Inside the Home: Germany vs. USA | Feli from Germany
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- Опубликовано: 19 июн 2024
- ++Reason for blurs/muted audio: This channel was renamed in Oct 2021. All references to the old name have been removed.++
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GERMAN HOMES vs. AMERICAN HOMES. Whether it’s an apartment/flat or a house, there are so many differences that you wouldn’t expect! If you're planning to move to Germany, or move to the US, a lot of these apartment/home differences might surprise you. If you're an expat in the US or an expat in Germany, you might already recognize some of them. German windows, American garbage disposals, ceiling fans, closets, toilets, showers - the list is ENDLESS! Come join me on a little house tour through some of the most significant differences I’ve noticed since I moved to the US and let me know which of these features you would like to have in YOUR home! 😊
Check out 5 THINGS AMERICANS DO DIFFERENTLY THAN GERMANS to learn more about the "wearing shows inside" topic ▸ • 5 THINGS AMERICANS DO ...
Here is my dedicated video on bathroom differences ▸ • POOP SHELVES?! German ...
And I talked about a few housing things in this video as well: 6 Things the USA Can LEARN From Germany ▸ • 6 Things the USA Can L...
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0:00 Intro
1:56 Doors
3:23 Entrance Area
4:40 Heating/Cooling
6:44 Ceiling Fans
9:30 Windows
10:25 Blinds
10:54 Closets
11:45 Light switches/door knobs/outlets
12:23 Bathroom
14:56 Kitchen
16:19 Laundry
17:10 Floors
18:04 Exterior
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Check out similar videos by other RUclipsrs:
My German Flat vs American Apartment • My German Flat vs Amer...
6 House Differences (Germany vs USA - Homes) • 6 House Differences (G...
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GERMAN AND AMERICAN HOMES • DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GE...
7 Differences Between American & German Housing • Video
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ABOUT ME: Hallo, Servus, and welcome to my channel! My name is Felicia (Feli), I'm 26, and I'm a German living in the USA! I was born and raised in Munich, Germany but have been living in Cincinnati, Ohio off and on since 2016. I first came here for an exchange semester during my undergrad at LMU Munich, then I returned for an internship, and then I got my master's degree in Cincinnati. I was lucky enough to win the Green Card lottery and have been a permanent resident since 2019! In my videos, I talk about cultural differences between America and Germany, things I like and dislike about living here, and other experiences that I have made during my time in the States. Let me know what YOU would like to hear about in the comments below. DANKE :)
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Pictures:
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Town houses: Wdwdbot (CC BY-SA 3.0) commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
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Even on the risk of being called a Klugscheisser, the eurpean layout with a Flur does have a real function. The shoe swap and jackets storage is actually not their real intended function but instead its planed for function is to seperate the heated parts of your home from the cold rushing in from the front door.
Exactly. It even is called "Windfang" ("windcatch").
@@HalfEye79 Especially older and rural American houses have something called a "mud room", which takes a similar role, when entering the house from the cold.
Which is why most American homes have storm doors as well. :)
Exactly. We on the farm called it the entryway or the mud room. It's like a closed in porch. They had two doors, 1 to enter into that room and one to enter the house. This entryway also prevented your front door from freezing shut when you had 40 below zero fahrenheit Temps for weeks at a time.
Yes- Americans have mud rooms for coats and shoes. Not common in the South; very common in the North.
Actually, in order to classify as a bedroom in the US, it must have a closet. That is why you have a three bedroom/ 2 bath house with a "den" or "bonus room" because it is a room without a closet that can be a bedroom.
And a window usually. Alternate escape route.
In most US locations, closets are part of the building code and a room cannot be considered a bedroom without a closet.
Cedar chests and wardrobes used to be a lot more common when tax assessments were higher with closets! People got around the higher taxes by using them.
"considered" by whom? I'll put a bed in it if I want to.
Do you mean it can't be advertised as a bedroom in a listing without a closet?
@@nthgth Correct. For example, say you are trying to sell your house and it has 3 rooms with a built in closet in it, and one room without a closet in it that was used as your office. You would not be able to advertise it as a 4 bedroom house because the fourth room doesn’t have a closet.
@@a123sophie123a ah, ok. There's a standard for what constitutes a bedroom, this makes a lot more sense having read what you wrote.
Naturally without this rule, people would bs about it all the time to sell their house.
@@a123sophie123a Real bedrooms in the US must also have a window. Don't forget that. I live in a large (6000 square feet), house. I have 6 bedrooms and 39 windows. All have the requisite closets and windows. And yes, a front porch and a big front yard and back yard. Not bragging. I just did not piss away my money in my younger days. The last time I was in Frankfurt I stayed in a small hotel without A/C. In 2003 Europe experienced some significant heat waves. People actually died. Even with the windows open at night it was very uncomfortable. I also used to go to NATO headquarters in Brussels several times a year. Hotel accommodations were far better. Had some interesting times in Prague and Warsaw. One thing I distinctly remember about Frankfurt was a German car club that only had American muscle cars. Cars like this eat gasoline like it was free. I think gas in Germany at the time, factoring in the equivalents, was close to $4.50 a US gallon. You had to be brave to fill up a 20 gallon muscle car tank back then. Cheers from a retired USG Federal employee and former U.S Army Vietnam veteran. Yes, that makes me pretty old. I do love to watch the German Girl videos. My heritage is German. My grandparents on my Father's side spoke German around the home. My British mother spoke both German and French. Unfortunately, she never bothered to teach her children the languages. I only have limited conversational skills in German, French, Spanish, and Italian. Not fluent in any of them. You won't be fluent if you have to think of a sentence in English and then try and remember how to formulate that sentence into the foreign language. That is unfortunately where I am in my language skills.
Interior doors in the US don't have seals because we use central ventilation systems. The gaps in the door allow for airflow while they're closed.
I like how many bathrooms in Europe have a radiator in that doubles as a towel dryer!
In the winter it's great to dry yourself with a warm towel ;P
they mostly have towel warmers, radiators are too hot for towels and insulate the transfer of heat from the ratiators
@@markhgillett I think it's just Americans that make a distinction between radiator and towel warmer. We call both a "radiator" and the function of the one in the bathroom is to keep the room warm. The towel warming is just an extra feature.
@@markhgillett Warm water room radiators in Germany run on low temperature, around 95 to 105 F. No towel will burn with that temperature.
We have a radiator and we used to have a towel drier.
For the curious: everything Felicia said applies also for Italy. The only exception is that the gas kitchen stoves are standard here.
Matteo: my grandfather's famous line for any good thing: "Now you're cookin' with gas!"
Russia too, for the most part
Love the gas. Not sure why Germany has it not commonly used. Best to cook with fire. The real way. Grazie Matteo for the insight. Lieben Dank, Felicia für das sehr akkurate Video und den Content! 👍
I'm an American living in France, and everything that Felicia said applies to France, too... except that (as in Italy, apparently) we do have a gas stove. It's a hybrid; one out of the 4 burners is electric (the other 3 are gas), and the oven is electric, too; that's become common, and it's very useful for when you're making soup, for example, because you don't have to worry about the flame blowing out.
It's depend of the region of germany, my parents have a gas stove and I also had one before I moved to a different city.
But I like the electrical oven more, it's easier to clean the kitchen in my opinion.
Fixed shower heads are default when installed, but I think most people (myself included) replace them with detachables (since they are cheap to buy).
> 13:09
Yeah, we've had detachable for years
I wouldn't say "most," but I'll agree with some people do. I mean I've only seen a couple detachable shower heads in my life, so truly around Ohio they aren't common.
