5 Home Appliances I Only Used After Moving to America
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
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As I continue moving into my first American house, here are five home appliances I only used after moving to America.
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PRO TIP: when your wash is done, leave the lid OPEN to the washer. This will allow the washer to dry out so you won't have mildew and that funky mildew smell.
Surprised your laundry machines aren't Speed Queens.
I wish I could do that, but when I do, my cats climb in there and pee 😅
@@ShortForMitchel prop the lid open a couple of inches.
@@ShortForMitchel was literally going to comment that I can't leave the lid open bc of the cats haha
Mine is always open , by the time I remember to close it it's time to do another load of laundry
My mum got a tumble dryer in 1959 (UK- Electrolux I think). It was passed on to my brother 27 years later when he got married and it has given another 37 years of good service and is still going strong. I wish appliances were that robust today
Today they are made intentionally to break down. It's called planned obsolescence.
Wow! I had a Kenmore (Sears) tumble dryer that went from 1985 to 2019 and thought that was good!!
My mon kept her old Kenmore running because it had a suds-saver. I wished I kept it instead of selling it with the house. (a suds-saver kept the soapy water for the next load).
I have a Whirlpool set from the early 60’s (same one from the one in Who’s Minding The Store with Jerry Lewis) and that thing is built like a absolute tank. Did a oil change on the transmission back in 2021 (yes, older top loading washers have a transmission though much simpler that a car transmission) and it has gears made out of cast iron. It amazes me how they used to make stuff back then but sadly people don’t want to spend that money since “it’s too expensive” or is “old technology”.
@@johnhelwig8745 Eww...
Americans say "instant coffee" in a similar tone to how British folks say "bagged tea" and I'm standing by that.
😂😂
This man bought an entire house just to give us more content.
Dedication.
I wonder if he gets to declare it as a business expense on his taxes.
Laurence is SO thoughtful, nothing but the best for his followers! 😁
I’m sure he bought it to live in.
@@caulkins69 Haha
If you feel it takes a while for the water dispenser to fill you cup, you may need to replace the internal filter. You'll find it will flow much faster with a new filter and then slow as the filter is ready for a change. Since you just moved in, you may not know when the filter was last replaced but the digital display can track the changes for you.
I thought the same thing while watching the slow fill.
Thanks Hank Hill.
Yes, and read the filter directions to see how much water to run through the new one before drinking. The water may be a bit cloudy at first.
Why does it need a filter?
You can actually remove the filter and the water will still run just fine.
As someone who was born and lived in the UK my whole life, having watched this video, I''m shocked and amazed to discover that I've actually been an American all along.
Congratulations on your dual citizenship! Joe Biden has you pre-registered (and pre-voted) in the 2024 election.
American from Southern California, living in texas, and whom participated in study abroad in Bourges, France 2 years: I was shocked to discover I am in fact French, and have been, all along.😂😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣💋💋🫶🏻🇺🇸🌸
No way. No good Mexican restaurants here, and no Walmart. 😉
@@ToniInSussex If ya cant go to walmart AND worry about gettin shot before you buy your gun it just aint america
My fridge has a hot water choice of temp and all. The single best upgrade ever,.
I find it funny that I stopped watching a History Channel video on the American revolution against the British to watch a video about a British man who became American. Lol
I am watching a video about appliances!?!? Laurence, THIS is how much I enjoy your videos.
Oh, the irony...
@@aaronpatterson2369 Exactly 👍
😂😂😂
You mean the history Channel actually plays historical stuff?
Pretty sure it's all reality TV now.
You may want to have your dryer's duct work cleaned. That blue staining inside of the drum usually happens when it gets plugged up with lint and can lead to a fire. Normally it would be a pure white color. This also may be why it takes so long to dry. At my house, my loads dry in about 30 minutes. I usually clean my duct work every 1 to 2 years and also disassemble the dryer at that time and clean out any lint that may be stuck inside to reduce the risk of a house fire.
Or it's blue from your load of jeans....but for sure clean your duct occasionally
Yes!! My neighbour neglected her dryer and it burst into flames one night. On the up side, her laundry DID dry very quickly at that point.
Recently our dryer in our apartment started to have a burning smell. Called out maintenance and apparently there was a bird nest in the exterior of the vent and causing backup of lint. Birds relocated and vent cleaned we are back to functioning. Always good to keep any eye on these things!
You can get some of the lint out of the hose or pipe in between cleanings by setting the dryer to the air dry setting and turn it on empty. Then gently using a stick, tap on the hose and/or pipe while it is running. This often dislodges a lot of the accumulated lint and then blows it outside. Just make sure to go outside or to wherever the vent is and remove any of the lint that got caught on the louvers or the flap if you have the air vent that blows down.
That’s good advice anyway (especially for an older house), but I’ve never heard blue staining having anything to do with plugged up lint pipes.
I love that he’s praising the “dehumidifier “ for the very thing it’s actually used for…better air quality. ❤️
The top loading washer is great when you discover you dropped one sock in the way down to the washer and you can still drop it in while the cycle is running.
OMG YES
new ones lock the lid when you start the cycle
@@ronblack7870 right, but you can pause the cycle at least on the ones I have seen with the lock and then add something and continue the cycle
"new ones lock the lid when you start the cycle"
Another "safety feature" to disable to get the machine to work properly. Sigh.
Don't overload it or you may loose said sock
Dehumidifiers are more commonly needed in homes with basements. The cooler damp air in basements is a breeding ground for mold and mildew, so having one is a good idea for health reasons alone. Plus you get fewer spiders as well!
....Oh, and now that you have a home with a basement, you might want to have it tested for radon if you haven't already. Radon is actually an odorless gas that occurs naturally in the soil, and if your basement has a lot of cracks in the floor or isn't properly waterproofed, the gas can accumulate under the basement slab and find its way in through those cracks or even the porous concrete walls. Radon has been associated with lung cancer, so it's definitely not something you want in your house.
Yea to the radon testing! It is the second largest cause of lung cancer in the US next to smoking. My husband is a contractor and he just did some continuing education on the matter. He was pretty astounded at how many regulations there are in new construction to prevent radon gas permeating the basement/slab of new homes. Also, the upper Midwest is a hot spot for radon gas, though it is found all over the world.
Mould*
@@fionagregory9147 I'm American, I spell it mold....
....however moulding is the word for fancy wood trim around doors and windows.
radon only exists in granitic ground as it's created from uranium which exists only in granitic undegrounds.
@@Arkansya your comment almost comes across as downplaying the risk of radon. Look up a heat map of areas at statistically significant risk of radon exposure and it covers almost half of the contiguous US. Every house I've lived in and the two houses my parents have lived in after I moved out all had radon detectors.
I’m both American and Kiwi and while I think it’s good to air dry when you can to save energy, a dryer is sort of my no compromise appliance. NZ homes are already damp and uninsulated enough and I’d get sick from my clothes never being dry no matter how long I hung them up for. Not to mention, what having to dry them inside if you don’t have a yard does to your sinuses. Also there’s nothing nicer than having warm pajamas and sheets that just came out of the dryer and smell nice.
I air dry primarily but if clothes aren’t 100% dried I’ll toss them in the dryer. The cycle only goes very shortly and therefore costs waaaay less
We hang our clothes outside on the line during the warm months, but after they are dry we will still toss them in the dryer on low setting for 5 to 10 minutes. Not only does it fluff everything up nicely, but it also gets any bugs out of your clothes that might have landed on them while hanging out.
Yeah, I will put them out on the line for a bit and then dry when I can, I just try not to dry things inside like I’ve seen a lot of people do.
Yeah, I will put them out on the line for a bit and then dry when I can, I just try not to dry things inside like I’ve seen a lot of people do.
Why don't you hang them outside?
We have that washer. To reduce mold, consider pulling the detergent tray out and leaving the top open when a load is finished, so that it can dry out completely.
Thank you!
Leave the door cracked open as well
I think his wife knows.
Aha so that is why I should leave the top open. I used to have a front load. They don't wash as well as a top load and have some annoying issues. So I got a top load. Much easier.
I do that with my front loader. This machine comes with my apartment and unfortunately it has some molding issues where the detergent tray goes in. You have to pull out the tray and then look in to where it goes. That’s where all the mold and mildew will start. So when you come to my apartment, the machine doors open and the tray is out and sitting in the machine.
