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Paris is less dense now than it was last century. Owners would buy 2 adjacent flats and knock down the walls between. In fact, that is going on now. Friends of
by yardie 7y ago
Paris is less dense now than it was last century. Owners would buy 2 adjacent flats and knock down the walls between. In fact, that is going on now. Friends of ours converted 2 apartments to a duplex (French: an apartment on 2 floors, English: 2 units in 1 building).
Those Haussmanns (actually Belle Epoch, most visitors would not recognize an Haussmann) are quite average in efficiency (~C) if they have been maintained and had the glass replaced in the last 20 years.
Those same Haussmans are individually heated. Only the modern apartments (60s,70s,80s) have central heating. And they almost all radiators have a mechanical thermostat. So I'm not sure what you mean by turning it off. The building guardian will turn on the central heat and then it's up to you to find a comfortable temperature.
> Some of my darkest days have been in Paris in summer because my hosts kept the indoors in total darkness :)
Ahh, here we agree. My last flat we left the shutters closed until sunset. Then when we did open them the music, wine, and cigarettes came out :-)
- Scoundreller 7y agoMaybe we have a difference in terminology? By central heating, I mean a boiler for the building, not district heating. Are those 'Haussmanns' running electric heaters, (maybe mini-split systems nowadays), or fitting a ?gaz? ?oil? burner in a closet for heat? My experience was that the radiators could maintain a temperature (with some prayer), but don't pump out a lot of heat. I still disdain the mechanical thermostats: you have to turn them up and down as the outside temperatures/sun/winds change. It didn't help that my hosts put things in front of the radiators, preventing them from radiating. > Then when we did open them the music, wine, and cigarettes came out That didn't stop my hosts!
- throwaway744678 7y agoOne gas burner per flat, yes.
- yardie 7y agoCentral heating was more common in buildings built in the 50s-80s. The only places I know of with district heating are university and government campuses. It was popular then because it was more efficient than wood burning fireplaces. But has since been replaced with in-unit gas boilers. Our apartment, a 60s era building, had central heating. It put out plenty of heat. I would say far too much heat. We ran into the problem that central heating isn't distributed evenly. Some apartments get lots of heat and some get far too little. Apartments at the top and near the bottom floors were the worst. We've actually had to crack the windows during the winter or we would have roasted. > It didn't help that my hosts put things in front of the radiators, I assume they were using them to dry clothes? If that is the case we are also guilty of this as well. Clothes dryers still aren't common in the city. It appears the problem wasn't central heating but your hosts. Radiators don't pump out heat they radiate it. I would bet the building pipes weren't being maintained nor were the radiators. Paris water is really hard. If you don't descale them regularly the pipes will get blocked with lime. And it is really evident when water comes out in a trickle.
- Scoundreller 7y agoNot clothes, but putting a board on top to store things, or a couch next to it against the wall. Drove me bonkers. At least I would aim a fan at it to actually heat a room. Then those people move to North America and set the thermostat to 29C thinking it’ll make it warmer faster. It won’t.