I think the reason we don't have garbage disposals in Germany is that you're not supposed to throw just anything in the drain. We have separate garbage cans for pretty much anything so it can be recycled or proceeded in the best way.
+WlLDEHlLDE Well, but still it is possibly not good for nature I suppose. For example fertilizer in water are definitely bad, so I suppose food could be also bad.
glabka333 I have absolutely no idea. I think it is a little typical of germans though (I'm german too by the way) to be arrogant enough to 5think their system is always better than other people's...
+Natas du Vall My siblings never did it. And in most families they don't do it either, only by accident, because... they know, you will do it the next time to them :D so everyone keeps the status quo :D
+Acme. Nipp-on-AiR Come on i did that everytime when my brother was inside. well we have a little extra light inside wich we can turn on from inside the bathroom so it isn´t a big problem, but it is still funny :DD
I've never questioned having the bathroom lightswitch OUTSIDE the bathroom before.. But now that I watch your video.. WHY IS MY LIGHTSWITCH OUTSIDE?! :DD Awesome video! I'm German and I live in the US right now so it's fun to see that it's not only me being confused about the Americans, haha! :)
+DominoKati "WHY IS MY LIGHTSWITCH OUTSIDE?" 1. In Germany are regulation of electrics inside a bathroom, when there is water steam and the switch is not sealed good enough you might die when touching it with wet, naked hands. Also when all the electric becomes more and more save some build in cheap or old switches do not support safety and some do not have an Overvoltage protection in the house, does say a detector switching all the electric off when detecting an unusual voltage in less then a fraction of a second. 2. Normally the switch outside is marked with a light when turned on, so you know there is someone in the bath and you do respect this by not disturbing the one inside and wait, like a bath traffic you can say.
+DominoKati It is usually because of electrical installation regulatories. A bathroom is considered a moist, humid even wet aera, and because of that, switches, sockets and other electrical installations need to be water shielded. Making is expansive often also looking odd. So the switch is outside, because out of the humid/moist environment, thus save. But with more modern equipment, some switches have special shut off devices, called "Fehlerstrom Schutzschalter", which protect you from electrical hazart, so switches can be mounted inside the room - but - usually for those rooms you do still outside, as it helps: Switch on the light first for a dark room, instead of open the door and fumble for the switch on the inside.
+DominoKati The others have pretty much told you, it's all about regulations and for your own safety. The reason it's allowed in the US is because they use a lower voltage in the homes than we do in Europe (120 vs 240), which is also why sometimes you will see a plug in bathrooms here but with 120v written on it (or is it 110v? my brain has stopped working)
In the US not only are most of our plugs on a lower voltage 110v vs Europe's 220v, we also use Ground Fault Interrupter (GFI) circuits in all wet areas including any plugs on the outside of the home, in the kitchen, in the bathroom, sometimes even in the laundry room. The plug will automatically turn off if there is a short. So the GFI outlet constantly monitors electricity flowing in a circuit, to sense any loss of current and if it does sense a loss of current it switches off and you have to push a button next to the outlet to reset it and it will only turn on if there is no longer a short-circuit. They also double protect stuff designed to be used in the bathrooms like hair dryers, then not only is the plug on a GFI circuit, but there is also the same thing built into the hairdryer itself. Redundancy LOL. So, yeah pretty safe.
Mickey Jönes (ich bin ein Amerikaner) ich finde Trump nicht zu schlecht. Unser economy geht besser als bevor. Wir haben nicht so viele illegal immigrants. Sie nehmen Arbeiten wie mein Vaters. Und auch ist er nicht ein Schickimicki wie meiste den anderen Präsidenten
Long time viewer but first time commenter here :D I am German but I have also lived in the US for a year. This brings back so many memories. That's mostly why I watch your brilliant videos in the first place :) Hearing you talk about differences between the US and Germany is so much fun because it reminds me of all the little things ... makes me a bit "homesick" :)
I know that in the Netherlands those garbage disposals are illigal, because the sewers aren't made to deal with kitchen waste. kitchen/food waste goes into the (often green) grabage bin and is collected every two weeks to be turned in to composte or being fermented to gas. light switches are on the outside of bathrooms as a safety feature. you can't get shocked when you hit the switch in a steamy wet room. bathrooms have them outside in the Netherlands (shower and bath) but toillet rooms (which in english are weirdly also called bathrooms?) have them inside. bathrooms don't go fully dark though, they have windows :) building code says every room should have a window
+Splinter5570 yeah no there's def also light switches inside bathrooms in the netherlands, and not every room has a window. but maybe that last thing is different in flats and just houses. i mean a lot of bathrooms/toilet rooms def don't have windows.
+Splinter5570 Here in Germany the garbage disposals are illegal too. It is not allowed to connect them on our waste water system, but i wish this garbage disposal since 20 years for my kitchens :-(
Das ist aus diversen Gründen verboten. Speisereste locken Ungeziefer an, das Abwasser ist aufwändiger zu reinigen, ... Selbst Großküchen haben Fettabscheider, Nassmüll-Verdichter etc. Und das ist auch gut so. It's prohibited for miscellaneous reasons. Food waste attracts vermin, sewage is more extensive to cleanse, ... Even commercial kitchens do have grease interceptors, wet waste compactors etc. And a good thing, too
+Hotte GKT Yes, so ist es... why one opens a window in which moves up there? Warum öffnet man ein Fenster in dem man es hochschiebt? impractical - unpraktisch
Durch die hohe Luftfeuchtigkeit würden die Kontakte IM Bad schneller korrodieren. Höhere Wahrscheinlichkeit von feuchtigkeitsbedingten FI Fehlern. Man darf auch nicht vergessen, dass vieles davon traditionell gewachsen ist, was dann heute - obwohl so nicht mehr nötig - nicht mehr geändert wird.
Spitzma schine das hat schon alles seinen Sinn. Abgesehen von unnötig fliegenden RCDs ist es auch sicherer! Im Badezimmer hast du meistens Feuchte Hände und bist barfuß. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit beim betätigen eines im Bad installierten Lichtschalters durch Kriechstrom eine gezwiebelt zu bekommen ist somit viel höher.
The garbage disposal. I'm American but I've never had one of these. I didn't even have friends or family who had one of these. I knew what they were only from movies. The first time I really saw/used one was when I was visiting my cousin, but they live in a higher end neighborhood and are very up in the Middle Class.
It's not about class. Generally newer developments and homes have disposals in the US. Some people don't want them, but a lot of people do. Your circumstance sounds entirely coincidental because, in my experience, almost everyone I know has a disposal in their sink. Maybe it's a regional preference within the US and isn't a blanket norm for most households. Who knows?
What State do you live in? I'm from California, and every apartment I've rented here had a garbage disposal. They were pretty average apartments, nothing fancy, so I don't think it has anything to do with class.
Garbage disposals are even forbidden in Germany as they clog up the sewage system. Biotonne instead! Another big difference: washing machines! In the US they still use hundreds of liters of water and spin at 300 RPM so that the laundry comes out almost totally wet. In Germany we have these high-tech eco machines that spin at 1400 RPM so the laundry is almost dry. Yet a washing cycle may take up to two and a half hours whereas in the US it usually takes only about 20 minutes.
+Manfred Gahr Modern US washing machines generally use less than 150 liters per wash. They also spin much faster than 300 rpm. Most of my clothes come out fairly dry, mostly damp. Then tossing them into the dryer only takes about 20 minutes. But if you have a back yard, then we use a clothes drying line (weather permitting). Older washing machines of the 80s and back used a lot more water and power. Our washing machines can also hold a lot more than most European machines can, about 0.12 m^3. This means we can wash more clothes faster. Wash cycle is about 30-45 minutes on eco-mode and 25 minutes on normal.
+Manfred Gahr How would garbage disposals clog up the sewage system? Their purpose is to grind any food in the sink drain into a pulp that is then diluted by water.
+brownmsoe Modern German washing machines need as little as 39 liters (the average is 45 to 60 liters). That is based on a full load of 8 kilograms of dry clothes (the average load is merely 4 kilograms of clothes). The main difference is that (at least this is how I recall it from the 1990´s) U.S. washing machines need the clothes to be submerged in water, whereas German washing machines have a drum, that rotates the clothes through a little "pond" of water at the bottom of the washing barrel. See this graphic for an illustration: www.elektrohandelsprofi.at/website/uploads/images/10/660x/10_bild_21.png?v=1 Also, companies that want to sell on the German market have a huge incentive to optimize their products in regards to saving resources. In the U.S., where still about 50% of the population believes that climate change is nonexistent and that fracking is awesome, it is much easier to sell wasteful technologies, that are - of course - much easier to build.
+brownmsoe The last time I lived in the USA was 1997 in Florida in a newly built seaside apartment. There I had this washing machine monster that spun at 300 RPM and then the dryer would run about 2,5 hours full blast, emitting the heat into the apartment. No double-pane windows, no heat insulation, yet - alas - a 25 KW air-conditioner that cost me about 300$ in electricity each month. The waste of energy and resources is hard to believe and understand for Germans. But if that has changed (?), so the better.
Great episode! Some more differences that come into my mind: electric sockets (Steckdosen), mailboxes, shutter (Rolladen), building stock (Bausubstanz) in general which is why so many americans can afford an own house
Hi, I lived one year as an au pair in the states and noticed so many differences. First: the toilet - in the US there is sooo much water inside the bowl and usually there is a plumper´s helper instead of a brush next to it. Second: walk in closet´s - I loved them! ;-) Third: the way they open the window´s. Fourth: usually in the states you don´t buy bottled water. They use a filter or have a fridge with ice and water dispenser. My host mom did not believe me when I told her that most of the germans drink bottled water. Last summer when I moved to a new apartment and had to buy a new kitchen I made a dream come true and bought a side by side fridge with water and ice dispenser. I love it! I better stop now... I could keep writing and thinking of my second home all day long..... I really miss it. Thanks for sharing those things!
Heike Portisch Uhhh Americans don't buy bottled water hallo??? Das ist schiesse! We buy a lot and waste those bottles right in the garbage and into a landfill and ocean they go. Only some of the water bottless here are recycled. Now yes in Germany it's so nice to buy 6 pks of 1.5 Litre bottles of mineral wasser! I always drink my medium wasser, or to americans reading this is the same as Pellegrino, seltzer water. How much you ask? About 19 cents a bottle, 25 cent depost on each one. Very cheap. Here in US you can't buy no such thing, seltzer water is expensive, this pisses me off! Not normal.
I am so happy I found this channel. I spent a year in Germany and this is such a great trip to know it's not just me. One huge thing I remember is no closets.
+Cindy Marie (MissStayStrong) Sometimes I automatic switch the light off when, I leave or pass the bathroom though my girlfriend is still in there. She didn't like it to be suddenly in a dark room ^^" I prefer in-bathroom switches... the security of out-bathroom switches are exaggerated.
You forgot rouladen windows! What's a German home without those amazing windows, where you turn the handle up, and you can pull the window so it tilts in, letting in a small breeze. turn the handle down the lock it, and turn the handle to the middle to swing the window open to let a large breeze come in and allow you to stick your head out if you wanted to. Plus the amazing shades with the thick cord that you pull to bring up, or loosen to bring the shades down. If I could, I would hire a German architect to design me the perfect German home.
Difference in heating is because difference in building technique, US homes are made of wood constructions and plaster dry wall the German are made of brick and concrete like in most of the Europe. In US it's easy to make ducts since the walls are essentially empty space while it's hard to mount a very heavy radiator, while in Europe it's the other way around...
A difference I noticed (german living in the US) every house in our subdivision has at least one deck plus patio and backyard and no one ever uses it. We are the only people that actually sit in our yard, eat breakfast on the deck and enjoy sitting outside to get some sunlight. The americans are only in the yard to mow the grass once a week.