We had to use a dehumidifier in Minnesota during the summer, and a humidifier during the winter.
I hope you save all that dehumidifier water for that humidifier, playa!
dehumidfier are good for basments too
Minnesotan here too ... I use both as well. The humidifier in winter is especially important in Minnesota., IMO.
@@ultraderek best comment, reminds me of the Dad from Friday.
Same here in Michigan. Couldn't live without er either one.
An appliance you won't be familiar with in Illinios is the swamp cooler. Commonly used in the very dry West, places like Idaho and New Mexico, the swamp cooler is an Air Conditioner that works by adding humidity to the interior of the house. Inexpensive and massively effective. Too bad it doesn't work in the humid Mid-West.
They also save a ton of money on your electric bill.
Why wouldn’t it work in the Midwest?
@johnqpublic5350 thanks for asking.
Swamp coolers work through evaporation. Picture yourself next to a waterfall. In a dry climate, that cold mist from that waterfall would cool you off because the water droplets evaporate quickly off the skin.
But the Midwest is humid. It's much more difficult for the water droplets from a waterfall to evaporate because the Midwestern air is already saturated with moisture.
@@jeremynv89523 thanks. That makes sense to this Wisconsin resident.
Badly named device. It will not cool a swamp.
Lawrence, considering many Americans grew up on these labor saving devices, it's refreshing to see you pointing out their specialness.
They aren't that special. I'm actually flabberghasted he's never seen these things.... (I live in the UK)
@@melanierhianna Me too. My gran had a top loader in her 150 year old house (quite a new build for the UK) 50-60 years ago.
@@melanierhianna He didn't say he'd "never seen them" or that no one person ever used them in the UK, he said they're aren't as common in the UK as they are in the US and that he personally did not use them until he moved to the US. Can you read the title of the video?
He made that point several times in the video. It's as if he knew certain people would be "flabbergasted" by their own imaginations 🙃
I only encountered a dehumidifier when I moved from the Pacific Northwest to Virginia. It made summers more bearable. Ironically, this is also when I first encountered a humidifier, which made winters more bearable. Now that you are a homeowner, there's a chance that the basement will serve as both.
I still live in the PNW and owned a brick house that was built in 41 with a half basement. I had to put a dehumidifier in the basement because at times I could smell the musty basement when i would get home. Otherwise the rest of the house was fine. It took care of the odor. Otherwise I had never needed one before.
While I was in the Navy, my ship (USS Forrestal CV-59) went into the yards at Philly in 83. Expecting my family, I got assigned family housing, and surprisingly got one of the best places I ever lived. Four bedroom townhouse, central air, my own driveway and carport, etc. And, something I'd never seen before and haven't seen since. A whole house dehumidifier, just as built in as the central AC.
However, I never did get to see how it works. Unfortunately, this was also when my marriage broke up. So I had the place for a few weeks, then had to give it up because my family didn't join me. Still, it remains the only place I've ever seen such a thing as a whole house dehumidifier.
Around 8-10 years, I went the opposite direction at work. I was operating a calibration lab, which had to maintain temp and humidity within certain specs. We were located in, basically, office space, and it had never been designed for such controls. We managed the temperature for the most part, by closing off the windows and adding more AC supplies. But, low humidity was an issue in the winter. Got through one period with a fan blowing across a tray of water, just trying to get the humidity up a couple of points. Eventually persuaded management to buy an actual humidifier, which did the job.
Ironically, you said the unit you displayed for the dehumidifier segment was actually an air purifier, and we just got one today that my girlfriend ordered and I just initially setup this evening. Ours is smaller than your unit, though, and it's got a black case instead of white. It also has something it calls a "mood light" and a place to put scented oils or something like that. Never used one before.
@@brolinofvandar Another Forrestal crewman (72-73) here. dehumidifiers are used when you don't want to cool at the same time. Basically the are an A/C, but the heat is just dumped back in the same room. My first WESPAC cruise, the yards put in a bigger A/C in the radar room. The watch bailed a pail of water every hour because the drain was wrong.
I live in east Tennessee. A dehumidifier lowers my electric bill and makes the house more comfortable in the summers.
They are also easier to NOT have if you don't have carpeting in the home. Carpets are moisture sinks, and if you don't run the AC or heat all the time, moisture builds up.
In regards to dehumidifiers, I had spent most of my life in London wondering why people didn't just open the window to let the moisture out. Swiftly found out once I moved to the Midlands lol.
Speaking as someone from the South, that's a bit like opening the hatch to your submerged submarine to let the water out lmao. Pretty much anything south of the 40th parallel and not in the American dust bowl that is the quad of Nevada, Utah, Arizona and new Mexico, is going to have the swamp ass inducing combination of high heat and high humidity and the further south and east you go the worse it gets. Eventually you're going to hit the swampland that is the majority of the gulf coast and you might as well call that swimming on land, because 100% humidity is common from late spring to late summer and temperatures over 100 F (38C) are also common from July to early September.
There's a reason we use air conditioners and have pool/slip-n-slide parties, the continental US is where some of the hottest temperatures on earth were recorded and our humidity can be as bad as a rainforest in south America.
In the US, they are a basement thing to prevent mold and mildew.
Its humid outside too? It gets to be like 99% humidity where it feels like the air outside is liquid. We empty our dehumidifier several times a day on the most humid days and it collects literally gallons of water.
And if you try that trick on the west coast of Scotland you'll soon realize it was a (very) bad idea. Scotland's national export after Single Malts are Midges, Midge Repellant, Midge bite cream and Midges.
@@DanielCoffey67 In the South it's Mosquitoes and Ticks, bug repellent and keeping the verge trimmed is paramount in the South.
Laurence, don't forget to change out the filter on the fridge water dispenser every couple of years. They usually keep the common sizes in stock at your local big-box home improvement store. It's also something that you can probably do yourself with a few simple tools. There should also be a shut-off valve for the water line behind the fridge as well.
My refrigerator tells me when it needs changed. And it's more that every couple of years. More like twice a year.
I'm an old woman and change my water and air filters in the fridge twice a year. Mine don't require tools -- they're inside the fridge and just need a shove in.
the fridge will tell you ever six months to change it. We have the same fridge but in slate color. We just changed the filter in it today, however with alot of models the water and ice will stop working if you do not change it every six months, GE keeps working.
2xs a year more likely. But, I can taste it when it needs changing.
NEVER use an in-door water or ice dispenser, period! Time and again, people mistakenly think what comes out of the fridge must be better or safer, when the opposite is true. The entire piping system gets fouled with bacteria in a matter of weeks and contaminates everything downstream in the fridge hoses. It’s worse than a fish tank! You just don’t see it, because it’s behind all the ‘user serviceable’ parts. Instead, always opt for the municipally tested and treated water that comes from your tap. If you’re concerned, at most put a filter on the faucet.
As an American who loves living in Paris, the tumble dryer is one of the few things that I actually miss. I've lived in rental apartments in Paris for 5 years, and a washing machine is standard, but a dryer is not. Hanging my clothes to dry on a rack, or bringing them to a local launderette in a pinch, is something I've gotten used to. But the convenience of a 30-minute dryer cycle (or a combination machine) is something I will immediately add when I stop renting and buy my own house and appliances.
Yes. Stiff, rigid towels are the worst! I don't mind air drying most of my clothes but the towels was hard to adjust to when I was abroad. That said, it was made up for by the heated towel racks which I think are amazing inventions!
As someone who hates shrunken clothes and hang-drys plenty by choice, I STILL agree with you - especially for sheets, towels, socks, and, especially, pet hair removal. No dryer is especially rough with kids!
I've spent a fair amount of time in Europe (and married a Swiss woman three years ago so will spend more) and a dryer is always near the top of my list of things I miss. And even when people have a dryer (as my mother-in-law does) they still usually hang their clothes or have a condenser dryer which will get your clothes dry sometime next week! If we ever move to Europe we'll spend the extra cash.
Why don't you just buy one instead of moving somewhere else ?
When you rent an apartment in France, you have to bring your own unless it is furnished.
@@privatelyprivate3285 Also when I had a cat, she became obsessed with the dryer-fresh laundry. To the point where the dryer cycle chime had her meowing at me to empty the warm clothes on the couch so she could jump into the pile. By the time I was folding the last few socks, the cat was guarding it like a dragon's hoard.
