American Reacts to German Houses vs American Houses

TIP JAR - - - - - SuperThanks Button :)
This will help improve the channel greatly, New webcam for better videos, Wheel for the hotlaps, or you can just buy me a cold drink 😎 I APPRECIATE YOU

Send us Stuff!! 😋 IWrocker 5225 Harrison Ave PO box # 6145
Rockford, IL 61125

LIKE and Subscribe! Join One of the BEST & wholesome Communties on YouTube, with tons of Variety in content for You to Enjoy.

*TimTam collection Record Holder

*Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS

[thomask]

Difference no. 11: German houses are not made out of paper, like US houses

[Jin.Sensei]

I've been to Germany many times.
1) They have garages
2) Toilets are both mounted to the wall or the classic way with a tank and mounted to the floor.
3) Showers - depends on the size of the bathroom and how you like it
4) Freezers - again, if you want a huge Fridge you can have it.

[tosa]

In Germany, you don't need big refrigerators because usually the nearest grocery store is only a 5-minute walk away. The food is fresher and you don't throw away as much of it.
Why this guy doesn't have a freezer, or at least a small freezer compartment, I don't understand.

[NocnaGlizda]

I'm from Europe and I'm surprised to see your reactions to windows. This is an example of how habit and different continents differ in basic matters. Opening a window like this is the most ordinary thing in the world for me. Our windows have a third way of opening. It's called micro-ventilation and you turn it all the way up and then to the left about 15 degrees. Then the window is minimally open. I really like videos like this when I can see your surprise. Thanks, have a nice day.
PS: The toilet is open. Apparently the guy lives there.

[Holgi]

The oldest building (a barm) on my farm was built in 1736. Older than the US.
Our main house, where we live in was built in 1823.
Greetings from Germany❤️

[HeresorLegacy]

My biggest confusion when I was in the States was that a lot of windows aren't double paned. German windows always have two panes of glass, separated by a vacuum to prevent heat transmission.

[Collateralcoffee]

Our fridges do have freezers. They come in many styles, lots of fridges just have a lower part that is a freezer. But yes, these things are a LOT smaller than the American counterparts, and they are way less of a centerpiece, although we can buy "American style" fridges with double doors, ice dispensers and the coveted stainless steel look :)

[Nekomancer]

I'm always amazed that something as simple as a "Kippfenster" is mind blowing over there in the states.

[ntm_aka_badluck]

Regarding closets: keep in mind, that the 'room' you lose by a integrated closet is now added to the bedroom, and with a wardrobe cabinet you are more flexible in how you setup the room interior wise. :)

[kamukameh]

Austrian here!

- We have a garage as an extended storage space for bicycles, wood, large tools ... and a car-port for the car ;-)
- Your amazement about the "hidden" fridge was very funny!
- Having no closet makes you able to arrange the room better to your fitting
- Your amazement about the windows was also funny!

[somersaultcurse]

two more things about windows in germany:

1. the outside of the window is very easy to clean since you can open it all the way to the inside of the room.

2. if its raining is a big plus when the window is able to tilt open only the upper side, instead of pushing the bottom half up. so your opening is more likely to invite the rain if its a bit windy ;)

[IAMsterdam]

Here in the Netherlands the building code for garages is pretty strict. Because your storing a vehicle there you have to have enough ventilation and stuff like that. It’s easier to achieve with a separate garage instead of one attached to the house. It’s basically seen as a fire risk.

[aliciag.]

You just use free standing wardrobes. They can be really big. But like this you can decide the placement in the room. And the size. Our houses in general are good isolated. There are different sizes for fridges and most people have a fridge freezer combination or a separate freezer (in the cellar for example). A lot also depends on how old the house is. A lot of older bathrooms have toilets on the floor and not mounted to the wall.

[Barking_Schnauzer]

Some additional thoughts (yep, long post, sorry 😉) to what already others might have stated in the comments (more related to Europe in general, not just Germany):

Fridge/Freezer - In Europe in general the freezer is part of the refrigerator - either on the bottom or on the top and has a separate door (the fridge-part has one and the freezer has one, but it's one big unit when you buy it). Most people only buy food for a couple of days because they prefer to cook from fresh ingredients and because most of the shops are easy to reach in short distances, the people rather tend to shop every few days a couple of items instead of buying large quantities maybe once a month. So there's no real need for a separate big freezer in the household, the small one integrated in the standard fridge does the job just fine for the few items you buy.

Windows - to be able to fully open them is not just good for airing your home, but also for practical purposes - you can clean them whenever you want and don't have to use a ladder or even call a company to clean your windows from the outside when you live on higher floors e.g. in an apartment building. For the bugs we just buy/install window screens. In fact most households have those on their windows during summer, but people tend to take them down for the winter or when it gets cold (they last longer then).

Garage/Carport - it's often also not a necessity in Europe to even have one simply because the public transportation is so good, that a lot of people especially in the cities don't even have a car. You have most of the stuff you need either in a walking distance or you just take the bus, tram, etc. This is also something related to the 'close community' point mentioned in the video. But yes, if you have a garage/carport, it's usually not part of the house, but separate.

