ac not that expensive l3wg, you can get a portable unit for like 500 usd. Now if you want CENTRAL AIR, that's going to be more expensive, but a window mounted one in each bedroom even would be good. The portable ones that just have vent hoses running to output and intake in the window (the hoses mount inside a frame, and then you put that in the window and close the window against it) are pretty quiet. Like I said, I feel like even if it's only 70 F (21 C) but your building is designed to retain heat, as most british houses are, it would get hot inside without AC! 🙂 My house growing up -- AC, heating, five bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, a "den", aka "study", three bathrooms, large front yard, large "garden". Huge swimming pool and 24 jet spa in the "garden". This was in "Silicon Valley" which is part of "San Francisco Bay Area". My dad got laid off when I was in the USN (1999 -- "dot com bubble burst"), and eventually had to give it back to the bank. Somebody else owns it now. Let me check current estimated value. Current value of the house I grew up in, estimated to be : 1,176,400 USD. (933,518.62 pounds sterling.) 🙂
In the USAMERICA we call those conservatories, screened in porches. Lots of USAMERICAN homes have them. We also call the sun porches, lanai, veranda, but mostly screened in porches. If if they are glass, brick, covered, we still call them screened in porches. In many places in the USAMERICA, opening a window in the summer heat on a train, and/or bus would offer very little relief. Even in the northern states often. Many people (especially in the South) still hang clothes on a washing line (clothes line) even when they have a dryer. Especially in the summer, as clothes dry very fast in the hot Southern heat. Also when it's extremely hot people are encouraged to conserve energy due to brown outs. A switch on a socket is extremely rare in the USAMERICA, but I actually have seen them in older houses. It has to do with the amount of voltage probably. The USAMERICA does have safety sockets, and socket plugs. 120V vs UK 220/240.
Not having AC or some way to cool down when in the desert is a death sentence. The doors at the shop I worked at was over 130F on the inside of it. The AC was blowing 112F. Fucking hot. Central air unit will cost you around 14-15k.
Dryer either uses gas or electric. But if you have a state or province where electricity is produced with coal or something, then I get the environment thing.
Came here to say this^ my grandma had a massive sun room in her house, along with a wrap around patio that attached to it. She would spend 99% of her day just sitting in it. It was awesome
A hear a lot of people call it a 3 season room/ sun room. I have a screened in back deck, which is great when it's not cold, but wouldn't mind turning it into a heated sun room.
As a US electrician, our power outlets operate at a much safer 120 volts so there's no need for a switch at the outlet itself. Usually, one outlet in a room is controlled by a wall switch by the door so you can turn on a light when you enter the room, which is a code requirement. Receptacles installed in the past twenty years or so are tamper resistant, meaning there is an internal barrier that prevents children from sticking things in them, so they're really quite safe. Ten years for a roof? Most roofs last about twenty years, I have a thirty year roof on my house installed in 1999, it doesn't leak, but i have to think about replacing it in the next five years. Most of our houses are made out of wood, our climate is harsher, so maintenance is important. I generally have to repaint the wood siding on my house every ten years.
LOL, that one receptacle in each room of my house was behind the door on an entrance wall with no room to place a lamp without it blocking entrance into the room. Totally worthless, and in the forty plus years we have lived here they have never been used. Come to think of it, there is one night light in one bedroom but then we never flip the switch.
As an electrician you should already know that power delivery to homes is also 240 volts, not 120 volts. We have similar three phase power but split the voltage in half to the bus bar at the transformer serving the home but can still deliver the full 240-ish volts to some appliances by combining the split circuit. There's also no such thing as 120 volt AC current being "safer." Without today's protections, it'll still trigger a death grip from which a person can't release and will kill them. Circuit breakers these days, especially GFCI, will instantly trip if a human shorts out the circuit. The person will get a nasty shock but probably won't die. The fact you claim to be a (hopefully licensed) electrician but don't know the basics of power generation in the U.S. is a bit scary. And our outlet design is of a fairly garbage design that we keep clinging to for some odd reason whereby cables weigh down the plug and partially pull them out of the socket exposing the hot and neutral lines due to gravity whereas most countries have adopted designs that make that impossible to do. Also, bad/weak connections in the socket from connected devices create opportunities for arc welding, which make our sockets far more dangerous than other nations. Our light switch designs are generally garbage as well. There's a LOT wrong with the U.S. electrical system, its design, and associated codes.
@@privacyvalued4134 Power delivery is from a center tap 240V transformer. The panel rail is split and you only get 240V rail to rail. Again....no death grip. We are not talking about frequencies or voltage levels that cause muscle contraction. Open your panel and touch your index and pink finger of the same hand to the input lugs and you will recoil. One of the first things that we did in electrical theory was crank up a 400V DC power supply, lick your fingers and touch index and pinky to the GND/DC output. You felt it up to your neck before you could get off of it, but because it is not across your heart it will not kill you (messes you up a little). The point was to make sure that everyone understood that the next 4 years would have dangerous situations. In my final year I made the mistake of disconnecting a 12V/10 amp motor by pulling leads apart (very short TAO, but peak voltage induced by current was around 10 million volts) and that was the time that I was picking myself off of a concrete floor and still sweating an hour later. In electrical terms 120V and 240V are extremely safe, just don't do stupid shit (shower with toaster).
The problem in electrical receptacles is the contractor. They use the cheapest models on the market sold in boxes of 50 by Leviton. Leviton makes better receptacles but the subcontractors won't bid them because the contractor wants to maximize profit. They don't care that the metal parts lose their tension so that lamp plugged in blinks when you walk across the floor. AFter the split of AT&T electricians took over the phone wiring. Shoddy workmanship! They'll use the cheapest phone jack where the plastic strips out when the screw is tightened on the wire. For years they used inferior wire that produced cross talk if the customer had two lines. They also would try to run all the wiring to one place and do a poor splice that produced static. The old telephone technicians ran a continuous loop so that the jacks could be fed from the other end of the cable if it was cut. On modern twisted pair cable they split the pairs devising their own color code so that even that cable had cross talk. They don't buy the proper tools for coaxial cable preferring to use a pocket knife and a pair of pliers. Most materials are fair for the job. The main problem is the electricians and especially their helpers.