Why do I love this RUclipsr so much?! I can't believe how much I laugh at his mannerisms and jokes😂! And people say British humor is dry! Guess that got lost in the pond too!
You may be able to turn the pressure up on the water supply line going to the refrigerator. And make sure to change the filter regularly
It might be a low pressure line, and the filters get plugged.
That sounds like a great way to flood your house.
@@LeCharles007 depends on where it's set. Considering how slow it is, it may barely be turned on. The maximum pressure allowed is important, and you don't need to have it that high, but it shouldn't take that long to fill a glass.
@@eronnorris6683 I would love to know how a homeowner can raise their water pressure? The ice maker supply line is intended for full line pressure, there is no regulator just a valve that is intended to be fully open or fully closed. The line is only 5/32 inch ID so that limits flow significantly vs the 3/8 inch ID lines connecting most faucets. Filter clogging or just new super compact, super purifying cartridges will reduce flow. On super cheap installations the use a valve that pierces a copper supply pipe, the pierced hole is never as big around as the ID of the supply tubing going to the ice maker. The smallest orifice is what determines flow. Often the installer won't tighten the piercing screw far enough and only pokes a tiny hole.
@@truracer20 the valve might not be fully open.
as an australian who lived in wisconsin the strangest thing i found was central heating. i'd never known that before
to be fair it's wisconsin so goodness knows it's needed lmao
And it wasn’t needed in Australia
As a former Wisconsinite whose father was a custom home builder. My mother _refused_ to have a wood burning stove/fireplace in the house catering messiness. My father built the last one we lived in with a fireplace over my mother's objection in spite of the storms that would take the power out for over a week in the winter. In the other house I froze my ass off, in the last house at least the living room/kitchen was warm. I've lived in houses with only a wood burning stove for heat, and I hated it. But I would like it as a backup if the power goes out.
Is central cooling common in Australian homes?
@@charlesbrown4483yes central ducted air conditioning is common but so is central heating despite what is said above. The thing is it depends where you live. In a country about the size of the mainland US there a range of different climates. Go north up the coast and you don’t need any heating. You do need air con. Inland you do need heating as it gets cold at night in Winter. In the south you need both as you go from freezing temps to extreme heat.
Fun fact. Many (most?) North American hotel rooms have coffee makers. A hotel coffee maker can be a great way to make ramen (if you’re in a room without a kitchenette).
Do people still use that sort of coffee maker over there. Very rarely even see those where I am these days
@@benmac940 You mean as opposed to Keurig (or similar)? Honestly, I'm not sure! I don't drink coffee myself, and don't have my finger on the pulse of the coffee market! :) But I do still see them in hotel rooms, and in offices (where they want to make big communal pots of coffee).
@Steven Hurdle I mean like nespresso machines which use a pod, or mini espresso machines that automatically grind the beans
I always use mine to make tea or hot chocolate.
@@benmac940 omg.....not everyone can afford an espresso machine and whole bean coffee to grind in it lksdjf
So who's the handsome fella coming down the stairs in the first few seconds and do you have more than one? Our kitties would LOVE to have stairs to run up and down all day and night! Congrats on your new home, it's lovely. I know it's extremely belated, but Welcome to the U.S.! We're happy you're here! Love from Memphis!
Laurence, I am so happy about your new citizenship and your new home. I love hearing about you and wife. 🎉
I remember visiting England for the first time and was not prepared for the culture shock!! I stayed with friends in Leeds and was amazed at the names of things and their tiny appliances. They laughed when I asked where their basement was, and they said they didn't have one. So, where do you keep your furnace and laundry facilities? The doors lock from the inside with a key and you're trapped if they go out to work!!
Gasp, what a fire hazard!
@deborahbarry8458 seriously! I can't remember which fire it was (the Great Chicago fire, maybe) but I believe in the US, there were laws about this passed when people burned alive because they couldn't get out of factories fast enough or were locked in.
Shirtwaist factory fire they locked the workers in.
Lack of basements isn't just a UK thing - down here in Florida it's extremely rare to see homes with basements because the water table is so high. If you had a basement here, you'd constantly have the pump running because you'd be in ankle-deep water all the time.
+1 for the Alabama Gulf Coast for lack of basements. We’re well above sea level where I’m at, but between hurricanes and how much rain we get in a normal year, the flooding would be unreal. We just have dedicated laundry rooms. In every house I’ve lived in, they’ve been right off the kitchen and usually close to a back door.
Another thing about dryers is apparently in the UK they mostly use ventless (or condensing) dryers, which work by basically having a built-in dehumidifier that either collects the water in a tray or goes to a drain, whereas here we almost exclusively use vented dryers which just blast heat into the clothes and vent the moisture outside.
No we mainly use the dryers with the rear hose that either goes onto a hole in the wall or out a nearby window. Condensers are more common in flats, I'm told.
@@Thurgosh_OG I think "mainly" is probably the wrong word, but yes condenser units do not really exist in the US. I've never seen one in 40 years.
They are available though, mainly through Amazon and I expect they might get more common as globalization increases and more people opt to live in smaller homes.
There's also the question of how the dryer deals with the lint. With a vented dryer, some of the lint accumulates outside. I think ventless dryers are getting more common in the U.S.
@@EXROBOWIDOW Only for those who want a really slow drying cycle.
I’ve had a ventless in a US apartment and indeed it was slow AF. I think they are attractive to older apartment buildings that want to add an in-unit but don’t have vents, or just in giving flexibility that the dryer doesn’t have to be near an exterior wall.
My parents' house was built in 1956 with washer in the kitchen. Some of the neighbors have moved theirs but ours is still there. Also, Mom always told me to leave it open for a couple of hours after using to let it dry before closing the lid. I just leave mine open. No pets or small children. But I did always check the dryer for the cats when I had those
Ours were originally there too and were subsequently moved to the garage. NOT recommended and really wish they’d chosen the now too-trouble$some-to-upgrade finished basement instead 🙁
I can imagine a cat would love a front loader to sit in.
Yes, I almost dried a cat in a front loader. When I was adding clothing he climbed in. Fortunately I decided to wash a second load and then planned to add the wet stuff from that load to the dryer before running it. He walked out. ACKKKK!
Yes! I grew up in a late '40s house and indeed the washer/dryer and laundry sink are still to this day in a room directly attached to the kitchen. The laundry next to kitchen thing is more of an apartment/small condo thing these days.
@@diannt9583 omg!
My parents still have a dehumidifier from the 70s, so they have a long history in the UK, air purifiers though, only became popular post pandemic
Try changing the water filter in the refrigerator, to make it flow quicker.
Or the faucet to fridge could not be turned on all the way.
Changing the filter makes a big difference.
Just make sure, once you change the filter, to stand back a bit with the first cup. The water will shoot out a lot faster than you expect and you should toss that first cup after a filter change.
Just had a fridge delivered a couple hours ago that not only dispenses ice and cool water, but it also dispenses up to 10oz of hot water at a time. You can set the temperature of the water anywhere from 90F to 185F.
My new fridge has a pitcher inside of it that refills automatically. So I don't have to wait for the slow pouring water. There's also a little infuser basket thingy for lemon or for making iced tea.
@@catgirl6803 The stuff they have nowadays! Crazy, isn't it?
@@terpman well I am not happy with the lack of advancements with laundry.
My parents had a fridge like that, and it cost thousands of dollars when they had to replace it. About the same time we bought a basic fridge (with a freezer on top) for about $600. I have no problem with water from the tap, and ice trays.
@@catgirl6803I agree. This is 2023 America!
We should have one machine that you fill with unsorted laundry and within an hour they are cleaned, dried, sorted and folded. Even the socks should be paired up. There should already be high end devices capable of buttoning, ironing and placing hangers.
We not only put man on the moon but broadcast it live to the world 50 years ago! How can we not automate such tasks???
I don't think anyone would have noticed the dehumidifier being an air purifier. I couldn't tell. I love that you told us what happened but left it. I can't stop laughing. Putting "Definitely a humidifier" over it is the best. Too funny!
