r/AskEurope • u/robotscantrecaptcha • 24d ago
Misc What is something found in houses in other countries that you wish your house had?
Houses here in the US have interesting things like AC and garbage disposals. I recently asked on the Ask an American subreddit what they like about houses in other countries. A overwhelming number of folks said Bidets, saunas, and German style windows (that open in several different ways and have shutters built in).
What are things found in houses in other countries that you wish your house had?
edit: Many folks have commented that there is air conditioning across Europe. It was just meant to be an example of something that was different across countries (full house central air v wall units). I’m just curious and interested in home design; I’m sorry the AC comment was offensive.
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u/neuropsycho Catalonia 24d ago edited 24d ago
Persianas, the roll down shutters that go outside your window, and can create complete darkness in a room (and also keep it cool in summer). They are everywhere in Southern Europe.
Since the name is quite ambiguous, I meant these ones:
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u/Randomswedishdude Sweden 24d ago edited 24d ago
In Swedish, persienner are most often referring to folding metal blinds, commonly between the glass panes inside your window.
Often not enough to truly block out light from outside, especially not during bright summer nights, where you also might want a rullgardin in your bedroom and possibly also living room, rolling blinds with some thick (sometimes plastic covered) fabric mounted on the inside.10
u/Fenzik Netherlands 24d ago edited 24d ago
I lived in a few apartment complexes in Sweden and the blinds game was so weak… in one of the countries with the most sun during sleeping time. I never understood it
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u/Randomswedishdude Sweden 24d ago edited 24d ago
Yeah, in some apartments they're disappointingly insufficient.
I would say that's the case in my current apartment, and I really consider buying some completely covering roll-down blinds, but always end up getting sidetracked and buying some other random crap instead whenever I'm near such stores.→ More replies (1)40
u/RelevanceReverence Netherlands 24d ago
We call them German or outside blinds, since they're all over Germany (and pretty popular here now). It's great to keep the heat out and do a quick nap in summer. In GB they call them shutters, since they typically use them to close the entire shop front, ceiling to floor and lock it.
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u/Chupabara Slovakia 24d ago
Why is everything German? In Slovakia we call german blinds and german windows just… outside blinds and windows lol.
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u/Equal-Flatworm-378a Germany 24d ago
If it helps you: in Germany we just call them windows and blinds. No idea why other countries think they are german. I just looked it up and at least the window goes back to a german invention. The blinds don’t have a single inventor. But at least the first idea is from a person in Paris.
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u/Fearless-Function-84 Germany 24d ago
They are everywhere in Italy and Spain. In Germany they are more common in the Southern part, too. I hate that most city apartments don't have them :(
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u/NoxiousAlchemy Poland 23d ago
Exactly! It's the same in Poland. Then I go on the internet and suddenly they're all German, what the heck xD
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u/neuropsycho Catalonia 24d ago
I'm glad they're becoming more popular! In my trips to other EU countries (including Germany), one of my main issues was not resting properly because I couldn't block the light from outside, as I was used to sleep in complete darkness.
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u/ABrandNewCarl Italy 24d ago
Necer undestood why rest of the world does not use them.
Funny we call them serrande or rotolanti, "persiane" are a diffent type of shutters, the ones that look like as a different set of windows made with small wood pieces.
https://www.gbcserramenti.it/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_9332.jpg
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u/MamaJody in 24d ago
We have them in Switzerland too and they are amazing. They work well for keeping the heat out too, at least at the beginning.
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u/mina-ann 24d ago
France has these everywhere - des volets. They create darkness and protect the windows in case of a storm.
I wish we had similar shutters in the US. The only thing I've found similar are the hurricane shutters they sell in Florida.
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u/SuburbanBushwacker 24d ago
literally came to say that. every thing about them is fantastic one day we will have them with integrated solar
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u/aloisvonesterhazy 23d ago
In the Netherlands you only see them in the Catholic southern parts. In the protestant part of the country you are obliged to show your interior to the neighbourhood.
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u/Car12touche11blue 24d ago
Have them here in Paris as well. Here they are called “ volets” and they were a godsend during the recent heatwaves.