I have lived in the US for 2 years but I'm from Switzerland. So here are another few differences that I noticed during my stay in America: - The carpets tend to be very different. In Switzerland and Germany, the built-in wall-to-wall carpets (Spannteppich) are usually pretty thin and functional whereas in the US, you have those really thick, fluffy carpets that you sink into with your feet. I like the American carpets for their softness but I've always felt like they're very unhygienic. If you ever spill a beverage on there and the liquid gets soaked up deep into the carpet... urgh... good luck cleaning that. - Probably THE BIGGEST difference is the way our houses are built. In the US, most family homes I ever saw were wooden. In Switzerland and Germany, houses are usually either built with concrete or with bricks. Personally, I like this German/Swiss style better because the stone walls keep the warm air inside during the winter and during the summer they keep the house coolish. Plus, I've never quite understood why Americans - particularly in the midwest - keep building their houses with wood when there are so many tornadoes every year. - Windows in Europe are usually opened horizontally, whereas in the US, you flick a little switch and push the lower half upwards. - Air-con: I don't know how this is in Germany but in Switzerland, air conditioning is VERY uncommon. Partially, this has to do with environmental reasons. I've often heard Americans say they could never live without an air conditioning. When people in Switzerland are too warm during the hot months, they simply open the windows to let the air circulate or, if it's really bad, they take a cold shower ;-). - Wooden parquet floors seems to be way less common in the US than here in Switzerland or Germany. Maybe they exist in luxurious American houses but personally, I can't remember having seen many. - American homes GENERALLY have a smoke/fire alarm. Again, I don't know how this is in Germany but in Switzerland, smoke/fire alarms are very uncommon. - Also a HUGE difference: almost all stand-alone houses in the US come with a built-in garage or at least a driveway where you park you car(s). In Germany and Switzerland, some luxurious houses have that but the majority does not. Maybe the reason for this is also that the US has soooo much free space. Especially here in Switzerland, we have to be very economical with our space (even out in the countryside) because there's just not so much of it available. - In my experience, many Americans use several blankets to cover themselves at night (especially when it's cold). In Germany and Switzerland, we usually use "Nordic bedding", meaning you've got one thick blanket that is filled up with goose feathers (and usually, people have a summer-blanket and a winter-blanket). In the US, blankets are usually thin and if you're cold, you just stack more blankets on top of the ones you already have. - This might be a very obvious one but voltage is different too. 110 in the US, 220 in Germany. - A lot of American houses have screen doors in front of the actual front door to let the cool air come in but keep bugs outside. In Germany and Switzerland, I've only seen those things on windows but never in front of doors. Mmmh yeah I think this is all I can think of right now ;-)
Living in the USA, I agree with you on stone/brick houses here, I've always thought they're much safer. From tornadoes to termites to wood-rot to artificial insulation in the walls, wooden houses have a lot of weaknesses. When I asked my mother why more people don't have the logically better stone or brick homes, she said, "They're more expensive." When we lived away from the city and had more privacy, we would often open the windows to cool the house down more, as long as the windows still had a bug-screen on them. However, some days I think a fan and a open window may not be enough to stop living in a state of profuse sweating. In the Southern USA during summer, it's an almost tropical pattern of weather.
Not sure why you think we have only thin blankets in the US. That's simply untrue. It's a matter of personal preference and both are readily available. Also parquet floors are extremely common in NYC and not just in luxury apartments either.
+Panda Senpai ALL of my siblings did this to each other ALL THE TIME while we were growing up. It was a pretty common way to 'hint' at the siblings to get out of the bloody bathroom because we need to use the toilet! We even did this to our parents once or twice. Although, in this case we didn't turn the lights 'off' so much as just flick them on and off in quick succession in order to get their attention.
Garbage disposals in the sink are actually illegal in Italy and I suspect in most of Europe, that's why you don't see any. The US have very different standards of water treatment: they can dispose of their food garbage in the sink because the water treatment plant downstream from the sink is build specifically for that (or not, many cities in the US just dumped their sewers in the rivers and seas without treatment for a long time). In Italy, that's not the case. Also, many places have separate pick-up of food garbage (biological matter) in bio-material bags (corn-based plastic) that can then be recycled into compost. Or, often, used to regulate the temperature in garbage-based electrical power plants, without the fear of burning plastic and other materials that produce dioxin and other super-harmful chemicals.
It is really nice how you point out the differences without judging! I like that a lot! You are a nice fun person Dana! I wish we could all meet each other without prejudices :)
We had the light button outside the bathroom but we also had a glas window in the bathroom door, so you still had some light if someone turned the light off by accident. The glass in the door was frosted, otherwise the postman would have had to suffer some disturbing sights because the toilet was also just opposite the apartment door. If you wanted to annoy someone inside the toilet you could press your face against the glass and shout: "I see you, I see you, I see everything!" -- a stranger would see your grimace through the frosted glass and wouldn't know that you couldn't see anything.
+WasGeht DichDasAn My little brother did that, too... -.- And once my father locked me in the toilet with the lights off and I sat for hours in the darkness there....
Kann es sein, dass das nur in alten Gebäuden so ist? Wenn ich so darüber nachdenke, kenne ich das nur bei Häusern, die in den 70ern oder früher gebaut wurden.
Well, the obviously biggest difference is the air conditioner. With hardly more then 2 tropical weeks a year they make no sense in Germany. I visited Texas in September, and I immediately got a cold from rooms with 18 C, with outside temperatures of 27+ It also shows why the US have a mile to go before renewable energy make sense: There are LARGE energy savings to be done first. From a point of design and efficiency US kitchens are roughly 1980 standard. Try and buy an induction cook top - not much choice. And it is complicated to buy stuff from other countries: Neither size (imperial), nor voltage are compatible. This is a nice defence line against foreign competition.
lightswitches outside the bathroom exist because the water (damp) could damage older switches causing shortcircuiting. We had this on several occasions, but i don't mind showering in
I'm from Nova Scotia Canada, here it is so common for the light switch to be on the outside of the bathroom, when people visit my sister's house nobody can figure out where the light switch for her bathroom is. (It's inside the bathroom above the toilet paper holder). we found it quite amusing to watch people struggle to turn the light on. Her upstairs bathroom on the other hand, not only has its light switch on the outside of the bathroom, but there's a spare one in the master bedroom. You're quite right in assuming there were many pranks played with those light switches. Lol.
the light switch for the toilet shows you, whether someone is on the toilet without knocking or entering first. Sometimes the light switch for the guest toilet has an own light to signalize there is someone already in the bathroom.
The missing garbagedisposal, the thing that hacks food as you say, has two reasons: 1) Food down the drain is atracting rats, now in all sewage systems you will find rats, but they have enough to feed without you throwing food down the drain. More food means more rats which is a higher risk to public health. 2) Food (aspecially fat and oil) are a huge problem for the waste water treatment. The attempts to use as less chemicals to achieve a good quality of waste water, so it can be returned into rivers or lakes without endangering the environment are put under pressure if to much food is returned in the sewage.
I don't even understand how you can get the idea of tossing your garbage down the drain. Seriously, why should you do that and not toss it in the usual garbage?!
IF you put it in the garbage, you have to carry it out on a regular base. This cannot be done by car or remote control from the couch as you watch the no-iq-talk-shows in the afternoon. Maybe that is an explanation :)
At my parents house, there is a counter around the bathroom sink (it's all one piece). But the thing is... I can't even put my bathroom stuff on there when I'm at home because my dad would put all those things away and clean the counter... "Ordnung muss sein!"
I'm pretty sure locking interior doors from the outside would be against building codes in the US. Based on fire safety alone, everyone in a building should be able to exit quickly if they need to.
the secret is: The keys may be stuck on the outside of the doors, but we use them from the inside, too. We have many interior doors but when we moved in, there were only 2 keys left for a 2-rooms-appartment. Same 2 keys, able to lock all the interior doors. So we used one for the bathroom, the other one is wandering between living and bed room (depends on where our guests are staying overnight). It is for privacy matters rather than for locking up naughty kids.
Hello, the locking from outside is helpful when you are sharing your appartment with other people (WG). So everyone has her / his own room and generally there is one common room for everybody to use (if the appartment is large enogh - if not the kitchen is used as common room). Also when it comes to AirBnB style of subletting it may be useful to lock certain parts of the flat.
I am not locking my doors in a WG, but I was definitely locking them when living with a sibling! Actually my parents were first against this door-locking thing (because they also had some stuff in my room and also thought "she will just stop stealing, it is just a phase"), so I basically destroyed the doors and the frame when I tried to drill holes into it to lock it using a bicycle lock... they had to buy both things new and "surprisingly" picked a model with a lock :-))
Having the lightswitch outside the bathroom ist because of Your safety. In a bathroom You can handle water and try to touch the switch with wet hands while standing with naked feet on a wet ground. Thats perfect for electrocuting Yourself. Actually this works with 110V in US as well as with 230V in Germany. In times befor the the "residual current circuit breaker" "Fehlerstromschutzschalter" was obligatory, there even was no electric outlet allowed in a bathroom.
+GamaouaT I am Polish and I agree. Most of the German things mentioned in the video are probably common to all Europe countries. What do other Europeans think about it? BTW, the idea of disposing waste in the sink sounds totally disgusting to me. I don't understand, why not to throw it to the normal garbage bin.
+Michal K The garbage disposal is only for food scraps, like potato peels, etc. The scraps get ground up and disappear don't the sewer line. It is no problem for the sewer as long as it is ground up well.
Food does go in food trash in Norway, not the sink.. (it is used to make bio fuel/diesel) Shower and handles is the same in Norway and Germany. Door to the outside in Norway is different from both Germany and USA by your explanation. Almost no sealing fans in Norway, and the heating is the same as Germany, but Heat Pump (most often in the most used room, the livingroom) Light switches is the same in Germany as Norway (different company make them, so little bit different, but mostly the same) Its a lot cheaper to put the light switches outside the bathroom, and the laws when it comes to electricity is stricter in Europe. And yes, my bigger brother did turn of the light when I was in the bathroom, but I did do it twice back the times he did it, so he didnt to it much)
Yes we have the bathroom switch outside as well. I think lots of german homes do that. I guess its a electric shock security thing. While I was living in germany it happened very often that someone accidentally turned the light off, while coming in. Or because they thought noone was at home and wanted to turn off the light. But it was never a game Fun fact: In the UK where I live now they don't have light switches in the bathroom at all. They have a thing hanging from the ceiling which you pull on to turn on or off the light. I guess this is again so that there is no electric switch that could get dangerous.
Don't forget front doors in Germany that can be locked from both sides. If you lock it from the outside and don't leave a key in the lock on the inside, people inside the house can't get out unless they have a key. Now imagine a fire, a house full of smoke, and panicky family members waking up in the middle of the night and running for the front door. I always point to the floor right at the bottom of the door on the inside and tell people that this is where the firefighters will find your body after you knelt on the floor in desperation to grab your last breath of air from underneath the door. German front doors need a better solution.
+ItzJul Says who? I've lived in two apartment with built in closets (houses were built in the 1950' respectively 1970') and I have visited two apartments with enclosed space that could be used as pantry (although not in or near the kitchen) or walk in closet (houses were built in the 1950' to 1960'). And there are numerous apartments with a broom closet.
I grew up with many bathroom lightswitches outside. but most of them had a little light inside them, so it was easy to see if the bathroom was occupied in the evening without checking the door or knocking. I also grew up with family members not locking the bathroom doors, so the light and outside switch were pretty useful :) so if it was lit, you could knock and ask if it was ok to enter for joining tooth brushing or if someone needed peace to "do their thing" ;D - it was the same in many families of my elementary school friends :)
Great channel,I love your videos! I grew up in Canada and in our home as a child the bathroom light switch was on the outside,this was a constant source of amusement for me and my brother and sister! lol
The Bathroom lightswitch thing is a relict from times when fuses where not a common thing. The Steam could easyly cause an shortcut and rooms have been heat-insulated by straw in the early days (>> fire hazard). So it was just a safety thing. You most likely find these things in houses older than 70 years. We have that too. The House we live in actually still is insulated with straw. It got some makeovers over the decades, but never a real overhauling. Yeah you read that right ^^
Well, there's another thing about Bathroom light switches: In many homes, the bathroom light switches even have a little tiny lamp on them that lights when the lamp on the inside is on, so you can see at a glance, if the light is on in there which means a person is in there occupying the bathroom.
