Have you ever thought about doing a video on the things you don't like about America or that are done better in Britain? If not how about things you think Americans do that you find odd or funny?
I wouldn't say it's the "whole" point, just a point. Another point is that it helps regulate temperature. Another point would be that it's useful for dealing with drafts when a comforter is too heavy. Stuff can be two things at once.
@@jonc4403Totally agree! I have a niece who does not use a top sheet. She also does not wash her bedding often. She came to stay for a time, it ended up being more than a year. Her bedding was disgusting. I tried to wash the bedding she used. I finally gave up and chucked it all in the garbage.
One of the major reasons for the existence of top sheets was that wool blankets were FAR more common in the US than duvets. The top sheet was used to keep the rough and scratchy wool blanket away from contact with your skin.
@@philoctetes_wordsworth Good Lord, I did. For the first five years of my life I thought wool blankets were our pets. In fact, my mom was a nurse and would bring home aged-out hospital blankets like pound dogs - every six months a new one would appear, freshly cleaned and groomed.
I recommend getting a space heater to warm you up after the window makes you too cold after the quilt makes you too hot after the ice cubes make you too cold after the furnace makes you too hot after the midwest makes you too cold.
Couldn't believe top sheets were not a thing everywhere. Perfect for this summer when you want to be covered but not be hot. And when you don't necessarily want to have a blanket against your skin, or quilt.
@@jovetj Ah...the ol' F/C conundrum. IMO the space between C degrees is more than the space surrounding F which makes it inaccurate and forces you to use millicelcius (tenths) to get OK accuracy.
Genuinely Fahrenheit I think works better for just day-to-day and weather type stuff. Celsius is good for science it's fine for cooking too but I still prefer Fahrenheit for that too.
@@mrcryptozoic817 personally I use F when talking about weather and human related things and Celsius in pretty much all other situations (I live in the US). I do a lot of work with tech in which case celsius values seem more intuitive but with people F seems like a similar scale, but in fact very much isn't. 100F for a human is bad just like 100C for my PC is bad. :)
I have an American house that was built in the 40's with a mail slot like the UK. The slot goes into a coat closet in the living room. I get my mail from inside. :)
Those aren't that uncommon in US cities, where there's little room for mailboxes at the street. This is typical of townhomes with shared front yards, or no yard at all. The slot going into a coat closet, however, is very unusual. I imagine the owner didn't want one in their door because they would be constantly stepping on it when they entered. Seems like a great solution.
@@gloriouslumi Japan uses door slots in certain homes and apartments, but they have a box attached to the inside of the door that catches the mail so it doesn't end up getting stepped on.
Where you live and the age of the dwelling determines the type of mailbox. I lived in a LA 50’s house (slot), Santa Barbara (stand alone), Washington (bank of boxes).
My cousin lived in an older house that had a mail slot. Actually it was like a little door we could put stuff through. Countless hours playing with it when we were kids.
Ceiling fans can help keep the house warmer by pushing hot air down. (Fans have switches that make the air go one way in summer and the other in the winter.). If you get too warm, you might want to lower your thermostat to 68º+/- and wear a sweater. Much less expensive and more comfortable than a house that's too hot.
That walk-in closet you walked into is actually smaller than the old British telephone boxes, Lawrence. REAL American walk-in closets can be the size of some people bedrooms, or larger.
Yeah but you have to have a somewhat newer house in the USA (post 1980 or so) for it to have walk in closets. The house I grew up in was a beautiful ranch style, 3000sq ft yet it had ONE small walk in closet in mom/dad's bedroom. The rest of them were just those bi-fold door type closets in the other bedrooms, one by the front door, two tiny ones in the hallway, that was it. There were two in the upstairs room above the garage, but they were more like shelves with bi-fold doors. The 2 car garage was huge so I guess that made up for lack of storage, you could park a Cadillac Fleetwood and a Miata on the one side it was so deep.
As an ex-US Postal letter carrier I can confirm that while most people have mailboxes there were a few houses that just had a mail slot in the door and there was a couple in particular that when I started to stick the mail through the slot I could feel a dog just grab it out of my hand, pull it through the slot and go to work on it. It would happen, with those two particular dogs, every day. I used to tell my fellow workers, if they happened to be doing those houses that day, not to stick their fingers in the slot or they wouldn't have them any more. The dogs, when you got used to them, actually made the job easier because it was a pain in the ass to try to put the mail through the slot, but if there was a dog there, it would do most of the work.
There are some funny videos online of dogs who like the mail carrier , patiently wait for the mail thru the slot & then for the carrier's fingers to do a few " scratchies " on the head or neck . 🐾🐾💙
My least favorite houses are the ones where dogs do that because the scanner will make that awful klaxon noise and the annoying little woman that lives inside it will tell you there’s a dangerous animal within a hundred feet of you….. every time you drive past.
I've been hearing rumblings in the ceiling. I was going to hire someone to check the attic for raccoons, but after this video, I'm also having them check for RUclips sensations.
Your fan should be on the other way during the winter, blowing upwards. That moves warm air from the ceiling down to where the people are without causing a breeze that makes you feel cold.
I believe you misspoke. You have that backwards. Warm air tends to rise, so you want the fan moving in such a way it will push the warmer down, so you want the fan moving in a clockwise direction, when viewed from below. Verify by standing below the fan and determine the air is coming down. Also, you generally want to the fan on a slower speed, reducing drafty wind chills. This can reduce your heating costs up to about 15%. Hope this helps.
@@Colorado_Native You're partly right, but maybe not entirely. If you are running a meeting hall, warehouse, or any sort of large building, you will want them pushing heat down in the winter and pushing heat up in the summer, because you have a bunch of them running and a huge airspace above the fan blades, so directionality matters a lot. In a home (with a normal sized room and a normal 8-ft-ish ceiling) a single ceiling fan is going to cause all the air to circulate all the way around the room regardless, so the biggest difference is whether you feel the fan on your skin or not, which is largely a matter of preference but understandable why some don't want it in the winter. For people with 12+ ft ceilings and/or rooms big enough to host multiple ceiling fans, they may need to do it the commercial way because they have enough air at the top of the room that it might start acting as a significant heat reservoir.
I have an icemaker because it was cheaper than a service call for a fridge repair, and will probably last longer than the repair. That ten year “complete parts warranty” on my very expensive refrigerator isn’t actually worth much.
Which brings to mind a thing I learned talking to my parents earlier this evening, their refrigerator has a cold water dispenser in door and the thing has a filter, somewhere in the fridge, which needs occasional replacing. My apartment fridge has neither of those features.
@@lessoriginal if it makes you feel any better, ice trays don’t get jammed or clogged in an ice traffic jam like they do in the dispensers…and if you really splurge, the silicone ice molds that come in shapes are really fun. I love watching the little snowmen melt in my ice coffee!
So does mine. But I still have an icemaker close to the bedroom, because my girlfriend uses a LOT of ice. I use almost none, so I turned off the one in the fridge and use that space for storing other frozen stuff.
I've been living in the US my entire life and I had no idea countertop ice makers existed before now. I can definitely continue to live without it when I already have a perfectly good freezer attached to my refrigerator.
@kenbrown2808 We got one about 5 years ago. Our fridge at the time was small, and we have a large family. (We also lived in Florida with no central a/c.)😅
@@gabecollins5585 I can imagine that people who have lots of entertaining to do in the summertime would find it quite useful to be able to produce them quickly. Think of those people who have swimming pools and a ton of kids in their house all day every summer
@@Raven17729 that works but the washable cover can be hard to get on and off, most comforters don't have removable parts, a regular comforter may or may not fit into your washer and or dryer...a top sheet is much easier to clean and since every sheet set comes with both top and fitted sheets they are inexpensive to have and maintain.