Not all of our receptacles are duplex (2). We also use single receptacles, and you can install switched receptacles where a toggle switch replaces one of the outlets in the duplex receptacle. We also have rocker style switches in addition to toggle style. It all depends on the application you want to use it for.
As a residential Realtor I once showed a sweet older British couple a home with what they said was a conservatory. I told them in the USA we call it a sunroom and if we called it a fancy word like a “conservatory” the house would probably cost an easy 5k extra. 😂 I was teasing. They ended up buying the home. 💕
My house had a sunroom, but a bad storm felled a tree in our yard and it smashed right into it. We've now built it into an additional room with walls and windows. My cousin has a sunroom as well. But I've actually never seen anyone with one.
The difference between a conservatory and three seasons room is with a conservatory the ceiling are also windows. Those are not common in the US, but we are lucky enough to have one in our kitchen
New outlets actually come with a little shield that is within the slot and it just pushes aside when you plug something in, that way parents don’t have to use that worthless plastic plug protectors that last a whole 20 seconds before the kids pulls it out lol
@thesimplesaguaro tamper-resistant outlets. I replaced 80% of my outlets before my 2nd child because I hated those plastic covers. They cost ~$11 for a pack of 10.
Whenever Texas gets more than a ⅛ of an inch of snow it causes massive traffic accidents, they have to resort to rolling blackouts or the power goes out altogether, and their politicians pack up their families and fly to Cancun, Mexico. Even Mississippians snicker at that.
Heatwave, here in the Seattle area is anything over 80F (26-27C) is a heatwave. Only recently have we begun to have temps over 100F (38C) and then for only a few days.
In the US the power supply (120volts) is lower- safer, than in the Uk - 240 volts, hence your need for the switch. The plugs themselves in the US are smaller as well.
And most of our electric items have power switches on the items. I mostly think of the silly little appliances that don't have power switches as cheap, like the black Friday waffle irons and sandwich makers.
The voltage difference is not the reason for the switch. I promise you that 120v is plenty dangerous, also US homes do get 240 power, you just need to run 2 circuits through your breaker. The plugs that use 240 in your home also don't have switches (ovens, dryers, etc).
Those aren't benefits. You can still be killed quite easily by 120 volts. There's nothing safe about it. 120 volts AC is still more than plenty to trigger freezing when grabbing a live power line. You are protected by panel circuit breakers and modern GFCI breakers that detect a human has shorted out the connection and instantly trip the circuit so you _probably_ won't die despite receiving a nasty shock (but even then you could still die). I recommend watching The Engineering Mindset's series on electricity in the U.S. and UK to learn how electricity works. 240 volts is delivered to each home in the U.S. but historically split into two separate circuits at the transformer. If the U.S. power system could be redesigned, 240 volts would be much more preferable and cheaper for a wide range of reasons. Also, the wall sockets in the U.S. are hot garbage as gravity can pull the plug partially out of the socket both exposing the hot and neutral lines and create arc welding, which reduces efficiency as well as the life of the socket and the device that connects to it. Most other nations have a vastly superior socket design to the U.S.
Ok I will say it in simple terms. Volts 120 or 240 isn't going to kill you. that is why you can have a Stun gun or Taser with something in sane like 5000 Volt s and not be killing people left and right. Volts is how much you feel it. Amps of like 0.5 or higher will kill you even at 60 volts. The Amp drop from the Source of the power to the Ground through the conduit (a.k.a. your body) is where the danger is. epically if it paths through your heart.
Basements are the, must have in the Midwest due to tornados. We use them for "playrooms, game rooms, laundry room",as well. Some people have half basements and some have full size of the house.
Yes the current is always on and it’s safe. We just turn off the appliance, lamp whatever. We have a central box where the “breakers” (a breaker box) are located and if a circuit is ever overloaded, the breaker will trip cutting powers to that electrical outlet. We also have a switch called a GFI (ground fault interrupter) when a plug is by a water source which will immediately trip that wall plug off, say if a hair dryer came in contact with water in a bathroom, preventing-hopefully-an electric shock. When a plug is not in use, if small children are in the home, people will cover access to the “live” plug with a simple small plastic flat cover that keeps kids from sticking anything in the plug and getting electrocuted.
In Alabama, A/C is more important than heat. I can always bundle up in blankets for a few days to stay warm (it is hardly ever cold for more than a week at a time). When the heat is over 90 F for three months straight, I need A/C.
I currently live 15 within miles of US/Mexico border in the southern Arizona desert, so A/C is practically a requirement to live here especially in the summer when the temperature is typically 110-115 degree F. I also had A/C in my house in Washington state. When my late husband and I were house hunting he was adamant that it had to have A/C stating if it only gets used once a year it’s still worth, and he was right 😊 he always was 💕
I've lived in ND and MN most of my life. Two states with long, cold winters. AC / central air is in damn near every house and apartment even this far north in the states.
@@mcdan84 growing up in indiana (90s/ early 2000s) it wasn't super uncommon to not have ac in a house. most houses had heating, not all of them had AC. they all have it now though.
I remember reading an HOA agreement that made it an offence where you would be fined if you hung laundry outdoors to dry. The woman sniffed haughtily and said "we do not hang our garments outdoors". When I was a child in the early '60's few people had a clothes dryer and we all had a line in the back yard to hang wet laundry but my mother HATED to iron clothes which is necessary for line-dried clothes so we were one of the first in our neighbourhood to get a clothes dryer. I live in the southern US where it reaches 100*F with humidity at nearly 96% so without AC we would boil in our own sweat. In the past, (pre 1950's)homes were built for air circulation with high ceilings, transoms and big windows. Homes are no longer built to encourage air circulation.
A dining room is only used for special occasions like Thanksgiving and Christmas. There's a second dining area usually just off the kitchen for everyday use.
I grew up with a clothes line in our backyard. It is just more work but we never had bugs or bird poop on our clothes. And I can honestly say that drying in the sun outside made the clothes smell so fresh and lovely. I have never found a detergent or dryer sheet that makes the clothes smell as good.
mine would all end up green and kill my allergies if i tried that around April-June. The other reason to have central heating/ac and keep the doors shut
@@annfrost3323 I grew up with towels and sheets hung to dry. They felt ok to me. The biggest problem we had was that everything was so wrinkled that it all had to be ironed. What a chore that was.