The reason for light switches being outside is to protect electrical circuits from humidity, also it often comes with a light which shows you when the light in the bathroom is on, aka it's occupied. Though thanks to new inventions, better isolation and better connection techniques it became quite obsolete and so in new houses they are mostly on the inside again since there is no more law preventing you from doing so. Regarding the shower: Germans are pretty much focused on efficiency rather than style. They appreciate if they can have both but would always go for efficiency first. So they would never put the connection between the handle and the shower head behind a wall because in case of any problem you would have to rip apart the whole wall. And there's the next difference, even interior walls are massive walls and not dry walls in Germany most of the time.
This Ine time i stayed in the US for a month, and this one time I stood up in my bed to get an overview of my room (cuz I was looking for something) and the ceiling fan banged me in the head! Autch!
Lockable doors are always lockable from both sides. In fact, many locks just have a knob on the inside of the door so you can always get out even if you have no key, but only people with a key an get in. Similarly, bathroom locks always have a screwdriver slot so in an emergeny you can open the lock with pretty much anything, a screwdriver, a knife, spoon, anything you can grab in an emergency. Front doors in the Netherlands also latch when you close them. It's not locked, but there's no handle on the outside to release the latch. So, you quickly learn to have a key in your hand when you open the door to go outside, so you *know* you can get back in. Lightswitches on the outside is a safety thing; you don't want electrical contacts close to a place where you are creating lots of water vapor. If it doesn't electrocute you when you touch it, it will at least trip the preotection circuit in the fusebox. And yes if you have a sibling you will end up in the dark sometimes, which gives you a perfect excuse to fill their shoes with peanutbutter.
oh yes.... I guess it happened to everybody: being on the toilet and someone switches the light off... I guess the reason why those switches are outside is because some bathrooms do not have windows.. so it is very dark inside and they give you the possibility to make a light before entering the room... btw this might be another difference: bathrooms without window???
+Ulrich Lehnhardt But we also have the light switches with little red lights in the middle, showing, if the light is turned on. So, you know if it's occupied or not.
+Andreas Panskus korrekt, Feuchträume müssen IP44-geschützte Elektroinstallation haben - das war damals entweder extrem hässlich (da gab es nur diese Feuchtraumschalter mit Drehknopf) und Steckdosen mit Klappe) oder relativ teuer.
Over here in Netherlands you have either a light switch outside the bathroom or a light cord inside the bathroom and the switch where the cord is attached too is very high on the wall so you can only touch the cord directly and not the switch itself. The cords often have a glow in the dark bead on the bottom. I accidentally turned off the light sometimes at my parents house where the switch was on the outside, if i thougt there was no one there and someone forget to switch off the light. If someone yelled hey from the bathroom i turned it on again and apologised :) For sinks we have both options. The ones without the plank next to it, and without the closets under it are usually the cheapest. In NL we like to save money and make good deals :) I would love to have double doors like you see in hollywood movies. With the lockable fly screen. Thats handy for hot days!
Toilet disco is part of childhood in Europe :) Difference USA vs Europe (i'm mainly speaking about central Europe Germany, Czech rep. Hungary, Poland...) Toilets i found that in US when You flush water it often rises inside the bowl before flushing also You use waaaaaaay more water than its necessary. Europe when water rises in bowl it means one thing You just jammed Your crapper and soon you'll be flooded by shit.... Walls in homes most of homes in europe are built with bricks, concrete and so on solid materials. In US most of homes have this funny timber frame hold by nails You can literally punch through the exterior wall. My friends built their home this way(in my country we call it Canadian technology house but i don't know why) and we all where like "dude this won't stop not only Russian tank it wont even stop their jeep, your house is sooo going to be flatten by ruskies if war comes" or "You are very eco my friend, your house will disintegrate in next 20-30 years", "aren't you afraid your house is going to fly off with stronger winds?" lol
+WolfKenneth In the U.S., exterior walls are covered with sheathing (typically oriented strand board) with siding on top of that. There is no way you're going to punch through it.
Many in the US have concrete basements for underground rooms! We'll jump in there in case of a tornado, or if the Canadians from the north ever invade us. ;)
Concrete and/or brick construction for single family homes is MUCH more expensive than wood frame. I invite you next time you're in the US to try punching through some exterior walls. Just make sure you've got a spare fake ID and fake medical insurance, that way you can easily skip out on the emergency room bills after you break your hand/wrist. We don't use drywall on the exterior.
Same here :) For german kids this is a common way to annoy their brother or sister.
8 років тому+1
+Katha YT The social consequences of this prank were enormous. Twice in the 20th Century Germany invaded her neighbors from the sheer built-up frustration of it.
+Katha YT I had never a problem with my brother because of the lightswitches :D But my dad always puts the light of when someone is in the bathroom, that is annoying
Just shutting the door doesn't actually _lock_ it; you just can't open it from the outside, because it doesn't have a handle there. Actually turning the key to properly _lock_ the door will push out a deadbolt like the ones you talked about only seeing in the US. Which is also why you still should use the key to lock the door instead of just pulling it shut: Without turning the key it's rather easy to open the door without the key, making it easy to break into your home (and insurance companys usually don't pay unless you've properly locked your door).
I am sure the rats miss the garbage disposal things in germany too ;) also I really don't like the fixed shower heads that there are in the US, usually in germany you can adjust height, position and direction and take it off, so much more conenient than to have one thing coming out of the wall. Additionally I noticed that a lot of showers in the US only have an adjust for the temperature, you turn it, it comes on, and then you turn it further to adjust the temperature whereas in germany the handle rotation determines the temperature and the height of the lever controls the amount of water. However it seems to be more and more common (and I have one myself) to have handles where you set a specific temperature (really a temperature, not just a water ratio) on one knob on a cylinder on the side, and then turn the other sides knob for amount of water. Additionally there are quite some detachabel/fixed showerhead combinations available and common these days where you can chose if you get a lot of rain from directly above, or the thing in your hand. regarding the "lock from the inside only" how do you lock out your cats or children from rooms that they are not supposed to go into? The front door thing is false security though, since its totally easy to open it with some piece of thicker cardboard (in the majority of cases) The bathroom thing has been an electrical safety thing for a long time, and now has stuck to the people. What you forgot are the windows, they work totally different and often two pane windows are sold as totally modern in the US and many people have single pane windows, whereas in germany the really modern energy saving standard (subsidized by the government) is argon filled .7K three pane windows (that do not slide up and down. Why would anyone want such a window that can only open half way?)
Dax Daily My cat could open the doors unless I locked them with a key. Also I have rooms with stuff too dangerous for kids to "play" with. Several times a year there is stuff lying around in other rooms that the kids are not supposed to see
Dennis Lubert My mistake I forgot not everyone has the rounded doorknobs (very common where I live). As for kids I guess we just tell them not to go into a room and let Darwinism take its course.
Dax Daily Basically 100% of german doors have real handles, those that do not have them are called "defective" ;) As for the kids, I doubt that in countries where you have to write on microwaves to not dry animals with them that letting darwinism take its course works out well ;) Still leaves the case thought that they should not see their surprises...
In the US, we have different kinds of shower heads. Some people have shower heads that are fixed to the wall. Some have ones that are detachable. My shower head is the detachable kind that I can adjust how much water comes out of it.
of course my sister turned off the bathroom lights... even my funny father did it. However, the switch is pretty handy, there' often a little light on it so you can se if it's turned on, hence you're able to see if someone's using the toilet and not bother them with knocking.
Meine Großeltern haben einen Deckenventilator, aber man sieht sie wirklich selten. Diese großen Ablagen gibt es auch manchmal. Eine Freundin von mir hat sowas, und ich glaube es gibt sie oft in Hotels und gerade in Jugendherbergen. Wir hatten eine bei unserer letzten Klassenfahrt :)
+AzuNian Ich wusste bis zu diesem Video gar nicht, dass diese Ablagen so selten sind in Deutschland. Viele meiner Freunde haben so eine zuhause und wir auch ich dachte das wäre normal :DD
+AzuNian Ich sehe große Ablagen oft in "gehobeneren" Gebäuden. Also Anwesen, Villen oder zu teuer geratene Einfamilienhäuser. Vielleicht sind es auch einfach nur die neuen Gebäude die das haben =)
+davekachel Vieles ist einfach eine Frage des Alters auch. Auch wenn viele Häuser in Deutschland um den WW2 rum neu aufgebaut wurden, so wurden sie dennoch im "alten" Stil errichtet. Gerade Küchen und Bäder hatten nicht diesen Stellenwert und sind daher oft relativ klein (Gerade im Vergleich zu den meisten US Haushalten die ich kenne). Daher ist es oft auch eine Platzfrage, ist ja auch nicht so als wären Waschbecken mit einer Ablage so Teuer.
Ich denke nicht das es eine Geld frage ist... Mir ist nur aufgefallen das es für Leute die Geld ausm Fenster schmeißen können wohl eine eindeutige Stil frage ist. Quasi in-kulturell. Auf diesen Grundstücken habe ich auch oft Küchen mit mittlerem Arbeitssteg gesehen. Als wäre es eine Fernsehküche. Ist auch nicht so als wäre es teuer etwas in die Mitte des Raumes zu stellen. Bisher habe ich in gleich großen Küchen von Mittelschicht bauten diese "Fernsehküchen" trotzdem nicht gesehen.
Als ich klein war hatten wir ne Dachgeschosswohnung mit Deckenventilator aber die haben wir niemals angeschaltet. weil verbraucht nur Strom und nutzt nichts:D
In Romania, where I live, all the people I've ever visited had the bathroom light switch outside the bathroom. Some of them even have their room light stitch outside of their bedrooms, which means they have to get out of their rooms in the middle of the night if they need to turn on the lights. Or they have to use another lamp. That's even more weird than with the bathroom. And yeah, I have a brother and he has always shut the lights on me while I was showering or doing my needs in the bathroom. Sometimes I shut the lights on my parents by mistake and realized it only when I heard them shouting at me from inside the bathtub. And in the old apartment we had locks and I used to lock him inside my parents' room and leave him there to cry if he was being annoying. We also locked each other in the bathroom sometimes, but then mom got tired and took the key. About the front doors, non of the doors in Romania lock by themselves. But people here usually have these massive, metallic (even filled) front doors to prevent from thieves. And no one leaves their front doors open when they leave the house (even if there is someone inside).
Ceiling fans were in fashion in Germany in the 60s and 70s, but never really caught on and turned out to be a passing fad, like panoramic wallpaper, fake fur rugs, lava lamps and big, decorative water plays.
leDespicable Why don't you buy a window AC? I know they sell them in Germany, they're not that far behind in the times like the middle east! I hate the German government
I actually see the possibility of ceiling fans becoming more common again around the world, especially in commercial spaces, as they help make air conditioning and sometimes heating more efficient.
@@user-yw8mf1jr1p I doubt it, honestly, especially in commercial spaces, where you have to pay somebody to clean dust off of stuff like that. Interesting that I got a notification for your reply to that old comment now. I did not get notifications when the other 3 people replied. I forgot about this comment. To be honest, I don't even remember what I meant with "big, decorative water pipes"....? It really is as if someone else would have written that comment, hehehe.
I am glad we always had the light switch inside the bathroom. Being used to this caused some embarrassing situation e.g. when I go into the bathroom of friends, loom for the light switch, go outside again, look for it there,.. yeah that happens quite often to me :D The most stupid thing is when it turns out the light switch actually is inside the bathroom and I just couldn't find. Hate that :D
I guess the reason why we don't have those garbage disposals in our kitchen is that rats like the food in the sewerage and we don't want the rat population to grow. they also say don't throw old food in your toilet... cause the rats could climb the pipes and then you've got rats in your house, searching for food...