Always noticed this when I see house tours or fixer upper or some American house shows - the fixed shower heads. Seems awful to me, I prefer to adjust it. I've rarely seen a fixed shower head in Europe
Fixed shower heads are standard, however most people switch them out to handheld. Also water faucets come in the one handle or two handle variety it just depends on who picked it out when it was installed.
I absolutely love the blinds in German apartments. They really work to keep the light out when you are trying to sleep in the day
You can get them here in the US. See them a bit down here on the deep south coasts. We call them hurricane shutters down here. Can get them manual or power.
Stoßlüften
Mein Mann und ich haben ein Haus gekaufen in Bayern...it’s from the 60s and has some older parts too and the windows tilt only. Big beautiful windows! Rouladen are the best!
@@robinbirdj743 Rouladen or Rollladen? 😁 Rouladen are something to eat, Rollladen to darken the room ;)
@@lane0mator That made me smile too.
In Germany modern houses have a hidden warm/cold system under the floor „Fußbodenheizung“. Modern houses also have air conditioning.
It is really boring to install them all days hahaha ( floor heating )
I have never seen a german house with AC, not even the new and modern ones O.o
Kunigunde Walter Also in unseren Neubaugebieten hat die jeder 😅 Aber können ja alle Eigentümer für sich selbst entscheiden
Those are some old school German windows, like the ones in our cabin.
In Hungary, the modern houses come with heated parkets . Also in Hungary, it's cheaper to live in the city than the outskirts because of the lack of space and you pay after square meters. You can get a decent studio apartment for 150-200 euros a month
You forgot to mention that in the US, houses come with the kittchen, in Germany it's bring your own kittchen ;-) By the way, fantastic job girl ;-)
🤣🤣
As I was a child my parents in Germany moved in a flat whitch had in the kitchen an oven.
Wait what, this is serious? Like someone is moving out and is taking out the kitchen counters???
Sorry I'M from Quebec (CANADA)
@@ambradeluna ^yes of course either they offer you to sell them to you or they take it with them to the next flat/house. Thats sometimes really stressfull because not all Kitchens are of equal size and fit the counters
Well, in general, but a lot of apartments also come with a kitchen.
Generally, in order to be called a bedroom in the United States, it must have a closet. This is some kind of real estate rule. No closet and it’s a den or an office.
Bedrooms also have to have exterior 'escape' windows.
But where does the space for the closed come from? Does the room next to it have a closet-shaped bulge? I can't picture the floor plan of these houses
@@idnwiw Closets from two rooms often take up space between the two rooms or a space in the building is set aside for several closets opening into different rooms and for different uses.
For Example: In my house, Bed room 1 has a closet in the center the east wall, the spaces on either side of the closet are filled with a closet in the living room which faces east (and hides behind the front door) and the mechanical closet where the air handler for the central air conditioning resides.
The only drawback to built in closets is that you are limited as to where you can place furniture. However, closets in the US are also as high inside as the ceiling, giving more total storage space than inside a schrunk or armoire.
ah-ah-ah, Nate, in Southern Calif, it must have a WINDOW as well, a window large enough to allow egress (in case of fire, etc)
@@kmakhlouf4387 In all new construction in the US since the 1990s.
Bathroom faucets are widely available in the US in either style--single-handle faucets are very common, and separate handles aren't necessarily an older style. Walk through the plumbing department at Home Depot, and you'll see lots of both. Also, electric vx. gas stoves tend to vary by region in the US. In some areas one is more economical than the other..
You commented on the seals around doors and windows. I think the seal (often called "weather strip" or "weather seal") in the US are part of the frame, rather than part of the door or window. We seal them well, because both heating and AC are expensive.
I enjoy your videos--keep it up!
And some wonderful governor are banning gas I'm houses or businesses. Very sad...
As an American I’d love the German windows! And I’ve talked the husband into switching our doorknobs for door handles.
I can tell you that not every door handle is the same. As a child my sister and I had see through hollow door handles we could fill with stuff (I filled mine with needles, while my sister filled hers with yarn).
Handles are great because you can open them with just the elbows while you have stuff to carry
get the triple pane windows :D
So if friends visit you they can't leave without your help?
Just kidding of course, but what _is_ the general reaction?
I'd have to be fact checked on this but i believe one of the reasons why we in Europe have door handles everywhere is also because of safety, for example if an elderly person falls and can't get up, they can still crawl to their phone etc to get help, and opening doors by reaching up to pull the handle is way easyer than doing so with a twisty knob. Same goes for windows as being able to open a window in it's entire size offers a much better escape route in fire situations. Can't imagine trying to squeeze my self through a a half-window in a rush, especially if one has a weight issue for example.
Well even modern homes in EU (im architect from Slovenia, and we have same housing standards as in Germany) always have this "foyer" of a room, it is not cool to step with your dirty shoes straight in your living spaces. Usually this foyer is a connecting room to living spaces, stairs, bathroom, utility or some storage room, depends on house floor plans. Another function of this foyer room is to prevent to much warm air to escape and chill your living spaces or on a windy day when another doors between rooms can prevent huge door slaping. So many reasons why we do not leave this space out of architectural designs. Old houses usually were cellular structured --> every room seperate with lots of hallways, but nowadays mostly all homes are built with kitchen, dining room and living room as one big room.
The main entrance is often different from the "main" entrance in US houses. Owners typically come in thru the garage or side door where there is often a "mud room" which is very similar to a foyer. The "main" entrance which enters directly to the living room often is rarely used.
In Austria we call a Flur, Diele, Foyer,..
-Vorzimmer
@@travelintammy6073 main entrance is only for the sidekicks to enter and deliver their lines^^
US is so much cleaner in that aspect. I lived in the US for over 20 years and the only time I have dirty shoes that I have to take off is when I go hiking and it was raining. Otherwise your shoes are not dripping with dirt, you can juat walk right into the house/apartment without a problem.
Entry doors in America do have weather stripping except it's around the frames instead of the door. Also many homes have foyers, just usually not in smaller homes or apartments.
German girl is right: the design in Germany is more durable. Since its an overlapping lip the seals usually dont get torn or damaged as much
I was not sure where she was going with that one - it may depend on the age of the house, but American doors do have weather stripping and if you go to any box store you will find a huge section and selection of options to place insulation on both the frame or door. One difference I do not think she picked up on is that in the US doors and especially windows are most commonly sold as a unit with the door and frame/jam manufactured together, often out of metal, so the fit is already much tighter than a hand built frame with door attached.
@@renegademoss The frame overlaps the door.
We lived in Deutschland for about 18 months and when we came back home, my teens immediately wanted new wider light switches. We switched them to the closest we could find. I also replaced our fixed shower head for something similar to what was in Germany. I wish I could have German fensters. We live in Cincinnati too!
Jen Kelch you can. My husband put them in the house he was building here on the West coast. Expensive!
how old is your house? most American homes have a replaceable shower head.
