areas are constantly drafty.
It’s been a joke of visitors that our house is always cold. People say "We’re going to Adam’s house, we need to dress warm." Or my personal favorite is a friend of mine who says "We McLane their house sometimes." (Now we’re a verb?) Why? Um, pretty simple… we can’t afford to keep our old house at 72 degrees. Even at 65 during the day and 58 at night, we’re a little worried about energy costs this winter.
Does this frustrate me? Not really. I grew up in "This Old House" so I am just used to it. The house I was born in was from the 1920s, the house my dad had is from 1888, he now lives in a 1920s house, on and on. It’s not an issue to me at all. I look at it from a historical perspective and say "For 135 years kids have been raised in this house and lived, so will mine."
My personal opinion is that most Americans are too comfortable in their homes. They waste water by washing several times a day, they heat their homes to feel like Florida during a Michigan winter, on and on. We tend to put personal comfort so much higher than we actually need that we simply are spoiled. I hear people say "I can’t live in a house that gets down to 58 at night." Um, you would adapt. They say "I need a shower twice a day or I break out." Um, maybe your skin is breaking out because of your constantly remove the natural oils your body produces? OK, I’ll stop whining.
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