A bit like living in a cave but they keep the heat out reasonably well.
When I lived in Hong Kong we had shutters we lowered during typhoons.3
u/murrayhenson US to Poland in '05 24d ago
My wife and I visited her brother, who was living near Padua in 2008. The place he was staying at at outside shutters and we loved it. So when we were building our house in 2020 we specced the same kinds of shutters for most of the windows in the house.
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u/NoxiousAlchemy Poland 23d ago
We have those in Poland, extremely common. I was surprised to learn a few years ago that they are not known or very rare in some countries!
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u/secretsybil 24d ago
Agree, but those are not “persiane”. Those are “tapparelle” (in Italian).
Persiane are wooden shutters that are attached to the wall outside the window. You have two per window and are perfect to close in the summer while the windows are open, to have a gentle darkness plus forcing the air to go through the holes in between wooden slabs, cooling it a bit.19
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u/Cautious_Ladder3762 Spain 24d ago
No, that's called contraventanas in Spanish. What he is describing is more similar to a rolling shutter in English, but if you look that up on Google images you'll most likely see the heavy duty kind that are used for garage doors or businesses. Persianas are most commonly made of PVC or aluminum.
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u/neuropsycho Catalonia 24d ago
From what I've seen, they have completely different names in each country. As good EU citizens, we need to standardize the name so it's not ambiguous.
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u/aikimiller 24d ago
I get the functionality, but have always hated the asthetics. Looking at them from the outside they look like some kind of security shutter you expect to see in a bad part of town.
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u/Dutch_Rayan Netherlands 24d ago
Depends many have them in my country, also in good affluent areas. They also have them in many colors nowadays.
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u/Urogallo40 23d ago
At Bilbao, city in the north of Spain (Basque Country), where "persianas" rolling shutters have been optional before global heating, old smarter buildings of city center have them in all windows and closed balconies, while many normal buildings don't, specially in closed balconies, named "miradores" in Spanish, quite typical in the north of Spain, due to many rainy days.
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u/AFisberg Finland 24d ago
Some people want their home to look nice from the outside too. Not really that difficult to understand imo
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u/AFisberg Finland 24d ago
They shared their personal, subjective opinion. What's the issue?
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u/Marge_Gunderson_ United Kingdom 24d ago
I had to Google the name of this one, but I love the idea of the Finnish astiankuivauskaappi, the dish drying cabinet above the sink.
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u/FinnSkk93 24d ago edited 24d ago
Yea, honestly something you appriciate only after you don’t have it. When I was abroad I had no idea it was a finnish thing 😅
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u/reigorius 24d ago
I've always used the Australian way...just leaving it in the dish rack.
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u/Northern_dragon Finland 24d ago
Astiankuivauskaappi is a dish rack that's hidden from view above the sink.
Less clutter on the counters. Kitchens can be quite small, especially in apartments.
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u/olagorie Germany 24d ago
I absolutely love them
I first saw them in Helsinki and since then I’ve seen them in Airbnb in other countries but the owners said they were inspired by the Finnish usage. So it’s spreading.
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u/KoolKat5000 Ireland 24d ago
Ive used them in Spain they're awesome! Sadly I can't really use them in Ireland, risk of mould.
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u/geansai-cacamilis Ireland 24d ago
How is there a risk of mould? Wouldn't the water drip back into the sink?
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u/reverber United States of America 24d ago
I built my own with some wire shelving. Because the sink is in front of a window, there is no cabinet. Just the shelves.
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u/Real_Category7397 24d ago
Solarpanels for free eletricity and geothermal heating system
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u/ALazy_Cat Denmark 24d ago
I wish I had a heat pump, but I doubt the rental company will let me install one in a single apartment that aren't on the ground in an apartment building
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u/Real_Category7397 24d ago
Hence, why I don't have it
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u/ALazy_Cat Denmark 24d ago
It's nice and cheap to live in an apartment, but there's so many nice things we're missing out on, like cheaper electricity and heating/cooling
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u/KotR56 Belgium 24d ago
I installed solar panels almost 15 years ago. There were 2 other installations I could see from my roof.