@@Raven17729 At that point you basically have a top sheet that takes more work to deal with, and also visually covers up that nice duvet/comforter you bought to have a bed that looks nice
Most ceiling fans are reversible, also. In the cold weather, you can change the rotation setting so they force the warm air down from the top of the room into the lower half of the room.
right. in the summer you set it to mix the cooler air from floor level with warmer air at the ceiling, and in the winter, you reverse it so it mixes the warmer air from the ceiling with cooler air at the floor. or less silly - in the summer, you set it so you feel the breeze from it, and in the winter you reverse it so you don't.
I don't usually reverse the direction of my ceiling fans because they're upstairs where it is 10° warmer than downstairs. I open a window up there, usually when I'm exercising. Meanwhile I'm freezing downstairs. I keep thinking I should be lighting the gas fire but don't seem to.
In winter it should rotate clockwise, summer counterclockwise. Some fans have a little sun & snowflake on/by the switch to take the guesswork out of it.
I'm a top sheet fan. I have to have a cover over me, even on the hottest summer night so a top sheet is perfect. Also, I'd rather wash a top sheet vs struggling with taking off and putting on a duvet cover each time I wash bedding. My house has a mail slot in the door and I love it. The mail lands on the entry floor. What could be more convenient. I have a cat so I don't have the problem of a dog chewing up the mail.
The most amusing US item Laurence can't live without is 2 bathrooms. I've mentioned this a bunch of clients and they all laugh and heartily agree since they have multiple bedroom homes with kids and 2 bathrooms.
As an American who grew up with a closet (one that was not technically a walk-in closet, it had those rolling doors) I was fortunate to learn from C.S. Lewis that it was a very silly thing to shut oneself in a wardrobe. Since I didn't have a wardrobe, I felt confident that shutting myself in my closet was probably not silly at all.
Back in 1981 I was an exchange student to Norway and experienced a duvet for the first time. They have only become more common here in the US over the past 25 years or so. My host sister was an exchange student to the US later that summer and I had to describe how American beds were made with sheets, blankets and a bedspread and she'd need to sleep between the fitted and top sheets under the blanket and bedspread. Mamy people (and hotels/motels) still use sheets and blankets with a bedspread or comforter, especially in the warmer months when a duvet can be too warm. I use a duvet from mid-fall until mid-spring and then sheets and a light blanket the rest of the year.
Arthur has grown so much! Sure, I've seen him happily walking with you, Laurence, but to see him on the sofa (couch) with you, I am able to see what a handsome big boy he's become!
Comedian Jeff Foxworthy used to say, "When women ask for your opinion, they don't really want to hear your opinion. They just want to hear their opinion in a deeper voice. 😂
In always considered top sheets as a way to keep the bed cleaner by being something that's in contact with your body that can be easily washed frequently. Otherwise you're making your duvet dirty and sleeping against a dirty duvet all the time or washing the duvet frequently which is expensive and wears out the more expensive cover faster. Also being cleaner means keeping mite infestations down. We use double washable covers for everything to reduce bed mites even more.
I'm from neither The United Kingdom or the United States but these videos are super interesting, I almost feel like I'm from one of these countries watching these.
Utahn here, and we love those! But if you can't afford or find one an old coffee can works too. I also like ice-melt instead of salt; it's kinder to the lawn and garden.
Many times when I have purchased ice melting stuff in a container it has a easy spout or holes to throw the stuff around, but if we bought it in bulk, I can see getting a dispenser.
@@leahmollytheblindcatnordee3586 We get ours in those big 40-pound bags, so they're not exactly easy to handle, but three or four of them will get us through all but the most-awful winters here.
@ Not a bad idea at all. We live in town, unfortunately and so have relatively small areas to use it on. And am also in Mid Michigan. We do get a lot of snow some winters, but nothing like the west coast of the state gets or places like yours. My nephew lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Slightly off the subject, but did you know that Buffalo, New York actually has at least one large area where they dump the city's snow. Its then melted and flows away underground. The winds blow directly over lake Erie and the amount of lake effect snow they get is huge. I heard about it a while back and think it sounds rather cool.
A few years ago, my refrigerator ice maker broke. I decided that the room it took in the fridge could best be used for food, since I like to cook batches of food to freeze for future use. So I bought a countertop ice maker, and I am glad I did. It’s been perfect for me.
A coworker mentioned one of his friends bought an ice maker because he was tired of buying bagged ice, I assumed he meant one of the big units like you might find in a hotel snack vending area. I'd never seen a countertop unit before this video.
At one time, most American homes, at least in the cities had mail slots [aka letter boxes] in the front door. The problem with Mail slots is that they let in drafts which is not a good idea in a climate that gets much warmer in the Summer and MUCH colder in the Winter than the UK. During the 1950s, it became common for the older front doors with windows and mail slots to be replaced with solid doors with weather stripping on all four edges to keep out drafts. Consequently, the mail slot was replaced by a mail box mounted on the wall next to the front door, although there are some older homes that still have mail slots..
Yes, drafts can be a problem with mail slots in doors. I'm grateful my house has one that empties into a tiny entry area with a door to shut it off from the rest of the house.
We’ve had ours for years. It looks like a smallish mini fridge. Our freezer ice maker kept breaking so we switched to the stand alone unit and have really liked it!
My sister swears by water softener salt. She buys several big bags every fall & has them loaded in her cargo van where they stay until needed. She never has to schlep those big bags around. The weight provides more traction in the back end of the van.
When I saw this comment, I thought that it meant that you guys didn't use a sock grinder and that you were just throwing on huge pieces of salt on your food
There are older American homes where the mail comes in through a slot in the door. I lived in one and rather enjoyed not going outside for the mail. I didn't have a dog though. 😂
My parents old home had a slot in the door. What wasn't plesant was having to balance yourself after opening the door to pick up the mail with 1 foot on doorstep and other foot still on outside steps, and no handrail on side of steps. 😬
@@markh.6687I lived in 3 houses growing up and various great aunts and great uncles living in 5 different houses in the neighborhood for a total of 7. All of those were bouillon between 1900 and 1936. None of them had slots.
Top sheets are also important to keep you warm. In the summer, I like just the sheet where it lets you stay cooler and I seem to want some type of cover.
On my visit to the UK, I was shocked that top sheets weren't a thing. In the 3 weeks I was there, I simply couldn't get used to it. It seems much more practical that you wash a top sheet weekly; therefore, one only had to wash a duvet cover every few months, eliminating the need for wrestling a duvet change weekly.
I'm an American but i absolutely loathe top sheets 😣 but i love sleeping ridiculously warm. I just turtle my feet and arms out when I need to be cooler 🙃
My nephew went to study medicine, for a semester, from New Jersey to England. They tried to order him a sweatshirt and found out it was a jumper and a basket of food was a hamper. You uTubes have been humorous and valuable.
I have very little counter space so my refrigerator makes my ice. I don't need yet another dust gatherer. Top sheets are necessary to keep from having to wash the blankets often. They are also good to keep the breeze from the window or ceiling fan from blowing on you in summer without adding much warmth.
Down here in Louisiana, we don't get much ice or snow, so only salt I buy goes on my fish and chips. As for ice inside the house, I use old fashioned ice trays in the freezer. I don't have ceiling fans, since my ceilings are low, and I'd probably be decapitated. The older I get, I wish my mailbox was closer to the house. I have a long driveway, and get a but exhausted walking out to the box. Luckily, since I started paying most bills online, I don't get the volume of mail I used to. 🙂
"since your not running your air conditioner in the middle of the winter" is something not heard in the south where there is only a week of cold in the winter
For the summer what you might want is a double sheet. Two top sheets sown together in layers. A light blanket. I don’t know that you can buy these but they are a thing.