A/C is expensive in the US as well. It is just that most areas where it is needed already have it installed from previous owners, etc. A new HVAC unit will run you between 5k-10k USD, depending on how big your house is and the SEER rating (energy efficiency) of your A/C unit. But a window unit is relatively inexpensive and can be a very cost effective option if you only need a small area cooled.
10k is getting away cheap. I spent nearly 16k to replace mine a few years back and it was still just a single unit. (the house really needs a dual unit but that is a different complaint). Unless your price was not including labor costs for the install. Window units are pretty cheap though and not hard to self install.
The British electrical system used to be direct current (DC). At 240 VDC, you get a nasty electrical arc when you withdraw a plug from a socket and can burn your hand. They used to put shields on the plugs to prevent this, but another way was to put a switch on the socket. They could turn off the socket and then pull the plug. American voltages were only half as high (100 to 120 VDC) so it wasn’t as big a problem. When everybody switched from DC to alternating current (AC) because it was much more efficient, the problem went away. AC voltages go through zero 100 times per second in Britain (50 Hz current) and 120 times per second in America (60 Hz) and when it does the arc will be extinguished faster than the human eye can see. However, the Brits were used to switching off the socket before they pulled the plug, and even though after the switch to AC it made no difference, they felt safer that way. Hence, the Brits still have switches on their plugs even though hardly anybody else does. It’s a safety feature nobody needs, although it makes them feel safer.
Thanks for the info. It may still have a purpose beyond making people feel safe though. We in the US are told to unplug things when not in use because it's still burning energy. So would their switch prevent that wasted energy? If so then it likely saves them a little extra money that US homeowners burn. I admit, I do not go around unplugging my lamps and TV's or phone charges when I'm not using them cause I'd have to pull furniture away from the walls to access them and I'm just lazy lol.
Just for your own knowledge, "hertz" aka "Hz" actually refers to the time per second. so 50Hz is 50 times a second, 60 Hz is 60 times a second. 50Hz is 20 milliseconds between pulses, 60Hz is 16.666 repeated pulses per second. Also, DC was definitely first, but was not widely used. AC very quickly overtook DC and there were a very minor amount of homes / businesses / locations / etc that actually used DC before AC became widespread.
@@Lexielouwho "We in the US are told to unplug things when not in use because it's still burning energy. So would their switch prevent that wasted energy?" No, no, we TURN THINGS OFF. Not necessarily unplug. If your appliance has a switch, turning that switch off cuts off the flow of power. 🙂
@@neutrino78x that's not true. A TV goes into standby mode which still consumes energy even when turned off. Many electronics go into standby mode so I was wondering if their switch cuts the electronic from getting any energy thereby saving money
The issue is still there, but it is relocated. Instead of the arcing occurring at the plug/receptacle contact it happens inside the switch. It's known as contact bounce and lasts about 5ms. There is no advantage of turning off power to a receptacle prior to inserting the plug. There is always a place in the circuit where the hot portion of the circuit has to be accessed and if the switching is not solid state there is contact bounce. If it is solid state, then there is a voltage drop which varies by type of solid state switch.
Some of things vary widely, even from state to state. I live in Texas, but traveled a lot for work. One thing I had never seen in Texas was in Florida. Swimming pools are very common in both states, but in Florida there are houses where the entire backyard is completely screened in for the pool. No bugs, no leaves falling in the pool! No need for window screens on the entire back side of the house. I was amazed!
In wet areas the its mandatory sockets be equipped with built in ground fault interupter circuits so if say a hair drier fell into a sink of water it automatically trips the circuit to prevent electrocution.
We do have sunrooms in the US [conservatories] they were VERY popular in the 70s and 80s especially. I don't know what suburban hell this poor girl lives in that she's never seen one.
The garage thing may be historical. Of the houses I've lived in, both were built in the 1950s. One had a "carport" (more open, no door, just a cover for the car) and one had a single garage. People back then mostly had one car per family, so no need for extra garage space. But now, everyone in a house has a car, so finding room on your property to park them can be a problem if you aren't allowed to park on the street. Our next big adventure is to remodel the house and add a second garage so my car isn't out in the open all the time. The conservatory isn't common in middle class houses. And when we do have them, they're often breakfast nooks. However, my parents, very active in music, were gifted a baby grand piano. So they built on a "conservatory" (rounded room) big enough for the piano to fit in. However, in Florida, instead of having a "den" as a more casual "living room," they have "Florida rooms." Usually much like a conservatory - lots of windows, easy to open windows, plants, sofa, TV. The best part of a ceiling fan is that you can switch directions. So in the summer, when you want the heat pulled up so the cool air is near the sofa, you turn it on one way, and air is pulled up. And in the winter, when you want the heat pushed down from the ceiling, you switch directions so the fan pushes down air.
I don’t think I have ever had a ceiling fan that could switch directions. Usually we could control the speed but that was about it. However I absolutely love this and wish it was something we had growing up. Despite growing up in the US we did not have AC units and the summers were miserable, as it stands now I would be reluctant to live full time in any warm climate without AC. Unless the house had some serious modifications to keep it cool in other ways.
@@edencreator5945 You probably have and didn't realize it. The switch is located above the fan blades, so you have to turn the fan off and let it stop before you can switch it. I only found out about how that feature worked after I moved into an apartment with ceiling fans and no central air.
@@garycamara9955 It has in every house I've lived in. There's a switch on the middle part, up for, well up, and down for winter. That way, it's used all year and lowers your heating/cooling bill.
Changing the direction that a ceiling fan spins doe basically NOTHING to the air temps. When a fan is on it will "circulate" all the air in the room so instead of hot and cool spots all of the air in the room will be the same relative tempurature.
A conservatory is just a glassed in patio or sunroom here in the U.S. Just buy a window unit a/c. If you don't need it just store it and pull it out when you do. We used to hang our laundry on the line sometimes but eventually had no choice about using a dryer because of my severe allergies to pretty much everything outside. We don't use the same voltage you do for electricity. Very rarely do accidents happen..and we do have plastic safety protectors for the wall sockets to childproof them when your baby starts crawling and getting into stuff. Also a lot of our plug sockets are designed for 3 pronged plugs.
