Insulation isn’t magic. Our house in Bangladesh was made of inches of concrete. It still got hot as hell, and everyone there who can afford it gets an air conditioner. Of course France’s climate is more moderate. But I’m genuinely shocked to learn that 95% of what purports to be a first world country can’t keep their houses at a fixed temperature year-round. I feel like my dad (who grew up in Bangladesh) when he went to West Virginia and found out there were places in America without indoor toilets.
It absorbs heat and releases it over time. It’s the direct opposite of an insulator, it’s thermal mass.
If it’s cold outside concrete will swiftly radiate away any heat it has retained and you’ll find yourself in quite the chilly building.
Good insulators for homes are products like Rockwool, Earthwool, and HardieFire (probably all Australian product names).
You can also get thermally reflective paints for roofs and exterior walls; fully sealed / sealable door and windows; double glazed windows with thermal film almost as good as triple glazed; polycarbonate window frames that have low thermal conductivity; HVAC systems that can transfer heat from warm roof space to living areas; products like Sun Lizard thermal transfer systems.
I’ve been in houses in Victoria and Tasmania where some or all of these systems have been implemented and the inside of the houses hover around 17 - 25 all year round with only passive systems.
> I’ve been in houses in Victoria and Tasmania where some or all of these systems have been implemented and the inside of the houses hover around 17 - 25 all year round with only passive systems.
That’s an enormous range (62-75 F) that few Americans would tolerate.
Seriously though, I'm an Asian now living in America -- in the cold part. For the first 15'ish years here, I despised the Winters because I could not tolerate them. But then I started lifting and doing cardio, and all of a sudden I could bear the cold just fine.
Americans are being wusses if they are so intolerant of that range. They need to buck up and hit the gym, like I finally did.
You get used to it pretty quickly. And you need to because central AC is such a huge waste of electricity that in 50 years you won't have it ;-). Buy a sweater and decent t-shirt.