Nephew, if you spread salt where Arthur walks, be sure to clean his paw pads with warm water when he comes back in. Otherwise, he’ll lick it off and his paws will get raw. Plus he’ll get 🤢🤢🤢🤮 sick.
The most common salt spreader in America isn't a custom designed item bought for that purpose, it's any fairly sturdy plastic bottle with a built-in handle like a bleach or windshield washer fluid bottle cut at a forty-five degree angle to make it into a scoop. It makes salt spreading a simple operation: scoop the salt out of the bag (or more usually a small bucket or trash can or other covered container) and sprinkle it on the walkway by shaking the scoop side to side while tilting it slightly, or casting it around on a driveway or larger area like you are spreading seed.
Laurence, what you call a "letter box on the door" is what I knew simply as a "mail slot" when I was little. That was in the 1940s & 1950s. I'm 80 now. My homes when I was young had "letter boxes." I always looked forward to seeing the mail come through the slot in the door. There was even a time when the letter carrier would come by twice a day! Later homes had a box on a wall near the front door. Then I had a home with boxes in a unified cluster at the edge of the sidewalk. That was so the letter carriers could put mail in the boxes without stepping out of their vehicles. They had special Jeeps with the steering wheel on the right, so they could just reach out to the box. I'm not sure what they do in the cities now. I live in the countryside, and I pick up my mail from a rented box at the nearest post office.
I live on a country road in central Illinois ( US ) . There have been a few extreme winter days ( black ice w/ severe blowing snow , white out conditions ) when it was not safe for our mail carrier to navigate the roads . The rural carriers drive their own vehicles , wisely owning various types of 4-wheel drive SUV's & Jeeps .
I like having the top sheets. Warm blankets can be scratchy. We use quilts in the midwest and those can have a "rough" under side (sewing seams and such).
Europe does not use salt so often because it`s deadly for the soil and shoes. It`s not the beat way. The ultimate way is to use small graded marble and collect it in spring to reuse. It`s cost affective and you get normal grass around.
What's funny is the ice maker is actually pulling heat away from the water and releasing it into the ambient air. So in effect, you are making the house warmer
@@TiredMomma I agree the effect is negligible but any amount of heat inside an enclosed space will increase the heat in the enclosed area, your entire house is a semi-insulated box, Even you without any heating at all will heat up the house based on body heat a measurable amount, this is how igloos make sense, a small enclosed space filled with a couple people will heat it up enough to keep you from freezing to death, a countertop ice maker uses about the same amount of energy that it releases as heat as you give off so it is certainly a measurable amount
@jaykoerner I've lived in a home without heat for a whole winter. Believe me when I say that even 5 people, one being an infant who had to stay bundled up 24/7, except for diaper changes and a fast wipe down with baby wipes, does not keep a 2 story house warm enough to keep you from freezing. The only area that was warmest, once a day, was the oven in the kitchen to cook dinner. And one winter when it got to -10 degrees outside, inside the temps were in the teens upstairs. Thankfully we were already moving out.
@@TiredMomma I did not say noticeable or even effective I said measurable as in a scientifically significant amount you could measure accurately with and without people inside that might be a degree or two but it exists, to be clear 500 watts(The average person puts out about a 100 watts of heat) in a two-story house is basically nothing but that is still a third of a single heater(about the amount of a oil filled heater puts out on low), if you shoved everyone in the smallest room in your house closed the door you probably would feel a real difference, to properly heat a two story house on the other hand you need around 20000 watts, so yeah your not going to notice
Bro, all you had to do was get a pint of sour cream, use all the sour cream, wash the container, then let it dry. Voila! Free salt spreader! I don't have a top sheet. I do, however, have a pile of sheet next to the bed, just in case.
@@javiersayshi We have a samsung fridge and I love it. It has a drawer in the middle for drinks so we're not opening the whole door every time. But even though it does have an ice maker and we use it often, we also bought a countertop ice maker because the fridge couldn't make ice as fast as the three of us use it.
I rarely use ice so I opted for a fridge without an ice-maker. Then I married someone who loves ice so I bought a cheap stand-alone ice-maker on clearance. It's connected to a water line so I don't have to fill it. We're pretty happy with it. Built-in ice-makers take up a lot of freezer space, so if you have the counter-space for an ice-maker it's a nice thing to have.
The Only time I use ice cubes is in the summer. (from an ice cube tray) I just use them to cool down the hard boiled eggs as quickly as possible, since the tap water isn't as cold in the summer.
It's interesting how differences in regions and even communities and types of homes vary across the country. Living in an older condo in Phoenix, I don't have any of the things mentioned in this video other than a top sheet. In a different home here, I did have a ceiling fan, though. My mail is delivered to one of those little compartments in the community cluster mailbox, so I have to walk a distance (usually under a scorching, life-sucking sun) to pick up my mail every day.
You can add a surprising amount of warmth just with another top sheet. Discovered this over the summer when i was a little chilly. I have 20 year old bedspread and quilt so what I've been doing this winter is sheet, bedspread, sheet, quilt, sheet.
I use old fashioned ice trays. Well, the plastic ones. Not the REALLY old ones, like the metal kind with the lever, like my grandmother had when I was growing up! 😉
Ceiling fans in winter on low setting can actually help with warming, as heat will raise to the ceiling a fan will help keep some of it lower so that your hot air is more evenly distributed about the room. As for sheets.....if you have them you don't have to was your quilt or comforter as often.
Those teal appliances! Love em! I'm that rare American who doesn't put ice in anything unless it's broiling out. I have to tell the bartenders not to serve my area and stouts cold too!
Chemical Ice Melt works in much lower temperatures and generally better for the grass than salt. Regardless, it's all a pain in the ass when you track it in. I live in Chicago too but I have an association that clears the walks so I just toss a little out between cleanings. You should tell everyone about the trash cans in the parking spots...uniquely Chicago...extremely odd.
And in the South Suburbs of Chicago, where many residents are former Chicagoans. Our street department plows them out of the way if they can get to the curb at all. People fill their garages with everything except the vehicle they need to move for snow plowing.
@JamokeGuy We have some REALLY bright residents. Like the ones who shovel by throwing snow into the street, then yelling when the plows re-bury their vehicle(s).
I’ve never been able to get where I could use the top sheet, doesn’t insulate the heat enough, plus it was always trapped or in the wrong spot. I usually use when I have a fever though; the only time I actually want to be cold
I live in the SE of England and the first thing we did when we moved into our house was put in ceiling fans... Rooms that we couldn't put a ceiling fan into have a wall fan instead. 😊. We keep our house cooler in the summer by opening our windows at night to let in the cooler air then close all the windows where the sun is hitting the house and close all the curtains on the same windows and open them once the sun. Has moved away. Our mum always had a basket/ thick mesh box on the back of our letter box on the door and the mail would fall into the basket and the dog couldn't eat the mail. when we had our dogs we either had a post box on the wall outside our flat's front door or when we moved to the house we are in now we changed the front door to one with no letter box because we have a porch door that has a letter box in it, we also leave our porch door unlocked so parcels can be delivered into the porch. 😊
Depending on where you live, the US postal service is recommending people not leave anything in the mail box. I was forced to get a locked box because someone was helping themselves to my mail. Be nice it they could pay the bills.
@idreamofparis7233 Mine has crushed or cubed, but the counter ice makers make the little round pellets, which is good for people (mainly me) who have a bad habit of chewing ice. Lol
@@hollyberry3561 They also both cool the drink and melt differently because of the surface-area-to-volume ratio difference, so it's a preference thing too.
