Dear of troy: In New England a hundred years ago, a cellar was very desirable as a place to store vegetables, fuel for the heating system, and protect the first floor from moisture while tending to insulate it also.The cellar was also the location of utility inputs. An attic, usually unfinished provided protection from the summer heat, and somewhat decreased heat loss in winter. Bathtubs had not yet had showers added. (Horrid idea, sitting in your own ablutions.) Woodstoves were just beginning to be replaced by gas stoves. My mother was glad when an electric stove replaced the gas stove. Insulation was virtually non-existent, which made houses harder to heat. But the new houses, so well insulated and energy efficient, are less healthful. There was an article in NEJM right after WWII, describing the bafflement of French pediatricians trying to explain why there fewer children hospitalized because of pneumonia during the Nazi occupation than before it or after it. Their conclusion was that an unheated house was healthier for children than a heated one. The rugs in today's houses get heavily contaminated with all sorts of infectious and allergenic substances, which easily become airborne, and there is too little air exchange to clear them. Just as airplanes have terribly unhealthy air. Maybe I should get off my soapbox at this point.