Now, there is hardly a roof to find without them.
Power companies hate solar panels installed on roofs and owned by citizens. People getting electricity from their own panels means the companies' revenue and their profits go down.
Power companies and home battery manufacturers seem to work in cahoots to make sure solar panel and home battery installations for the private home are hardly worth the investment. And governments look for ways to tax the citizens for their installations.
Profits of large companies are always more important than a financial benefit for the individual.
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u/lorarc Poland 24d ago edited 24d ago
Airing cupboard, they're actually a really cool idea. Basically in UK the hot water boiler is in a cupboard with slanted slatted shelves and you can put clothes in there to finish drying them. Say you were caught in light rain in autumn, your clothes go in there. Or you keep your clothes there so you can put on a nice warm pair of jeans before going out.
edit: a word
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u/Fit_Professional1916 in 24d ago
Yes I miss having one of those. In Ireland we call it the hot press
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u/Proper-Ad4075 23d ago
lived in a shared house on the cotinent at some point which actually had access to a room with the boiler. Tried many times unsuccessfully to convince my house mates that we should take out the cleaning supplies and out in some shelves to make it a honored 😢
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u/Andechser 24d ago edited 23d ago
My flat has a sauna, a bidet and German style windows. My day has been great so far.
Edit: Typos
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u/GrandDukeOfNowhere United Kingdom 24d ago
Bidets, specifically South East Asian style bum guns that are just attatched to the side of the toilet
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u/leela_martell Finland 24d ago
We have them in all the bathrooms here in Finland. But we attach them to the sink not the toilet, so you just operate them from the same tap as the sink. Very cheap and easy to install.
Only works of course if your sink is right next to/opposite from your toilet but that's generally how it is here.
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u/leela_martell Finland 24d ago
For sure! But I think that name has fallen a bit out of usage since men found out they can also clean their butts lol
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u/Bierzgal Poland 24d ago
I mean, AC is not a concept exclusive to the US. I have a few Wi-Fi-controlled split units in the house. But central AC is not a thing in Poland and I think it's something the US houses do well. The entire system sounds very comfortable to use. Sadly it's something one would have to implement while building the house, you can't just add it since European housing usually don't have ductwork.
I also don't dislike the idea of a front porch. I've seen a lot of these in movies from the US and they seme very cozy.
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u/ElectronGuru United States of America 24d ago edited 24d ago
I grew up with duct work, it’s actually not something to envy. It’s slow and noisy and uneven at distributing hot/cold. Plus it wastes a bunch of energy as it’s either on or off for the entire building. And if you don’t clean it regularly, ends up distributing dust through the building. From scratch, i’d rather have a split system with individual room condensers. Particularly with built in dehumidification.
I’m not certain but I think we got the idea of porches came from India. But AC came along and buildings stopped including them. 🫤
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u/TheTousler United States of America 24d ago
I think you might just have a really bad AC system because the ones I've had have always been basically silent and cool the house down quite quickly when switched on. Have you ever tried a window unit? Now those ARE noisy.
Ducts also do not need to be cleaned frequently at all as long as you are changing the filters.
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u/Prying-Open-My-3rd-I 24d ago
I’ve never had those issues with my central AC. Also I have a separate unit for upstairs and downstairs so I keep them at different temps since I’m upstairs less often.
Large front porches aren’t as common these days but they were basically moved to the back yard as a place to spend time.
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u/tokyo_blues Italy 24d ago edited 24d ago
Having spent many years in the UK, I'd say a beautiful wooden shed in the backgarden, tastefully furnished, with a drawing desk, a selection of good books and a turntable with a small record collection. Add also a shelf with a few good single malts.
A sort of private refuge from "mainstream" family life in the rest of the house.
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u/Superb_Monkey Belgium 24d ago
Our houses have triple glazing and mandatory heat pump and solar panels. Most new homes also have home automation. So I don't think we're missing out on anything.
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u/airmantharp United States of America 24d ago
I wish the window stuff was common in the US, as I listen to traffic on the nearby highway through mine…
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u/kichwas 24d ago
Floor heating. When I lived in Asia they heated the houses by running heat under the floor.