I thought everyone had a top sheet!! When you buy sheets, it comes with a top sheet and bottom sheet in the same package. We have an ice maker in the freezer. I can't live without it. I have ice in my drinks every day. Water, juice, and sodas. Winter or summer. Doesn't matter.
I hate the winter months. The heating unit is the only thing in my house that uses gas, so my gas bill skyrockets during those months. Not good being on a low fixed income.
My Agrees-With-Lawrence-O-Meter is reading only 50% so far. Kinda wild that literally half of the stuff he's going on about aren't the slightest bit a part of my American lifestyle. Part 1: 2 of 6 Part 2: 3 of 6 Part 3: 5 of 6 Part 4: 2 of 6
7:43 Although many places do have mailboxes, the house I grew up in, in Maryland had a mail slot in the front door, as did most of the houses in my neighborhood. However we didn't have a dog to chew it up, so I had to eat my own homework.
there's a switch on your ceiling fans to change the direction of the fan. you can change the direction to turn clockwise, to circulate your heated air, and push if downward to help heat your rooms, since hot air rises, leading to a layer of warm air near the ceiling and cooler air near the floor. just, *(unlike me, til i'm part of the way through summer) change it back to rotate counterclockwise, to pull the ambient heat toward the ceiling and cool your rooms.
We have mail slots in our townhouse community and for at least an hour every day my dog Is on high alert for the mail to come through the slot . She has destroyed a lot of mail so now we put up a small child gate to block her from going to the door.
A simple scoop, plastic glass/cup or even a coffee can works perfectly fine for spreading rock salt/ice melt. Most Americans actually have their ice makers BUILT INTO their refrigerator-freezers. No need for a sperate unit like that. But you can also find ice cube trays to fill with water and place into your freezer.
Actually, many people have both depending on the number of people in the household and the speed of the ice maker in the fridge. The kind that he shows in this video that makes the "ice tubes" can make ice much faster than most fridge units will do.
I grew up in a suburb just outside Detroit, and my mom still lives there. No mail box or letter box, just a slot in the door that the mail carrier slides letters through and they drop inside the front door. But we never had a dog. 8:11
I feel like top sheets are the superior option. I've watched people swapping out their duvet covers and I'm like "In America, you pick up the comforter/blanket, grab the top sheet, toss it in the laundry, lay down a new top sheet, lay the blanket on top, and you're done."
The ceiling fans go in both directions for a reason. Heat rises, so in the winter you want to push that heat down and maintain it in your home (clockwise) and in the summer you want to suck it up and out of the room (counterclockwise). You can actually notice the difference in temperature and your utility bill if you do it.
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Have you ever thought about doing a video on the things you don't like about America or that are done better in Britain? If not how about things you think Americans do that you find odd or funny?
When is there gonna be a vid of you going back to hometown in England? Saludos desde California
The whole point of a top sheet is so that blankets and comforters don't have to be cleaned as often.
I wouldn't say it's the "whole" point, just a point. Another point is that it helps regulate temperature. Another point would be that it's useful for dealing with drafts when a comforter is too heavy.
Stuff can be two things at once.
If you have a washable cover on your comforter/duvet, it takes the place of a top sheet.
@@alidaweber1023But then you're wrestling getting the duvet put back together each time. I'll stick to my top sheet and quilt or electric blanket.
@@alidaweber1023 It absolutely does not. You know what takes the place of a top sheet? Another top sheet. Because no top sheet is just gross.
@@jonc4403Totally agree! I have a niece who does not use a top sheet. She also does not wash her bedding often. She came to stay for a time, it ended up being more than a year. Her bedding was disgusting. I tried to wash the bedding she used. I finally gave up and chucked it all in the garbage.
One of the major reasons for the existence of top sheets was that wool blankets were FAR more common in the US than duvets. The top sheet was used to keep the rough and scratchy wool blanket away from contact with your skin.
Nothing keeps the wool blanket away from your skin when you are allergic to wool
I am over 50 years old, and I have only ever seen wool blankets at a YMCA overnight camp.
@@philoctetes_wordsworth Good Lord, I did. For the first five years of my life I thought wool blankets were our pets. In fact, my mom was a nurse and would bring home aged-out hospital blankets like pound dogs - every six months a new one would appear, freshly cleaned and groomed.
@@cisium1184 Should have saved this one for Dr. Phil! 😊
@@cisium1184 🤣
Part of the point of top sheets is so you don't have to wash the heavier blankets as often.
I recommend getting a space heater to warm you up after the window makes you too cold after the quilt makes you too hot after the ice cubes make you too cold after the furnace makes you too hot after the midwest makes you too cold.
😎
Okay, that was good!
Well done.😊
That's my routine too
I will literally roll a window down while driving as opposed to turning the heater down
Couldn't believe top sheets were not a thing everywhere.
Perfect for this summer when you want to be covered but not be hot.
And when you don't necessarily want to have a blanket against your skin, or quilt.
Yeah, washing a top sheet is way easier and less resource heavy than washing a big quilt as often as it'd need otherwise.
In summer I just have the empty duvet cover and a bottom sheet.
I crank the AC so cold that I need the heavy blanket in the summer too
Sheets aren’t even a thing everywhere. We sleep on a woven mat on the floor with or without a light blanket in Myanmar.
@@firefighter1c57 It's so wasteful but I'll be damned if it doesn't feel AMAZING. Like, damn, you are sleeping better than royalty 200 years ago!
An American thing I can no longer do without; Lost in the Pond.
Ditto. Really enjoy these videos. Just wish I could contribute more than just watching, following, and liking. On a low fixed income unfortunately.
100%
*:
Ooh Laurence!
@@albert71292Suggest it to others?
I noticed you're using Farenheit degrees instead of Celsus. You're coming along just fine
Fahrenheit > Celsius ...for ambient temperatures
@@jovetj Ah...the ol' F/C conundrum. IMO the space between C degrees is more than the space surrounding F which makes it inaccurate and forces you to use millicelcius (tenths) to get OK accuracy.
Genuinely Fahrenheit I think works better for just day-to-day and weather type stuff. Celsius is good for science it's fine for cooking too but I still prefer Fahrenheit for that too.
@@borttorbbq2556Yup, this is the one unit choice I can defend!
@@mrcryptozoic817 personally I use F when talking about weather and human related things and Celsius in pretty much all other situations (I live in the US). I do a lot of work with tech in which case celsius values seem more intuitive but with people F seems like a similar scale, but in fact very much isn't. 100F for a human is bad just like 100C for my PC is bad. :)
I have an American house that was built in the 40's with a mail slot like the UK. The slot goes into a coat closet in the living room. I get my mail from inside. :)
Those aren't that uncommon in US cities, where there's little room for mailboxes at the street. This is typical of townhomes with shared front yards, or no yard at all. The slot going into a coat closet, however, is very unusual. I imagine the owner didn't want one in their door because they would be constantly stepping on it when they entered. Seems like a great solution.
@@gloriouslumi Japan uses door slots in certain homes and apartments, but they have a box attached to the inside of the door that catches the mail so it doesn't end up getting stepped on.
Where you live and the age of the dwelling determines the type of mailbox. I lived in a LA 50’s house (slot), Santa Barbara (stand alone), Washington (bank of boxes).
My cousin lived in an older house that had a mail slot. Actually it was like a little door we could put stuff through. Countless hours playing with it when we were kids.
Here in New Zealand, NZ Post will only deliver to a post box at the boundary of the property.