Wow, watching your videos I could realize that Brazil looks like Germany in so many aspects!! It's very nice to know that, thanks Dana, kisses from Brazil 😘😊
+Ma St Yes, rats can't survive without food in the sewer. Feces are not nutritious. It is not ilegal to do this. It is just unwanted. As people without waste separation. "Restmüll ist für alle da" ;)
For me as a German, it seems so weird to use a garbage disposal and just drain your leftover food down the sink :o it's so natural for me to recycle the stuff xD
+Lt_Joker In Germany it is basically not allowed (well, you need an approval from the City which nobody gets) to install one because e.g. fat is blocking the pipes once it gets cold and it cannot be checked weather or not sb disposes harmful stuff in there. It is also illegal to dispose food in your toilet. The difference between the little food rests in German homes that are often disposed in the regular garbage can and the US routine is, that it is common in the US to use the sink as a "bio-container". So when you have your pasta from last week in the fridge and it starts to mold, they would dispose it in the sink. So: no, I wouldn't install a disposer in my kitchen. It is not so stressful to dispose it properly with our running system. Especially for those small amounts that are getting caught in the sink. The energy-loss by turning the switch is just not legitimate...
+Lt_Joker AFAIK the garbage disposal is not for the stuff that accidentaly end up in the sink after rising the dishes. Thats stuff you don't recycle even in Germany. You either clean it and throw it away or you try to flush it. The garbage disposal is to intentionally dispose of bigger amounts of leftovers and other stuff. So If your dish of spaghetti has gone bad, you can put it into the sink and flush it by using the garbage disposal and water.
+Ecstasia1 couldn't have said it better myself. This was exactly the point I tried to bring across :D I would feel pretty bad to let the food go to waste (which it does when you dispose it in the sink, if I got it right?) instead of recycling it. I have no idea what the Biomüll is actually used for though but I feel better xD
***** Depends from city to city, but mostly it is used for Biogas. Sometimes for kompostation (creating fertile earth for plant growth). In the plumps it will only be led to the purification plant (kläranlage) where it is chemically cleaned. Lots of costs and as in the plums are many washing chemicals and stuff that is harmful for the environment, the biomass is getting polluted as well. Further discarding fatts in the sink is a total no-go (including fatty food) as 1 drop of oil pollutes 1000L of water and the cleaning process is complex and uses up a lot of energy.
Jup, I had to take a lot of showers with the light turned off. Glad we had some street and traffic lights outside. :D Also what's different is in the U.S. is the toilet bowl, it's filled with water most of the time and in Germany you can see your dump lying on some kind of platform until you flush. :D
Rick Van Staten Misschien ligt het er ook aan waar je woont? Alle moderne huizen waar ik tot nu toe in ben geweest hebben het nog steeds aan de binnenkant. Apart haha!
4:55 The advantage with that is that if a child manages to lock themselves in a room you can just use another key to push the key inside out the other side and then you can lock it open. Likewise if someone has passed out or some such you can get to them if needed.
The reason why garbage disposals are not usual in Europe is probably because we care a bit more about the environment and flushing the disposed garbage down the plumbing requires way more complicated water cleaning facilities that have to get rid of all this. It is not a good idea to dispose stuff this way. As for the locking door, the European door is not locked when you shut it. You can't open it without the key but it is not locked, there is just a small latch holding it and it is still easy for a thief to get in. When you turn the key, the door locks that means that a larger piece of metal slides out of the door and often there are locking bars that slide out to all sides of the door if you have security door which is very common these days. When I was in the US, I wondered how insecure the doors were. If you only shut the European door when you go out, you're not securing your apartment in fact and the insurance company won't give you anything if you get robbed. And finally, yes, switching the light off by a kid is a usual thing :). I guess the reason is electric safety, so that the switches were not in the wet environment of the bathroom in older buildings. Nowadays, they are often in (but not always).
Shouting "hey, i'm in here" out of the bathroom is something I got used to ... My brother uses this method to tell me, that I should hurry up ^^ I guess the main reason was to have a light switch with a light in it, so you can see, if the bathroom is occupied without pushing the handle. But unfortunately it is a very good way to drive your siblings crazy.
They don't always have the light, it's all about keeping electricity out of the bathroom, except for an extra-insulated waterproof lamp. Besides the risk of touching a wet faucet and electricity at the same time, there is also the fact that electrocution from getting power directly across your wet torso requires fewer volts than what is likely to happen when dry and fully clothed.
In the UK it's the law that you can't have normal light switches or normal sockets in the bathroom, to minimise the likelihood of electrocuting yourself with wet hands, or for example, by dropping your hair dryer into the bath while you're in it. For light switches you can have them outside the bathroom, or have a pull cord light switch. Both are common but maybe the outside the bathroom light switch is the most common. The only sockets you can have are the shaving ones, because they are lower voltage. I think sockets in the USA are already lower voltage (?) so maybe you don't need to be as careful with electrical stuff in your bathrooms?
One difference you didn't mention in the bathroom, although you must have noticed it, is that in the US you tend to have fixed shower heads, while in Europe they tend to be hand showers you can move up and down, and take off the rail into your hand. That explains why they need flexible hoses leading to them.
+Tenkai I think the US outlets look suspiciously like one of the characters in Star Wars, one of the Rebel commanders in either Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi... can't remember which one exactly but I can't help seeing him every time...
+Tenkai In the US they can afford to build them that way, because they have only 110V AC. Which, as rumour has it, is because Westinghouse won the Current Wars and also held big stakes in the copper industry; so for that voltage to power appliances effectively (W=A*V, hence double current, A=V/R) at roughly 3k sustained wattage he could make everyone build in copper wiring twice the diameter than is commonly used in 240V countries. Can't say I like those plugs, personally. Also explains the rather flimsy light switches which in Germany you might still find in some houses built in the 50ies or before. especially in cellars. Or the lovely bakelite "Knebelschalter" for turning.
+noir German sockets (and French ones, which are different but compatible with the same plugs) are indeed way better than US ones. And I won't even talk about the non-grounded ones. As a start, they have safety shutters (preventing kids from inserting anything in it), and the recession of the socket is so you can never touch the pins of the plug when they're still in contact with the socket. And they have a much higher power rating (16A at 240V = 3.8 kW instead of 15A at 120V = 1.8 kW).
OMG the outside bathroom light switch! I was waiting for you to mention that. That was a difference that surprised me and that I definitely see everywhere in Germany. And to answer your question, yes, my sibling has turned off the light switch quite a bit, but usually never on purpose, but it's not always her, sometimes my parents do to. It's definitely annoying ;P
I have not seen your outtakes before. Humorous. Having grown up in Toronto, Canada, we had a home where the light switch was on the outside of the bathroom, so drama took place. When I visited Lithuania, in a home I saw a long pipe with a faucet that could swing from the bathroom sink to the bathtub.
i totally used to turn the bathroom light off when my brother was in there ALL THE TIME. was i supposed to let him poop in peace after he ate all my carnival candy? hell no.
8 років тому+27
so everyone can go into your home in the usa? thats creepy!
Well, aside from the fact that most people remember to intentionally lock their doors, you'd be an idiot to attempt to enter someone's home unwarranted, particularly states in the south, due to gun owners. Keep in mind though - that doesn't apply everywhere. Some US states have more strict gun laws than some European countries. Anyway, many homes are alarmed too, as additional assurance.
Self-locking doors and exterior light switches are obviously stupid designs. Even BMW's are not the Ultimate Driving Machine if the road is not perfect, look at those tiny wheel wells with no space, if anything goes wrong it will snap like plastic
It helps me to remember my keys =) Doorknobs in the US can normally be locked using the key from the outside, but on the inside will automatically open or can be opened with just the twist of a little button. (IE you can't unintentionally trap yourself inside a room-- you can lock the door while inside so no one else can get in, but you're not going to be trapped inside; the interior side has a button to lock and unlock the door so you can exit without needing a key. A lot of knobs will automatically release the button thereby unlocking the door when you open the door though, so you don't lock yourself out). So, basically if you forget your keys when you go to lock your door from the outside, the side that requires a key, you end up with that sort of "duh" moment and run back inside to grab your keys so you can lock the door. I mean either way the design isn't perfect. You guys can more easily lock your keys inside, carelessly dash out without your keys-- we can forget to lock our doors on our way out, but yeah it becomes so routine to have to lock your door as you leave that that rarely ever happens. Its like having to put socks on in the morning or something, it's just what you do.
I live in a house in the US built in the 1920s. It has an different kind of lock; the keys are not standard now. But I really like the lock. It has a toggle switch that it will either lock when you close it or not lock. There is a separate dead bolt built in.
Standard switch location for all American rooms is directly beside the side of the door that opens, so it is easy to turn the light on as you enter and off as you leave.
we do have ceiling fans but from what ive seen only the old apartments have it. Idk but only my old relatives like grandmas or uncles have it and its a bit oldstyle so we don't use it anymore.
Ceiling fans are not typically used for direct cooling by evaporating sweat off of skin. They are to circulate air. Warm air that rises is pushed downward where people actually are. This reduces temperature gradients in the home. It reduces the amount of time that the heater has to be on, saving energy.
In the US people use remotes to open garages, usually from their cars. In Germany, at least where I live, you do it manually. Next thing: In the US, garages are generally connected to the house, while in Germany, garages are usually connected to the backyard rather than the house. Makes the American front door mostly redundant, unless you expect company or the UPS man. Toilets in the US are different too. American kitchens usually have a counter in the middle - German kitchens usually don't. The parents' bedroom usually has a separate bathroom while there is a regular bathroom for their kids/guests. American houses usually don't have an attic, but a big basement. Probably more. These are the things I could think of in a couple minutes.
Garages? A kitchen big enough to build an island worktop? Sign of a rich person in Germany! In flats, the "Tiefgarage" (large, underground garage shared by many cars) is connected to the cellar and by stairs or lift (big block) to the flats. The door is opened by a switch or cord on the inside and normally by a key on the outside by where the driver waits to enter. A typical German "Haus" in small towns might have three floors as well as a cellar, and house three separate families (perhaps grandparents, parents, children)...
+Robert Tolhurst Actually in Germany around 55 % of people live in their own houses, usually with a garage, so not really a sign for a rich person but rather for a normal one
I suppose it depends where you live. In the cities people are far more likely to live in flats than they are in the UK - generally rented - and property owners are far more likely to live in a flat. A standard house in the southern part of Germany is a very large thing with a cellar and three more floors, split into two to give up to six flats or two semi-detached halves. Cars are generally parked outside the house, hence Webasto heaters for winter mornings.
When I lived in NY, *everyone* had a big attic (and basement), but now that I live in Virginia, it's rare to see a basement or attic (except a small one with pull-down ladder-stairs). In NY, walking up into the attic had its own staircase, not pull-down ladder-stairs. lol So it depends on the State / region, imo.
Im not as much into eletrical Installations (I'm more the guy to build devices) but as far as I know the Light Switch thing outside the Bathroom is a safety thing. There are actually Bathrooms with the light Switches inside but they are actually quite rare, especially on smaller Bathrooms. We got, especially on Bathrooms some quite huge safety rules. And there are like "safety zones" in a Bathroom. Under no Circumstances are Switches or Sockets allowed near the shower or the bathtub. And there are rules on how far they got the be away. And RCDs where a MUST for many many years on Bathrooms though they didn't needed to be installed on other rooms (that changed now, every room must be secured by an RCD now). So my guess is that the switch on the outside could have to do something with the safety distances. Doesn't matter if the switch is on the outside.This would also explain why bigger Bathrooms have more often switches on the inside.