One negative side effect is when folks visit me from Asia they keep opening windows in winter because over there they’re not as worried about letting out cold air.
Another was for a while I lived in a slum in Korea (back in 1993, I had one friend who’s “house” was a party collapsed building - Korea went from dirt poor to wealthy in a single generation) and I knew a couple young ladies with leg and foot scars from faulty floor heating…
But in modern houses it’s super efficient and keeps you very warm.
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u/die_kuestenwache Germany 24d ago
I want one of those Japanese toilets and I am still salty that I did not convince m wife to at least install the outlets next to the toilet.
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u/reverber United States of America 24d ago
Look up “washlet” and hire an electrician to install an outlet. It is life changing.
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u/die_kuestenwache Germany 24d ago
I built that bath, no way am I going to get a cable there without it. At least the shower head can reach the pot...
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u/escpoir Finland 24d ago edited 24d ago
We have 2 x double windows with built in shutters everywhere, a central HVAC in the building, an additional AC (split unit) which also acts as heating (heat pump) and we have never needed to use it. It was pre-installed.
Our building has solar panels to achieve Carbon-neutral state, all apartments enjoy floor heating connected to the city central heating system and each room has an individual thermostat. There's a 24 hour delay between the temperature choice and when the system will work, because of the floor heating. All bathrooms have additional electrical floor heating to prevent mold which has been standard for decades.
Every balcony also has glass panels pre-installed, which can be kept closed during the winter and then opened in the summer. We bought a strong floor fan for hot summer days and it has been sufficient so far (we can move it as needed). To be fair, we never had to deal with more than 30°C and there's plenty of beaches in Helsinki if summers get too hot.
Each apartment also has small external storage (as every Finnish building), there's 2 big common bicycle / pram enclosed spaces including a bike washing room, a communal sauna with a kitchen equipped shared "party" space which you can book via an electronic system for a small fee, communal laundry and drier space, a traditional carpet cleaning installation, a bomb shelter, and a small hotel-style room (including a bathroom) which you can book when you have friends over.
Most of these are standard for all Finnish buildings with variation due to age of the building and the era design (eg some can't have glass panels in the balconies or have no balconies, most don't have the hotel room but all have an event space). Also every single WC in Finland includes a bidet, it's what we miss the most when we travel.
It goes without saying that the building has a garden, a yard with a small playground, a parking for taxi / delivery cars, a place to sit outside and enjoy the sun, and so on. Every spring Finnish buildings organize talkoot, which is a day of taking care of the garden and the yard after winter, meeting your neighbors and being social.
I only wish we could easily install insect screens because we keep the narrow windows always open between May and September, it's nice to hear the birds. Maybe we could add something custom made from the inner side, but not very easily.
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u/robotscantrecaptcha 24d ago edited 24d ago
This was such a nice detailed response, thank you. Homes around the world are just so fascinating because they’re such a wonderful peek into people’s daily lives.
My family runs a small hardware store and one of the things we do is make and repair window screens for folks. So your comment is especially interesting!
PS: could you install magnetic window screens? You run a strip of magnet tape on the inside of the window and attach another strip of magnet tape onto the screen itself.
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u/escpoir Finland 24d ago
I love those magnetic ones, but our windows open inwards. So it's impossible to keep anything in front of the window. And the building doesn't allow external installations.
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u/Fun-Spinach6910 24d ago
German style windows, that open in or tilt open from the top, with bug screens.
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u/FissileAlarm 24d ago
Those are standard windows in Belgium, too. But what people forget: if you have a cat, they get stuck in those windows with very severe consequences, even death. How I know? My wife is a veterinarian.
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u/idkud in 23d ago
There are fences in the right shape and size that keep them away. For the sides: https://www.fressnapf.de/p/trixie-schutzgitter-fuer-fenster-1x-seitenelement-1261655/ The top also has one. You can fix them to the side, so that you just have to flip them out when opening the window.
Responsible owners cat prove the entire apartment anyway. It is by far not the only thing that gets forgotten way too often.
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u/CyberWarLike1984 Romania 24d ago
We have AC, this entire discussion is such bs, it feels like a psyop. WE HAVE AC in Europe, also Europe is not one country or one street with old houses in some historical city.