Ceiling fans can help keep the house warmer by pushing hot air down. (Fans have switches that make the air go one way in summer and the other in the winter.). If you get too warm, you might want to lower your thermostat to 68º+/- and wear a sweater. Much less expensive and more comfortable than a house that's too hot.
That walk-in closet you walked into is actually smaller than the old British telephone boxes, Lawrence. REAL American walk-in closets can be the size of some people bedrooms, or larger.
I'd say that most walk-in closets can fit at a minimum 2-3 people. The rich people get the room-sized closets.
Yeah but you have to have a somewhat newer house in the USA (post 1980 or so) for it to have walk in closets. The house I grew up in was a beautiful ranch style, 3000sq ft yet it had ONE small walk in closet in mom/dad's bedroom. The rest of them were just those bi-fold door type closets in the other bedrooms, one by the front door, two tiny ones in the hallway, that was it. There were two in the upstairs room above the garage, but they were more like shelves with bi-fold doors. The 2 car garage was huge so I guess that made up for lack of storage, you could park a Cadillac Fleetwood and a Miata on the one side it was so deep.
@@AaronSmith-kr5yfMine was built in 1950, and my master bedroom has a walk-in closet that I could probably turn into a smaller bedroom.
As an ex-US Postal letter carrier I can confirm that while most people have mailboxes there were a few houses that just had a mail slot in the door and there was a couple in particular that when I started to stick the mail through the slot I could feel a dog just grab it out of my hand, pull it through the slot and go to work on it. It would happen, with those two particular dogs, every day. I used to tell my fellow workers, if they happened to be doing those houses that day, not to stick their fingers in the slot or they wouldn't have them any more. The dogs, when you got used to them, actually made the job easier because it was a pain in the ass to try to put the mail through the slot, but if there was a dog there, it would do most of the work.
There are some funny videos online of dogs who like the mail carrier , patiently wait for the mail thru the slot & then for the carrier's fingers to do a few " scratchies " on the head or neck . 🐾🐾💙
My least favorite houses are the ones where dogs do that because the scanner will make that awful klaxon noise and the annoying little woman that lives inside it will tell you there’s a dangerous animal within a hundred feet of you….. every time you drive past.
I've been hearing rumblings in the ceiling. I was going to hire someone to check the attic for raccoons, but after this video, I'm also having them check for RUclips sensations.
🤣
Your fan should be on the other way during the winter, blowing upwards.
That moves warm air from the ceiling down to where the people are without causing a breeze that makes you feel cold.
I just run it like that all year. It keeps the air in the room circulating a little bit, without actually feeling like a fan is blowing on me.
@ But the fan blowing on you is the only benefit in the summer. All fans actually increase the temperature.
I believe you misspoke. You have that backwards. Warm air tends to rise, so you want the fan moving in such a way it will push the warmer down, so you want the fan moving in a clockwise direction, when viewed from below. Verify by standing below the fan and determine the air is coming down. Also, you generally want to the fan on a slower speed, reducing drafty wind chills. This can reduce your heating costs up to about 15%. Hope this helps.
Fans increase air temperature? How? Friction?
@@Colorado_Native You're partly right, but maybe not entirely. If you are running a meeting hall, warehouse, or any sort of large building, you will want them pushing heat down in the winter and pushing heat up in the summer, because you have a bunch of them running and a huge airspace above the fan blades, so directionality matters a lot. In a home (with a normal sized room and a normal 8-ft-ish ceiling) a single ceiling fan is going to cause all the air to circulate all the way around the room regardless, so the biggest difference is whether you feel the fan on your skin or not, which is largely a matter of preference but understandable why some don't want it in the winter.
For people with 12+ ft ceilings and/or rooms big enough to host multiple ceiling fans, they may need to do it the commercial way because they have enough air at the top of the room that it might start acting as a significant heat reservoir.
"I'm not a child anymore, I'm a human being."
Lawrence has never been more real. XD
I have an ice maker because my fridge is very small and there’s no room for ice in the freezer. I’m glad it even has a freezer at all.
I have an icemaker because it was cheaper than a service call for a fridge repair, and will probably last longer than the repair. That ten year “complete parts warranty” on my very expensive refrigerator isn’t actually worth much.
My overly large American fridge makes its own ice.
Which brings to mind a thing I learned talking to my parents earlier this evening, their refrigerator has a cold water dispenser in door and the thing has a filter, somewhere in the fridge, which needs occasional replacing. My apartment fridge has neither of those features.
Mine used to too. Until the icemaker broke! So now I have to make ice THE POOR PEOPLE WAY!!! With IcE tRaYs. jkjk Not about the ice trays, but yeah.
@@lessoriginal if it makes you feel any better, ice trays don’t get jammed or clogged in an ice traffic jam like they do in the dispensers…and if you really splurge, the silicone ice molds that come in shapes are really fun. I love watching the little snowmen melt in my ice coffee!
Mine, too. Never heard of a separate ice maker before
So does mine. But I still have an icemaker close to the bedroom, because my girlfriend uses a LOT of ice. I use almost none, so I turned off the one in the fridge and use that space for storing other frozen stuff.
I'm in the UK, we always use a top sheet between us and the duvet.
I've been living in the US my entire life and I had no idea countertop ice makers existed before now. I can definitely continue to live without it when I already have a perfectly good freezer attached to my refrigerator.
they have only come into fashion in the last year or so.
I guess it’s a good device but it takes a lot of space and ice trays do just fine for me.
@kenbrown2808 We got one about 5 years ago. Our fridge at the time was small, and we have a large family. (We also lived in Florida with no central a/c.)😅
@@gabecollins5585 I can imagine that people who have lots of entertaining to do in the summertime would find it quite useful to be able to produce them quickly. Think of those people who have swimming pools and a ton of kids in their house all day every summer
I bought a new fridge about ten years ago. It has an ice maker and a water dispenser. It has become an essential luxury to me.
Top sheets help keep the duvet cleaner without so many oils on it
Why not just buy a duvet with a washable cover?
@@Raven17729 that works but the washable cover can be hard to get on and off, most comforters don't have removable parts, a regular comforter may or may not fit into your washer and or dryer...a top sheet is much easier to clean and since every sheet set comes with both top and fitted sheets they are inexpensive to have and maintain.
I'm getting nauseated just thinking of no top sheet to protect the duvet or blankets
@@Raven17729 At that point you basically have a top sheet that takes more work to deal with, and also visually covers up that nice duvet/comforter you bought to have a bed that looks nice
It's like underwear for your bed.
Most ceiling fans are reversible, also. In the cold weather, you can change the rotation setting so they force the warm air down from the top of the room into the lower half of the room.
right. in the summer you set it to mix the cooler air from floor level with warmer air at the ceiling, and in the winter, you reverse it so it mixes the warmer air from the ceiling with cooler air at the floor. or less silly - in the summer, you set it so you feel the breeze from it, and in the winter you reverse it so you don't.
I don't usually reverse the direction of my ceiling fans because they're upstairs where it is 10° warmer than downstairs. I open a window up there, usually when I'm exercising. Meanwhile I'm freezing downstairs. I keep thinking I should be lighting the gas fire but don't seem to.
In winter it should rotate clockwise, summer counterclockwise. Some fans have a little sun & snowflake on/by the switch to take the guesswork out of it.
I'm a top sheet fan. I have to have a cover over me, even on the hottest summer night so a top sheet is perfect. Also, I'd rather wash a top sheet vs struggling with taking off and putting on a duvet cover each time I wash bedding.
My house has a mail slot in the door and I love it. The mail lands on the entry floor. What could be more convenient. I have a cat so I don't have the problem of a dog chewing up the mail.