Insulation - the houses and apartment buildings here are usually having very solid walls like brick/concrete/stone, etc. and usually keep a certain temperature inside (keep cool in summer, keep the heat in winter) much better than US houses. Considering also e.g. fire safety these materials are also much better to protect you from completely losing everything as the fire can be better contained in each room and your whole house doesn't immediately burst into flames.

Door knob - in general throughout most of Europe we don't have a door knob that you twist and turn, but exactly the door handle, which you could see on the inside of the door in the video - one that you push down. On interior doors from both sides and on exterior doors we have usually the same system as shown in the video.

Heating system - our system with the radiators in each room does save a ton of energy and the heating costs are easily manageable as you heat each room separately and can set different temperatures or even turn it off in rooms you don't use.

Closets - depends on when the house was build I'd say. Newer houses already have sometimes an in-built closet/wardrobe in some rooms, but in general we tend just to buy separate wardrobes, because it allows you to put it in whichever corner of the room you want and change the room's disposition this way anytime you need. You're not having it fixed in one spot like a closet.

Low ceilings - this is really limited usually to just one type of the houses what is shown in the video. So not such a large % of homes. The rest have normal/standard ceiling height. As for high ceilings - you'll find them in most old townhouses in the cities (and by old I mean built at least a century and more ago). That's typical for old townhouses. But for newer builds and separate houses people tend to prefer standard ceiling height - mainly because of the heating costs (the higher the ceiling the more you have to heat to reach a certain temperature and the more money you waste).

Toilets - there's various types of toilets, so pls. don't judge by just one of the types seen in the video. What's also very common (not everywhere, but in some countries) is to have the toilet in a separate small room and not inside the bathroom as it's considered more hygienic (and you don't take your shower/bath in an occasionally smelly room... 😏)

Showers/Bathtub - usually here the same as what you've described for the US. Not much difference there. What's a bit less common in Europe is the shower heads mounted on the walls. Usually you just see them on the ceiling in a combo with an additional shower head, that isn't fixed and you can move it around as you want.

[cdk]

Fun fact: Some windows of the newer generation allow a 3rd position. If you turn the knob between the full and tilted position, the window will only open a slight gap. This can be used for having an airflow after a paint job or in a newly built house. From the outside, the window looks like it is closed.

[melchiorvonsternberg]

A real door handle, like the one on the inside of the apartment door, is absolutely preferable to round knobs in the US. Because such a door can still be opened with your elbow and foot if you have both hands full of stuff.
It's often the little things that make life easier...

[althelas]

Garages: Yes there are garages in Germany. Most apartment blocks have underground parking, fgamily homes have a garage and/or a carport. I think it all depends on where you live, in cities carports are more common, but on the outskirts of the cities and smaller towns garages are the norm, but it all depends on the climate. In areas where winter is not as harsh, you don't need a garage a carport is fine and for a lot of people a carport is the thing the build when they build the house to save money and they might add a garage at a later time.
Fridges: Yes, our fridges are smaller, but most of them have a freezer department, most households buy an additional freezer for deep-freezing preopped meals and left over.
Closets: We don't have built in closets, we usually just buy a big wardrobe and they can be massive and tbh, the closets in US bedrooms are so tiny, I would not be able to put all my clothes in a normal built in closet.
no one floor houses: Of course do we have houses with only one floor. Back in the 60s and 70s one floor houses with a flat roof were very popular, they were called bungalow. Nowadays most houses have two or more floors, but one floor houses are still in the mix.
The reason why everything is smaller in Germany is that we don't have as much space as the USA we live much more compact than the USA population. Germany has the 6th highest densisty in population in Europe with 233 people/km² while the USA has a population density of 36, 7/km², meaning you have far more space to build and live like we do.

[vale.antoni]

The reason you don't find closets too often, is because most dwellings in Germany are not single family houses, but multiplexes, which means they have a limited and defined footprint to fit into. A tiny spur of space hanging off the side of every room either means that you are taking space away from the next room, you can't fit rooms snugly up against each other, or you have a random bit of façade sticking out to accommodate a closet. Moreover a free standing wardrobe is 100% custom to your needs both in size and in placement.

[michielshub]

Having visited the US many times I believe the fundamental reason for most of the differences between houses and office buildings as well, has simply to do with the (too) low cost of energy in the US (or because it is expensive in most European countries). I’ve seen many (partially) wooden houses which often are poorly insulated, have air heating, sliding windows which are drafty by design, etc. And this will not be the case everywhere in the US of course, but I have seen it often in greater Chicago area at least. If heating your house, flushing the toilet or simply turning on the lights is expensive, demand for energy and water efficient solutions rises. Where do you think innovations such triple glazing or LED lightbulbs came from. Not from the US, but primarily from EU because it is requested by the consumers and/or pushed by legislation.

[hertz]

Most single family houses here in Germany do have garages but they often are for one car only and they aren't connected to the house via a door. It's also common that a row of houses ("Reihenhäuser") shares a separate row of garages ("Garagenhof").