So this was a good one and a little relatable to me having lived in Germany for 7 years as an American. A topic you might talk about are the big differences in mindset about consumerism, my example is this..I lived in Germany in Nurnberg and had an apartment in the outskirts of town and one day my girlfriend asked her mom to visit for Sunday dinner ( Sauerbratten mit blaukraut!!!!) and when she got there I offered her a drink , she asked for orange juice and I poured her an "American" sized glass of juice, she seemed visibly upset but in true German fashion said nothing to me and just smiled as we had dinner and NEVER finished the juice ( almost but not all of it). That night after she left my girlfriend and I had a huge fight over the fact that I made her mom feel bad by giving her more juice than she could drink and she felt guilty to waste it and it made her pretty upset and thereby made my girlfriend upset and angry with me that I was so insensitive ( another German trait that Americans fall short on -sensitivity to small things- ) and she even said I tried to drown her mother in orange juice ( I actually laughed at that which was the wrong response lol ). But to an American offering our guests HUGE portions is normal cause in our minds "You take how much you want and leave what you don't" but to a German that is wasteful and puts them in a position to eat our drink ALL of what you gave them ( which often is wayyyy more than they may usually consume) or to waste it and in the German mind from my experience waste is at the least a sin if not almost criminal ( which I understand). do you have similar experiences?
I`m a german guy and I get taught to waste as less food as possible which also include to finish meal and drink the hole glass of whatever is offered to me, as you experienced. Germans say to their kids "Wenn du nicht aufisst, scheint morgen die Sonne nicht" (If you don`t finish your meal, there won`t be sunny weather the next day). If it was not enough food or drink to satisfy your stomach you can ask for some more (= waste as less as possible). Maybe they were upset because she can`t finish and had to risk rainy weather the next day :D. So it`s "just" that cultural difference.
Haha so I haven't even been to Germany yet but lived in Japan for a little while and feel like I see some cultural overlap in terms of consideration for others going on here with the juice incident. In Japan people really REALLY go out of their way to not put others in dicey situations that might cause them to lose face.
The "drowning in orange juice" thing made me laugh too lol, thanks for sharing your story!
I think, this is rooted in history. In the past a lot of wars happened in Europe. With the result of food shortage and hunger. Your story could have taken place in other parts of Europe too. But the new generation is more like in the USA now.
I am American and was taught that juice is always served in a very small glass, juice glass and it wasn't to be wasted. Juice is a delicacy at my house.
I mean I see where they were coming from, but picking up a huge fight over a glass of juice seems a bit too much? If this happened to my bf and my mom I would probably just finish her drink myself lol
Servus! I am an American living in Deutschland, and I just started watching your videos a few days ago.
I know it's not part of the household, but one of the biggest differences that I love here in Deutschland is the shopping cart system. The coin encourages people to return the cart to the cart stall, rather than leaving it in people's way, I also love how they move side to side, unlike the American shopping carts that only go forward and backward.
Then how do people move their belongings to the next place on the sidewalk?
One thing I found interesting is that a lot of the things common in Germany is something I usually see in businesses but not homes in the USA. The water facets, the door handles, the toilets. I really like that you are incorporating some Deutsch in the videos! Meine Frau und mich begginst Deutschlernen seit 2018. Wir kommt aus Cincinnati auch! Wir mögen deine videos! Es tut mir leid für meine schlechte Grammatik!
nahh I´m german and your German is not bad for an american:)) I was on a school exchange for 3 weeks in the US 1 month ago, and I notized so many differences Feli mentioned
German Windows and American fridge
Good combo
How much power consumes yours?
@@FelifromGermany There are some windows in homes built in the mid 20th century in the USA that work by a crank handle and hinge outward (hinged much like a front door, rotating around a vertical axis) with the screen on the inside. These serve to catch any wind blowing by and funneling it into the house.
@@FelifromGermany There is a practical advantage to the two handle faucet.
@@Anon54387 My parents' house has those, built in 1968
Also, for fun, realize US homes can vary, sometimes greatly, depending on where in the country you are. Homes in Cinci are quite different than say Louisiana (deep humid south), Utah (arid high desert), Seattle and so on. But, conceptually, for a general US home, you've hit the key points. If you have not been out this way, come visit the Mountain West and explore. :)
True, alot of homes don't have basements in the USA but where I live (Nebraska) every home does. (Tornadoes)
True... my home here in Florida is QUITE different than where I grew up in NJ...
@@jennifernichols9468 in Florida, there are NO basements...
The only big difference in houses I’ve lived in around the US-several parts of Texas, Mississippi, Kentucky just outside Cincinnati, San Francisco, Alabama, Michigan has been whether or not the house has a basement.
I was born in the mid 70’s and have generally lived in either a brand new home or a home built within 3 years of living there, always with central heating and air conditioning.
we have a house here in Alabama, where it is very hot and humid during the summer months. We , in the last couple of years , have installed new windows. They are more efficient and help out in the cooling and heating aspects of our house. Today for instance, we got the power bill in the mail....I was floored to find it to be only $97 . And we keep our AC at a constant 73 degrees. Of course we do have ceiling fans in every room of the house....well, not in the kitchen, and we do leave them on all year long. We have installed more efficient toilets as well, they dont use as much water to flush. and...We have installed wood oak flooring, real wood, not laminate. And we have installed ceramic tiles in the kitchen and in our bathrooms as well. Over all, our home is very efficient now. We took a trip to Scotlantland last year, and I was surprised at the differences in the houses there as opposed to here. They , too, had no AC ,and did have the radiators by the wall... and had very small showers....with tiny but effective water heaters that you turned on before you took a shower. The rooms were all small, alot smaller than ours here in America. Homes all across America cost differently depending on where they are located. I liked in San Francisco for a while, and was blown away by the the cost of homes out there....outrageous. Up in New York, the homes were small , the streets were narrower.... but cost big time. Its all a trade off. I'm retired now, dont sweat out doors while working like I used to when I lived in Tampa, Florida.....smilin. I love our FALL weather here in the south.... we get snow, and sun...all four seasons. Smilin. I really like the German Girl series. She is very informative. Thumbs up. Keep Smilin.
When she said “especially sucks” about shower heads it cracked me up! She speaks great English.
Another point about ceiling fans: with many of them, you can change the direction they spin, which changes the way the air moves. Counterclockwise makes a downdraft, which cools you off in summer. In winter, clockwise makes a warming updraft.
_Ich, ein Deutscher:_ Aha interessant, so leben die Deutschen also
@Chris Lebst du anders? 😅
Chris ^
LOVE IT
Dave geht mir irgendwie genauso. Unser Haus hat iwie nur amerikanische Merkmale
Ich wusste gar nicht, dass wir Fenster haben. Jetzt weis ich es. 🤣🤣
Ich bin ein Berliner -JFK
I want German windows for my home. They're fantastic and love the flexibility of better air flow inside the home.
Right, install it an be happy 👍🏻only the bugscreen are seperate.
@@bandicootc5334 On the American Version of the Tilt+Turn Windows are Screens installed when you buy them. There is a few Companies selling those.
@@hans895 oh thats cool
I had a love-hate relationship with the German windows. The tilt feature is great, but if it’s hot and you really need to open them wide, you have to consider your furniture placement, and then this giant, heavy window is sticking out into the middle of the room. 🤷♀️
@@mrsrichards99 Wake up function when you run against it 😉
I was stationed in Germany for 3 years (Sembach AB), and when we had our house rebuilt here in Seattle about 12 years ago I insisted on a large tilt/turn window near my desk area, and all of our doors have handles and not round knobs. Our contractor had never seen the tilt/turn style, and any time someone came in while they were doing the build he'd show them what it was and how it worked, and encouraged others to at least think about this style of window. What I really like about them is that when you open it in the tilt mode you can leave it open while you are out and it is still very secure.
I would add that living in a detached house is definitely not the norm everywhere in Germany, especially in the former GDR. Living in „social housing“ soviet-style apartment blocks is also totally normal. Due to this, many people also have separate gardens elsewhere.