The most amusing US item Laurence can't live without is 2 bathrooms. I've mentioned this a bunch of clients and they all laugh and heartily agree since they have multiple bedroom homes with kids and 2 bathrooms.
As an American who grew up with a closet (one that was not technically a walk-in closet, it had those rolling doors) I was fortunate to learn from C.S. Lewis that it was a very silly thing to shut oneself in a wardrobe. Since I didn't have a wardrobe, I felt confident that shutting myself in my closet was probably not silly at all.
@eoinPalmer. I was expecting a flurry of replies along the lines of coming out of the closet.
Back in 1981 I was an exchange student to Norway and experienced a duvet for the first time. They have only become more common here in the US over the past 25 years or so. My host sister was an exchange student to the US later that summer and I had to describe how American beds were made with sheets, blankets and a bedspread and she'd need to sleep between the fitted and top sheets under the blanket and bedspread. Mamy people (and hotels/motels) still use sheets and blankets with a bedspread or comforter, especially in the warmer months when a duvet can be too warm. I use a duvet from mid-fall until mid-spring and then sheets and a light blanket the rest of the year.
Arthur has grown so much! Sure, I've seen him happily walking with you, Laurence, but to see him on the sofa (couch) with you, I am able to see what a handsome big boy he's become!
"Settee", if I remember my Monty Python's Flying Circus living room scenes.
“I’ve arrived, at my wife’s consensus” 🤣
"I am unanimous in that."
- Mrs Slocomb in "Are You Being Served" -
Comedian Jeff Foxworthy used to say, "When women ask for your opinion, they don't really want to hear your opinion. They just want to hear their opinion in a deeper voice. 😂
In always considered top sheets as a way to keep the bed cleaner by being something that's in contact with your body that can be easily washed frequently. Otherwise you're making your duvet dirty and sleeping against a dirty duvet all the time or washing the duvet frequently which is expensive and wears out the more expensive cover faster. Also being cleaner means keeping mite infestations down. We use double washable covers for everything to reduce bed mites even more.
I'm from neither The United Kingdom or the United States but these videos are super interesting, I almost feel like I'm from one of these countries watching these.
Where are you from? Just curious.
@@Colorado_Native New Zealand
@AverageSouthernMan Thanks.
American born and raised and I’ve never even heard of that salt dispenser.
Utahn here, and we love those! But if you can't afford or find one an old coffee can works too. I also like ice-melt instead of salt; it's kinder to the lawn and garden.
Many times when I have purchased ice melting stuff in a container it has a easy spout or holes to throw the stuff around, but if we bought it in bulk, I can see getting a dispenser.
@@leahmollytheblindcatnordee3586 We get ours in those big 40-pound bags, so they're not exactly easy to handle, but three or four of them will get us through all but the most-awful winters here.
@ Not a bad idea at all. We live in town, unfortunately and so have relatively small areas to use it on. And am also in Mid Michigan. We do get a lot of snow some winters, but nothing like the west coast of the state gets or places like yours. My nephew lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Slightly off the subject, but did you know that Buffalo, New York actually has at least one large area where they dump the city's snow. Its then melted and flows away underground. The winds blow directly over lake Erie and the amount of lake effect snow they get is huge. I heard about it a while back and think it sounds rather cool.
@@leahmollytheblindcatnordee3586 I didn't know and it does sound cool--thank you for sharing!
I’m American and I’ve never seen an ice cube maker that isn’t in the fridge.
I know many people that have both. If you live in a house with a family the fridge often can't keep up and the external model is used to supplement.
@@joshualamp2438 They're a pretty new development for household use, but I think Lawrence's point applies to built-in ones too.
A few years ago, my refrigerator ice maker broke. I decided that the room it took in the fridge could best be used for food, since I like to cook batches of food to freeze for future use. So I bought a countertop ice maker, and I am glad I did. It’s been perfect for me.
A coworker mentioned one of his friends bought an ice maker because he was tired of buying bagged ice, I assumed he meant one of the big units like you might find in a hotel snack vending area. I'd never seen a countertop unit before this video.
Countertop ice makers have become incredibly inexpensive lately.
At one time, most American homes, at least in the cities had mail slots [aka letter boxes] in the front door. The problem with Mail slots is that they let in drafts which is not a good idea in a climate that gets much warmer in the Summer and MUCH colder in the Winter than the UK. During the 1950s, it became common for the older front doors with windows and mail slots to be replaced with solid doors with weather stripping on all four edges to keep out drafts. Consequently, the mail slot was replaced by a mail box mounted on the wall next to the front door, although there are some older homes that still have mail slots..
Yes, drafts can be a problem with mail slots in doors. I'm grateful my house has one that empties into a tiny entry area with a door to shut it off from the rest of the house.
My first house, in Los Angeles, had a mail slot. Letting in a cold draft wasn't a problem.
They do letterboxes with brushes to keep the wind out.
American here, and I have never heard of a ice maker that wasn't built into the fridge/freezer. Neat that they have them.
We’ve had ours for years. It looks like a smallish mini fridge. Our freezer ice maker kept breaking so we switched to the stand alone unit and have really liked it!
I will not use the one in fridge, they always break down. I have a counter one as well and it works well.
Me neither, we just use the fridge ice or buy bags, didn't know there was an individual appliance just for making ice.
The top sheet also protects the quilt, or whatever bed coverings you can name, from sweat stains.
Ooooh an ice machine!!! I could use one of those even in the middle of winter as I hate not-quite-cold water.
I buy the cheapest, biggest bag of rock salt, and use my seed/fertilizer/salt spreader. I spent 40 years living in Alaska…😉
I do the same in Utah. Glad to see we think the same.
I like that just bought a house not part of HOA
My sister swears by water softener salt. She buys several big bags every fall & has them loaded in her cargo van where they stay until needed. She never has to schlep those big bags around. The weight provides more traction in the back end of the van.
Pet friendly reminder:
Please clean your dogs feet if they've walked over deicing salt!
Salt only works at a specific temperature range. Never hurts to have a bag of fine gravel for when it gets really cold.
Salt is also not permitted to use on roads in certain states.
Sand also works real well.
kitty litter also works
@@WendyHart-j2d 💯 and I live in Montana
for surfaces you will walk on, salt is often still adequate. it just acts as grit until it warms up.
A salt dispenser? I've been spreading salt my whole life and a simple glass or pitcher has never felt inadequate
When I saw this comment, I thought that it meant that you guys didn't use a sock grinder and that you were just throwing on huge pieces of salt on your food
I used a snow shovel, I just open the bag, insert snow shovel and spread salt.
I use a handheld fertilizer set at the highest setting.
@@AlexKS1992 A snow shovel does not fit into a bag of salt.
I use an old juice can
There are older American homes where the mail comes in through a slot in the door. I lived in one and rather enjoyed not going outside for the mail. I didn't have a dog though. 😂
I have a slot!
My parents old home had a slot in the door. What wasn't plesant was having to balance yourself after opening the door to pick up the mail with 1 foot on doorstep and other foot still on outside steps, and no handrail on side of steps. 😬
My house was built in 1941-1942; I have a wall slot mailbox.
@@markh.6687I lived in 3 houses growing up and various great aunts and great uncles living in 5 different houses in the neighborhood for a total of 7. All of those were bouillon between 1900 and 1936. None of them had slots.
@@santamanone Interesting. I wonder why (or why not)?
Top sheets are also important to keep you warm. In the summer, I like just the sheet where it lets you stay cooler and I seem to want some type of cover.
