You may curse your old radiators that are difficult to fine tune and insist on chugging out the over abundance of heat that they decide on, whether you like it or not, but there is a good reason for this.

A late nineteenth century belief in the fresh air movement was triggered by the (correct) assumption that airborne pathogens like tuberculosis were made much worse if you didn't have a good exchange of fresh air.

At the turn of the century, with the invention of steam powered heat,  engineers began to design steam heating systems which were meant to heat a house in the depths of winter with all the windows open.

When the Spanish Influenza hit in 1918, it is said that this kind of heating and ventilation method was what saved more people, attributing about 40% of the deaths to those who did not have a well ventilated space.

By the time it was over, the steam heat system was proven to work and through the 20's and 30's, it was mandated that all systems continue to be designed to heat a house with all the windows open.

As fuel systems began to change from coal to oil, it was hard to resize a boiler to keep up, so they were often oversized just to make sure. With the advent of insulation and replacement windows, we may all now be boiling in our houses this winter, but with the current pandemic, at least we know we can open our windows and still be warm.