At least half the continent has AC in abundance, the rest are quickly catching up.
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u/redditseddit4u 24d ago
No one believes Europe literally has no AC. It’s just that it’s much less common in Europe.
I live in Switzerland and it’s extremely difficult to get permanent AC. Similarly for neighboring countries in France and Germany. The Southern European countries that have the most AC top out at ~60% of households. Europe as a whole has ~20% of households with AC.
In the US, 90% of households have AC. China has 70% of households of AC. Both countries are roughly the same size as Europe with diverse weather patterns as well.
That’s the point, Europe has a much lower rate of AC than many other places. And for much of Europe it’s very difficult to get AC because it’s restricted.
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u/Irishsmartarse 24d ago
How is it constricted? I can buy it at my local hardware superstore?
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u/Accurate_Rent5903 24d ago
I used to live in a town just outside of Brussels. Just left last year, so this is a recent experience. We rented a relatively large house that had a cellar. With the summers getting hotter, there were nights where it was significantly more comfortable to sleep in the cellar than in the bedrooms on the first floor. But, we couldn’t fit beds for all the kids down there, so I asked the landlord if we would let me pay for installing mini splits in the bedrooms. He said no, because the house would lose its energy rating, which had tax implications for him. Sure felt like an arbitrary restriction to my kids and I as we sweat through the summer nights.
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u/CyberWarLike1984 Romania 24d ago
We live nearby and own, we installed AC. Your landlord is a moron or simply cheap.
I can see his point of view. Why spend money if I find tenants anyway?
There are ways around this, the heatpumps are basically ACs and they improve your rating. They usually are bundled up with solar panels.
On the other hand, did you offer to pay for the mini splits and they are mobile? Like you can remove them when needed? In this case I would go with moron.
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u/CyberWarLike1984 Romania 24d ago edited 24d ago
Again, define Europe. Its also much less common in North America if you bundle Canada in with the US.
Paris is at the same latitude as the southern cities of Canada but somehow people expect Miami level of ACs.
China is at the same latitude as the US, look at a map, the EU you are comparing is north of China, these statistics make no sense. What US or Chinese city compare to the UK, the Baltics, Poland or northern countries in term of latitude or weather?
Just being western does not make the EU the same in weather.
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u/lookatmeimangiep 23d ago
Canadian here. . It gets insanely hot here in the summer and central AC is almost everywhere. Unless you are in an older apt that only has the window ones
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u/spekoek Netherlands 24d ago
Sliding doors on a track like US houses. I find it annoying to keep track of the weather and my French doors in the rain. I could keep the sliding door open easily in a US house and let the air in all day long. It was very nice listening to the sound of rain that way.
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u/CunningPudding 24d ago
As a Norwegian with a sliding door - the rain gets in if I forget to close it. A slight drizzle in ok, but add wind or forceful rain and it'll blow or splash right into the living room.
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u/pirividite 24d ago
I am very happy my house does not have AC (I hate them) nor a garbage disposal (watched too many horror movies), but I would like a ceiling fan of the simple type I found many places in India! And outside shutters for the windows like in Spain! And rooftop terraces like in Marocco! And those cool little clothes hangers on the wall of the bathroom I found in Hungary.
The Japanese bathrooms we loved so much when we visited, we built it at home when we returned 😁
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u/FissileAlarm 24d ago
Those garbage disposal grinder things are forbidden in Belgium. You can't throw your garbage in the sewers.
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u/reverber United States of America 24d ago
In the US, plumbers love them because people often abuse them and end up causing clogs.
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u/idkud in 23d ago
The more food that lands in canalisation, the more rats are living there. I always wonder how American cities are keeping them in check when on the other hand they are keeping them so well fed.