The oddest thing for me moving to München (which my friends from the Netherlands, Denmark, and other European countries agree with) is that your apartment does not usually come with a kitchen or lights (more modern apartments are staring to include kitchens, but still not the most common). Just an empty Küche which you have to purchase the appliances, cabinets, etc for, as well as just wires hanging out of the ceiling instead of light fixtures. In the US, just having wires out of the ceiling for a rental is completely illegal, haha.
Hand-held shower heads are VERY common in the US - but not in businesses like hotels.
You’re just staying in cheap hotels.
@@robertgary3561 From *The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock* by T S Eliot: "Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels..."
@@robertgary3561 I would consider the Four Seasons cheap, but ok, Karen.
Not common in Illinois. I've never been to one house that had one.
Handheld shower heads are very common in the US, so much so that you can go to any Target or Walmart and buy one and change out an existing shower head in a minute with possibly no tools required.
I will say I have only once stayed in a hotel in a german speaking country that had a hand held shower, that was in Salzburg Austria, every other hotel I have stayed in had the common hotel shower head.
Lots of people in America have hand held shower heads that you can take down just like the one you showed from Germany.
We have detachable showerheads In the US everywhere. You can by them at hardware stores, Wal-Mart or even amazon for $20.
did u ever hear about rain showers? it's a common installation in Europe, which cost a bit more than normal showers! installing a rain shower costs between 2000 to 10000 Dollars! It s very relaxing because the Water comes from above, which gives it some kind of a massage touch
Handheld units are much more recent in the US. Yes, we had them ten or twenty years ago, but they were much more more rare.
@@shubinternet They’re less common because new homes and apartments are installed with cheap fixed showerheads to save money. I always grew up with detachable showerheads. When we moved my dad would go to Home Depot and buy new showerheads for about $20
My Tante Heide has auto-blinds for her windows. Scared me half to death when we stayed there in 2007. I'm in the kitchen around 6PM and there's this sudden loud "WHIRRRRRR!!" :/
Here in the u.s. a we call that German ingenuity!
Wow! So cool!
One bad thing about door handles - unless you lock the door all the time, cats easily figure out how to open it.
Our dog didn't take two months until he figured that out 🤦♀️ basically just the time he needed to grow big enough to reach them.. He probably figured it out earlyer but couldn't reach lol
That's why we turned the handle so it points upwards and you have to tip it to the side to open the door xD but only in my parents' room because the cats are never allowed in there, so they try xD
Back in the late 70's we had to convert the door handle to a door knob because teddy the cat knew how to let himself out.
Get one of these: www.schlage.com/en/home/products/F40MERFFFCEN.html
Will be a lot harder for a pet to figure out. It's essentially the same locking as would be used with a knob.
Or raptors! 😒
I've spent most of my life in Southern California, Texas, and Tennessee, with a small stint in Okinawa Japan, which is tropical. All of these places frequently get above 95F (35C) for almost half the year. The idea of not having air conditioning in your home is inconceivable to me.
I live in NY and it gets into the 90s here too. Same deal.
And when I lived on Long Island, humidity usually came with it!
I’m in Michigan and we don’t have central AC...just a window rattler that we only turn on for a couple weeks out of the year. I’d say 50% of the homes here don’t have it. May be typical for the northern US?
Germans have mastered the art of keeping their houses cool without AC. Just open all the windows at night, close them in the morning and close the blinds, and voilà, the house stays cool all day. Unless you live in an attic apartment, then you just have to suffer lol
Older houses close to the beach in SoCal often have no air conditioning. I live in a 61-year-old house in Orange County, about five miles from the ocean, and the materials are more porous so that ocean breezes cool things. Wish I had air conditioning. I have two big fans running at full blast the past two weeks. The humidity we get -- not nearly as bad as almost everywhere else in the U.S. -- is vastly beyond what it was in the 1960s and '70s.
As was much more common back then even in commercial buildings in the semi arid areas of CA and the SW in general, our ranch style house in SoCal (Riverside) when we first moved to CA in the '80s did not have AC, it had only an evaporative cooler, aka a swamp cooler. It was adequate, and certainly better than nothing. As was also common, the house also did not have a furnace, it had only a wall mounted space heater in the center hall. Many houses closer to the ocean in CA back then (and maybe still) neither had nor needed AC or swamp cooler.
My current SoCal house (ranch style built early 2000s) has ducted, forced air central heat and AC, although the attic mounted furnace here is much smaller than the big central, basement mounted HVAC unit that would be needed back where I grew up in the Midwest.
Home styles in various regions and climates is an interesting subject.
OK, now I want german windows, and especially those outdoor shades.
The Rouladens (outside blinds?) are amazing! I find it difficult to believe we haven’t incorporated them in our windows Stateside - and the German windows!
@@shannonpollmann7863 Please don’t confuse „Rolladen“ (window shutters) and „Rouladen“ (a cooked piece of beef rolled as a wrap and filled with cucumbers, bacon and mustard)
Pronounciation difference:
Ro-lladen („o“ as in „Robin“ „Laden“ exactly as in „Osama“)
Rou-laden („Rou“ as in „Groot“ + Osama)
Also both of those words don’t have an „s“ at the end to indicate plural, same as you don’t say „informations“ or „fishs“
Singular form = Plural form
Your name is brutally German by the way, where you’re from?
@@FlorianGuitar85 my family name is German but obviously not my first name. My misspelling was simply a misspelling at the time. Rouladen is a wonderful tasty dish which often times uses a specific pickle. And Rolladen - the outside shades on windows are super awesome. I was dumbfounded the first time experiencing them in a German home.
I am from the Midwest area in the States. Traveled to Germany over 20 years ago and didn’t leave.
Languages are a lifetime learning experience which is enjoyable but also can be daunting at the beginning. 😊
I am gathering you are a German Citizen due to Florian as your first name. Is that correct? Thank you for correcting me about mixing up the Rouladen/Rolladen. As I appreciate correction with understanding that it is not my first language.
Have you visited the States?
@@shannonpollmann7863 I‘m indeed German, originally from Nürnberg and living 50km west of München.
I haven’t visited the states yet but maybe I‘ll give it a try sometimes. But since two good friends of mine were shot dead recently (one in Detroit last Halloween and one in New York six months ago) I somehow feel that this is not the country to visit as a reasonable person anymore.
Sad to say but I’m simply scared of the US, at least for now.
@@FlorianGuitar85 I am very sorry to hear of what happened to your friends! My deepest condolences Florian.
I have family all over the U.S. and from what I gather, it definitely depends on where a person is within the States. Any place can be dangerous and every area has its positive and negative.
Detroit is a very well known city for being dangerous as well as violent. One of my brothers is about to move out of Detroit in the next few months.
One of my other brothers moved from the Southside of Chicago about 13 years ago to the Suburbs for safety reasons as well.
It truly depends on where one visits/lives.
If you do decide to visit the States, take note if the windows. Completely different than here. I would have written in German but would have many grammatical errors😂
I LOVE München! It is one of my favorite cities in Germany! I live close to Bayreuth. When we vacation - I prefer the Eibsee when possible.
I literally can’t comprehend not needing AC. I miss 95° weather. It’s been triple digits in Austin Tx for like 20 days straight.
When you look at the map of Europe, Germany is at the same latitude as Canada. Because of the Gulf-stream they are few degrees warmer, but it is really different climate as Texas.
I don't live in Texas but I hate the a/c iI freeze to death lol. So I use the fan. Texas tho makes sense you guys are roasting there.
