When my wife and I were looking for a home, our main priority was actually that it’s “climate proof”.
We found a souterrain apartment facing east, on top of a hill, far from any rivers or forest.
So it stays cool in the summer even without A/C, and is unlikely to flood or get caught in a forest fire.
I have a dislike souterrain flats, because while they keep cool in summer, in winter it’s a heatsink radiating away all the heat you pay for, even with modern insulation. At least my experience.
My experience is, while that is true, problem is, if you want to move away from the ground temperature, which is, let’s just say, 9°C experience-wise, then you will need to have your heating running 24-7 to move it to a liveable temperature, even if that temp is just 16°C. My perspective is insofar biased that it comes from gas heating, and I had no control over that place’s heating. So in short: fuck gas. My current living situation is as follows. I live on the second floor. Left of me, there’s a flat that’s heating. Right of me, there’s a flat that’s heating. On top of me, there’s a flat that’s heating. Below me, there’s a flat that’s heating and behind me is the hallway, which has 20°C for the entire year. Basically, I have my heating turned to frost protection and I get 25°C, no joke. Plus I have district heating now. So that’s a massive improvement.
Actually a floor that’s halfway between street level and basement.
So it’s possible to build normal windows into it, but they’re very low to (or slightly below) the ground outside.
The only issue you can have is high humidity/mold due to the high temperature difference in summer but that can usually be adressed with proper ventilation at night.
When my wife and I were looking for a home, our main priority was actually that it’s “climate proof”.
We found a souterrain apartment facing east, on top of a hill, far from any rivers or forest.
So it stays cool in the summer even without A/C, and is unlikely to flood or get caught in a forest fire.
I have a dislike souterrain flats, because while they keep cool in summer, in winter it’s a heatsink radiating away all the heat you pay for, even with modern insulation. At least my experience.
Heating costs are divided equally among all tenants, we only have one meter :)
Ah, if you have district heating that’s nice.
Doesn’t that depend on the relative temperatures? Surely the ground is warmer than a typical winter day.
My experience is, while that is true, problem is, if you want to move away from the ground temperature, which is, let’s just say, 9°C experience-wise, then you will need to have your heating running 24-7 to move it to a liveable temperature, even if that temp is just 16°C. My perspective is insofar biased that it comes from gas heating, and I had no control over that place’s heating. So in short: fuck gas. My current living situation is as follows. I live on the second floor. Left of me, there’s a flat that’s heating. Right of me, there’s a flat that’s heating. On top of me, there’s a flat that’s heating. Below me, there’s a flat that’s heating and behind me is the hallway, which has 20°C for the entire year. Basically, I have my heating turned to frost protection and I get 25°C, no joke. Plus I have district heating now. So that’s a massive improvement.
What is souterraine?
A fancy French word for basement.
Actually a floor that’s halfway between street level and basement.
So it’s possible to build normal windows into it, but they’re very low to (or slightly below) the ground outside.
Cul-de-basse-fausse, that would be a fancy french word !
The only issue you can have is high humidity/mold due to the high temperature difference in summer but that can usually be adressed with proper ventilation at night.