I live in a 1,274 square foot ranch style home. Living room, dining room, 3 bedrooms, a full bathroom and a half bath on the main level. My basement is 3 quarters finished. Has a family room, a full kitchen and a full bath. My laundry is done in the basement in the same room as my hot water heater & furnace (yes I have central air). We call that room a utility room. There's also an area in the basement that has built in shelving that I call my storage room. I put all my holiday decorations and other things that I use occasionally throughout the year. A standard homes square footage in the U.S. is not necessarily 1,600.
In the US, the power is 120 volts and in the UK it's 230 volts. So that long power "thing" you described is a step down transformer to reduce the power to 120 volts so you can use all the electrical parts and components that are designed and built for the 120 volt American market. It's much cheaper to simply add a step down transformer in the plug, than having to build a 230 volt power supply in every model of equipment from the manufacturers.
When I moved to New Hampshire (one of the colder parts of the US), people told me I didn't really need A/C except for a couple of weeks in the summer. They were wrong. I bought two window units and ran them daily from March to October. In the south, people haven't bothered building houses without central A/C for decades.
We have a few options here in the US that are very similar, obviously a sunroom but in addition to these 2 names you have a Florida room, Solarium, garden room, sun parlor, patio room. It depends on where you live as to what you call it
We usually have patios or decks. However in some areas we do have sunrooms. Or screened in porches, especially in areas with a lot of mosquitoes. Depending on the material your house is built from decides as how much maintenance you need to do. If you have cedar or other wood siding, you will have to paint or stain the exterior. If you have vinyl or hardi-plank siding you just need to clean it off with a product that attaches to a hose or have a company do it, your trim will still be to be painted. Brick and log houses usually only require the trim to be painted. Roofs can last from about fifteen to thirty or more year depending on the type of material was used. He’s A/C is pretty much everywhere, homes, apartments, offices, churches, shops, schools, public transportation, etc. Even areas of the country like the Pacific Northwest where A/C didn’t used to be as common in houses have needed it now because summers have been been hotter over the past seven years or so.
When I was a kid, I stuck my finger in the socket to see what it is like. Just a little shock but never did it again. There are really no issues with our outlets.
In Florida, we have covered structures at the back of the house we call Florida rooms, for some silly reason. They're usually screened-in with outdoor furniture, plants, and stuff. It's a way of enjoying the FL weather w/o being rained on, sunburned, or bit by mosquitos. I lived in FL for one year w/o AC, never again, lol! PCs need cool temps or they get too hot. Also, PCs are always on, even when off, so they boot faster and maintain certain settings.
@@kenbrown2808you can actually buy 80 year composite (asphalt) roofing but it's very thick. If I remember correctly there were four pieces in each bundle.
@@GenXHeart it's expensive stuff not sure what it is sealed with . but it sealed against rust and you have to order it at the length you need it as cutting it will break the sealant as well as the warranty. i don't know the particulars , we had it done over 20 years ago now (in 2003). roof is still shiny as the day it was new and it's even had a few dead trees fall on it and it's been fine.
My Mother used to hang our wash out on the clothesline to dry. I do have 2 portable ACs in my house. I put them up in the summer and take them away in the fall. I live in a 1 story house called a rambler that's about 1400 square feet. Not huge at all but enough for me. She hangs them outside to do the rinse cycle.
I live in the Pacific Northwest and it used to be that we didn't need A/C. Over the last decade the summers have become so hot, it was necessary to put in window A/C units in our house. Our house was built in 1929, we've been in the house now for 25 years. It was two stories with a basement. Each floor was 800 sq. ft. We completely renovated the basement with a bathroom, laundry room, bedroom and living room, which expanded the total square footage to 2,400. So now the house is essentially a 3 story house, each floor about 800 sq. ft, a full bath on each floor.
There are a lot of houses with Conservatories, just not as common as a porch or deck. They are mainly on mansions with large formal gardens. 900sq ft is tiny, the last apt I lived in was 1300sq ft and my house is 2600sq ft. Outlets can be put sideways but the prongs will be sideways, multiple outlets in my house has the outlets turned horizontally. There is absolutely zero reason to have a switch on an outlet.
Our plugs are about 1/4 the size and have no fuses in the USA. The plug holes are much smaller, so you can't stick many "forbidden" objects in them. We have SWITCHES on the appliances. 220/240 plugs are reserved for high voltage appliances like stoves and dryers and big ACs
My house is 1800 square feet but it has a finished basement which makes it 3600 square feet. That is a pretty normal size for my neighborhood and I don’t live in a wealthy neighborhood.
@@thorstrebla980 The 2400 sf total. also doesn't count the basement. Basement area is not counted in the square footage of the house. It is just extra. I have a larger sized family so we have a larger house at 4200 s.f, but then we have about 2100 extra sf in our basement. It is usable and finished, but not all of it.
My friend's dad from North Carolina got hundreds of old 1970's sliding glass doors from his remodeling business and painted all the frames black and bolted them together into a giant conservatory/attached greenhouse.They rigged motors into the 3 story structure where some doors opened a bit automatically by temperature while screens were replaced by black hardware cloth to keep their birds in . It had two koi ponds and tropical trees growing into inset flower beds. They also let their parrots exercise in this space.
One of the big housing trends in the last 20 years in the US is the idea of the "Open Concept" living space- the living/dining/kitchen area is all open to each other. These houses may also have a small living room and dining room in the front of the house while the back has a Den/Family room, Kitchen and Breakfast room.
In a lot of the US the AC is also because of the humidity. If you hang wet clothes up in most US states in the summer, they will just mildew. I wonder how you have space for 4 peoples clothes in such small houses. When I lay flat our sweaters in the winter it takes up so much horizontal space. And some take more than 1 day to dry. I hate it! ❤ seeing what is “normal” in different places.