Even walking Into grocery stores I freeze. I have to have a sweater on. It sucks but damn its too cold
At least Texas is more dry heat compared to South Ga where I live which the humidity is horrendous.
I never remember it getting hot enough to need AC when I was there so it wasn't an issue but I've heard that in recent years it has been getting hot enough to where AC would be welcomed in Germany.
Same. I live in Kansas and in the summer months (June, July, August) it can easily hit 100°F consecutively for months. I cannot even fathom not having air conditioning…
Exterior doors in the US have seals. They're on the frame instead of the door.
Not the ones I've checked out?
@@FelifromGermany ... let us not forget those swimming in the ocean. They smile and bark, and fetch the fish you toss to them!
john zubil Well can't be every door cause the ones I've looked at don't have that 🤷♀️ and insulation is still worse compared to German houses in my experience. And the handles - I've checked out several new houses and asked a bunch of friends and nobody said they've ever seen a single handle on a fossit. On showers, yes, but not on fossits. I believe you that this is your experience of course but my video are never stating that those kinda things don't exist in the US. I'm just pointing out differences in regards to what's most common. And these things are definitely a difference because they're standard in Germany.
@john zubil Depends upon what the local weather conditions are and the local building code. I rarely see a weather strip on an internal door in the USA, in Deutschland yes; it is my belief they are there more for sound deadening and door closing silently as there is never a bottom door sill that seals on interior doors. The wind blowing an internal door closed with a bang just does not happen much in Deutschland, they are too heavy and have the rubber seals on the door and frame. The Deutsch exterior walls from where Felicia is from are often 12 - 18 inches or more in thickness, sometimes in very old buildings 3 feet thick masonry - this is what she is calling insulation, we would know it as thermal mass. In northern Deutschland the houses can be more of a wood construction like the USA or even timber framed with red brick infill. Totally agree with you on the single faucet controls being very popular in the USA. I follow another channel of Americans in Deutschland saying all the things they find different than the USA in Deutschland - sometimes I do not recognize the USA they are talking about as they are from a very different part of the US than I am.
@@FelifromGermany I guess it really depends on the area of the USA you are in. But probably the same in Germany for that too. We have the single hand fossil for all our bathrooms and they are not that new. I agree--German doors definitely have better insulation!
Feli, you should see some older houses in the US. We lived for 24 years outside Philadelphia in a home built in 1891. We had separate doors for each room - kitchen, dining room, etc - not a big open space. We had radiators; thick walls, no yard in front (but a yard in back). Typical for the region. Also I lived for three years in Germany- before you were born - and the floors throughout our apartment were Tepigboden, so we were carpeted fully in Germany the way some houses are in the US.
I found colour preferences were different in Germany while I liked there. Orange was a thing. The telephone, the toaster, the kitchen wallpaper - orange.
I've mostly seen older homes in the US actually, built in the early 1900s.
The washers are placed where the plumbing drains are already installed
I use to own my AC business in Texas and I can tell you that AC is required by law for houses, apartments and businesses. Strict standards for homes are getting to be energy efficiency
In South Carolina AC is not required by law. When renting for example, a property is required to keep AC functioning if it was working at the time of the lease. If not, it's not required to be provided. It's rather upsetting if you think of how hot and humid it is here (most of Spring, all Summer, and part of Autumn). Each state does have different regulations on this of course.
2:44 the key is left outside - this gave me anxiety
No, you turn the key to open the door and then turn it back and take it out. The front door usually has a spring in it so it will close itself after you entered with the key. The only problem is, when you left the house without the key or you are chatting with the delivery man/ neighbours and take a step out of your doorframe and the door closed behind you. Then you are locked out and it is very expensive to call an opening service. That's why most Germans deposit a spare key at the neighbors or friends house or even hide them somewhere in the garden.
Amon San you gave me anxiety thinking that the key is left on the outside 🙄.
@@girlfromoz712 In the video, it was left on the outside. Even though I know it wasn't going to stay there, it still bothered me, too.
@Julie Sprik yes. You have to bring your key to take out the garbage, or you just leave the door standing open. Pretty much everyone has their own key. Kids who are playing outside alone will ring the bell for someone to let them in again.
no one around here deposits a spare key at the neighbours. that is such a minority it is not even worth mentioning. many people take their key "just in case" because it could happen that the so called "schnapper" is worn out and stops working or they take the key just out of habit.
@A GerMom Perspective how about you try it and let your finger slide over that tiny lever on the "türschnapper" when you take out the garbage...
the majority of german door locks have that lever, it is standard, most of them come with it. www.rolladen-roth.de/picture/upload/Image/WERU/elektr-Turoffner.gif
And folks, don't start with "but my apartment...", we are talking about einfamilienhäuser (single family/detached homes).
I asked 2 neighbours i just saw. none of them was like "important, we definitely need door locks with a lever" when they did build their houses. the door locks came with that feature without asking for it.
I was a general contractor in the business of custom homes. I worked mostly in mountain communities and built a lot of homes. As far as windows go, if it has been created you can get it in your home but windows and doors are very expensive. In some cases the doors and windows are dictated by fire codes and egress. What you can get in your home is only dependent on your ability to pay for it. I became very good at building homes that required little to zero outside maintenance,(no painting). Homes that in some cases required 02 sensors to make sure the level of oxygen inside didn't get below safe limits because the house was that tightly built for heating and cooling reasons.
I've sold, delivered, installed, and serviced home appliances like washing machines. Did this 4 years. I've only had 1 front load washer/dryer that was installed under the kitchen sink. Loved the idea!
Actually We do have removable shower heads with the hose, here in the U.S. I always see people saying we don't. We do have those here. It all depends on the house you're in.
I think it's because most hotels and apartments don't come with them.
Been in USA and over 10+ places all over the states and none had removable shower heads. She doesn't say "no" to all but the basis of US-places do just have that fixed shower head that definitely hits all tall folks and doesnt get water from top to you.
I bought mine off of Amazon for $2 and installed it myself 🤷🏻♀️
One trip to a hardware or home improvement store proves we have many adjustable showerheads.
Lol I always find these double takes i entertaining 🤣
In many homes, especially up north in colder, wetter climates, the foyer upon entering the house is called the "mud room," where you remove your shoes and jackets so that you won't track snow or mud throughout the house. Sometimes they are also on the back door of the house.
I miss my German apartment. The windows are wonderful and let's not forget the bathtub. There was a nifty cord to help turn off the light when we got in the bed. I loved my front door, but my husband didn't. Don't forget the keys was a hard lesson to learn.
When I moved to Prague 3 years ago I didn't know about the "European" style windows and I fell in love with them immediately. I agree with Thomas Wieser that the radiators that can also be used as a towel rack is really nice. To be honest, I prefer a lot of things now that are European instead of American. You didn't mention the electric kettles in this video but I know you did in an early video. Why they're not a thing in the US is beyond me. I could go on and on. Hah!
Les Gebhardt Because in the US, the Gris only uses 110 V (I think, but in any case much less than in Europe) which means the output is lower and the kettles need so much longer to heat that it is no longer useful.
You can buy electric water kettles in the US. I had one while living in Florida and it worked just fine.
@@raempftl false I have an electric tea kettle in the US and it maybe takes 3 seconds longer. People who drink tea in the US DO use electric tea kettles. Its just the amount of tea drinkers is low in the US compared to Europe. I worked at a sleep over summer camp in Pennsylvania and we had people from Europe. They were dumbfounded that the camp supplied hot choclate powder and instant coffee but no tea. The camp did have an ice tea but it was store bought and it was super sweet. You could feel your teeth rotting out of your head. This was the only way the camp kids would drink tea. Its nickname was bug tea because it would attract bugs if left open or spilled some where with how sweet it was.
