# Keeping Cool & Warm the Natural Way

- Link: https://www.oldhouseguy.com/keeping-cool/
- Published: 2015-07-21T10:36:00-04:00
- Author: Ken Roginski

Modern mid-century homes were designed for the advent of air-conditioning.

Although a gradual process, new Ranch style homes with their small windows helped
create this need.

It didn’t take long for this luxury to soon become a necessity as few homes today
are without air-conditioning.

Architects no longer need to design a home for passive cooling or heating when comfort
comes at a flip of a switch.

[⌊old house air conditioning⌉⌊old house air conditioning⌉[

Air-conditioning once a luxury, now a necessity.

But what about our environmental resources?  What about the high expense of using
energy? The media tells people that insulation is the solution. Today people are
anxious to spend their money on filling their walls with chemicals and replacing
windows etc. It’s a buy – buy – buy world. Everything comes with a price tag.

**What about cooling and heating techniques used years ago?**

Do you think our ancestors wearing all those clothes were NOT concerned about their
comfort?

Old homes may have been drafty in the winter but they were not as uncomfortable 
as one might think during the winter cold or summer heat.

[⌊awnings for cooling⌉⌊awnings for cooling⌉[

Awnings can block up to 90% of solar heat gain.

**Buildings and properties were designed to take advantage of natural heating and
cooling through laws of thermodynamics and natural ventilation.**

Today the many ways of using nature to provide comfort in a building is long forgotten.

The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources published a manual explaining age-
old ways of heating and cooling dwellings. The manual begins with how the need for
comfort determined the design of homes. It explores the uses of passive climate-
driven architectural design, preferred material and design solutions, as well as
historical models of implementation. These methods and designs seldom used today
can once again be realized.

While the manual was originally published in 2003, it offers valuable information
to people who are looking to restore or renovate historical structures with a sustainable
approach. This information is timeless.

## 󠀁[Click here to read the manual and Save Energy. ](https://www.oldhouseguy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/older_houses_in_LA.pdf)󠁿

and then watch this video on how people lived before air-conditioning.

![](/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/icon1.jpg)

National Park Service Technical Preservation Brief #24
 [Heating, Ventilating,and Cooling Historic Buildings. ](https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1739/upload/preservation-brief-24-heating-cooling.pdf)

Preservation Brief # 44
 [Use of Awnings on Historic Buildings – New Design. ](https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1739/upload/preservation-brief-44-awnings.pdf)