Most of our plugs have power all the time. But it is also common for at least one plug in the room to have a switch, though often the switch isn't located near the plug, but rather, near the entrance to the room. This is nice for switching on lights when you first walk in. Also, at least in my house, the plugs that are switched are mounted upside down so you know which one is controlled by the switch. Sometimes only 1 of the 2 plugs in that outlet are controlled by the switch as well.
Not talking here about a light switch. In UK they have switches to turn off electricity to the plugs. Even outside the bathroom so you don't get shocked standing near water. Switch is on the hallway before you enter bathroom and is not for the lights.
@@annfrost3323 Ok, but that's not WHY they have it. It's because they used to use high voltage DC, which could cause a bigger spark when plugging and unplugging. It remains there mainly for cultural reasons. Standing in water in a bathroom won't shock you just because there's a plug. 🙂
I live in California. We have a/c and a ceiling fan in every room except for the bathroom and utility room, which holds both the washer and dryer. We also have an above ground pool in the backyard. The backyard is wooden fenced, but the front yard is not fenced. Oh, and we have a 2 car garage.
i use to, but with ssds (especially m.2s) it takes less than 20 seconds for my computer to go from off to fully logged in anymore so it's just as easy to turn it on rather than wake it up now.
I never had AC in my home till I was 55 years old. Before that we would open up the cellar door and put a fan in the stairwell blowing up into the house. The cellar stayed cooler being below ground level and it had a brick floor which caused the coolness to come up from below that. The house would stay really nice all day until about 4 PM after that we would go out to the porch and sit because the sun had started down on the back side of the house and the front porch swing was cool. Swinging also keeps you cool. You are your own fan! lol This house was built some time before 1840 so all the amenities of electric, plumbing and heating have been added slowly over the years. Now the heating ducts also blow cool in the summer! I love it.
I heard the separate dryers are more energy efficient than the washer-dryer combo. I heard the washer dryer combo tends to take a really long time to dry your clothes or a separate dryer. Will take maybe 45 minutes to an hour at most.
I rented a flat in Paris that had a combined washer with a dry cycle. It wasn't very efficient as nothing ever got really dry. Plus it took a lot longer to have just one appliance to wash and dry. Separate machines mean you can wash a second load while the first is drying.
our older washer dryers in the us used to run a really short wash cycle, then take like 45 min to dry(even in a gas dryer). My current efficient washer takes about an hour and a half, but leaves the clothes so spun that the dryer only takes 20 mins or so. I’d rather the washer was not quite as water efficient since i live in the midwest where water is not in short supply at all. Made sense when i lived in California. not so much here. i also go through a lot of trouble to undo the water regulators on my shower.
People have conservatories in the US, usually in suburbs on larger properties. We were fairly middle-class but had one in our country cottage on Long Island. Here we generally refer to them as “sun rooms” (or occasionally “green houses.”) We’d bring our potted plants into the “sun room” during the winter time and start seeds there in the early spring. It was always warm and bright in there and during warm weather the side panels opened and had screens.
Our back yard neighbor has a fenced in yard, but nobody else anywhere nearby has a fence. The only use I've ever heard for the word "conservatory' is on a commercial basis, as in Chicago"s Garfield Park Conservatory. 3-prong sockets are always installed, but the round one isn't always used, in that some cords have a 2-prong attached. There's no issue whatsoever (that I've ever heard about) with not being able to turn off the switch.
People with children usually child proof their homes. We have plastic plugs that go in the sockets so they can't accidentally stick things in them. Also cabinet locks that can be easily removed. A lot of apartments are between 900 to 1200 sq feet.
Air conditioning isn’t cheap to install in the USA, a window unit is cheap, but a forced air system, mini split, ptak are all pretty expensive to buy and install. In a lot of places it’s needed because of the hot humid climates and a lot of people are living in homes that are poorly built and designed wrong for that climate/environment.
A lot of places see a large difference in temperature throughout the year too. I’m from Indiana and in the past year we’ve had days where the temperature felt over 100 deg F (38 deg C) and others that felt below -10 deg F (-23 deg C)… we typically get a HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) Unit to keep our house around the same temperature throughout the year (the average we keep it here is around 70 deg F (21 deg C)).
Not needing to switch on an outlet honestly is extremely handy and it is safe here in America because we have a lot of safeguards built in like lower power, breakers, the actual socket holes themselves being small, and in the case of small children, socket covers that keep kids from even touching them, though even child fingers are larger than the holes… Though kids still are taught not to play with them…. I haven’t heard of anyone ever having a problem with them in my entire lifetime though I’m sure like way back in the day they were less safe because most things were, but again, nothing I’ve ever known someone to experience…
UK electrical service goes into the house at 230volts in a single thick wire. In the US it goes into the house at 240 volts, but through 2 smaller 120volt wires...one wire connects to one side of the panel and distributes across 8-12 circuit-breaker switches, the other connects to the other side of the panel and distributes across another set of 8-12 breakers. Most circuits only require 1 switch, but for those that require a heavier load we connect multiple breakers together to form one bigger switch (I've only seen this for two circuits, but I suppose you could connect more if needed). Outlets that go into non-hazard areas--living room, dining room, bedrooms, hallways, etc do not need an interrupt switch and can be fitted with closeable covers or insertable tabs to keep small fingers out. Using them is up to the individual homeowner, but most are pretty diligent. It's the dumb teenagers bored enough to try stupid things they saw on the internet that is the bigger problem nowadays. In the hazard areas (bathrooms and kitchens), however, we do require an interruptible outlet. This is partly going to the wayside because small-appliance manufacturers (ie, hair dryers) have started building interrupts into their devices, but we still require the outlets as not everyone's on board yet. You couldn't electrocute someone in the bath (like in the old movies/tv shows) even if you wanted to. Also most of our plugs are 3-pronged--two flat ones set in vertical orientation side-by-side (like the number 11) with a round one under those to serve as the ground wire. Some still only have the two flat prongs, but in all cases one flat prong is wider than the other so the plug can still only be inserted in one way. We also have a 230volt plug, which tends to have 3 flat prongs oriented in a triangular shape that requires its own type of outlet. These are starting to become rarer. the receptacles always consist of 2 plugs, arranged vertically. Each individual plug socket is about the size of a US quarter, and would be small enough to fit in the palm of your hand without touching the meaty part of your thumb or the knuckles. Typically the outlet would be oriented vertically with the round prongholes below the flat ones, but I've seen some installed horizontally. I don't know if there are any code rules about this, but it really is annoying when the outlet is installed upside-down. This lets us combine multiple outlets into the same panel space, for a 2x2 set of plugs or a 1x2 plug with a light switch. Accidents do still happen, though surprisingly the biggest danger comes from bored teenagers trying dumb things they saw on the internet. Teens are basically adult-capable but don't have the wisdom or restraint to avoid dumb ideas. With regards to curious small children with tiny fingers and a raging sense of curiosity, we have a variety of products to childproof the wall sockets--panels that plug into both receptacles and cover the entire outlet, plastic plugin tabs to cover a single plug, lockable plugs that can't be easily pulled out, etc.