*Edit it could take so long because it was my great grandmas and it is from the 1920's.
Les Gebhardt regarding the electric kettles...because electricity is much cheaper in the US we just use the microwave or stove. Also, why get another gadget? They are catching on somewhat, though.
I've had an electric kettle for years. I didn't use it a lot, but it was definitely worth having. My roommate (who's from England) uses it multiple times a day to make tea.
I’d love the German windows and door handles.
Getting things caught on the handles is a pain, but it's easier to open when your hands are full
@@joelspence But zombies and dinosaurs can open lever style doors. They can't open door knobs (See Jurassic Park 1, the kitchen scene)
dragonweyr44 if there are zombies or dinosaurs then door Handles probably aren‘t the biggest problem to worry about.. 😂
@@xGHCxVader Hey, with everything else that has gone on in 2020, zombie dinosaurs are just around the corner
Especially in the US
Trump: We have just created a device that, if successful, will allow us to travel to a new dimension full of zombie dinosaurs
@@dragonweyr44 Those clever bastards will just ring the bell and wait until you open the door yourself. :P
I absolutely loved the German doors but especially the shutters and the windows! Till this day more than 33 years later I still miss those features!
We have those same shutters here in the US. We call them hurricane shutters where I live. You can get windows like those as well here just most modern houses have the cheapest builder grade special windows you can buy. We have weather stripping with our doors too just not exactly the same. I am changing some windows in my house next month. I had a few the seals were bad so gasses had escaped. Having Andersen windows installed that are so much nicer then what I had but they are outrageously expensive so I am only replacing the ones that need replaced now maybe later do more but its just over $10k for 3 windows would have cost me probably $40k to do the whole house and I just put a new roof on, new HVAC, and a new hot water tank in the last couple years so that was a good $25k I just spent and I had to put a roof, and HVAC in at the other house on the AL Gulf too roof in April last year and HVAC a year before another $25k or so lol.
@@JesseLJohnson Firstly, thank you thank you so much for that information! I always wondered if we had them here , but never looked. Good Lord! That is freaking crazy! That is freaking crazy! I have no idea how you've kept Your sanity! I hope everything has calmed down and you don't have to go through this Any more! At least not for a very Long time anyway !
I'm late into the conversation, but nobody in Germany or in Europe in general has a backyard swimming pool, however in the United States and Canada, it's common in many neighborhoods.🙂
As a kid, it's great to have friends with swimming pools. Spent much of summer in my best friend's backyard when I was growing up.
The shower head issue is more on the homeowner, most replace the stationary shower heads with hose style heads
"Like I often open up both windows in my rooms and there's still no air circulation, really."
That's why we put a box fan in the window.
UK citizen here. The appliances in bathrooms are the subject to the whims of the builder or architect. If we want a Victorian era feel we can buy those style taps, sinks and toilets, with water closets (wc). But we can equally go modern and have completely hidden wc's and have single or dual tap designs. The toilets can have deep or shallow reserves, it just depends on the manufacturer. It's whatever the customer wants. And if you get bored, you just swap them out. The only restrictions for designated "bedrooms" is their ability to contain a bed. We use the term bedrooms simply to separate them from rooms with a specific purpose, like kitchen, bathroom, and lounge. The empty rooms ultimately are put to whatever use you want. Playroom, games-room, study. I find it a bit silly that a bedroom can be "undesignated" as such, if you took out a built in wardrobe and used the space to fit a sofa in and used a free standing wardrobe instead for clothes. I can argue a bathroom isn't a bathroom without a toilet, but it can't be a bedroom without a built in wardrobe seems absurd. They're just spaces to utilise as you want, and if you say it's 4 bedroom, we simply understand that to mean 4 rooms to use how we wish, be it a bedroom, study, games room, whatever. No one is fooling anybody because you're going to inspect the rooms anyway before considering to buy it.
I lived in Germany for three years and I loved the rolladins and the fussbodenheizung! We have a home in the US now, and the rolladins and fussbodenheizung are what I really miss that we don't have here! Thank you for your videos! It's lovely to see the differences and similarities in experiences moving to different countries! :)
Having lived in the States for the past 40+ years and the first 20 in Germany, I can appreciate the German version of houses. If I could design a house myself, I would definitely incorporate the windows (duh) and doors, better insulation and solid indoor walls the way Germany builds homes, if nothing else for sound reduction. Also, living in Florida, we experience weather extremes, and our roofs need replacing after 25+ years or sometimes sooner. Not so in Germany; roofs last a very, very long time due to the materials used for roofing. I definitely would include the window Rolladen for privacy, security and insulation. I do like the idea of having a Flur or Diele, instead of barging right into your living area. I always found that very strange. Other than that, I like the open American concept better. Kitchens and bathrooms in general are larger in the U.S., with bigger refrigerators and stoves. I would prefer gas stoves though, which are hard to come by in Florida. It's what I was raised on, and learned how to cook on, in Germany. Carpets in the U.S. are quickly losing their appeal, especially with younger people. They prefer tile or wood/laminate flooring for easier clean-up and looks. Some floors can look very beautiful, compared to boring carpeting. Fussbodenheizung (under floor heating), would have great appeal too, even though we wouldn't need much of it in Florida, except on those few cold nights we do have and the tile in the bathrooms feel very cold. In general, the way they build houses in Germany is more expensive due to the quality of materials, construction and insulation but they withstand the test of time better, than American built homes. Ps. Central A/C in Florida is a MUST HAVE!
Can absolutely agree on all of this. I havent lived here in Florida that long but a house built the german way but with the typical american open concept would be so nice! One thing that has been frustrating me a lot, when looking for homes is this whole: Stepping a foot immediately into the living room. I cant get over this at all and hope our future house will not have this feature
@@CocoFluffypaw007, I can understand perfectly. Newer homes in Florida sometimes have foyers or hallways, I know, I sell Real Estate. Where in Florida do you live? Maybe I can help. Just sold a house with a long hallway.
@@supernova19805 Yeah e've seen some good layouts for newer Homes. We live in the Tampa Bay Area, they're thankfully building a good bit here :)
100% agreed
You can get tile or metal roofs that will last 50+ years...they just cost a lot (even factoring in replacement of asphalt shingle roofs)
The windows and roll down blinds are a couple of my favorite things about German homes. One thing that you didn't mention are the beds. The beds I've slept in while in Germany tended to be like a mattress in a box. A double room in a hotel often had 2 twin size beds rather than 2 double or queen beds, and the German bed tends to have the duvet (which I use over here) rather than sheets and blankets.
The Roll down blinds are rare
Hello, how are you??
Radiator heat was very common in the US before the 1970’s, so you will still see this in older houses. The boiler, which heats the water to make steam, were originally coal-fired, then oil, now mostly natural gas; which is much cleaner. You will also see in older or more expensive homes, both portions of the window will move, called “double hung”, but still the German style definitely lets in more air. Most American homes have a foyer, but as you say, it is open to the rest of the house. Fun stuff! Thanks.
Little off topic but fits perfectly to your posting: The Pointer Sisters with "Steam Heat". Fun stuff and great performance.
ruclips.net/video/DsXi_P9T518/видео.html
Actually one rent house I lived in many years (in germany) had a ceiling fan. It was very useful since I heated my home with a wood furnace and the ceiling fan helped distribute the heat in the house.