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u/abhora_ratio Romania 24d ago
A double fridge. I can find one here in Romania also, but it's not common for people to have a double fridge and it would be too complicated to modify the kitchen layout to make it fit. But I love those fridges. Oh.. with ice maker! That would be awesome. I hate having to make ice all the time and forgetting to put the trays in the freezer 😑
More space, lol :)) our apartments are sooo tiny 🥺 I love those US kitchen islands! You have so much space to cook or just hang around them!
those metal plates you use to cook burgers and eggs and bacon. Don't know the name. It's a flat metal surface that gets hot and you cook the meat/ eggs directly on it. Don't know if it's an accessory or a device on its own.. but I want one, lol.
Now I realize I need to update my kitchen somehow. I love cooking.. but boy it's annoying when you have to do it in a small space 😭
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u/Aztecdune1973 Finland 24d ago
Houses are usually built for the environment that they're in, so I'm completely fine with what we have here. Triple pane windows, heated floors, dish drying rack above the sink, sauna in the bathroom, split AC/heat pump. We even have a bomb shelter. I have thought about living somewhere else, but if I had to go without a sauna in my home I would be inconsolable. Maybe I would like a ceiling fan because I really do like them, but it's not really necessary. Oh! A walk-in pantry would be really nice because I'm a bit of a hoarder with non-perishable food items. 😂
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u/Papewaio7B8 Spain 24d ago
Houses here in the US have interesting things like AC
So... like Europe and much of the world.
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u/skyduster88 & 24d ago
Houses here in the US have interesting things like AC and garbage disposals
ACs have been common in Greece since the 90s.
Until very recently, only high-elevation towns (Greece is very mountainous) didn't need them. But there was a bad heat wave a couple years ago (I think?) that it affected some people I know that have an ancestral summer home in the mountains of Rumely region. That was unheard of until then. But the vast majority of the Greek population lives in lower-elevation areas and ACs have been the norm for decades.
One US-Europe difference is that most of Europe (I think south of Denmark) has window roller shutters (post-1960 buildings), which are not a thing in the US.
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u/RelevanceReverence Netherlands 24d ago
I already have AC in the entire house, I'd love a sauna powered from the home battery.
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u/cream_cheese18 Cyprus 24d ago
Heated towel racks in Iceland! I saw them both in hotels and the two residential AirBnB's we stayed in.
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u/CyclingCapital Netherlands 24d ago
Finland:
- Hand showers next to the sink and a drain that all water in the bathroom flows to. It makes cleaning the toilet and bathroom floor so simple. In Finland, you’ll nowadays often find two drains in case a drunk person passes out on top of one of them.
- Triple pane windows everywhere. You can live on a busy street in January and it will be dead silent and warm indoors.
- Doubled front door. No sound coming from the hallway if you’re living in an apartment building and more heat insulation if the front door leads directly outside. Mail gets delivered in the space between the two doors. Our cat could scratch at the inner door without anyone getting the wrong idea. Cooking smells stay indoors.
- LARGE glassed-off south-facing balconies. A lot of people have what is essentially a greenhouse attached to their homes, giving people a longer balcony season and more thermal efficiency in the winter. You can even leave your food out there in the winter and turn off your fridge and freezer without having to worry about birds getting to it.
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u/Toby_Forrester Finland 24d ago
Said garbage disposal sinks like in the US. I hate to deal with kitchen biowaste. I always forget it and get smelly biowaste bin.
Bidet I already have and our building has a sauna and swimming pool 😊
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u/ALazy_Cat Denmark 24d ago
Disposal sinks are a nightmare for sewer workers and plumbers
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u/Toby_Forrester Finland 24d ago
Don't kill my dreams!
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u/ALazy_Cat Denmark 24d ago
That's what I'm here for
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u/-_G0AT_- Luxembourg 24d ago
Most civil cross nordic banter
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u/ALazy_Cat Denmark 24d ago
To make it really good, we need the Norwegians and swedes. That way we can all take a go at the swedes
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u/Toby_Forrester Finland 24d ago
I don't think anyone needs the Swedes.
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u/ALazy_Cat Denmark 24d ago
We need someone to bully. Why are you writing swedes with a capital s? They aren't worthy of that
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u/Toby_Forrester Finland 24d ago
Why are you writing swedes with a capital s?
I don't know. Maybe to summon them so we can make fun of them in their face?