One very personal question about toilet paper (I heard rumours...). Is it true, that Amercians form some kind of ball, where as Germans take a short strip, fold it and use it. What would a ball do any good? I'm just as curious as I am about the three seashells ;-)
Everyone is different I suppose. As a young child, I remember wadding it up in a loose ball. But now I fold it. I think most Americans fold it. I think the bigger divide is that some people wipe back to front/ front to back/ some dab or blot.
Erverthing totally fits to Germany. And it really happend, that my brother turned off the light while I was in the toilet room. It is funny to see what you think is funny about Germany being totally normal for me.
I think the reason we don't have garbage disposals in Germany is that you're not supposed to throw just anything in the drain. We have separate garbage cans for pretty much anything so it can be recycled or proceeded in the best way.
This disposal is ONLY for food waste (bio-müll)
+Patrick Keller Da gehören sie auch hin und nicht in den Abfluss :)
*****
gut ich weis jetzt nicht wegen normalem Kompost aber auf unseren Biomülltonnen steht drauf für tierische Abfälle.
+WlLDEHlLDE Well, but still it is possibly not good for nature I suppose. For example fertilizer in water are definitely bad, so I suppose food could be also bad.
glabka333 I have absolutely no idea. I think it is a little typical of germans though (I'm german too by the way) to be arrogant enough to 5think their system is always better than other people's...
Siblings turning the bathroom light off? Yeah, of course. I still do that to my wife and will never stop ;-)
+Natas du Vall My siblings never did it. And in most families they don't do it either, only by accident, because... they know, you will do it the next time to them :D so everyone keeps the status quo :D
+Acme. Nipp-on-AiR Come on i did that everytime when my brother was inside. well we have a little extra light inside wich we can turn on from inside the bathroom so it isn´t a big problem, but it is still funny :DD
Acme. Nipp-on-AiR
Keeping the status quo? Where is the fun in that? Fuck the staus quo!!! :)
My brother did it once to me. After our bruises from the "discussion" had healed we both agreed that it was not funny in the long end. :P
😁 I hate outside light switches
Home is where you can find the light switch in the dark.
mine glows in the dark xD
:P
I can walk around in 100% darkness in my house and know where everything is! :P
11thDoctor's Companion ooh i love your name! :o
looool I agree with you completelly ! I could walk around my home very relaxed even with my eyes closed hahaha
I've never questioned having the bathroom lightswitch OUTSIDE the bathroom before.. But now that I watch your video.. WHY IS MY LIGHTSWITCH OUTSIDE?! :DD
Awesome video! I'm German and I live in the US right now so it's fun to see that it's not only me being confused about the Americans, haha! :)
+DominoKati
"WHY IS MY LIGHTSWITCH OUTSIDE?"
1. In Germany are regulation of electrics inside a bathroom, when there is water steam and the switch is not sealed good enough you might die when touching it with wet, naked hands. Also when all the electric becomes more and more save some build in cheap or old switches do not support safety and some do not have an Overvoltage protection in the house, does say a detector switching all the electric off when detecting an unusual voltage in less then a fraction of a second.
2. Normally the switch outside is marked with a light when turned on, so you know there is someone in the bath and you do respect this by not disturbing the one inside and wait, like a bath traffic you can say.
+DominoKati Ich liebe deine Videos
+DominoKati
It is usually because of electrical installation regulatories. A bathroom is considered a moist, humid even wet aera, and because of that, switches, sockets and other electrical installations need to be water shielded. Making is expansive often also looking odd.
So the switch is outside, because out of the humid/moist environment, thus save.
But with more modern equipment, some switches have special shut off devices, called "Fehlerstrom Schutzschalter", which protect you from electrical hazart, so switches can be mounted inside the room - but - usually for those rooms you do still outside, as it helps: Switch on the light first for a dark room, instead of open the door and fumble for the switch on the inside.
+DominoKati The others have pretty much told you, it's all about regulations and for your own safety. The reason it's allowed in the US is because they use a lower voltage in the homes than we do in Europe (120 vs 240), which is also why sometimes you will see a plug in bathrooms here but with 120v written on it (or is it 110v? my brain has stopped working)
In the US not only are most of our plugs on a lower voltage 110v vs Europe's 220v, we also use Ground Fault Interrupter (GFI) circuits in all wet areas including any plugs on the outside of the home, in the kitchen, in the bathroom, sometimes even in the laundry room. The plug will automatically turn off if there is a short. So the GFI outlet constantly monitors electricity flowing in a circuit, to sense any loss of current and if it does sense a loss of current it switches off and you have to push a button next to the outlet to reset it and it will only turn on if there is no longer a short-circuit. They also double protect stuff designed to be used in the bathrooms like hair dryers, then not only is the plug on a GFI circuit, but there is also the same thing built into the hairdryer itself. Redundancy LOL. So, yeah pretty safe.
As a German planning to move to the US I really adore her videos.
And YES, that bathroom light thing happened to me a thousand times. 😂
Viel Glück mit Trump xD
Mickey Jönes (ich bin ein Amerikaner) ich finde Trump nicht zu schlecht. Unser economy geht besser als bevor. Wir haben nicht so viele illegal immigrants. Sie nehmen Arbeiten wie mein Vaters. Und auch ist er nicht ein Schickimicki wie meiste den anderen Präsidenten
Glaub mir. In Deutschland zu leben ist das beste Geschenk des Schicksals.
Mason Brandon He still isnt the best Option especially because he is right winged.
I always wanted to move to Germany after high school but didn't end up happening. I am thankful for the year I spent there anyway.
Long time viewer but first time commenter here :D
I am German but I have also lived in the US for a year. This brings back so many memories. That's mostly why I watch your brilliant videos in the first place :) Hearing you talk about differences between the US and Germany is so much fun because it reminds me of all the little things ... makes me a bit "homesick" :)
+ItIsMeMaybe :D :D thanks so much for a great first comment!! Glad you're enjoying the videos and comparisons.
Und wie lebt es sich in der USA? :)
+pandorius der panda gut, kommt drauf an, ob man kohle hat ;) iü sind es DIE STAATEN .. also nich "in der USA"; sondern "in DEN USA"
+Bjoern Andress Hab auch gehört, dass es dort recht teuer ist.
Vielen Dank für die grammatikalisch Aufklärung :D
gerne , wo kommst du her ?
I know that in the Netherlands those garbage disposals are illigal, because the sewers aren't made to deal with kitchen waste.
kitchen/food waste goes into the (often green) grabage bin and is collected every two weeks to be turned in to composte or being fermented to gas.
light switches are on the outside of bathrooms as a safety feature. you can't get shocked when you hit the switch in a steamy wet room.
bathrooms have them outside in the Netherlands (shower and bath)
but toillet rooms (which in english are weirdly also called bathrooms?) have them inside.
bathrooms don't go fully dark though, they have windows :)
building code says every room should have a window
I wish we had that rule in Germany that the bathroom must have a window! I'm lucky that mine does, but many of my friends aren't as fortunate.
+Splinter5570 yeah no there's def also light switches inside bathrooms in the netherlands, and not every room has a window. but maybe that last thing is different in flats and just houses. i mean a lot of bathrooms/toilet rooms def don't have windows.
+Splinter5570 Here in Germany the garbage disposals are illegal too. It is not allowed to connect them on our waste water system, but i wish this garbage disposal since 20 years for my kitchens :-(
Das ist aus diversen Gründen verboten. Speisereste locken Ungeziefer an, das Abwasser ist aufwändiger zu reinigen, ...
Selbst Großküchen haben Fettabscheider, Nassmüll-Verdichter etc.
Und das ist auch gut so.
It's prohibited for miscellaneous reasons. Food waste attracts vermin, sewage is more extensive to cleanse, ...
Even commercial kitchens do have grease interceptors, wet waste compactors etc.
And a good thing, too
In England we typically have pull cord switches in bathrooms.
Big big difference in US and Germany is the simple Window :)
+Hotte GKT Video O.O
+Hotte GKT Yes, so ist es...
why one opens a window in which moves up there?
Warum öffnet man ein Fenster in dem man es hochschiebt?
impractical - unpraktisch
+Marko Rothe dein Englisch sieht aus, als hättest du den Google-Übersetzer mit ner Waffe bedroht :D
Jepp XD
Hab ihn abgefüllt, und unter Drogen gesetzt...
Pfui, was soll das denn? Den hätte man vielleicht noch brauchen können ;)
Die Lichtschalter sind außerhalb des Badezimmers, damit da kein Wasser reinkommt
that's a joke, right?
No the risk of a electrical shock is higher if the light switch is inside the bathroom. it is required by law.
Durch die hohe Luftfeuchtigkeit würden die Kontakte IM Bad schneller korrodieren.
Höhere Wahrscheinlichkeit von
feuchtigkeitsbedingten FI Fehlern.
Man darf auch nicht vergessen, dass vieles davon traditionell gewachsen ist, was dann heute - obwohl so nicht mehr nötig - nicht mehr geändert wird.
Spitzma schine das hat schon alles seinen Sinn. Abgesehen von unnötig fliegenden RCDs ist es auch sicherer! Im Badezimmer hast du meistens Feuchte Hände und bist barfuß. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit beim betätigen eines im Bad installierten Lichtschalters durch Kriechstrom eine gezwiebelt zu bekommen ist somit viel höher.
nein?
In Australia, we don't have rubbish removal things in our sinks, instead we scrape our plates in the bin.
The garbage disposal.
I'm American but I've never had one of these. I didn't even have friends or family who had one of these. I knew what they were only from movies.
The first time I really saw/used one was when I was visiting my cousin, but they live in a higher end neighborhood and are very up in the Middle Class.
It's not about class. Generally newer developments and homes have disposals in the US. Some people don't want them, but a lot of people do. Your circumstance sounds entirely coincidental because, in my experience, almost everyone I know has a disposal in their sink. Maybe it's a regional preference within the US and isn't a blanket norm for most households. Who knows?
What State do you live in? I'm from California, and every apartment I've rented here had a garbage disposal. They were pretty average apartments, nothing fancy, so I don't think it has anything to do with class.
I'm from Arizona. My cousins are in Georgia.
Perhaps it has to do with age. Most of my small town was built in the 50-60's
and you're all descended from horrible criminals and distort your dipthdongs
Garbage disposals are even forbidden in Germany as they clog up the sewage system. Biotonne instead!
Another big difference: washing machines! In the US they still use hundreds of liters of water and spin at 300 RPM so that the laundry comes out almost totally wet. In Germany we have these high-tech eco machines that spin at 1400 RPM so the laundry is almost dry. Yet a washing cycle may take up to two and a half hours whereas in the US it usually takes only about 20 minutes.
+Manfred Gahr Modern US washing machines generally use less than 150 liters per wash. They also spin much faster than 300 rpm. Most of my clothes come out fairly dry, mostly damp. Then tossing them into the dryer only takes about 20 minutes. But if you have a back yard, then we use a clothes drying line (weather permitting). Older washing machines of the 80s and back used a lot more water and power. Our washing machines can also hold a lot more than most European machines can, about 0.12 m^3. This means we can wash more clothes faster. Wash cycle is about 30-45 minutes on eco-mode and 25 minutes on normal.
+Manfred Gahr How would garbage disposals clog up the sewage system? Their purpose is to grind any food in the sink drain into a pulp that is then diluted by water.
+brownmsoe Modern German washing machines need as little as 39 liters (the average is 45 to 60 liters).
That is based on a full load of 8 kilograms of dry clothes (the average load is merely 4 kilograms of clothes).
The main difference is that (at least this is how I recall it from the 1990´s) U.S. washing machines need the clothes to be submerged in water,
whereas German washing machines have a drum, that rotates the clothes through a little "pond" of water at the bottom of the washing barrel.
See this graphic for an illustration: www.elektrohandelsprofi.at/website/uploads/images/10/660x/10_bild_21.png?v=1
Also, companies that want to sell on the German market have a huge incentive to optimize their products in regards to saving resources.
In the U.S., where still about 50% of the population believes that climate change is nonexistent and that fracking is awesome,
it is much easier to sell wasteful technologies, that are - of course - much easier to build.