Fun stuff exploring your new surroundings. Dehumidifiers are more common in the U.S. because more homes have basements, and basements tend to get damp and musty during the hot summer months. They usually are found in a below ground area of a house. Laurence, for the house of your size, a 40-50 pint dehumidifier size would work best for your basement. On the flip side, Laurence, I bet you have a humidifier attached to your forced air furnace. The humidifier adds moisture to the air when the furnace is running, helping to relieve the dry air during the winter months. In the UK, many homes have boilers and their radiators tend to moisten the air.
This ^, plus the USA contains MANY different (and extreme) climates, some that get so disgustingly humid that it damages crucial home components. I live in one that gets the lovely combo of VERY hot/humid summers + unpredictable extreme cold snapped winters; we have both appliances
Basements are not common in my part of the country. Heck, I can't remember ever visiting a home that had one. They might be more common in Tornado Alley though, where they can serve as shelters.
@@nicholasharvey1232 They're not common on high water tables or close to fault lines. Here in the Midwest, they're not only a tornado shelter but a cool space in the summer, a laundry room, and a place for storage.
@@lorimiller623 where I'm from the water table is at 6 inches. You wouldn't have a basement, you'd have an indoor pool
@@lorimiller623 Yeah I didn't think about this, I do live near a coastline so the water table is probably too close to ground level for a basement to be viable. You probably won't find a single home with a basement in, say, New Orleans (which is not far from where I live, I must add)
Hi Lawrence! During the winter time, the ceiling fans have a switch that reverses the direction of the spinning of the blades. Since cold air sinks and hot air rises, you reverse the direction of the fan, the hot air is pushed down and the cold air flips up. make heating more efficient. I saw a video where you used a remote, it probably has a button where you reverse the direction of the ceiling fan. AND since you have central air, it doesn't have to work as hard to heat or cool in your home. Congratulations! (also, check to see if your power company can rate your monthly payment based on average payment..... much easier on the budget because you know how much you will pay month to month. you build a credit during the winter and use that credit during the summer, but your payments remain the same). :-)
I agree that Laurence should know about the switch on ceiling fans but the switch should be set to blow down in the summer to give a direct cooling draft, and up in the winter to move heated air off the ceiling, down the walls, without a direct draft on the room's occupants. This is especially useful in a room with high or cathedral ceilings. Also, running a ceiling fan (or any fan for that matter) in the summer when there are no occupants in the room does nothing but add a small amount of heat to the room due to the motor running.
ha ha ha ha ha. That is NONSENSE. fans simply move the air around.
@@luisvelasco316 you are correct. I don't think most people flip their switch though. It's such a bother to get up there. If I had a remote I might.
Many electric utilities will not offer an average payment plan to customers until they have been at that property for at least one year. They need an idea of the customer’s usage during all months to determine how much the bill should be. Once a balanced billing plan is started, they do make corrections periodically based on actual meter readings but many utilities want at least one year of usage to base their first bill upon.
He already had a lesson on this in one of his videos.
With your laundry in the basement, you have an opportunity. A laundry chute!
I love laundry chutes, my favorite was at my aunt's house. One of the bottom drawers in the kitchen had a false bottom that would hinge down when the drawer was closed. When the drawer is open, the bottom panel is closed. Put you dirty laundry in the drawer, close it, and your laundry falls into the basement, into a laundry basket, strategically positioned below. 🙂
We had one in my childhood home. Amazing the things we sent down that chute, just to see if it would fit! Aw, good times😂
Dehumidifier sales are up in the UK right now because heating the house to keep the damp at bay is more than a dehumidifier. Great for drying washing.
The way they have the laundry machines in the kitchen in the U.K is interesting to me because I grew up in the U.S, but I had something weirdly similar. The apartment where I grew up had a TINY kitchen with absolutely NO countertops or extra space for something like a table, at all. So we had to use our washer and dryer as counters and that was the only food prep space there was at all. My parents got two square shaped pieces of wood and covered them with vinyl peel and stick floor tiles, to use as covers for the laundry machines to help keep them clean and make a better work surface. The washer was a top loader, though, so we had to move the cover out of the way to use it. Most of the time we ended up leaving the wood cover off of the washer and just working directly on top of it. But the one on top of the dryer stayed there all the time and made it function much more like a countertop. I was always having to clean food and crud out of the washing machine lid before using it. Looking back now, it amazes me that I actually did as much cooking as I did in that kitchen and that the landlord was allowed to rent an apartment like that in the 90's and 2000's. Now I live in a huge house with more than enough counter space, because I have not one, but TWO full kitchens. It's my grandmother's old house and my dad built a second kitchen in the basement with appliances and cabinets he got discounted when he worked at Lowes Home Improvement Center. So I went straight from one extreme to the other. I can't imagine I was ever ok with chopping vegetables or rolling out cookie dough on top of a washing machine now, (especially a running washing machine, which I often did.)
HI LAWRENCE
DEBRA HERE FROM SOUTH WALES
I drink a lot of coffee from various machines, including the new pod machines, and I don't know many people who drink tea.
We had a fridge that dispensed ice cold water around 30 odd years ago here in the UK. It had a large water cannister in the fridge door.
My mother had a top loading washing machine when she first got married in the 1960s not new to me
You can get large load tumble driers in the UK we are not that behind the times.
You have lived outside of the UK for so long now you have forgotten what it is like over here.
If you have an area that gets a musty smell, use a dehumidifier in that area. This is most common in the basement, concrete is semi-permable and will release water vapor from the ground.
I don’t know why the UK doesn’t use dehumidifiers in their bathrooms. A lot of my UK friends talk about damp and mold in the bathrooms because there is no fan. I think it would help a lot
Hana J. There is one on the landing, near me now, for that reason, but the UK does not have electric sockets in bathrooms, which I assume puts people off.
@@alansmithee8831 how do people dry and style their hair with no electric outlets in the bathroom?
Is that right? So not even a basic fan? Between the shower and toilet, fans should be standard, man!
@@dawnmichelle4403 You move to the bedroom, where it is not all steamy and probably more comfortable and warmer.
@@privatelyprivate3285 You can have hard wired fans, with separate fused switch, but more common to open the window.
Had to say I appreciate the oven joke, and the multiple sly callbacks. Very well written!
As a former housecleaner, go through the whole fridge water dispenser assembly with a q-tip or longer cotton swab. You'll be amazed (and disgusted) that it slimes quickly. Slime molds are common in Florida and other places, but they especially occur wherever there is condensation. Restaurants here get bad marks on health inspections if we don't dump all the ice in certain bins (like at a bar) and clean the ice maker frequently. Homes also get slime molds but few ever think to inspect their fridge water dispenser. Clean it with a bit of diluted bleach and rinse well. Depending on model, I used a spritzer bottle to get more in the assembly.
Slime mold.
Yuck
As an American of a certain age, as a child our washing machine was a top loader in the kitchen. This was back in the 1960's. It was rare to have front loading washers; something only the wealthy or commercial laundries had. Drying was done on a clothesline. At that time, in the culture of the area I lived in, having a tumble dryer was seen as being a bit lazy. Newer homes usually had smaller kitchens and so the laundry moved to the basements, cellars, and sometimes the back porches. The wealthier homes started incorporating true laundry rooms that were usually adjacent to the kitchen.
Yes, I grew up in the San Fernando Valley (it's part of the city of Los Angeles) and we had a suburban house, built in '54 that had a separate laundry room with a deep sink, room for a big washer (top loading) and dryer, and a big broom closet. As an adult, I've usually bought older houses - Craftsman, and even older, and have never had a set up as convenient as the one my mother did. (I now have a house built in '51 that started out with a washer/dryer in the garage, but before we moved in a den was added on which has both a bathroom and a small laundry room attached - the only appliances that fit in the laundry room are not only top loading, but stacked....) :(
I just love your home. Older homes have so much more appeal and charm that the modern day ones. Back when artistry and creativity were still driving forces in architecture.
Older houses are built better than modern ones
Ok boomer
Not necessarily. I've a 50s tract house. It was built fast, with quality secondary. Nothing has actually broken yet, but the _really should fix_ list is making me nervous.
Current design, including homes, is so boring...it's all purely functional. I hate it.
@@kaneo1 it's kinda funny what qualifies as an old house for Americans
*A safety suggestion* The outgoing dryer exhaust hose should be horizontal and attached to a nearby exterior wall. Having that hose hooked up to your attic can cause fires from the inevitable build-up of lint. They also get clogged because the lint is traveling up, instead of horizontal to the outside. Or perhaps, people do it differently in the Midwest area??