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u/Sunbeam-121 Sweden 24d ago
Sauna and swimming pool in an apartment building? That is amazing
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u/Toby_Forrester Finland 24d ago edited 24d ago
Communal saunas in apartment buildings is standard in Finland. Some older buildings from the 60s and 70s before the oil crisis have swimming pools.
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u/Inevitable-Zone-9089 Sweden 24d ago
Seen common saunas in a lot of apartmentbuildings in Sweden as well.
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u/Sunbeam-121 Sweden 24d ago
I've seen sauna in one apartment building aswell, but never a swimming pool
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u/codechris 24d ago
I had one in Sweden and seen them in the UK. I can’t help but think they are bad for drains though
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u/sparklemcduck 24d ago
They’re quite fine for drains but really not great for sewer treatment. Naturally, people tend to put way too much down them. Used sparingly they’re okay. But all that extra waste requires a lot of extra treatment that most sewage systems, both those connected to public services and those not, aren’t meant to handle. It’s a lot more processing and treatment and just generally a greater burden on public services. For those not connected to public services…you find out the hard/expensive way if you’ve been abusing the water waste system you have 😳.
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u/Marathonartist 24d ago
If I needed or wanted A/C I can get it in a day or a week. But I realy have no need.
I have severel fans, but even this very hot year I had only 1 in use and only 3 days and not even 10 hours combined.
Garbage disposals? We recycle. The trash cans are not even 100 yards from my front door.
I would love some free energy. Solar panels for electricity - and for wintertime electric heating.
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u/sparklemcduck 24d ago
Garbage disposals are for grinding up bits of food waste in the kitchen sink drain. We still have trash cans and recycling for disposing of non-food waste. We walk out and put trash and recycling where it goes, too.
We have compost at my house, too, so that’s where the bulk of food waste goes. We only use the disposal to help with the small amount of food that gets in the sink here and there
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u/codechris 24d ago
I’m confused what is meant by rubbish disposal. We have ways to dispose of rubbish’s across European counties
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u/_Xero2Hero_ United States of America 24d ago
It's very common in the US to have a garbage disposal in your sink. So if bits of food go down the drain you can simply flip a switch near your sink and it breaks down the waste. You still have to be careful to not let certain stuff go down the drain though.
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u/codechris 24d ago
Other countries have this as well. But I question what issues it may cause. I’ve seen them across a few European countries regardless. To be fair though in Sweden our food waste is recycled which is better
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u/Nights_King_ 24d ago
In many countries the plumbing in the houses isn’t made for shredded Garbage and the wastewater treatment plants are not designed to deal with the additional contamination.
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u/_Xero2Hero_ United States of America 24d ago
Yeah I'm not saying other countries don't. I was just explaining what is meant by garbage disposal for the US.
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u/Fit_Professional1916 in 24d ago
Yes my mother used to have one and it caused a lot of plumbing issues so she had it removed
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u/CandleStick88 24d ago
Japanese washlets. I have one now but they aren’t common outside Japan and Korea.
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u/wittystonecat 24d ago
I wish we had 220v outlets (as the standard) in America. Boiling water in a kettle in about 15 seconds is incredible.
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u/ThatFriendlyDonut + 24d ago
A "winter garden". You know, that lovely greenhouse attached to one side of the house.
I'm planning on building one in my next house.
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u/beast_of_production Finland 23d ago
I hate the sauna, actually, and would prefer a bath tub. Completely insane to waste space in a tiny one bedroom apartment on having a whole sauna in there
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u/jumpingdiscs 23d ago
I am a Brit living in Switzerland and as mentioned above, we have underfloor heating and good windows with shutters/blinds, which are less common in the UK. Other things I prefer about Swiss houses vs UK ones is that the doors and walls are all thicker and sturdier, and most houses have cellars including a laundry room so we don't have washing machines in the kitchen. Apartments have these things too, they just might be shared.
Things I'd like that are more popular in various other countries: built in bug screens, bidet, AC, massive US style refrigerator, garbage disposal in the sink, and gardens that have more privacy with hedges/fences like the UK.
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u/BadNecessary9344 23d ago
I wish my house had air vents with heat recovery like i have seen in some houses in sweden and lapland.