Tara is the main thing that is keeping you on the path 😄
On my visit to the UK, I was shocked that top sheets weren't a thing. In the 3 weeks I was there, I simply couldn't get used to it. It seems much more practical that you wash a top sheet weekly; therefore, one only had to wash a duvet cover every few months, eliminating the need for wrestling a duvet change weekly.
I'm an American but i absolutely loathe top sheets 😣 but i love sleeping ridiculously warm. I just turtle my feet and arms out when I need to be cooler 🙃
“I’m not a child anymore, I’m a human being” 😂
I caught that too. Too funny!
My nephew went to study medicine, for a semester, from New Jersey to England. They tried to order him a sweatshirt and found out it was a jumper and a basket of food was a hamper. You uTubes have been humorous and valuable.
Another excellent one, Laurence!! Keep them coming, because we can't live without Lost in the Pond anymore!
Puppy Arthur is adorable!!
I have very little counter space so my refrigerator makes my ice. I don't need yet another dust gatherer. Top sheets are necessary to keep from having to wash the blankets often. They are also good to keep the breeze from the window or ceiling fan from blowing on you in summer without adding much warmth.
Down here in Louisiana, we don't get much ice or snow, so only salt I buy goes on my fish and chips. As for ice inside the house, I use old fashioned ice trays in the freezer. I don't have ceiling fans, since my ceilings are low, and I'd probably be decapitated. The older I get, I wish my mailbox was closer to the house. I have a long driveway, and get a but exhausted walking out to the box. Luckily, since I started paying most bills online, I don't get the volume of mail I used to. 🙂
Per the recent news, you have experienced snow this January. In fact, New Orleans has had more snow than Anchorage Alaska as on Jan 25, 2025.😂
@@peggykrech69 Didn't see any snow in my part of the state (northeast corner).
My late parent's old farmhouse had a low ceiling, so the ceiling fan was short-mounted, but still a hazard.
Yes! Top sheets are so you don't have to wash the blankets so often. So much easier to occasionally wash the sheets. 😂
"since your not running your air conditioner in the middle of the winter" is something not heard in the south where there is only a week of cold in the winter
Ya got snow now
For the summer what you might want is a double sheet. Two top sheets sown together in layers. A light blanket. I don’t know that you can buy these but they are a thing.
it’s called a duvet cover!
Nephew, if you spread salt where Arthur walks, be sure to clean his paw pads with warm water when he comes back in. Otherwise, he’ll lick it off and his paws will get raw. Plus he’ll get 🤢🤢🤢🤮 sick.
There are ice melt products that are pet friendly.
Wise advice ! As a pet sitter , washing & drying dog paws is my winter hobby . 😂 🐾🐾💙
@@bunkyman8097 Tru, but they still lick them off. Yuck.
@@cynthiajohnston424 Thank you Cynthia.
I was going to suggest that Laurence put booties on the dog’s paws when they go out walking for better protection.
The most common salt spreader in America isn't a custom designed item bought for that purpose, it's any fairly sturdy plastic bottle with a built-in handle like a bleach or windshield washer fluid bottle cut at a forty-five degree angle to make it into a scoop. It makes salt spreading a simple operation: scoop the salt out of the bag (or more usually a small bucket or trash can or other covered container) and sprinkle it on the walkway by shaking the scoop side to side while tilting it slightly, or casting it around on a driveway or larger area like you are spreading seed.
Laurence, what you call a "letter box on the door" is what I knew simply as a "mail slot" when I was little. That was in the 1940s & 1950s. I'm 80 now. My homes when I was young had "letter boxes." I always looked forward to seeing the mail come through the slot in the door. There was even a time when the letter carrier would come by twice a day! Later homes had a box on a wall near the front door. Then I had a home with boxes in a unified cluster at the edge of the sidewalk. That was so the letter carriers could put mail in the boxes without stepping out of their vehicles. They had special Jeeps with the steering wheel on the right, so they could just reach out to the box. I'm not sure what they do in the cities now. I live in the countryside, and I pick up my mail from a rented box at the nearest post office.
I live on a country road in central Illinois ( US ) . There have been a few extreme winter days ( black ice w/ severe blowing snow , white out conditions ) when it was not safe for our mail carrier to navigate the roads . The rural carriers drive their own vehicles , wisely owning various types of 4-wheel drive SUV's & Jeeps .
I like having the top sheets. Warm blankets can be scratchy. We use quilts in the midwest and those can have a "rough" under side (sewing seams and such).
One year the salt I bought came in a bit jug with a screw cap that flips open. Every year since we bought bags and poured them into that jug.
I used liquid laundry detergent containers for my ice melting salt.
Europe does not use salt so often because it`s deadly for the soil and shoes. It`s not the beat way. The ultimate way is to use small graded marble and collect it in spring to reuse. It`s cost affective and you get normal grass around.
What's funny is the ice maker is actually pulling heat away from the water and releasing it into the ambient air. So in effect, you are making the house warmer
Only the space around the ice maker. The rest of the house can't get warmer from that.
@@TiredMomma I agree the effect is negligible but any amount of heat inside an enclosed space will increase the heat in the enclosed area, your entire house is a semi-insulated box, Even you without any heating at all will heat up the house based on body heat a measurable amount, this is how igloos make sense, a small enclosed space filled with a couple people will heat it up enough to keep you from freezing to death, a countertop ice maker uses about the same amount of energy that it releases as heat as you give off so it is certainly a measurable amount
@jaykoerner I've lived in a home without heat for a whole winter. Believe me when I say that even 5 people, one being an infant who had to stay bundled up 24/7, except for diaper changes and a fast wipe down with baby wipes, does not keep a 2 story house warm enough to keep you from freezing. The only area that was warmest, once a day, was the oven in the kitchen to cook dinner. And one winter when it got to -10 degrees outside, inside the temps were in the teens upstairs. Thankfully we were already moving out.
@@TiredMomma I did not say noticeable or even effective I said measurable as in a scientifically significant amount you could measure accurately with and without people inside that might be a degree or two but it exists, to be clear 500 watts(The average person puts out about a 100 watts of heat) in a two-story house is basically nothing but that is still a third of a single heater(about the amount of a oil filled heater puts out on low), if you shoved everyone in the smallest room in your house closed the door you probably would feel a real difference, to properly heat a two story house on the other hand you need around 20000 watts, so yeah your not going to notice
I have the same icemaker. It's absolutely wonderful.
Bro, all you had to do was get a pint of sour cream, use all the sour cream, wash the container, then let it dry.
Voila! Free salt spreader!
I don't have a top sheet. I do, however, have a pile of sheet next to the bed, just in case.
6:55
Switch to non polyester blankets. Polyester doesn't breathe hardly at all.
A standalone ice maker is strange. Never even knew they existed. Most people just have a fridge with an ice dispenser or use ice cube trays.
I have an icemaker in the refrigerator, but it freezes up all the time! Don't buy a Samsung! We have a countertop ice maker as well.
@@javiersayshiThey make great TVs and phones. Never buy a large Samsung appliance
I believe that Lawrence’s kitchen only supports a smaller fridge, so not much room for an ice maker.
@@javiersayshi We have a samsung fridge and I love it. It has a drawer in the middle for drinks so we're not opening the whole door every time. But even though it does have an ice maker and we use it often, we also bought a countertop ice maker because the fridge couldn't make ice as fast as the three of us use it.
I rarely use ice so I opted for a fridge without an ice-maker.
Then I married someone who loves ice so I bought a cheap stand-alone ice-maker on clearance.
It's connected to a water line so I don't have to fill it.
We're pretty happy with it. Built-in ice-makers take up a lot of freezer space, so if you have the counter-space for an ice-maker it's a nice thing to have.