I think it goes up because the washer and dryer are in his basement. Going horizontally to an exterior wall would be underground so it has to go up before it can go out
If the dryer is in the basement, it has to go up at least a little. Most places I've lived have the vent opening just above the foundation, which is still several feet above where it enters the dryer.
Besides the dehumidifier, another fire hazard. Feed the leaf blower thru that duct at least once a year.
The dryer is in the basement and needs to go up to vent above ground.
It does't go up to his attic, the dryer is in the basement venting to ground level. But even if the vent line was going up through the attic, your "safety suggestion" would be unnecessary as there's no problem with running a dryer's vent line upward. The general rule with venting a dryer is to keep the vent line as short, straight, and level as possible, but a clean vent line will work just fine if it travels upward for a reasonable distance.
I lived in London in a very old stone house (it had holes in the stone where it had been straiffed in WW2) and I was very very very glad to come home to the USA and living back in the 20th century. I am above all an American - and I like my large house with it's large convenient appliances, thank you. Here in the USA we have large garden tubs(why is it called a garden tub when it is in the bathroom?) large walk in closets, king size beds, king size pantries to hold our king size bags of food.
i would rather stay in the uk in the 21st century lol.
I never heard it called a garden tub. 🤔. Maybe I haven’t been around enough or something. 🤷🏻♂️
This American wants to know - Whats a garden tub ?
Garden tub? Is that a Rubbermaid container to store your gardening tools?
American, BTW.
Uhh what’s a garden tub? I’m American and I don’t know what’s a garden tub.
Laurence, I salute your ability to move with the moment; "...and cat..." is marvelous.
Lawrence:
If you really want your mind blown, go check out some of those bus-sized Motor Homes. They also have dishwashers, washer/dryers, ice/water dispensers, central heating/air, etc. All the comforts of home, while sitting in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere or driving 70 MPH down the freeway.
Other way of looking at it:
"It requires an entire bus to contain the appliances that are considered normal for a reasonable quality of life."
That's wild to think about.
@@Thrillhou The wife and I were actually looking into pricing on some of those as part of our possible retirement plans.
Upon further review, it appears that for what one of those rolling palaces would cost, I could purchase a new 1-ton truck, a nice 5th-wheel trailer, and have about $150k left over to spend at the laundromat...
On a positive note, the wife is currently employed as a transit bus driver, and I'm an ex-truck driver. Either way, at least we wouldn't be "one of those people" who drives 40 MPH on the freeway and panics at the thought of having to back up the rig.
Before even seeing this, I'm guessing a separate dryer is on the list. :)
My friends (now selling their house in north Wales) made sure to install side washer-dryer units because they weren't piddling about with a kitchen-based washer/dryer combo.
How's a washer/dryer combo work? Can you set it to wash then dry right after the wash?
@@mrmoshpotato You can, and they usually work, but they work best with small loads, which usually mean for a single person who launders at least once a week, give or take.
Beyond that, you are better off with separate appliances. It is like an assembly line in that you can handle small, possibly even specialty stuff without a line, but for larger stuff, best to divvy the tasks up.
As long as the combo unit is vented they are fine. But I had an unvented one, and it took hours to dry. I finally realized I could just open the door every 15 minutes or so to vent the steam, and it would be done drying in about an hour.
We did a home exchange with a British couple about 10 years ago, a la The Holiday. We were both simultaneously shocked at their utterly pathetic kitchen based washer/ dryer, while they were shocked at our "massive" side by side washer and dryer. They were so impressed that they could do the entire families laundry in one shot, and we were so perplexed that it took three hours to wash and dry three shirts, socks, and underwear. I asked them how they washed their sheets and heavy blankets, they said they went to a laundromat. What a waste of time and money. C'mon England, you can do better! ;-)
@@RocksOff72 Not sure where you stayed in UK but most homes can cope with the weekly wash and sheets and blankets with their front loaders, I used to and I left the UK 40+ years ago! Even here in Australia I do not use a dryer though, the washing always get hung outside in the garden. Front loaders make more sense for somewhere like Australia where water is often restricted.
When I was at university and also in our first house all washing machines were top-loaders and the best ones were twin-tubs, so you could be washing a second load of stuff while spinning the first. The main problem with a top-loading spin drier was that it tended to gallop across the floor. Combined washer-driers are popular in tiny English kitchens like mine, though do not underestimate sun and wind power of the dear old washing line on a fine breezy day at no extra cost!
Love a good line dry line of clothes! Brings back childhood memories.
I've actually found we need a humidifier in Chicago not a dehumidifier. The air gets really dry in winter and we have to release more humidity into the air. The dry air causes my daughter to have nose bleeds every winter so we have learned to turn it on every night.
In the UK on the other hand we had to use a dehumidifier to prevent issues with mold due to excess humidity in the house.
I'm in the burbs and I definitely agree, especially with a common central unit that cooks the air and the humidity out with it.
We have both (Chicago suburbs). We swap them out with the seasons.😆
Dehumidifier in the basement. The water is great for my potted plants.
I live in the UP of Michigan and I use a humidifier in the winter and a dehumidifier in the basement in the summer. It is sitting on a square bucket in the laundry sink so I don't have to drain it.
Dehumidifiers are a must in Hawaii especially if you live on the wet windward side. I lived in Haiku for a while and the mold was insane! Lost all sorts of items to mold and even had it grow in some camera lenses. I now own a humidity controlled locker for my camera gear to protect it.
Lawrence you need to come back for a visit - dehumidifiers are becoming a lot more common. Not so much for hot weather but they're a god-send for keeping on top of condensation when it's cold and you don't want to open windows.
Living in the deserts of the west I didn't know a dehumidifier was a thing until I was an adult. On the contrary we had a humidifier pumping steam into the room, especially during the winter.
Having the laundry in or near the kitchen makes sense in the context of an older home, from back in the day where the laundry was done in a big washtub in the kitchen. But given the constant state of chaos of my laundry room, I don't think I could make the adjustment to having it in the kitchen. Combining the two most procrastinated and most perpetual household chores into one small space would be the death of me.
Midwesterner here, I fell out of my chair when I saw the misting pipes at outdoor seating areas in Arizona. But as dry as it is there I guess it makes sense.
I had a friend, in my youth in the Chicago suburbs, whose kitchen held both a dishwasher and washing machine which were each on wheels and had to be hooked up to the kitchen sink.
I love that last sentence! I can really relate to it.
I actually have looked into buying one of those hybrid units. Since I a single woman I don't need a big washer and a dryer in my small home. And in the summer, call me old fashioned, I happen to enjoy hanging linen, towels and clothing on a line outside. They smell terrific here in the Appalachian's mountains after drying outdoors. Mainly, it's because, when I was young, we never had a dryer so all our clothes and such got hung outside to dry. Plus it helps the environment. And nothing beats the smell of clean, sun-dried sheets to sleep on.
I hate dry hanged laundry, everything becomes like cardboard even with softener. My skin goes red instantly with towels like that ! I guess it's a question of habits.
We love it when we finally get some sun to hang our clothes out in the uk. It’s not old fashioned, why waste electricity when you have a free dryer outside? Don’t get me wrong, if I’m too busy I will just lash them into the dryer.. but it’s definitely a better option to hang them out. And the smell is so much better!
@@mdx7460 >It’s not old fashioned,
If other things are considered "old fashioned" then so can hang drying.
@Nicky L I was talking about towels that were hanged outside. I never do this.
Oh yes I had spiky balls but I don't use them anymore. It makes noises and smells odd.
@@enlilw-l2 I've had the same problem, but the biggest reason I can't hang out my laundry is my pollen allergies. Anything that's been outside would have to go right back into the washer for me.
Chicago here.. Humidifier in Winter and Dehumidifier in Summer is a must.
The water dispenser can be cool, but we prefer getting a fridge without one. For one thing they tend to malfunction more frequently than other parts of the fridge. For another the dispenser takes up too much room in the freezer. Also I actually prefer the front loaders. I think they are gentler on my clothes and clean them better. But ours are in the basement, not the kitchen.
