It’s good for the planet, it’s good for your pocket – energy-efficient living is moving up to the top of the wish list for a growing number of people looking to buy property in France, says Julie Savill
Hands up anyone who enjoys paying more than they need to on household bills. No one? I thought as much. If you are embarking on the search for a place in France, it may well be that you want to consider the energy efficiency of properties or the potential to improve that in the future.
Walking around a French village, have you ever wondered where everyone is? Why every house is tightly shuttered up? A level of energy efficiency is built into the culture in France and people grow up knowing how to make the most of what nature provides. When I first moved here, we would take every opportunity to fling open the windows and shutters but we soon learned that we were just letting the house overheat in the summer. By contrast we’d often see windows wide open on a sunny winter’s morning as our neighbours gathered every bit of free heat.
Older country houses are often built with one face towards the south where it will be bathed in any available sunlight and the warmth that comes with that. Shutters and windows are opened early to take advantage of this and then closed to conserve the warmth as the sun moves around.
Traditional stone properties with thick walls have their own in-built level of insulation. They take some time to warm up but, once heated, those walls tend to act as a storage heater, retaining the warmth and keeping you cosy. However, even with those chunky stone walls, there are other elements to take into consideration. Windows are often single glazed, lofts uninsulated, old wooden floors and doors can be draughty. If you are looking for a property to use simply as a summer bolthole then none of this is likely to impact on your choices particularly. However, if you are aiming for year-round use, there are steps you can take – either in your initial property selection or in improvements you make following your purchase.
THE STYLE FACTOR
For a considerable proportion of people, a traditional stone property with old-fashioned charm is the dream; it certainly was mine. Fast-forward a few years and I would happily consider a purpose-built, more modern house with far better insulation, double (or even triple) glazing, along with effective heating.
For those seeking the balance between traditional charm and energy efficiency, a village house could be a good solution. In a terrace, you have far less outside wall space so you are automatically more insulated. Couple that with fewer windows and the fact that villages