We had a “conservatory” in our old house… but I think our cats used it more than we did🤣🤷♂️ Very nice in the morning, with hot coffee, and after a foot or two of snow… But at that that point you might as well lock yourself in. Warm the fireplace. Bust out some consciousness altering “things,” and enjoy. It’s probably close to the best feeling ever.
We live on 2 acres on a golf course, so there is no need for a fence. We have a sun room, dining room, eat in kitchen, laundry room, living room, den. My house is large for the USA with 5 beds, 6 baths, about 4,500 sf. Outside we have a wrap-around porch, with the back screened to protect from insects. Our three car garage is attached to our house.
@@SteveIsNumbToThisWorld All but one of our bathrooms are connected to a bedroom. The last bathroom is a guest half-bath located near our living room. I didn't design the house, just bought it.
I'm an electrician in Illinois, and I can tell you that it is COMPLETELY safe to have receptacles (plugs/sockets) to always be on. The wires leading to the receptacle can not be turned off. All you are turning off and on are literally the prongs themselves. If you splash water on them, it could steel seep into the electrics. Plus, a switch on your receptacle is an extra part. This makes it more expensive and a switch and receptacle together are twice as likely to break and not work (still extremely low, but a stat none-the-less.)
Not all American houses have it, but we have something similar to a conservatory which we would call a Florida room. It' can be windowed room attached to one side of the house. Usually the windows have screens. It lets you have the feeling of sitting outside but in an enclosed area. But not just people in Florida have them. Other states do as well.
The property I'm looking at has a 3200 sq ft house, a smaller 1100 sq ft house, two shops, a warehouse, and three garages on 10 acres. It also has four 1200 sq ft greenhouses, a pond and a barn. The further away from the city you get, the cheaper properties generally are. The same house would be $600k or more in the suburbs.
Newer homes in HOAs (home owner associations) often aren’t allowed to have fences. I’m in a 130-year old home, and I have a six-foot privacy fence surrounding my entire backyard.
I live in a neighborhood with a HOA and almost everyone has a fence, it allows your pets and kids to play outside without constant monitoring. The only requirement is that they all be the same material and color. For us that’s cedar fencing stained or painted in a natural cedar color. However living in the Pacific Northwest cedar is abundant, inexpensive and stands up to our rain. 😉
I love having an attic fan, more common in the midwest from what I hear. in my house if the temps are about 55-73F we open all the windows and turn on the attic fan. It is mounting to the ceiling in my case the hallway and it is high power and pulls the outside air while pushing the hotter air out attic vents. The pressure in the home can get so strong than you have to be careful closing doors or they will slam.
Regarding the garge thing, I'd argue they're necessary in at least parts of the US. When I was growing up, in Colorado, if he car wasn't in the garage(in the winter) the windows would frost over and it is not fun scraping all that off. I knew friends from some of the states that border Canada that had said you have to do a lot of winter preparations for your car or it would just... give up So it was a safer bet to put the car in the garage at night to lower those chances.
They’re necessary in a lot of states like mine that get large hail every year. Also, a garage is nice to have if it gets in the way high 90’s to 100’s during the summer; your steering wheel can actually get too hot to handle.
colorado also gets hail at pretty much any time of the year which is another case for parking inside a garage there. could be july and you get a surprise hailstorm.
I’m an American and my grandparents had a sunroom. Some people do have them. My house is not the average size of 1600 square feet, but several hundred feet smaller. Like you, I use a washer and dryer. When I was growing up, my parents used a clothesline mainly in the summer and was mainly used for bedding or towels. I really enjoyed putting things out on the line. You do have to wash the line first before putting anything clean on it to dry. I rarely saw bugs on the clean laundry either. Good memories. Everything smells so good after hanging outside too.
We have a 2 car garage attached to the house with a door going into it from the foyer/living room. We don't park cars in there... ever. It has a window A/C unit and portable heater, television on the wall, 2 lounge chairs, washing machine and dryer, our old refrigerator for overflow, 2 standing freezers, a personal gym and weights, 2 big shelves for our back stock of pantry items, and tables for doing jigsaw puzzles with shelves for all of our puzzles. Oh, it also has a big tool cabinet. We actually eat dinner out there every night using TV trays while we watch TV. I don't know anyone with a conservatory that nice, but lots of people have attached enclosed/screened in patios. We had one when we lived in Huntington Beach in the 90s. Our current house was built in 1957/58, was originally around 1200 square feet, has had 2 rooms added on and is now 1800 square feet. It's not at all considered to be large here (Southern California). I believe houses in colder climates are larger because people are stuck inside more during winter months. Our house has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, family room/den, and attached garage. It is 2 stories with 1 bathroom and 2 bedrooms upstairs.