What do you mean they malfunction more than regular fridges? It’s a plastic tube that goes from the water line, through the back of the fridge, to the water dispenser/ice making unit. It’s a very easy circuit to follow and the only malfunction I’ve ever seen with one is the plastic tube busts and it’s 10-20 bucks to replace. A whole ice making unit is like 50 bucks for my fridge and most problems you have out of them can be fixed mechanically without spending a dime. Like just stick your hand inside it and jiggle the parts around and that fixes it 9 times out of 10.
@@Augrills we have just heard of issues that's all. The bigger problem, IMO, is the amount of space the ice maker takes up.
@@desertrose0027 I guess mileage varies for everyone, but I’ve never had an issue with them personally and only had to replace a line for my papaw. Which I just need a new line and two tiny worm gear clamps that came with it. You do lose a shelf or two, but I’d rather have ice. Different strokes
@@Augrills all the ones we looked at had a huge ice maker taking up a lot of one of the doors. Meanwhile we rarely add ice, so it was an easy choice. But, yup, everyone's needs are different.
I wouldn't get a fridge with a water dispenser because I loathe tap water. Actually, it was wonderful where I grew up because we had a well. But I have never lived anywhere that had drinkable tap water.
Laurance I think you need to remove that cabinet next to the refrigerator, so you can center it. It'll make a great video watching you do do it.
Laurence it’s 2023, us Brits own big fridges now. Coincidentally we refer to them as American fridges. 😂
I've noticed when looking at house for sale in the UK, they have small, countertop high refrigerators. evidently they enjoy going to the grocery store all the time.
@Sue Wiseley. See video on RUclips about why Tesco failed in US. Habits are different. It is not unusual to shop for what you need that day to save costs these days in UK. No storage, no waste. Eat the ready prepared meal as is or if a hot meal, put it in the microwave. There is a trial near me for delivery robots for "just in time" internet shopping. No need to spend on fuel to get to the shop. I heard radio broadcasts where they were talking seriously about domestic fridges knowing what they stocked and ordering automatically, but also via the smart meter, being turned off and on at peak times to save the requirement for energy consumption. I hear they are wanting to stop gas cookers in US. Sounds like the same ideas over there?
I kid my twenty something son that he shops like a European. Drives me crazy having to go to the store more than twice a week.
Our first washer was a top loader, now we have a massive front loader and matching dryer. It can fit a king size comforter and sheet set plus shams and pillowcases. Makes quick work of the laundry, and saves water too.
But you have to contend with the mildew build-up in the door gasket and clean it. No thanks. I'll keep buying top loaders.
@@TheSandi103 just leave the door open Sandra 😂
@Sandra Steiner build up is still an issue with top loaders it's a big box of water, they all have these issues, regular cleaning and not being condescending helps alot to keep them tidy
@@Schmuly Is it condescending to call someone condescending in a condescending tone? Me thinks it could be. And I don't remember ever seeing cleaners for washing machine mildew issues before front loaders. I've never had to "demildew" a top loading washing machine, and I don't have to leave the door open to accomplish it either. Top loaders might, with the right conditions, develop a mildew problem. Front loaders just will develop a mildew problem.
@@Schmuly I never knew condescension had anything to do with washing machine maintenance. Who knew? 🤯🤔🤨
As someone who lives in the northwest of the USA:
We use dehumidifiers in the Fall before it gets too cold to pull the water out of basements, garages, and other places that can get condensation because the the temperature difference between a warm home and the cold weather outside.
It's important that it gets done before it becomes cold, otherwise the condensation becomes invisible ice on your walls or possessions causing unknown damage or a damp moldy doom when it gets warm enough again.
Others have said it, but you should change the filter on your Refrigerator. Depending on the model they are usually $40-$50 dollars and you are supposed to change them (depending on brand) every 6 months or so.
Go on line, there are several vendors for generic filters, water and HVA/C, usually a 2 or 3 pack for the price of a retail brand name single filter, with easy instructions on how to find the right model filter for whatever fridge you have. for instance, I have an LG fridge, french type doors on the top 2/3, lower 1/3 is the freezer as a drawer, not doors, and the filter is in the fridge top left corner, all in all pretty simple, punch this in to their form and it gives you the right model filters and it's mailed to your front door.
@@billbutler2452 I have an LG fridge too and it's amazing how much they charge for air and water filters. So much cheaper elsewhere for filters just as good.
Coming soon a video about how hardware stores are different in America vs Britain, and other locations you only get interested in once you buy a house.
So true!!! I spent more time at Lowe's during my first week of home ownership than I had in the previous 5 years prior.
@@Jessica_P_Fields Oh yes! When my husband and I moved into our second home, we discovered that we still needed things from a hardware store that we didn't already have, so we still spent more time in a hardware store. Things have slowed down with home #3, but we live a little more than a mile from a Home Depot just in case.
@@mariashaffer-gordon3561 I'm lucky that Lowe's is less than 2 miles away, and Home Depot is less than 5 miles away. It makes my life so much easier! Between the two, I can just about get anything done in the house quickly and easily. People underestimate the value of having a hardware store really close by.
Front load washers were pretty common in the US for a while when HE washers first came around, but we quickly discovered that we generally hate them. They always seem to have a bad tendency to mildew and smell, and there are some smaller benefits to top load washers too, like being able to load something into them after starting without spilling water everywhere.
Not to mention that the frontloaders have a unique failure mode that you don't even have to think about with a top loader--if the door seal fails on a frontloader, you have a flood, and could end up paying huge $$ to repair damage to your house (especially if it is located somewhere other than in an unfinished basement).
I do like having gravity on my side when it comes to not flooding my house...
@@MyFiddlePlayer I've had front loaders for over 40 years and none have failed to seal the water in within.
@@SunriseLAW Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
stupid comment. Front loaders don't have a "filter", it's a grid to catch objects that have been forgotten in pockets.
protip: if you leave the door open on your front load washer when you're not using it, it is able to dry out much better and doesnt stink as a result
also, leaving the door closed can lead to corrosion of the mechanical bits causing mechanical failures on top of stinky clothes
Yes, we use a dehumidifier as we had a moisture/ mold problem. Our washer looks about the same as yours. Interesting to know that these things we take for granted aren’t so common in the UK.
They don't need them. It's not sad to not have these things either.
@@christineperez7562 Fortunately nobody's making anybody buy them. For most of us, there are a lot of things you don't need but sure are great to have. ☺️ I, for one, am enormously grateful for modern conveniences .
Obviously we do have washing machines, they are just designed differently. De-humidifiers are readily available in places like B&Q if you want one, it is just that most people don't.
@@christineperez7562 I know many Brits who wished they could have a big dryer that actually dried the clothes. But many could not afford to use them due to the high energy costs.
Idk if the fridge is brand new or not but you might want to check the water dispenser filter. My fridge has a similar setup and the filter has to be changed out or the flow becomes really slow, like yours seems to be.
After changing it out it's always way faster and actually usable.
Mine with a fresh filter is just as slow as Lawrence’s. Stupid GE.
Yes, should be coming out faster
There's a fellow in the UK who bought a pretty house with a great garden and a shed for his malamute-husky. And a conversion van, And a Mini convertible. and a Jeep.
Miss you, Sherpa.
The water coming out of the refrigerator is also filtered and tastes better than tap water.
The quality of "tap water" depends on where your water is coming from. I've been lucky enough to have great quality tap water for all of my 30+ years that is as good or better than bottled water, but have been to places where the water tastes odd or sour. "Tap water" is not automatically low quality. Living outside of large cities and in areas with a lot of natural lakes is a good way to get this
@@thevictoryoverhimself7298 Agreed! I've stayed in a few places where the tap water was lovely. Unfortunately, despite our tap water coming from a lake/reservoir, it still travels a bit to get to us, through some old cast iron pipes (currently being replaced bit by bit). It get a bot of a metallic taste I just can't stomach. Plus it has a faint chlorine taste. My sister's well water is really good!
@@thevictoryoverhimself7298 Agreed, except the only tap water I've tried that I couldn't drink was in the sticks. My father had a house in the middle of nowhere and the water was so hard, you couldn't take a shower without feeling like you had sand on you. Here in Dallas, I just fill a bottle from the tap and leave it in the refrigerator for when I get thirsty.
@@thevictoryoverhimself7298 Agreed. I have never been anywhere in the UK where the tap water was unpleasant/undrinkable.