+brownmsoe The last time I lived in the USA was 1997 in Florida in a newly built seaside apartment. There I had this washing machine monster that spun at 300 RPM and then the dryer would run about 2,5 hours full blast, emitting the heat into the apartment. No double-pane windows, no heat insulation, yet - alas - a 25 KW air-conditioner that cost me about 300$ in electricity each month. The waste of energy and resources is hard to believe and understand for Germans. But if that has changed (?), so the better.
+brownmsoe google "Fatberg", its the oil and grease that causes the problems.
haha that outside lightbutton from the bathroom ...i had fun with it when i was a kid
+Bjoern Andress Yup.
in the netherlands we have the same kind of lightswitches
+Bjoern Andress same here! ^^
+Bjoern Andress -_- I didn't...
saaame hahah
Great episode!
Some more differences that come into my mind:
electric sockets (Steckdosen), mailboxes, shutter (Rolladen), building stock (Bausubstanz) in general which is why so many americans can afford an own house
Hi,
I lived one year as an au pair in the states and noticed so many differences.
First: the toilet - in the US there is sooo much water inside the bowl and usually there is a plumper´s helper instead of a brush next to it.
Second: walk in closet´s - I loved them! ;-)
Third: the way they open the window´s.
Fourth: usually in the states you don´t buy bottled water. They use a filter or have a fridge with ice and water dispenser. My host mom did not believe me when I told her that most of the germans drink bottled water.
Last summer when I moved to a new apartment and had to buy a new kitchen I made a dream come true and bought a side by side fridge with water and ice dispenser. I love it!
I better stop now... I could keep writing and thinking of my second home all day long..... I really miss it.
Thanks for sharing those things!
Heike Portisch Uhhh Americans don't buy bottled water hallo??? Das ist schiesse! We buy a lot and waste those bottles right in the garbage and into a landfill and ocean they go. Only some of the water bottless here are recycled. Now yes in Germany it's so nice to buy 6 pks of 1.5 Litre bottles of mineral wasser! I always drink my medium wasser, or to americans reading this is the same as Pellegrino, seltzer water. How much you ask? About 19 cents a bottle, 25 cent depost on each one. Very cheap. Here in US you can't buy no such thing, seltzer water is expensive, this pisses me off! Not normal.
I am so happy I found this channel. I spent a year in Germany and this is such a great trip to know it's not just me. One huge thing I remember is no closets.
I'm still turning the lights in the bathroom off, whenever my little brother is in there. We want to have fun in germany :D
+Cindy Marie (MissStayStrong) muss ja super spaßig zugehen bei euch
super super spaßig
+hxm Kappa
+Cindy Marie (MissStayStrong) Sometimes I automatic switch the light off when, I leave or pass the bathroom though my girlfriend is still in there. She didn't like it to be suddenly in a dark room ^^"
I prefer in-bathroom switches... the security of out-bathroom switches are exaggerated.
+davekachel Oh yes, that happened sometimes too ^_^
You forgot rouladen windows! What's a German home without those amazing windows, where you turn the handle up, and you can pull the window so it tilts in, letting in a small breeze. turn the handle down the lock it, and turn the handle to the middle to swing the window open to let a large breeze come in and allow you to stick your head out if you wanted to.
Plus the amazing shades with the thick cord that you pull to bring up, or loosen to bring the shades down.
If I could, I would hire a German architect to design me the perfect German home.
I like 'Rouladen', too. They are quite tasty : ).
Sorry I couldn't help my selve. They are called 'Rolladen'.
+Spamme Loop *self
Difference in heating is because difference in building technique, US homes are made of wood constructions and plaster dry wall the German are made of brick and concrete like in most of the Europe. In US it's easy to make ducts since the walls are essentially empty space while it's hard to mount a very heavy radiator, while in Europe it's the other way around...
A difference I noticed (german living in the US) every house in our subdivision has at least one deck plus patio and backyard and no one ever uses it. We are the only people that actually sit in our yard, eat breakfast on the deck and enjoy sitting outside to get some sunlight. The americans are only in the yard to mow the grass once a week.
I have lived in the US for 2 years but I'm from Switzerland. So here are another few differences that I noticed during my stay in America:
- The carpets tend to be very different. In Switzerland and Germany, the built-in wall-to-wall carpets (Spannteppich) are usually pretty thin and functional whereas in the US, you have those really thick, fluffy carpets that you sink into with your feet. I like the American carpets for their softness but I've always felt like they're very unhygienic. If you ever spill a beverage on there and the liquid gets soaked up deep into the carpet... urgh... good luck cleaning that.
- Probably THE BIGGEST difference is the way our houses are built. In the US, most family homes I ever saw were wooden. In Switzerland and Germany, houses are usually either built with concrete or with bricks. Personally, I like this German/Swiss style better because the stone walls keep the warm air inside during the winter and during the summer they keep the house coolish. Plus, I've never quite understood why Americans - particularly in the midwest - keep building their houses with wood when there are so many tornadoes every year.
- Windows in Europe are usually opened horizontally, whereas in the US, you flick a little switch and push the lower half upwards.
- Air-con: I don't know how this is in Germany but in Switzerland, air conditioning is VERY uncommon. Partially, this has to do with environmental reasons. I've often heard Americans say they could never live without an air conditioning. When people in Switzerland are too warm during the hot months, they simply open the windows to let the air circulate or, if it's really bad, they take a cold shower ;-).
- Wooden parquet floors seems to be way less common in the US than here in Switzerland or Germany. Maybe they exist in luxurious American houses but personally, I can't remember having seen many.
- American homes GENERALLY have a smoke/fire alarm. Again, I don't know how this is in Germany but in Switzerland, smoke/fire alarms are very uncommon.
- Also a HUGE difference: almost all stand-alone houses in the US come with a built-in garage or at least a driveway where you park you car(s). In Germany and Switzerland, some luxurious houses have that but the majority does not. Maybe the reason for this is also that the US has soooo much free space. Especially here in Switzerland, we have to be very economical with our space (even out in the countryside) because there's just not so much of it available.
- In my experience, many Americans use several blankets to cover themselves at night (especially when it's cold). In Germany and Switzerland, we usually use "Nordic bedding", meaning you've got one thick blanket that is filled up with goose feathers (and usually, people have a summer-blanket and a winter-blanket). In the US, blankets are usually thin and if you're cold, you just stack more blankets on top of the ones you already have.
- This might be a very obvious one but voltage is different too. 110 in the US, 220 in Germany.
- A lot of American houses have screen doors in front of the actual front door to let the cool air come in but keep bugs outside. In Germany and Switzerland, I've only seen those things on windows but never in front of doors.
Mmmh yeah I think this is all I can think of right now ;-)
Living in the USA, I agree with you on stone/brick houses here, I've always thought they're much safer. From tornadoes to termites to wood-rot to artificial insulation in the walls, wooden houses have a lot of weaknesses. When I asked my mother why more people don't have the logically better stone or brick homes, she said, "They're more expensive."
When we lived away from the city and had more privacy, we would often open the windows to cool the house down more, as long as the windows still had a bug-screen on them. However, some days I think a fan and a open window may not be enough to stop living in a state of profuse sweating. In the Southern USA during summer, it's an almost tropical pattern of weather.
Tornadoes are extremely, wood or concrete, the house will not survive.
Feuermelder sind heutzutage in Deutschland Pflicht.
Not sure why you think we have only thin blankets in the US. That's simply untrue. It's a matter of personal preference and both are readily available. Also parquet floors are extremely common in NYC and not just in luxury apartments either.
Ashley Buchanan many homes do have air conditioning but I guess it depends where you live
I grew up as an only child in germany. I still experienced sitting in a dark bathroom countless times xD
How?
Yeah my brother always turns off the lights....Brother if you are reading this: Stop that. I hate you for that
+Panda Senpai haha :D good luck with that!
+Wanted Adventure Thank you :D
+Panda Senpai yup, my brother did it as well, ... and so i did :-) but even now adays with my girlfriend :-D
+Panda Senpai For me it's the little sister, but it's basically the same thing
+Panda Senpai ALL of my siblings did this to each other ALL THE TIME while we were growing up. It was a pretty common way to 'hint' at the siblings to get out of the bloody bathroom because we need to use the toilet!
We even did this to our parents once or twice. Although, in this case we didn't turn the lights 'off' so much as just flick them on and off in quick succession in order to get their attention.
Garbage disposals in the sink are actually illegal in Italy and I suspect in most of Europe, that's why you don't see any. The US have very different standards of water treatment: they can dispose of their food garbage in the sink because the water treatment plant downstream from the sink is build specifically for that (or not, many cities in the US just dumped their sewers in the rivers and seas without treatment for a long time).
In Italy, that's not the case. Also, many places have separate pick-up of food garbage (biological matter) in bio-material bags (corn-based plastic) that can then be recycled into compost.
Or, often, used to regulate the temperature in garbage-based electrical power plants, without the fear of burning plastic and other materials that produce dioxin and other super-harmful chemicals.
It is really nice how you point out the differences without judging! I like that a lot! You are a nice fun person Dana! I wish we could all meet each other without prejudices :)
We had the light button outside the bathroom but we also had a glas window in the bathroom door, so you still had some light if someone turned the light off by accident. The glass in the door was frosted, otherwise the postman would have had to suffer some disturbing sights because the toilet was also just opposite the apartment door. If you wanted to annoy someone inside the toilet you could press your face against the glass and shout: "I see you, I see you, I see everything!" -- a stranger would see your grimace through the frosted glass and wouldn't know that you couldn't see anything.
My brother does that to me...my room's door has a frosted glass windows
Oh my god, you are so right! My sisters always turned the lights off and on when I was in there :D
same 😂😂
Mein kleiner Bruder tut das immernoch
+WasGeht DichDasAn
My little brother did that, too... -.-
And once my father locked me in the toilet with the lights off and I sat for hours in the darkness there....
+WasGeht DichDasAn
not only siblings. My boyfriend turned out the light when we had our last fight and I sat on the toilet .____.
Kann es sein, dass das nur in alten Gebäuden so ist? Wenn ich so darüber nachdenke, kenne ich das nur bei Häusern, die in den 70ern oder früher gebaut wurden.
Well, the obviously biggest difference is the air conditioner. With hardly more then 2 tropical weeks a year they make no sense in Germany. I visited Texas in September, and I immediately got a cold from rooms with 18 C, with outside temperatures of 27+ It also shows why the US have a mile to go before renewable energy make sense: There are LARGE energy savings to be done first.
From a point of design and efficiency US kitchens are roughly 1980 standard. Try and buy an induction cook top - not much choice. And it is complicated to buy stuff from other countries: Neither size (imperial), nor voltage are compatible. This is a nice defence line against foreign competition.
So funny to watch this as a german :D
+Caro Palema Yes xD
true xD
+Caro Palema So true XD XD
Yup!
Die labern oft voll die scheiße :D
lightswitches outside the bathroom exist because the water (damp) could damage older switches causing shortcircuiting. We had this on several occasions, but i don't mind showering in
I'm from Nova Scotia Canada, here it is so common for the light switch to be on the outside of the bathroom, when people visit my sister's house nobody can figure out where the light switch for her bathroom is. (It's inside the bathroom above the toilet paper holder). we found it quite amusing to watch people struggle to turn the light on.
Her upstairs bathroom on the other hand, not only has its light switch on the outside of the bathroom, but there's a spare one in the master bedroom. You're quite right in assuming there were many pranks played with those light switches. Lol.
the light switch for the toilet shows you, whether someone is on the toilet without knocking or entering first. Sometimes the light switch for the guest toilet has an own light to signalize there is someone already in the bathroom.
+Marc R. Equally the fewest switches are waterproof.
The missing garbagedisposal, the thing that hacks food as you say, has two reasons:
1) Food down the drain is atracting rats, now in all sewage systems you will find rats, but they have enough to feed without you throwing food down the drain. More food means more rats which is a higher risk to public health.