The rent I live now in, has normal, centralized heating system but the ceilings are very high so the heat moves up and stays there. So again I installed a ceiling fan and everything is warm evenly. Ceiling fans are awesome!
My ceilings are 25 feet in the living, dining, kitchen. I have 2 large ceiling fans in the living room. In the winter just have to climb up and switch them to change direction and they help keep the heat in the room instead of it going to the bedroom and bathroom that are above the living room and cooking you out up there. I have electric central heat and AC though but I have a gas fireplace in the living room but it passes through into the dining room/kitchen behind it. I haven't used it in quite a while though it was 78 degrees today we don't get all that cold here in the US deep south where I am from
Most houses I’ve seen in America have a foryer right inside the front door.
omg i absolutely love your “german character” and “American character”
I visited several Mediterranean countries and loved the way the windows opened. Unfortunately they didn’t sell those windows in the US until several years after I built my house.
I agree with another commentator, you can buy and install your own detachable shower handle at Home Depot, Costco or Walmart. When I bought my house, the builder just install the shower head, but we went to Home Depot to get our own detachable one and replaced it.
I’m American, I lived in one house with entrance to living room, but other places entered into kitchen or a entrance way.
Hello from Germany, we have a fireplace and heat With Fire.
We have 3 Fireplaces in my House.
Kleiner Scherz am Rande:
Holz gibt immer zwei mal warm, beim machen und beim verheizen 😂
My wife is from German heritage, but I've never been to Germany 🇩🇪, so I find you channel very interesting! 😎
Hi Feli, I loved your video. It's so nice to really learn how others live & get so many good ideas. Thank you🌹💗🇺🇸 🇩🇪
Many people in the US have hand-held shower heads. I’ve always had one in my home.
I had the handheld and switced to fixed. It is just me tho.
They are becoming more popular in the U.S. though the hand-helds are usually about 10% more.
The hand-held head is convenient. If I owned and didn't rent I'd install one.
Ive always had to put one in myself, theyre so worth it though
I've had I hand held shower head for many years in my home and would never go back to using regular fixed shower head.
When stationed in Germany, I bought 5 ceiling fans, two for my apartment and three for my landlords house. I installed them all and received one months rent free (the fans were half the cost of rent). I left them along with my satellite system.
Cultural exchange :)
I like the metal security blinds that block the light. I also LOVE the separation of rooms. Oh! The lace curtains and geraniums in the windows is gorgeous!!
Love the videos, I was in the USAF stationed at Zweibrucken AB. Loved the people, the food and especially Parkbrau. I really enjoy your take on differences and similarities.
in 2020 door handles reign superior as you can open them with your elbow. way more hygienic
cr0ss0vermusic I preferred that even before the pandemic because I often try to carry dishes or laundry or other things with both hands and always forget I won't be able to open any doors like that 😂
Handles are also better for older people because when you get old, arthritis usually hurts when you try to grasp something (like a knob), but easier to use a door handle which you don't need to "grasp" to use it.
@@FelifromGermany Same. If you balance right, you can even open them with your knee if your arms are full.
Leon That’s funny... When I bought my house, we changed out some of the old door handles, (most notably the front door), and I chose a lever-style handle because I thought it looked cool, and I thought it might be more convenient, (I was correct). The first time my parents came over to see my house, they made fun of my “nursing home” door handles, asking if I was prematurely getting ready for the possibility of arthritis in my future 😂
That's true, but it's also way easier for a burglar to break into.
The american outlet looked kinda shocked, I guess he's surprised by all the differences :D
😂
They have to be different. Europeans run off of 240 volts while Americans run off of 120 volts
@@dragonweyr44 even in europe there are differences... Outlets in France are different then in Germany... In Switzerland they are different again...
dragonweyr44 I see what you did there.
@@thecatfather857 What did I do there?
She is right about not needing AC. When I was stationed in Germany in the Army the Summer was warm, but not humid. I do not remember being very uncomfortable. I loved Germany and wanted to go back after being discharged by the Army, but never did. Germany was clean, the people were nice and the food was good. Plus it was like being in fantasy land because of all the Castles, Woods, Nice Cities.
Same experience I had. I was stationed in Bad Kreuznach.
My dad served in West Germany during Korea and the locals would take their Sunday afternoon walks and picnic at the base of the 50 foot radio communications tower. He still laughs about 2 things - that the Germans thought the American GIs were crazy eating corn because many of them associated it with pig feed and 2) that only the US government would call a 50 foot antenna "top secret." Considering that WW II had not been over for that long he says that the Germans were incredibly welcoming and friendly too.
Germany is getting hotter and hotter, though, like everywhere else. We did three tours: Darmstadt, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, und Wiesbaden. I was 1st-trimester pregnant during the historic heat wave of 2003 that killed thousands across Europe. Third-floor stairwell on Cambrai-Frisch Kaserne in Darmstadt. I spent a lot of that summer in a cold bathtub trying not to puke because the heat made the nausea worse. 2015 was another terrible heatwave, and we ended up buying the portable air conditioners and sleeping on the sofas and air mattresses on the Erdegeschoß because it was just too hot to sleep upstairs in the bedrooms, even with all the windows open wide.
I have fond memories of living in Germany as well. My father was career army, and for four years, until I was seven, we lived in Stuttgart. Humidity was a new concept to me when we moved back to the US. I remember feeling very baffled by the sensation, especially after four summers in relatively dry summer weather. This recollection obviously doesn't pertain to housing (I lived "on base"), but watching this video made me realize how "American" my apartment building was: we had a laundry room in our basement with both a washer and dryer, we had a gas stove in our kitchen, our light switches were on the inside of the bathrooms (we had 1 1/2 bathrooms), and our dining room and living room were not divided. We did have the famed windows though, but without the blinds. 🤘
all of you, feel free to visit us again
In older American homes we often have higher ceilings, often 9 feet above the floor, and sometimes more. We also have double-hung windows, where the lower sash and the upper windows can be opened. Higher ceilings and double-hung windows create circulation letting the warm air near the ceiling to flow out and drawing cooler air through the lower sash. In modern homes, we have 8 foot high ceilings because central air conditioning is common now.
I loved the windows in Germany. Those were cool. I blew out a hairdryer with that outlet. And I really appreciate dryers now, more so than ever before. Oh, and freaking duvets. Can't really put it together well, but with one of those, you don't need anything else. It's like its own heat-retaining sleeping bag.
in the US you can buy and install movable showerheads but they don't come installed into the homes already, some probably do but those are usually more expensive and walk-in showers vs normal bathrooms
I have a moveable shower head and you're right it's so much better
you can also detach the showerhead when you move and install it in your new shower at your new home.
I love it when you and your doppelganger do videos together. Yay, Felicia and Fifi, together again.
That is great useful information. Great work! Thanks!
I installed door handles instead of knobs....now the dang dog can open the door and escape.
Spay! That will solve that problem. ;-D. I had a dog that would somehow pass under my legs unnoticed when I opened the door. No matter how careful I was, he would abscond whenever the neighborhood bitches were in heat. It was a great mystery until I caught him doing it when someone else opened the door. He knew how to stay below the field of vision. And this was a large retriever.
The advantage of a door handle is that you can open it with your elbow if you have something in your hands
Doorknobs *ARE* "handles"... which you turn to open a door.
Our cat opens the front door (with a round door knob) and escapes too! interesting discovery... 🤦♀️😁
Before I even finished reading your statement I was thinking in my head, “if I did that my husky would know how to open the door and escape” 😅😂 she really does know how to open door handles and she is only a baby 😳 I can admire those handles from afar 😅 btw I hope your dog is ok and hopefully you changed the front door back to a knobs for safety 💕
I lived in Frankfurt many years ago and the German windows are amazing!