@@ludovica8221 Unless the water is warm in which case it might come from a lead-lined tank in the attic :) Interesting distinction with the US. (our warm water is the same as the cold water, heated with gas or electric)
I've been loving this moving-in series, especially since I ALSO just bought a house in the Chicago suburbs! (Though in my case, it's the second home I've owned. The previous one was - guess where - Indiana! lol)
I must say I've never used a dehumidifier, but I actually bought its opposite, a humidifier, for the first time this year, and I will never go another winter without one. Dry air wreaks havoc on my nostrils!
Cool you're like us we moved from Chesterton 2004 to the west burbs. Humidifier here too. Chapped hands are my issue and even with the humidifier it's a problem.
in europe you never need those things XD , well not totally true , some european country's do get hot.
here in the netherlands its only 2 months of the year hot and therefore we don't need humidifiers or dehumidifiers .
Top loading washing machines were way before front loaders in the UK, Hotpoint empress, countess, princess, then you had the twin tub arrangement... then the front loader took over for convenience because of their programmability.... Hoover sloping front keymatic was one of the first.... slim line top loader became available much later, the philips top line, was a bugger to repair, but worked quite well.
Way before all of them was the dolly tub top loader, the washboard and the rock... all really top loaders.
Top loading washing machines used to be reasonably common in the UK, at least where I lived.
When we moved house in about 1980, the new house had a conservatory that doubled as a laundry room. There was a top loading washing machine, and also a mangle.
The conservatory was crap, so we tore it down, and we had to replace the washing machine with a front loader so it could go in the kitchen.
I remember a lot of my friends had laundry rooms at the side of their house between the kitchen and the back garden, and a lot of them had top loading machines.
When I moved to the US, I was surprised that they were so common here, because in my mind they were somewhat old fashioned.
I now see that they are actually better in a number of ways, and that front loaders are really just a compromise to save space
I think the decline in popularity of top loaders in the UK is just a result of ever shrinking homes, houses being converted into flats etc.
I've.had both top and front load machines... I find that the front loading ones tend to be significantly better for less than huge loads. They also tend to be a lot more efficient, but that could be down to not having experience with a fancy new top loader.
Front loaders are not just a compromise, I still use one even though I now live in Australia, they are way more practicable with the water restrictions we are often experience. And I find as an older person, it is easier to get the laundry out of a front loader. And they do not tie the clothes into knots as some top loaders do.
Many early automatic washers in the late 1930’s were front loading and a few companies came up with top loading machines but had to stop the development since the US got involved in WWII. A few companies such as Bendix continued the production of the front loading machines such as the ones built before WWII but updated a little, but in a way became quote on quote “obsolete” once GM Frigidaire and Whirlpool came out with their top loading machines since they spun faster (GM Frigidaire made a machine that spun at 1140 rpm in 1947) and rinsed better since many early front loaders struggled with rinsing. Another reason why top loaders gained popularity is they had better ergonomics in terms of how everything was laid out, you didn’t need to stoop down to load and unload the machine along with having to bolt the machine down to a concrete floor since many of those early front loaders didn’t have a suspension system on them hence why they needed to be bolted down to the floor, also spun at a meager 200 to 300 rpm leaving clothes quite wet when they were done.
My first machine in 1981 was a twintub and I would be happy to go back to one now as they were so much quicker. My modern Samsung takes well over 2 hours to do a wash so half the morning has gone before I can hang stuff out.
@@Phiyedough Two hours? That's crazy. My top loader takes about half an hour.
Totally expected #1 to be a disposall / insinkerator.
I watched a urban exploration channel enter an abandoned RAF base, and 5 minutes of the video was the explorers amazed at the disposall - so I just figured it isn't common in the UK. (I've never lived in a house / apartment without one.)
Disposals are illegal in NYC.
I've never lived in a house that had a food disposal, actually. Born in Buffalo, now trapped on the other end of the state in the capital region. LOL.
I've only seen them on TV
They are not very common here. And I don't miss them at all. Most Brits I know pour their coffee/tea grounds down the drain which would instantly clog a disposall.
I have never lived without a garbage disposal, and, to the amazement of many Europeans, I still have two in-tact hands.😀
Here in the UK, I wouldn't be without my dehumidifier ... actually there's two of them but one is in the garage to keep condensation off the motorbikes. Living on the coast it can get a bit mizzley so it's hard to air the house out when the sea mist or whatever moisture we're being doused with that day keeps trying to eke it's way in through an open window as soon as the heating cuts off. Great invention, wouldn't be without it! It's also great if you have to dry laundry indoors, again due to the watery stuff outside ... better than a tumble dryer as your clothes stay the same size...... Water dispenser on the fridge, on the other hand, you are welcome to keep, along with the top loader (I'd have to cut a hole in my worktop), coffee maker (yuk) and tumble dryer (see dehumidifier above) :)
As an ex-pat living in the UK (so basically the reverse of you) I just wanted to take a moment to say how much I’ve enjoyed watching your channel. I only discovered you a few days ago when one of your videos popped up in my recommendations but I’ve been slowly binging your content. (I’m now realising how much I miss the water and ice dispenser on the fridge at my parents home back in the US…it was so handy)
You can get those dispenser fridges over here too.
@@Thurgosh_OG I know (I have a friend who has one) but you don’t see them as much. Plus, I rent my place so I can’t change out appliances like refrigerators.
What did you do with your guns? Did you make some money on them?
In NZ those washer/dryer combos are mainly for apartments, and I used one when staying in an apartment, I hated it! They wash ok, but can't dry for shyte! Top load washers and a separate dryer is always the way to go. Also very rare to find laundry machines anywhere near a kitchen as most houses have a room for that.
Plus the under-counter units aren't always big enough for a dovet.
Yeah, but the 'top loader' uses much more water than the front loader. Also, the front loader doesn't have that big paddle to get in the way.
Fellow Kiwi here. I would never go back to a top loader. When F&P were good and still made in NZ I loved them, but had a front loader here in Australia for over a decade and it’s way more efficient.
In my own experience with those combo appliances, it is best to keep the load on the small and light side. Unfortunately, that usually means doing laundry on a weekly basis, give or take - and they still cannot handle bedding, which was my biggest gripe about them.
@@arthurgordon6072 Not anymore... Nearly all new washers are high efficiency models regardless of whether they're top or front loaders.
Many people don't know that there is a EZ fix for the slow water issue with refrigerators. The standard water line kit that people typically use doesn't allow enough water to flow becuase that little tee valve that always comes with the fridge and people also buy is undersized. Companies like Shark Bite make a connection kit that's easy to install and delivers water through the line much faster. I can fill a 16oz glass in less than 10 seconds with my fridge now, when before it was so slow I stopped using it.
Don't like humidity, try the Desert Southwest.
I like the color coordination between the coffee maker and the microwave oven (that *is* a microwave, right?).
It looks like your fridge is still set to 33F. That's too cold. It uses more energy than necessary to keep your food fresh, and you run the risk of freezing any food that's in a cold spot.
Top loading washers are cheaper to buy than front-loaders, but they use more water and energy. I live in drought-prone California, so I use a front-loader.
I live in a desert -my entire environment is a dehumidifier. And with the exception of the top loading washer (mine's a massive front loader), the rest are common (as you'd expect). I don't know about the UK, but one thing that gets me about Germany is that the milk is stored in cartons in the pantry until opened, then moved to the fridge. Weird stuff.
That is only for long-life milk (H-Milch) not for fresh milk. Fresh milk we store always in the fridge. Greetings from Germany
@@melli5138 I found in Germany (Berlin at least) it is difficult and expensive to find fresh milk. Strange since Germany has biggest diary farms in Europe! I think most fresh milk is used in food production.
I grew up here in the Pacific Northwest, and we always uses dehumidifiers to combat the mold and mildew, especially in colder, rainy months. In the summer we'd open up the basement windows and let the house dry out naturally. Dehumidifying devices have always been sold here for as long as I can remember. Which is a long time, I'm afraid... Often they were little round canisters with a tray on top holding some kind of pellets, and one underneath collecting the water.
I'm in East Tennessee. All it does is rains.