2) Food (aspecially fat and oil) are a huge problem for the waste water treatment. The attempts to use as less chemicals to achieve a good quality of waste water, so it can be returned into rivers or lakes without endangering the environment are put under pressure if to much food is returned in the sewage.
I don't even understand how you can get the idea of tossing your garbage down the drain. Seriously, why should you do that and not toss it in the usual garbage?!
IF you put it in the garbage, you have to carry it out on a regular base. This cannot be done by car or remote control from the couch as you watch the no-iq-talk-shows in the afternoon. Maybe that is an explanation :)
+Olav van Gerven That Sounds like a reasonable explanation to me :D
At my parents house, there is a counter around the bathroom sink (it's all one piece). But the thing is... I can't even put my bathroom stuff on there when I'm at home because my dad would put all those things away and clean the counter... "Ordnung muss sein!"
I'm pretty sure locking interior doors from the outside would be against building codes in the US. Based on fire safety alone, everyone in a building should be able to exit quickly if they need to.
It's not really much of a look and every key is exactly the same, but in public buildings these aren't installed anyway.
the secret is: The keys may be stuck on the outside of the doors, but we use them from the inside, too. We have many interior doors but when we moved in, there were only 2 keys left for a 2-rooms-appartment. Same 2 keys, able to lock all the interior doors. So we used one for the bathroom, the other one is wandering between living and bed room (depends on where our guests are staying overnight). It is for privacy matters rather than for locking up naughty kids.
Hello, the locking from outside is helpful when you are sharing your appartment with other people (WG). So everyone has her / his own room and generally there is one common room for everybody to use (if the appartment is large enogh - if not the kitchen is used as common room). Also when it comes to AirBnB style of subletting it may be useful to lock certain parts of the flat.
I am not locking my doors in a WG, but I was definitely locking them when living with a sibling!
Actually my parents were first against this door-locking thing (because they also had some stuff in my room and also thought "she will just stop stealing, it is just a phase"), so I basically destroyed the doors and the frame when I tried to drill holes into it to lock it using a bicycle lock... they had to buy both things new and "surprisingly" picked a model with a lock :-))
Having the lightswitch outside the bathroom ist because of Your safety. In a bathroom You can handle water and try to touch the switch with wet hands while standing with naked feet on a wet ground. Thats perfect for electrocuting Yourself. Actually this works with 110V in US as well as with 230V in Germany. In times befor the the "residual current circuit breaker" "Fehlerstromschutzschalter" was obligatory, there even was no electric outlet allowed in a bathroom.
Most of these are in all of Europe!!!.......
+GamaouaT true
+GamaouaT
I am Polish and I agree. Most of the German things mentioned in the video are probably common to all Europe countries. What do other Europeans think about it?
BTW, the idea of disposing waste in the sink sounds totally disgusting to me. I don't understand, why not to throw it to the normal garbage bin.
+Michal K The garbage disposal is only for food scraps, like potato peels, etc. The scraps get ground up and disappear don't the sewer line. It is no problem for the sewer as long as it is ground up well.
yep, i agree.
and the light switch outside the bathroom is a shitty idea in all of them.
If you think that springy toilet roll holders are tricky, you're going to have a difficult life.
Food does go in food trash in Norway, not the sink.. (it is used to make bio fuel/diesel)
Shower and handles is the same in Norway and Germany.
Door to the outside in Norway is different from both Germany and USA by your explanation.
Almost no sealing fans in Norway, and the heating is the same as Germany, but Heat Pump (most often in the most used room, the livingroom)
Light switches is the same in Germany as Norway (different company make them, so little bit different, but mostly the same) Its a lot cheaper to put the light switches outside the bathroom, and the laws when it comes to electricity is stricter in Europe.
And yes, my bigger brother did turn of the light when I was in the bathroom, but I did do it twice back the times he did it, so he didnt to it much)
Yes we have the bathroom switch outside as well. I think lots of german homes do that. I guess its a electric shock security thing. While I was living in germany it happened very often that someone accidentally turned the light off, while coming in. Or because they thought noone was at home and wanted to turn off the light. But it was never a game
Fun fact: In the UK where I live now they don't have light switches in the bathroom at all. They have a thing hanging from the ceiling which you pull on to turn on or off the light. I guess this is again so that there is no electric switch that could get dangerous.
Don't forget front doors in Germany that can be locked from both sides. If you lock it from the outside and don't leave a key in the lock on the inside, people inside the house can't get out unless they have a key. Now imagine a fire, a house full of smoke, and panicky family members waking up in the middle of the night and running for the front door. I always point to the floor right at the bottom of the door on the inside and tell people that this is where the firefighters will find your body after you knelt on the floor in desperation to grab your last breath of air from underneath the door. German front doors need a better solution.
Who would lock the front door if someone else were at home.
My siblings didn't turn the lights off. My mom did. She thought it was hilarious.
Floor heating is also common in Germany as replacement for radiators
+Lt_Joker in my circle floor heating is very common... i think approximately 50% of my people has it.
Germany doesn't have built in closets! :)
+ItzJul Ich hab einen, aber auch nur weil es mal nen Durchgang war, den wir zugemauert haben
+ItzJul most not in that spot
+ItzJul Says who? I've lived in two apartment with built in closets (houses were built in the 1950' respectively 1970') and I have visited two apartments with enclosed space that could be used as pantry (although not in or near the kitchen) or walk in closet (houses were built in the 1950' to 1960'). And there are numerous apartments with a broom closet.
+ItzJul True! That's something I only know from US TV shows. 8D
+ItzJul But they have pantries/larders, which are nowadays uncommon in many counries.
I grew up with many bathroom lightswitches outside. but most of them had a little light inside them, so it was easy to see if the bathroom was occupied in the evening without checking the door or knocking. I also grew up with family members not locking the bathroom doors, so the light and outside switch were pretty useful :)
so if it was lit, you could knock and ask if it was ok to enter for joining tooth brushing or if someone needed peace to "do their thing" ;D - it was the same in many families of my elementary school friends :)
Great channel,I love your videos!
I grew up in Canada and in our home as a child the bathroom light switch was on the outside,this was
a constant source of amusement for me and my brother and sister! lol
You're always so enthusiastic. It's contagious haha
The Bathroom lightswitch thing is a relict from times when fuses where not a common thing. The Steam could easyly cause an shortcut and rooms have been heat-insulated by straw in the early days (>> fire hazard). So it was just a safety thing. You most likely find these things in houses older than 70 years. We have that too. The House we live in actually still is insulated with straw. It got some makeovers over the decades, but never a real overhauling.
Yeah you read that right ^^
Well, there's another thing about Bathroom light switches: In many homes, the bathroom light switches even have a little tiny lamp on them that lights when the lamp on the inside is on, so you can see at a glance, if the light is on in there which means a person is in there occupying the bathroom.
The reason for light switches being outside is to protect electrical circuits from humidity, also it often comes with a light which shows you when the light in the bathroom is on, aka it's occupied. Though thanks to new inventions, better isolation and better connection techniques it became quite obsolete and so in new houses they are mostly on the inside again since there is no more law preventing you from doing so.
Regarding the shower: Germans are pretty much focused on efficiency rather than style. They appreciate if they can have both but would always go for efficiency first. So they would never put the connection between the handle and the shower head behind a wall because in case of any problem you would have to rip apart the whole wall. And there's the next difference, even interior walls are massive walls and not dry walls in Germany most of the time.
This Ine time i stayed in the US for a month, and this one time I stood up in my bed to get an overview of my room (cuz I was looking for something) and the ceiling fan banged me in the head! Autch!
Lockable doors are always lockable from both sides. In fact, many locks just have a knob on the inside of the door so you can always get out even if you have no key, but only people with a key an get in. Similarly, bathroom locks always have a screwdriver slot so in an emergeny you can open the lock with pretty much anything, a screwdriver, a knife, spoon, anything you can grab in an emergency.
Front doors in the Netherlands also latch when you close them. It's not locked, but there's no handle on the outside to release the latch. So, you quickly learn to have a key in your hand when you open the door to go outside, so you *know* you can get back in.
Lightswitches on the outside is a safety thing; you don't want electrical contacts close to a place where you are creating lots of water vapor. If it doesn't electrocute you when you touch it, it will at least trip the preotection circuit in the fusebox. And yes if you have a sibling you will end up in the dark sometimes, which gives you a perfect excuse to fill their shoes with peanutbutter.
oh yes.... I guess it happened to everybody: being on the toilet and someone switches the light off... I guess the reason why those switches are outside is because some bathrooms do not have windows.. so it is very dark inside and they give you the possibility to make a light before entering the room... btw this might be another difference: bathrooms without window???
Andreas Panskus
das macht Sinn.
+Ulrich Leonhardt At a place I lived in Toronto, Ontario, the main bathroom light switch was outside the main bathroom
+Ulrich Lehnhardt But we also have the light switches with little red lights in the middle, showing, if the light is turned on. So, you know if it's occupied or not.
+Andreas Panskus korrekt, Feuchträume müssen IP44-geschützte Elektroinstallation haben - das war damals entweder extrem hässlich (da gab es nur diese Feuchtraumschalter mit Drehknopf) und Steckdosen mit Klappe) oder relativ teuer.
Seit wann haben Badezimmer keine Fenster? Beide Badezimmer bei uns haben Fenster...
My siblings never turned off the light... My mother did, hahaha.
Over here in Netherlands you have either a light switch outside the bathroom or a light cord inside the bathroom and the switch where the cord is attached too is very high on the wall so you can only touch the cord directly and not the switch itself. The cords often have a glow in the dark bead on the bottom. I accidentally turned off the light sometimes at my parents house where the switch was on the outside, if i thougt there was no one there and someone forget to switch off the light. If someone yelled hey from the bathroom i turned it on again and apologised :)
For sinks we have both options. The ones without the plank next to it, and without the closets under it are usually the cheapest. In NL we like to save money and make good deals :)
I would love to have double doors like you see in hollywood movies. With the lockable fly screen. Thats handy for hot days!
Toilet disco is part of childhood in Europe :)
Difference USA vs Europe (i'm mainly speaking about central Europe Germany, Czech rep. Hungary, Poland...)
Toilets i found that in US when You flush water it often rises inside the bowl before flushing also You use waaaaaaay more water than its necessary. Europe when water rises in bowl it means one thing You just jammed Your crapper and soon you'll be flooded by shit....
Walls in homes most of homes in europe are built with bricks, concrete and so on solid materials. In US most of homes have this funny timber frame hold by nails You can literally punch through the exterior wall. My friends built their home this way(in my country we call it Canadian technology house but i don't know why) and we all where like "dude this won't stop not only Russian tank it wont even stop their jeep, your house is sooo going to be flatten by ruskies if war comes" or "You are very eco my friend, your house will disintegrate in next 20-30 years", "aren't you afraid your house is going to fly off with stronger winds?" lol
+WolfKenneth In the U.S., exterior walls are covered with sheathing (typically oriented strand board) with siding on top of that. There is no way you're going to punch through it.
+caulkins69 US didn't had a war on its soil in last what 150years? I'd take brick and concrete but I have drunk Ruskies with nukes as neighbours.
Many in the US have concrete basements for underground rooms! We'll jump in there in case of a tornado, or if the Canadians from the north ever invade us. ;)
So, which little pig built his house with drywall? "You are very eco my friend" LOL
Concrete and/or brick construction for single family homes is MUCH more expensive than wood frame. I invite you next time you're in the US to try punching through some exterior walls. Just make sure you've got a spare fake ID and fake medical insurance, that way you can easily skip out on the emergency room bills after you break your hand/wrist. We don't use drywall on the exterior.
My sister and I used to get into so many arguments because of turning the bathroom light off, it was annoying
+Katha YT same here... :'D
Same here :) For german kids this is a common way to annoy their brother or sister.