15:43 - yes. Accidents happen As a child I stuck a hairpin into the outlet and got knocked out with a black mark down my arm. Spillage: I haven't heard of anything, but I'm sure it has happened. Most of the time it isn't an issue, nobody really thinks about it. Some houses do have an outlet or two wired into a wall switch, but it is not common. For families with small children you can by a cover or cap to block the outlet.(google safe plat, or child-safe outlet cover) RE: wide plugs - no... we have the same plug design with the adapter (on devices that have it), which is annoying and gets in the way. Side-by-side would make much more sense.
usually dining rooms are for more formal meals. most kitchens have a dinette section where casual meals are more likely. however, i eat in bed or on the couch 99% of the time. lol
Where I live, Kansas, USA, we have what I call "dynamic weather" - we need both heating and air conditioning, sometimes in the same day. In the last 12 months the weather here has given us lows of -29C and highs of 40C. The temperatures can hover around these for many days at a time with humidity ranging from near 0% to near 100%. In what other areas refer to as Spring or Fall (and sometimes other seasons) the heat of the day will exceed 35C then dip down to near 0C that same evening, rising again to 30+C the following day. This means that a Central HVAC (Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system is quite essential here. And if you have a smart thermostat that you can set to switch between heat and cool automatically, then you are usually comfortable most days. I've lived in houses with no garage, but a carport - an open-sided covered car park - which may be attached or detached from the actual house structure. The housing market in most suburban areas is such that without an attached garage, the house is not likely to sell quickly if at all. In urban areas, especially large cities, parking is scarce and/or expensive. Many people in suburban areas, assuming no municipal or Home Owners Association rules against it, will have an outside garden instead of an actual conservatory. Sunrooms, while present in larger homes, rarely are more than sitting/relaxation areas with a few plants spread around. They rarely approach the stereotypical "indoor jungle" of conservatories seen in movies or TV. My current home has approximately 1300 sq ft (121 sq m) above ground and 1200 sq ft (112 sq m) in a finished basement - so total of 2500 sq ft (232 sq m). Add on a two car attached garage and a 300 sq ft (28 sq m) bomb shelter in the basement and it is not a bad size. Its floorplan was designed in 1960, so the space isn't able to be used efficiently with a modern lifestyle. Still that's quite average for the area where I reside. It is quite common for houses in the USA to have a separate room for laundry - sometimes called a laundry room or utility room. It is where the washer & dryer live and may be large enough to actually fold and/or iron clothes. The difference between this and houses in the UK is that many of the houses in the UK were built before such appliances were a consideration, and without the space for extensive retrofit of plumbing, the washer was commonly placed in a room which already had hot & cold water pipes - the kitchen being the room with the most space. Most US houses outside the East Coast cities are new enough that such plumbing could be considered during the design and initial construction. And many suburban houses are in areas governed by municipal (rarely) or Home Owners Association (often) regulations prohibiting the hanging of laundry outside. In urban areas there are what are called Laundromats - basically central "stores" which have rows upon rows of washers and dryers for anyone to use. These may or may not be safe for your clothing or your person - depending on the area. As for electrical - I've travelled around the world and found most of the countries I have visited have had a very reliable power grid. And utilizing proper outlet and voltage adapters/transformers, I can use my US items just fine. The biggest difference in US and the rest of the world for electricity is the vast distances that must be crossed to connect the electricity producers to the electricity consumers. Thus electricity is sent along these long distances at 15000 volts - much higher than most in Europe or other countries. It is stepped down at various points to finally reach each house at 240v - which is split into two 120v legs. These two can be used individually at 120v for circuits meant for normal electrical appliances or combined into 240v for larger demand appliances such as air conditioners, dryers, or stoves. The lower voltage for normal electrical equipment decreases the risk of death should a person come in contact with an exposed circuit. I'm not an electrician, so I leave working with house electrical to the professionals. Those same professionals are free to correct me if I have erred. Mostly - yes, there are differences in houses in the US. Not all are better or worse than any other country. Each culture has its own charm. If you like it, go for it.
We have lots of sun rooms and screened in porches and some people have greenhouses which are for planting plants and food but it is usually separated from the house so bugs don't get in the house. We have to keep an eye out for bugs in the greenhouses and get rid of them quick.
Most things plugged into an outlet are always on and the item itself has an on and off switch. Some outlets are connected to an on/off switch [possibly on the other side of the room] and are only on when the switch is turned on. Things like ceiling lights and ceiling fans are usually connected to a wall switch.
Yeah we have them. We call them sun room or Florida room. But most American houses have a back porch with outdoor furniture and a back yard. Some backyards have pool decks. Most people prefer yards over Florida rooms.
Our outlets are always on but you mentioned spillage and there are laws that require a special type of outlet in kitchens and bathrooms and around pools called GFI outlets (Ground fault indicator) which trip off if current shorts or surges with a button to reset it when dry.
There are a lot of US houses which have conservatories, we just called them either "sunrooms" or in sunny states (depending on the state) a "Florida Room", "Arizona Room", etc which then opens onto a back patio or deck, Even if an appliance is plugged in, if the appliance is turned off then it's off. We also have "surge protectors" so big items (tvs, computers, etc) aren't fried by a sudden electric surge from lightening etc. whether or not they are turned on.
In America we have some electrical outlets that are on a switch but the switch is on the wall about 4 feet up and usually by a door or entrance into a room. You would the plug a floor Irrigation table lamp into the outlet and use the switch to turn the light on or off. Now with smart lighting there’s less of a need for them.
You have to remember - the UK is *much* further north than most of the US. The climate there is much more like Canada. I live in the US, and we are about the same latitude as Tunisia. For us, A/C is a survival tool, and is used much more frequently than the furnace. It's extreme _heat_ during the summer months that is the challenge. 40C is not unusual around here, at least during the summer. And yet, we get snow in the winter - in fact, snow is forecast for the next couple days. Extreme weather is common here in the desert southwest...
In Florida, the conservitory is VERY common. They are called lanai's or Florida rooms *if they have AC/Heat. About the electrical outlets: We have surge protectors, so that if there is an accident, it will shut off super fast. There are plastic little plugs that fit into the outlet to protect them from children sticking anything that should not be stuck into the plug. Also, our volts are 1/2 of your volts in general. 120v. We do have 220v, but it is usually in the laundry area only. Electric goes to things like computers and such, but they are set up to only charge themselves (computers) when needed.
Yup… just like what others say, we call conservatories “sun rooms”. It’s usually attached to a deck or patio that leads out to back yard. We also have a “screened front porch” that sort of is like a summer sun room
I had a fairly large sunroom/greenhouse when I lived near Portland Oregon. To go into the room you would go through double glass doors and step down into room. The room walls were enclosed with glass walls. It never got very warm because it was shaded by several large trees and also it was near Portland. It is a large 5 bed 3 bathroom house. With a three car attached garage and a huge yard. I miss that place.