Yes! When I first moved to Oregon in the 1970's we did not have a dehumidifier and I realized one day that all of my dark-colored leather-bound books had light bloom of mildew growing on the covers. I've lived with a fan going 24/7 ever since. Besides running the fan, it's important to ventilate the bathroom for a couple of hours after every shower, run the exhaust hood fan when cooking to capture any rising steam, and leave the heat on low when away on holidays or vacations in fall, winter, & spring..
Usually I see dehumidifiers in basements, since it's cooler underground in the summer, so without a dehumidifier, it gets damp. If you have a basement that leaks, it's even more necessary. Upstairs, if you didn't have some kind of flooding, you might as well just use a window AC unit, and get the air cool as well as dry.
We have a finished basement, but when they finished it, they left one single-paned window down there. It gets condensation on it like crazy during the winter and then mold starts growing on the sill and water runs down the wall. The dehumidifier has to run in the winter to keep that under control, and has to run during the summer because we're in Missouri.
I live in Canada. We use Air Conditioning to deal with heat+humidity. We use dehumidifiers to deal with humidity either from a leak/flood/spill or a section of a home that has inadequate air flow.
Usually (not all cases) when the water is slow filling the cup, it means the filter needs replaced
Texas checking in - I've seen plenty of signs that say "Washateria" but i don't know anyone who actually calls them that, everyone I know just uses "laundromat" (some just pronouncing it "laundrymat"). In fact, for the longest time I thought that was the Spanish word for it (I think from knowing the word "carnicería" for butcher shop). My great-grandmother ran a laundromat here in the 60s, it was called "Mae's Coin-Op Laundry".
The Spanish word is "lavanderia." Note the -eria ending meaning (thing+retailer). Greetings (hoot n holler) from California.
I scrolled so far for your comment! 😆 another Texan here and I have never seen or heard the word washateria 😆 🤣 😂 it's always been laundromat. Is this a South or East Texas thang? 🤔 anyway, greetings and have a great day 🙂
Another thing I've noticed is that American homes have electrical outlets or sockets in the bathrooms. We don't have them in the UK, as that's an electrical hazard.
My family has used a dehumidifier in the basement to keep it from getting musty. It REALLY helps to keep molds from growing in older homes where the foundation may be cracked somewhere, allowing for seepage. Do you use garbage disposals in the UK? It's a grinding machine for small food bits that get trapped in the drain when you wash dishes. Instead of dealing with the gunk in a strainer, just grind it up and send it away. Maybe this isn't common due to the fatberg issues in UK. Smaller pipes+more food materials is probably not a good idea.
No we don’t, I have never seen a garbage disposal over here
I had one for years but had it taken out when we were upgrading the kitchen - I got sick of having to flush it through and clean it because it smelled rank- especially in the summer.
I don't know about the USA, but over here in England, water is metered and we regularly suffer from droughts in summer. We are brought up to conserve water as much as possible (we're a small island) So things that use lots of water tend not to be popular. I found the garbage disposal needed lots of water to work efficiently - in other words, it cost extra money, when I could just put the food scraps in the compost or bin.
My English friend came over and she was amazed at the garbage disposal.
Don’t forget the staple of American homes, a food disposer under the kitchen sink where you can scrape food into the sink flip a switch and away it goes. It’s really hard on pipes because you can clog pipes that way but it works good
Most houses in the U.K have the food waste collected by the council weekly - gets turned in to fertiliser or used to create electricity via bio methane.
@@bordersw1239 I supplied a work colleague with excess pears in autumn for their pigs, before slaughter, as it gives a taste to the meat. They pointed out it was OK as they were not from the human food chain, but they could not have food waste, like in WW2, as animals for meat and human food must be separated here in UK.
In Spain, at a town festival, where my girlfriend's parents lived, they used the almond roots to make a flavourful smoky charcoal taste go into the hog barbecue, which seemed a very good way of recycling.
As for food waste, whatever happened to the good old fashioned compost heap? On second thoughts, my friends in Texas would not keep any left over anything, as the heat made it a health hazard.
Frontload Washers in the US were popular in the 50s and the 60s but leaking issues were a problem and sales went down but they are selling much better now and the top loaders that were built back then would last with very little trouble for decades ..
The Speed Queens at the coin laundry a block from my house, some of them, anyhow, are almost forty years old. That's why I bought one for my house.
@@winstonelston5743Are the machines at the coin laundry Frontload ? I think Speed Queen commercial washers makes more money for them than the home consumer machines .
@@VIDSTORAGE Top loaders.
I bought the TC5000 a day or so after they hit RUclips in 2019. It's a little noisy, but it gets the clothes clean and I don't expect I'll ever need to buy another.
@@winstonelston5743 That is the model I want if my 22 year old last of the Real Maytags commercial grade starts to mess up ...Speed Queen only makes washers and dryers unlike the others that make other appliances and Speed Queen has the highest ratings over all of the others .....Good luck with it and possibly for 40 years or more ...
Make sure the dryer is vented well to outside the house, and the vent duct is clean.
One of the first things I did after buying my house was having all the air ducts cleaned and then the dryer vent. They pulled more lint out of the dryer vent tubing than they did dust out of all the air ducts. Very scary.
And the range hood.
Dehumidifiers: I lived in Ohio for 4 years and we had to have one. But I grew up in the desert mountain west of The United States and am currently living in Reno, Nevada, in the Sierra Nevada Great Basin, which is a desert. I currently have 2 HUMIDIFIERS running in my house to make it moist enough to be livable.
Your kitchen appliances being baby blue and matching is just the best.
I’ve never used a dehumidifier, but I love love love the water dispenser on my fridge bc it also has a filter. So much easier than using a water filtering pitcher. I also love the larger washer and dryer bc it makes it so much easier to wash the bed comforter than having to go to the laundromat. However, I might be willing to trade some of those conveniences for cheaper healthcare and prescription meds, which they have in the UK thanks to their NHS.
My parents had a fridge with ice and cold water dispensers back in the 70s/80s, in Scotland.
@@Thurgosh_OG Ridiculous; in Scotland you just leave the water on the bench for it to get cold! 😜
In Australia the tap water is good enough to drink directly, unless you want it chilled. Some Adelaide people will disagree with this, but I find even their tap water to be drinkable, albeit with a little more of a 'mineral' taste than elsewhere. (Also harder to lather up in the shower.) New Zealand tap water is generally even better than in Oz! (I want to move there!)
If your refrigerator is used and just came with the house you might want to change the filter. If the filter gets limed up the water comes out slowly.
I can almost guarantee they have a Frigidaire...mine looks the same and is just as slow brand new.
@@glamdring0007 My last house had a Samsung and when you tried to get ice it flung it across the room. My friend said Geeze! Usually you have to beg them for some ice!
We just bought a house that's 98 years old and quite great shape. I love birds and would recommend looking up the scissor tail flycatcher. It's quite a neet bird to watch.
Yeah we have lots of bigger things here in the US. Damp basements are a thing in parts of the Midwest. My old house required a dehumidifier in the basement and I could get a few gallons a day of moisture out. Our well was located in the basement so it probably had a lot to do with it.
well in the basement ? the ring ?
@@dslight113 Yeah, 50 feet under the floor, covered by a wooden door. Was put in around 1930, before certain building regulations.
@@m_d1905 spooky 🤣
We had to top loaders in Norway to but that's a long time ago, I remember when I was a kid my grandmother had one this was in the beginning of 2000s and she told me it was almost 30 years old it really blew my mind, it was heavy aswel as I helped my mother move it onto a trailer years later after my grandmother died. It was twice or even three times as heavy as a modern machine... I guess stuff in the past where made to last
Dehumidifiers are great in the UK too when it gets damp! Not hot-humid but cold-humid. And dehumidifiers are great for drying clothes when you haven't got a dryer.
When I stayed in London, I actually looked up the whole washer/dryer combo thing because I thought maybe I was doing something wrong. Nope, they just suck lol That's why so many building still have radiators..I'm convinced..so there is SOME way to dry your darned clothes all the way.
Eh? Houses have radiators to heat the house, not dry clothes
Use a washing line, clothes horse or a pulley if you want to dry your clothes. No need for a dryer
@@sandersson2813 on the 5th floor in an airbnb in the winter?
Also, develop a sense of humor.
@@DenaInWyo Yes, why not? Never heard of a clothes horse or drying rack?
@@sandersson2813 Because clothes take forever to dry and they’re very wrinkled when they do, 36 hours later.