The Only time I use ice cubes is in the summer. (from an ice cube tray) I just use them to cool down the hard boiled eggs as quickly as possible, since the tap water isn't as cold in the summer.
It's interesting how differences in regions and even communities and types of homes vary across the country. Living in an older condo in Phoenix, I don't have any of the things mentioned in this video other than a top sheet. In a different home here, I did have a ceiling fan, though. My mail is delivered to one of those little compartments in the community cluster mailbox, so I have to walk a distance (usually under a scorching, life-sucking sun) to pick up my mail every day.
You can add a surprising amount of warmth just with another top sheet. Discovered this over the summer when i was a little chilly.
I have 20 year old bedspread and quilt so what I've been doing this winter is sheet, bedspread, sheet, quilt, sheet.
Ice cubes are pretty much an American thing. In Europe, ice was scarce with the exception of a McDonald's or similar.
You can get a basket to mount behind your letter flap to catch the post before the dog gets it.
Lost me on the second thingamagie. I'm happy if my freezer works.
I use old fashioned ice trays. Well, the plastic ones. Not the REALLY old ones, like the metal kind with the lever, like my grandmother had when I was growing up! 😉
Ceiling fans in winter on low setting can actually help with warming, as heat will raise to the ceiling a fan will help keep some of it lower so that your hot air is more evenly distributed about the room. As for sheets.....if you have them you don't have to was your quilt or comforter as often.
Kitty litter works good for traction in the snow.
Those teal appliances! Love em! I'm that rare American who doesn't put ice in anything unless it's broiling out. I have to tell the bartenders not to serve my area and stouts cold too!
Sooo many great references in this one vid, lion witch and the wardrobe. Bobs your uncle and more 😂😂😂😂
You made me laugh 😂😂😂😂 thank you!
Chemical Ice Melt works in much lower temperatures and generally better for the grass than salt. Regardless, it's all a pain in the ass when you track it in. I live in Chicago too but I have an association that clears the walks so I just toss a little out between cleanings. You should tell everyone about the trash cans in the parking spots...uniquely Chicago...extremely odd.
And in the South Suburbs of Chicago, where many residents are former Chicagoans. Our street department plows them out of the way if they can get to the curb at all. People fill their garages with everything except the vehicle they need to move for snow plowing.
@ OMG! Get the shit out of your garage and put at least one of your cars in it! LOL
@JamokeGuy We have some REALLY bright residents. Like the ones who shovel by throwing snow into the street, then yelling when the plows re-bury their vehicle(s).
Yay for the Amoeba hat! So glad you’re supporting small(ish - certainly way smaller than Amazon) businesses!
I was going to say the same thing!
tbh, we tend to just buy gallon sized containers, that has a spreader built into the lid. Also, some american houses do still have a mail slot.
It could be the perfect room temperature and I'd still need a ceiling fan going. I couldn't survive in Britain😞
I’ve never been able to get where I could use the top sheet, doesn’t insulate the heat enough, plus it was always trapped or in the wrong spot. I usually use when I have a fever though; the only time I actually want to be cold
Arthur is such a cute looking canine! If I had a dog I’d want one just like Sir Arthur.
I live in the SE of England and the first thing we did when we moved into our house was put in ceiling fans... Rooms that we couldn't put a ceiling fan into have a wall fan instead. 😊. We keep our house cooler in the summer by opening our windows at night to let in the cooler air then close all the windows where the sun is hitting the house and close all the curtains on the same windows and open them once the sun. Has moved away.
Our mum always had a basket/ thick mesh box on the back of our letter box on the door and the mail would fall into the basket and the dog couldn't eat the mail. when we had our dogs we either had a post box on the wall outside our flat's front door or when we moved to the house we are in now we changed the front door to one with no letter box because we have a porch door that has a letter box in it, we also leave our porch door unlocked so parcels can be delivered into the porch. 😊
Mmmm grits 😋. I drink ice water all year. More heavily during a texas summer though.
I use a drop spreader for salting the walkways and driveway.
Depending on where you live, the US postal service is recommending people not leave anything in the mail box. I was forced to get a locked box because someone was helping themselves to my mail. Be nice it they could pay the bills.
Set up a camera towards your mailbox. You'd be doing your neighbors a favor if one of you can catch your mail thief.
@@nhansen197 My local post office even closed the dropboxes outside because the issue has gotten so bad. 🤯
Nice soft blanket even in summer! My blankie!
My American fridge makes two different kinds of ice.
@idreamofparis7233 Mine has crushed or cubed, but the counter ice makers make the little round pellets, which is good for people (mainly me) who have a bad habit of chewing ice. Lol
@@hollyberry3561 They also both cool the drink and melt differently because of the surface-area-to-volume ratio difference, so it's a preference thing too.
I thought everyone had a top sheet!! When you buy sheets, it comes with a top sheet and bottom sheet in the same package. We have an ice maker in the freezer. I can't live without it. I have ice in my drinks every day. Water, juice, and sodas. Winter or summer. Doesn't matter.
Yeah a new one. Yes we love these things but my heat isn’t put that high to expensive.
I hate the winter months. The heating unit is the only thing in my house that uses gas, so my gas bill skyrockets during those months. Not good being on a low fixed income.
My Agrees-With-Lawrence-O-Meter is reading only 50% so far. Kinda wild that literally half of the stuff he's going on about aren't the slightest bit a part of my American lifestyle.
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7:43 Although many places do have mailboxes, the house I grew up in, in Maryland had a mail slot in the front door, as did most of the houses in my neighborhood. However we didn't have a dog to chew it up, so I had to eat my own homework.
@@XianHu Had to eat your own homework 🤣
Old row home in a town or city?
@@pohldriver Suburbs, single family house (Wheaton/Silver Spring)
Living in South Florida I know that counter top ice makers and ceiling fans are 2 of life's necessities! Let's move on to the shrimp & grits!
Tell your family and kids you love them
there's a switch on your ceiling fans to change the direction of the fan. you can change the direction to turn clockwise, to circulate your heated air, and push if downward to help heat your rooms, since hot air rises, leading to a layer of warm air near the ceiling and cooler air near the floor. just, *(unlike me, til i'm part of the way through summer) change it back to rotate counterclockwise, to pull the ambient heat toward the ceiling and cool your rooms.
Try turning your ceiling fan to spin clockwise in the winter and counter clockwise in the summer.
We have mail slots in our townhouse community and for at least an hour every day my dog Is on high alert for the mail to come through the slot . She has destroyed a lot of mail so now we put up a small child gate to block her from going to the door.
😂
A simple scoop, plastic glass/cup or even a coffee can works perfectly fine for spreading rock salt/ice melt.
Most Americans actually have their ice makers BUILT INTO their refrigerator-freezers. No need for a sperate unit like that. But you can also find ice cube trays to fill with water and place into your freezer.
Actually, many people have both depending on the number of people in the household and the speed of the ice maker in the fridge. The kind that he shows in this video that makes the "ice tubes" can make ice much faster than most fridge units will do.
I grew up in a suburb just outside Detroit, and my mom still lives there. No mail box or letter box, just a slot in the door that the mail carrier slides letters through and they drop inside the front door. But we never had a dog. 8:11
I feel like top sheets are the superior option. I've watched people swapping out their duvet covers and I'm like "In America, you pick up the comforter/blanket, grab the top sheet, toss it in the laundry, lay down a new top sheet, lay the blanket on top, and you're done."
The ceiling fans go in both directions for a reason. Heat rises, so in the winter you want to push that heat down and maintain it in your home (clockwise) and in the summer you want to suck it up and out of the room (counterclockwise). You can actually notice the difference in temperature and your utility bill if you do it.