We have plastic things we put in the plugs to keep children from sticking stuff in there. It doesn't always work. In the bathroom and kitchen and for outside plugs, we have a button that pops and shuts off the power to the outlet until you reset it. We also do have some switches that go to the plugs, and we plug lamps into those usually.
Get yourself a couple of window model A/C units to keep you cool. They plug into the electic. Or, you can purchase portable floor models that move from room to room. They come with a short hose that fits into a sliding piece that fits into a partially opened window.. They are designated when not in use. The window models will require a covering to keep out cold drafts when not in use. Do yourself the favor and get an A/C unit of some kind.
In the US, we have sun rooms (conservatories). Ours do not typically have a glass ceiling. I lived in England for four years and saw in some homes I visited what would be a typical US sun room. We had a washer and dryer in both of our UK homes. Also, they were not in the kitchen. The US has the safety switches in our kitchens and bathrooms. And yes, we have electrical outlets in our bathrooms. Not having power in the bathrooms in the UK took some getting used to. We lived in the Cambridge area and didn't have the kind of switch on our outlets that was shown.
I always pick houses with dining rooms - and they are used for more than dining - we use them for family game nights, for projects, and whenever we need a lot of table space. In Michigan, we have 3-season windowed rooms - which are usually closed off in the dead of winter, but are really nice the other 3 seasons of the year. A lot of cities no longer allow clothes lines - or have an HOA, which regulates whether you can have fences or not. I will never live in a HOA (Imma do my own thing, yo), but the city still said no to the greenhouse idea I had. And yes, I have plastic covers over unused outlets, or attach a surge protector (that protects appliances during storms) that adds that switch functionality.
Hey Lewis!! Kids will stick things in outlets and have been injured. However, you can purchase plastic plug caps to prevent children from sticking items into electrical outlets. You can buy safety gadgets to prevent kids from getting into drawers, cabinets and a doorknob cover to prevent the knob from turning, and knobs on stove as well. My home, a bathroom downstairs with toilet, sink, shower stall. Second floor has full bathroom in hallway with toilet, tub, and double sink, Master bedroom has full bathroom and double "his & hers" sinks. A two car garage. Front porch and screened in back porch to enjoy weather And inground swimming pool with 6ft high wooden privacy fence. No front yard fence though.Thanks, good video 😊
There are "window units" that don't go into the window. They sit on the floor in the room and you run a hose/duct out the window. People with small or strangely shaped windows can still use them that way. Older ones need a bucket to collect the run off that needs to be dumped, but I've seen new ones that don't do that.
No... just no. That is a COMPLETELY different type of AC and should generally be avoided unless you need something very temporary and portable. The units you are referring to blow indoor air outside after it has been heated (or cooled if it is reversible) causing lower pressure in your home which HAS to resolve somewhere meaning somewhere in your house you will be pulling in outdoor air and just making the temp worse elsewhere in your house. It is a net even trade but just makes 1 room or area colder. An actual window unit does not push air out of your house. It is a split unit where you have radiators both inside and outside the home making it possible to keep all your inside air inside and the outside is regulated by pushing the outdoor air through the radiator. You should not think of these 2 types of AC as equivalent.
1)There are a lot of older US homes that don't have garages. 2)No conservatories much, we have basements with media rooms or TV rooms. Basements are cooler in summer. No AC needed. 3)America also has semi detached houses in the city. We don't have them in rural areas. 4)Bathrooms: 1/2 bath - toilet only (aka a powder room). 3/4 bathes - toilet and shower. Full bath - bath, shower and toilet. 5) If you hang your laundry outside here, you'd have frozen solid clothes! 6) Your electric plugs are 220 volts ( they're huge), American is 110 volts. 7) Everyone in the UK has an electric kettle. 8) The English use placemats more than we do. 9) You don't have bug screens in your windows. 10) Most mail is delivered through a slot in the door. 11) You don't use screen doors. 12) You don't have large front porches. 13) You often have fireplaces in bedrooms. 14) You don't have built in closets. 15) You have smaller fridge/freezers.
In most places without overhead lights at least 1 outlet is controlled by a light switch. It’s to plug a light into so you can have light instantly when entering a room. It’s always a fun time trying to find which outlet it is when you first move in and it’s dark out and there is no overhead light. My moms house has multiple that are controlled by switches because it is older in that case you need to remember which one needs to stay on because that’s where the tv, computer, internet router is plugged in and which one is for the lights. Turning off the wrong one can cause problems with those electronics if they are not shut down properly or in a surge protected outlet. I had a laptop battery get fried because it wasn’t grounded properly and I lost power due to a monsoon.
My house has central air. We can put the thermostat on heat or cool and adjust the temperature to as cold or hot as we want it and the air or heat blows through the floor vents. We don't have a window unit. I have safety switches in my house. That means if there's an electrical surge or the plug in over heats, it automatically kills the breaker to prevent a fire. Most Americans prefer a deck or a patio in their backyard. I have a large patio that is the entire length of my house with a large pool and I really enjoy swimming and laying out in the sun in the Summer.
"I've never seen one with a switch" So in the US, we have an outlet called a GFCI, that are common now around areas with water (i.e. bathrooms kitchens) but we don't have them everywhere. Our electrical safety makes up for that mostly, but electrical accidents do happen, albeit infrequently
Our duplex outlets can be either horizontal or vertical, and there are also multiple plugs, but usually in even numbers. They are no problem unless you stick a knife or something metal in them. They also make plastic things you can plug into any unused sockets for child-proofing.
Living in San Antonio, TX. We consider it hot once it’s over 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Having a 3000 sqft historic Greek revival I had to put in two central air conditioners. In the winter we had got 15 degrees fahrenheit and it helps having the central heat. If you’re ever down in San Antonio you’ll have to see the house as all my friends across America consider it a classic southern home.
So my garage is multi-purpose. I can park a car in it (it's a 2 car garage), but I have all my tools, my kids sports equipment, and I even have a synthetic ice hockey arena in it for my kids to practice their shooting in it. The conservatory is a sun room, or a sun deck, or an atrium. There are a LOT of them in Florida. Some have air conditioning even, LOL