I enjoyed this video. Just a few points on American homes. Americans often used the garbage disposal to grind up most leftover food. The disposal can be used heavily if the house uses the city sewer system, but not if the home uses septic. . You did not mention the American dishwashers which are used heavily. In American bedrooms, closets are often amazingly large!
Greetings from Frankfurt!
I don't see a difference between American and German dishwashers? 🤔
@@FelifromGermany There seems to be a general assumption that Germans use dishwashers less (often) than Americans. Lol
ReligioHominiLupus Not really. Most German households have dishwashers unless the place is too small to fit in a dishwasher. So I guess that scenario is probably in Germany because we have less space in general but having a dishwasher isn't particularly American to me.
Redee 85 i don’t have a dishwasher.. no space...
I tore out all my carpets when I moved to the states. We open our windows all spring summer and fall.
I miss all of this and the experiences from Germany! It was a lot of fun and never a complaint for 3 years.
We recently remodeled our bathrooms and installed the wall mounted toilets with the tank inside the wall. Such a space saving and no ugly, bulky tank.
I thought about this when she mentioned that: If there is a leak, how do you fix it? At least in the US, you can cut drywall and patch it easily, but not in other countries. ..and if there is a leak..you want to open the tank of ASAP to fix it (of course, you can turn the water off, but you still have to fix it)
Do they have an access panel? For when you have to repair the float valve or the flush valve. Or do you just call the guy?
@@earlhollar1906 You need to call a specialist. But... that usually never happens.
To service the in-wall tank you can remove the plate with the two buttons. Another advantage of a wall mounted toilet is, that it is easier to clean around and under it.
Massive difference that wouldn't be done in Europe.. because our walls are made out of solid concrete or cinder block! In American homes they can redo a bathroom including piping in a day or three. That's crazy talk here.
can confirm after living in Germany for the past 3 years--A/C is needed.
That's what I've been hearing. Glad this wasn't the case when I was there.
The reason why so few Germans actually use AC is the energy consumption of those devices. I rather sweat than using that much power. In times of global warming that is definitely a thing to consider!
Portable A/C units always went on sale in the late spring. Find the oil room in the basement was a bit interesting. Also, learning how the furnace works. I remember purging the radiators when they started making noise or didn't heat the room very well. Never did figure out how the air was getting in the system.
I grew up five miles from the ocean. The houses are built more porously so the ocean breezes cool the house. It still works, for the most part, but we get hotter and more humid in SoCal than when I was a child (and colder in winter), so we could use air conditioning. (Sometimes it winter it gets below 40 and we don't have centralized heating either.) When I was growing up, it rarely got below 55 on the coldest days.
Re: Kitchens. In Germany, often you have to provide your own. Cabinets, plumbing fixtures, and light fixtures aren't provided.
This is why we have places like Home Depot and Lowe's in the US.
Anyone remember Pergament?
My love for AC is something I've brought back to Austria from my years in the US ;-)
In Canada we have many things that are common in both U.S. and Germany. Some things from both U.S. and Germany are more common with older Canadian homes and others are more common in newer ones.
Hallo German Girl! I lived in Germany in the sixties and early seventies in Darmstadt and Mannheim. Many of the German homes I lived in also had hot water heaters over the kitchen sink as well as over the bath tub/Shower. The refrigerators back then were also much smaller because people would purchase their meats and cold cuts on almost a daily basis, so everything was super fresh. Also, one of the homes I lived in had a bread slicer built into the kitchen counter and was manually operated. Very cool!!!!! Love your channel! Brings back many memories :)
My house has radiators! My house was built about 100yrs ago.
Believe it or not, radiators are actually the most efficient way of heating a room. The trouble is, they are a complete system that heats all rooms equally, regardless of room temperature. Where you normally have the north side of a house is colder, and southern side of the house is warmer, so radiators warm the already warm rooms, and cooler rooms get some of the cold taken out of the air, but still remain cooler (otherwise if you heated the house based on colder northern rooms, then the southern faced rooms would be unbearably hot
I love the intros you've included recently with you talking to yourself in the same shot. You're very skilled with video editing! Keep up the great work, I enjoy these videos.
Thanks so much! I have fun making those intros 😅
Our last house (in Tx) had the electric blinds on most of the windows. They were great at helping keep out the hot afternoon sun and I was really thankful for them whenever we had hail storms (which can be frequent thanks to the increasing severity of storms over the last decade)!
Also, there's a handy specific reason why most U.S. homes have Gas-Stoves, occasionally the power will go out, whether it's due to a storm, or a power outage in the area.
So if the power goes out, we can still cook food or keep warm.
Good luck with an electric stove during a power outage though!
I did a high school year in the US when I was 16 and I remember being at a very fancy house of one of my friends with another girl from school and we got a tour through that house. She was especially excited about showing us their “fancy” new toilet. I was really confused at first, why the other girl and her thought it was so special, until they pointed out the build in toilet tank to me. It wasn’t until then, that I realized that I actually hadn’t seen a single one of those all the months living there, but I thought it was quite funny, since they are so common here in Germany 😅
to me a built in tank seems like an upkeep nightmare, at some point the flapper will wear out and then you have to change it. Though maybe DIY repair is more common in the US when it comes to homes.
David Kearns you don‘t have to open up the whole wall to fix that. It might be a bit more complicated, but with most toilets you can just take the whole part where the buttons are off, to get to the tank. My Dad always fixes stuff like that himself too and he‘s not a plumber or anything, so I assume it‘s not that hard. But I‘ve never done it myself, since I live in an older apartment and don‘t have a build in tank.
@@filanfyretracker it can be a bit of a pain to reach, but you can easily remove the whole plastic part with the buttons and then change the flapper valve.
Your Lovelyness, In my humble opinion, trying to compare homes is "apples and oranges". I'd estimate that 90-95% of all U.S. home builders offer "semi-custom" homes. They have basic designs that you customize to fit your needs. I chose that the living room, family room and kitchen be one giant space.
Something I noticed about kitchens in Germany was there were no "islands" in the kitchen, also called a "breakfast bar". Another thing I noticed was a lack of a "formal dining room". While my home has an "eat in kitchen", I also have a formal dining room. Something else I noticed, of the homes I was invited to, was the lack of a "den", a home office. The no closets thing, blew me away. All four of the bedrooms in my home have a bath and walk-in closet.
You do have us on the windows! I did notice that, even in summer, the home was comfortable, temperature wise, by opening those wonderful windows.
Keep up the wonderful videos. You take me back to the best years of my life. Germany, England, Italy, Spain, France, Egypt, Israel, the far east and Australia! Who'd have guessed a poor boy from "the hood" would see all that. I'm a Marine that was MarDet (Marine Detachment) in Germany and England.
Something Felicia forgot to mention is the difference in the number of bathrooms. In Germany traditionally there is only one bathroom per apartment, houses may have a second one.
It is so so so nice to have an open kitchen without a door. Having too many doors annoy us and might cause more damages cause they get in our ways and sometimes accidents happen (:
We love open kitchen that connects to many parts of the house!! 😙
Feli, I just today subscribed to your channel, and I absolutely love your videos because they are fantastic, extremely informative and I'm learning things about Germany that I never knew before. You are a real sweetheart to do your videos and they make me want to visit Germany more and more with each video. Thank you so much for doing these videos.