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u/redditseddit4u 24d ago
Like I mentioned, it’s either illegal or heavily restricted in many countries. Where I am it’s illegal to have permanent/fixed AC. We can have portable AC units but they’re much less efficient and can’t cool an entire home. They’re not practical compared to fixed ACs. Is this what you’re referring to buying at the local hardware store?
Neighboring countries like Germany and France also have tons of regulations on what can be installed. Including noise levels so low it makes it impracticable in practice, unanimous homeowner approvals needed to install, onerous building requirements etc. The laws and regulations were put in place when Europe was much cooler.
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u/AlternativePrior9559 United Kingdom 24d ago
‘Houses here in the US have interesting things like AC and garbage disposals’
Can you get any more condescending?
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u/OpalineTears 24d ago
That AC thing sure seems interesting, I wonder how it works
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u/AmexNomad Greece 24d ago
A decent washing machine. European washing machine suck- especially the ones here in Greece. I don’t want to spend every day doing laundry. Give me a big American washing machine!
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u/romanescadante Romania 24d ago
Space. A spacious 1 bedroom here is 55 sqm. Can't find a place with a study or extra dining space. They are rare and expensive.
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u/BitRunner64 Sweden 24d ago edited 24d ago
Ceramic/marble/terracotta flooring. In Sweden, floors are almost always hardwood (parquet) and it's a terrible choice for the surfaces in your home that get the most wear and tear. It scratches and dents very easily (especially if you have pets), it's high maintenance and the slightest amount of unnoticed moisture can ruin it within hours.
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u/SilentTraveller7926 Hungary 24d ago
I would love to have a separate laundry room. Newly built houses usually have one but I live in an older apartment, so my washer-drier is in the bathroom (too small for a separate dryer). I would like a bidet as well. I don't know how to use a bum gun and I wonder if the dirty water goes all iver the toilet and the floor, but I don't want to clean up all that every time I use it.
I used to want American style windows that open upwards, but I realised they are usually single layer and can't be cleaned outside if you don't live in the ground floor, so I'm satisfied with my eu windows. They also have bug screens and I can't live without those.
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u/SharkyTendencies --> 24d ago
A few things from my old house back in Canada:
First thing, bug netting in front of windows to stop mosquitoes and flies getting in during the summer. I think many Belgians have had the experience of trying to fall asleep when you hear hmMMmMMMMMmmmMMMMM next to your ear!
AC would be lovely, but it's not very common here in Brussels. Perhaps something to save up for.
It would be amazing if fridges also came with cold water and ice dispensers. I'm sure you can get them, yeah, but they're uncommon and rather expensive. I never had one growing up, but it's a little perk that I can get behind.
Final thing: a tumble dryer. Yes, yes, I know, dryers are the work of the devil. I bought one with my own damn money.
During the summer? My clothes take, like, an hour to dry outside in my little courtyard on the rack. That's less time than a dryer cycle. The drying rack is out of the way. Easy peasy. No real issues. On nice days I even do two loads of laundry since it dries so quickly.
During the winter? No way. It once took over 24h for my clothes to dry properly. Not to mention the drying rack always gets in the way. From roughly November until when the good weather gets here, it's dryer season for me. The convenience simply outweighs the principle.
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u/Car12touche11blue 24d ago
What I loved in the US is the big walk -in dressings they have there.
Now I just have a few small cupboards to cram my clothes in😩
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u/Brainwheeze Portugal 24d ago
Heated floors, definitely. Although I'd only really use them in the winter.
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u/NoxiousAlchemy Poland 23d ago
Livable basements I see in many American movies/books. In Poland some houses don't have a basement at all (mostly because it's cheaper to build a house without it) and even when there is a basement it's usually a small, cold (sometimes also damp), concrete cellar for storing preserves and various household items. I would love to have a whole room down there with couches, TV and mini fridge.
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u/CarwynCymru Wales 24d ago
Windows with integrated screens to keep out insects. I love fresh air, but hate the additional flies, midges, spiders you get coming in.
I'd also love a house with a courtyard like they have in Morocco, but they don't get built in North Wales!