Open Layout Homes Have A Surprising Problem - Cheddar Explains

The open floor plan is one of the trendiest home designs in the United States. This layout is leading to more and more energy being used to keep homes cool, as we forget that traditional floor plans help lower energy usage. Can we afford to rely more and more on central air?

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[Dexy]

My poor Grandmother with dementia HATED the house my Grandparents moved into in 2006. She kept saying, "it looks like a barn!" Never understood why she said that. I finally realized the open layout drove her nuts, but she couldn't explain it. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[SpencerN.C.]

As much as I like Cheddar, speaking as a student of architecture, this story has several inaccuracies and overly-broad generalizations.
First, the story criticizes open designs for being hard to cool, but then briefly talks about passively cooled buildings which generally require a degree of open design to function.
There are many good ways to build energy efficient open designs, and while I agree that most houses in North America don't follow good design principles, the story doesn't really lay out a compelling picture of how to do better.

[kozad]

It's like the video was going somewhere big with this, then just stopped. 💁🏻‍♂️

[lexiaalia]

I actually prefer a closed floor plan. I like the idea of having a living room that’s separate from the dining which is separate from the kitchen and so on. Plus I like the idea of having specific rooms... I hope that makes sense lol

[TheDaitomOne]

i used to live in a home that was seriously open floor plan. I've since moved into a home with a more closed concept built in 1982, the ability to close the doors of your kitchen is amazing when you want to cook at night without waking anybody up. The family room/kitchen is completely separate by 2 doors from the rest of the home. Even the living room can be boarded off as well as the office.


Open concept is great in looks but not practicality

[RodrigoColimodio]

As ones a professor of history of architecture told me. “If you design minimum apartments you need open spaces. But a huge house? Why would I like to smell the fish that is been cook in the kitchen while I am reading in the living room?

[ImminghamIronhead]

So true; I have a 1912 terraced house in England with lots of interior walls, which is very warm in winter. In the summer, the through breeze creates a wind tunnel you could test cars in for aerodynamics. The entire layout is designed to minimise seasonal temperature variations.

[ivos-f]

"We can't ask everyone to live without AC"
Welcome to Europe

[g_thbaa]

Open floor plans are horrible for large families too in my house I hear everything and smell everything because of the open layout

[Jemalacane]

Plant trees. it can be 10ºF cooler under a tree than it would otherwise be.

[fancywhale]

One of the problems is that the houses are made out of wood. I used to live in Mexico in a small brick made house, in an area that got extremely hot during the summer reaching sometimes up to 40 degrees Celcius, and during the winter it could hit 0 degrees Celsius. Yet, we never had to use air conditioner or a heater because the walls would keep everything relatively cool during the summer and during the winter we would just use sweaters and a couple of blankets, something that is a little hard to achieve with wooden walls.

[Gilotopia]

The kitchens were closed because of the smell rather than the heat. The heat was welcome in many places but the smell and grime would get into everything. However evacuation hoods changed things.

[roboko]

My family knocked out the wall between the Kitchen and the dining room. I hated it. They are socialites and constantly have guests over. It became twice as noisy because now you heard the cooking and the talking at the same time. No peace. Was a relief when I got my own place.

[John_Locke_]

It's gonna be so hilarious in 30 years watching home reno shows adding back walls to these houses. And don't get me wrong, I love open floor concepts and wish I had the money to reno mine. Just saying it as a fan of This Old House who has watched every single episode.

[melsyoutube]

I hate how open plan houses in america are! i'm from london and i love having separate rooms for everything! especially during quarantine. it gives everyone their own space, plus the heat and smells from the kitchen STAY in the kitchen.

[nickgoesvestmode]

When I was young and lived in apartments (which all apts have open floor plans), I always couldn't wait to get a house so my kitchen wasn't in my dang living room. Little did I know they started building new homes with the same open floor plan.

[Sehara]

Grew up in a house made out of concrete mixed with perlite blocks. Never needed air conditioner and durig a winter it was easy to warm it up. It was a 2 storey house and still energy efficient and sound proofed. Walls, facade and celilings made out of mortar and still standing after so many years.

[empressoftheskies]

I don't like open floor plans. I rather like the idea of each room being a compartment much like a jewel box so each room can have a different character and style if you choose to

[TheJaredtheJaredlong]

The energy code has already addressed this problem. Their solution is hyper-insulation. Don't need to spend money cooling your house if it's not even able to heat up to start with. It's a better solution because it also keeps the house efficiently warm in winter.

[theresevanarsdale]

I hate open plan. I loathe cooking with an audience. I don't want to hear other people all of the time.