+Katha YT The social consequences of this prank were enormous. Twice in the 20th Century Germany invaded her neighbors from the sheer built-up frustration of it.
+Katha YT I had never a problem with my brother because of the lightswitches :D But my dad always puts the light of when someone is in the bathroom, that is annoying
Just shutting the door doesn't actually _lock_ it; you just can't open it from the outside, because it doesn't have a handle there. Actually turning the key to properly _lock_ the door will push out a deadbolt like the ones you talked about only seeing in the US. Which is also why you still should use the key to lock the door instead of just pulling it shut: Without turning the key it's rather easy to open the door without the key, making it easy to break into your home (and insurance companys usually don't pay unless you've properly locked your door).
I am sure the rats miss the garbage disposal things in germany too ;) also I really don't like the fixed shower heads that there are in the US, usually in germany you can adjust height, position and direction and take it off, so much more conenient than to have one thing coming out of the wall. Additionally I noticed that a lot of showers in the US only have an adjust for the temperature, you turn it, it comes on, and then you turn it further to adjust the temperature whereas in germany the handle rotation determines the temperature and the height of the lever controls the amount of water.
However it seems to be more and more common (and I have one myself) to have handles where you set a specific temperature (really a temperature, not just a water ratio) on one knob on a cylinder on the side, and then turn the other sides knob for amount of water. Additionally there are quite some detachabel/fixed showerhead combinations available and common these days where you can chose if you get a lot of rain from directly above, or the thing in your hand.
regarding the "lock from the inside only" how do you lock out your cats or children from rooms that they are not supposed to go into?
The front door thing is false security though, since its totally easy to open it with some piece of thicker cardboard (in the majority of cases)
The bathroom thing has been an electrical safety thing for a long time, and now has stuck to the people.
What you forgot are the windows, they work totally different and often two pane windows are sold as totally modern in the US and many people have single pane windows, whereas in germany the really modern energy saving standard (subsidized by the government) is argon filled .7K three pane windows (that do not slide up and down. Why would anyone want such a window that can only open half way?)
Dennis Lubert To lock out your cats you leave the door shut. But why would you need to lock your kids out of a room?
Dax Daily My cat could open the doors unless I locked them with a key. Also I have rooms with stuff too dangerous for kids to "play" with. Several times a year there is stuff lying around in other rooms that the kids are not supposed to see
Dennis Lubert My mistake I forgot not everyone has the rounded doorknobs (very common where I live). As for kids I guess we just tell them not to go into a room and let Darwinism take its course.
Dax Daily Basically 100% of german doors have real handles, those that do not have them are called "defective" ;) As for the kids, I doubt that in countries where you have to write on microwaves to not dry animals with them that letting darwinism take its course works out well ;) Still leaves the case thought that they should not see their surprises...
In the US, we have different kinds of shower heads. Some people have shower heads that are fixed to the wall. Some have ones that are detachable. My shower head is the detachable kind that I can adjust how much water comes out of it.
I love the bloopers !! 😂 LOL everything is very informative! Ty
Sometimes I turn the lights on and off several times and yell "Diskokacken!". It's pretty funny, from outside...
of course my sister turned off the bathroom lights... even my funny father did it. However, the switch is pretty handy, there' often a little light on it so you can se if it's turned on, hence you're able to see if someone's using the toilet and not bother them with knocking.
Meine Großeltern haben einen Deckenventilator, aber man sieht sie wirklich selten. Diese großen Ablagen gibt es auch manchmal. Eine Freundin von mir hat sowas, und ich glaube es gibt sie oft in Hotels und gerade in Jugendherbergen. Wir hatten eine bei unserer letzten Klassenfahrt :)
+AzuNian Ich wusste bis zu diesem Video gar nicht, dass diese Ablagen so selten sind in Deutschland. Viele meiner Freunde haben so eine zuhause und wir auch ich dachte das wäre normal :DD
+AzuNian Ich sehe große Ablagen oft in "gehobeneren" Gebäuden. Also Anwesen, Villen oder zu teuer geratene Einfamilienhäuser. Vielleicht sind es auch einfach nur die neuen Gebäude die das haben =)
+davekachel Vieles ist einfach eine Frage des Alters auch. Auch wenn viele Häuser in Deutschland um den WW2 rum neu aufgebaut wurden, so wurden sie dennoch im "alten" Stil errichtet. Gerade Küchen und Bäder hatten nicht diesen Stellenwert und sind daher oft relativ klein (Gerade im Vergleich zu den meisten US Haushalten die ich kenne). Daher ist es oft auch eine Platzfrage, ist ja auch nicht so als wären Waschbecken mit einer Ablage so Teuer.
Ich denke nicht das es eine Geld frage ist...
Mir ist nur aufgefallen das es für Leute die Geld ausm Fenster schmeißen können wohl eine eindeutige Stil frage ist. Quasi in-kulturell.
Auf diesen Grundstücken habe ich auch oft Küchen mit mittlerem Arbeitssteg gesehen. Als wäre es eine Fernsehküche. Ist auch nicht so als wäre es teuer etwas in die Mitte des Raumes zu stellen. Bisher habe ich in gleich großen Küchen von Mittelschicht bauten diese "Fernsehküchen" trotzdem nicht gesehen.
Als ich klein war hatten wir ne Dachgeschosswohnung mit Deckenventilator aber die haben wir niemals angeschaltet. weil verbraucht nur Strom und nutzt nichts:D
In Romania, where I live, all the people I've ever visited had the bathroom light switch outside the bathroom. Some of them even have their room light stitch outside of their bedrooms, which means they have to get out of their rooms in the middle of the night if they need to turn on the lights. Or they have to use another lamp. That's even more weird than with the bathroom. And yeah, I have a brother and he has always shut the lights on me while I was showering or doing my needs in the bathroom. Sometimes I shut the lights on my parents by mistake and realized it only when I heard them shouting at me from inside the bathtub. And in the old apartment we had locks and I used to lock him inside my parents' room and leave him there to cry if he was being annoying. We also locked each other in the bathroom sometimes, but then mom got tired and took the key. About the front doors, non of the doors in Romania lock by themselves. But people here usually have these massive, metallic (even filled) front doors to prevent from thieves. And no one leaves their front doors open when they leave the house (even if there is someone inside).
Ceiling fans were in fashion in Germany in the 60s and 70s, but never really caught on and turned out to be a passing fad, like panoramic wallpaper, fake fur rugs, lava lamps and big, decorative water plays.
TrangleC Bet they would like to have them in July/August when the heat waves come now, especially with no aircon.
Well, we have one in the living room. May have to do with the fact that we live in an attic apartment. Without the fan we would die in summer
leDespicable Why don't you buy a window AC? I know they sell them in Germany, they're not that far behind in the times like the middle east! I hate the German government
I actually see the possibility of ceiling fans becoming more common again around the world, especially in commercial spaces, as they help make air conditioning and sometimes heating more efficient.
@@user-yw8mf1jr1p I doubt it, honestly, especially in commercial spaces, where you have to pay somebody to clean dust off of stuff like that.
Interesting that I got a notification for your reply to that old comment now. I did not get notifications when the other 3 people replied.
I forgot about this comment. To be honest, I don't even remember what I meant with "big, decorative water pipes"....?
It really is as if someone else would have written that comment, hehehe.
I am glad we always had the light switch inside the bathroom. Being used to this caused some embarrassing situation e.g. when I go into the bathroom of friends, loom for the light switch, go outside again, look for it there,.. yeah that happens quite often to me :D The most stupid thing is when it turns out the light switch actually is inside the bathroom and I just couldn't find. Hate that :D
*look
Same for me! I just go into the bathroom and can't find the light switch. And you never know WHERE it is outside!
I guess the reason why we don't have those garbage disposals in our kitchen is that rats like the food in the sewerage and we don't want the rat population to grow. they also say don't throw old food in your toilet... cause the rats could climb the pipes and then you've got rats in your house, searching for food...
as children we did this bathroom light thing all the time ^^
My cat thinks the "Sproingy" door stopper is HILARIOUS! He re-discovers it every few days and has to spend several minutes making it go "SPROING!"
Wow, watching your videos I could realize that Brazil looks like Germany in so many aspects!! It's very nice to know that, thanks Dana, kisses from Brazil 😘😊
I'm 22 year old german guy and is still would turn off everybodys bathroom light.
You really shouldn't flush food down the drain.. it attracts rats..
i think in most communities in germany its also illegal to do that...
+Ma St Yes, rats can't survive without food in the sewer. Feces are not nutritious.
It is not ilegal to do this. It is just unwanted. As people without waste separation. "Restmüll ist für alle da" ;)
For me as a German, it seems so weird to use a garbage disposal and just drain your leftover food down the sink :o it's so natural for me to recycle the stuff xD
+Bücherbuch it's like feeding the rats
+Lt_Joker In Germany it is basically not allowed (well, you need an approval from the City which nobody gets) to install one because e.g. fat is blocking the pipes once it gets cold and it cannot be checked weather or not sb disposes harmful stuff in there. It is also illegal to dispose food in your toilet.
The difference between the little food rests in German homes that are often disposed in the regular garbage can and the US routine is, that it is common in the US to use the sink as a "bio-container". So when you have your pasta from last week in the fridge and it starts to mold, they would dispose it in the sink.
So: no, I wouldn't install a disposer in my kitchen. It is not so stressful to dispose it properly with our running system. Especially for those small amounts that are getting caught in the sink. The energy-loss by turning the switch is just not legitimate...
+Lt_Joker AFAIK the garbage disposal is not for the stuff that accidentaly end up in the sink after rising the dishes. Thats stuff you don't recycle even in Germany. You either clean it and throw it away or you try to flush it. The garbage disposal is to intentionally dispose of bigger amounts of leftovers and other stuff. So If your dish of spaghetti has gone bad, you can put it into the sink and flush it by using the garbage disposal and water.
+Ecstasia1 couldn't have said it better myself. This was exactly the point I tried to bring across :D I would feel pretty bad to let the food go to waste (which it does when you dispose it in the sink, if I got it right?) instead of recycling it. I have no idea what the Biomüll is actually used for though but I feel better xD
*****
Depends from city to city, but mostly it is used for Biogas.
Sometimes for kompostation (creating fertile earth for plant growth).
In the plumps it will only be led to
the purification plant (kläranlage) where it is chemically cleaned. Lots of costs and as in the plums are many washing chemicals and stuff that is harmful for the environment, the biomass is getting polluted as well.
Further discarding fatts in the sink is a total no-go (including fatty food) as 1 drop of oil pollutes 1000L of water and the cleaning process is complex and uses up a lot of energy.
Garbage disposals in the sink are actually illegal in Germany. You're supposed to put all the shit into your wastebin.
oh man, my dad didn't stop to annoy us with the light switch, until we reversed and fixed it with duck tape, as he was sitting in the bath ;)
Jup, I had to take a lot of showers with the light turned off. Glad we had some street and traffic lights outside. :D
Also what's different is in the U.S. is the toilet bowl, it's filled with water most of the time and in Germany you can see your dump lying on some kind of platform until you flush. :D
+Evi1M4chine "Enjoying the heightened sense of touch and sound and smell" applies to the platform toilet aswell...
+beirdoe Haha, good one. :D
+Cherry van Holland Had it in my German student dorm years ago; still having nightmares...
+beirdoe Some guys told me the platform is important so they can piss their dump in parts. xD
+Cherry van Holland thats just one kind of toilet bowl, not everyone in germany has it,
I don't believe you didn't mention that in US shower head is stuck to the wall.
So inconvenient.
Yes, here in the Netherlands we have the same lights outside the bathroom, and my brother also did that.
but I think I did more though
+Rick Van Staten Really? I've never seen a lightswitch outside the bathroom in the Netherlands, only in other countries.
MyrthexLatoya Well, here in Holland it can depend...
Most modern houses have them on the outside, and older houses in the inside
Rick Van Staten
Misschien ligt het er ook aan waar je woont? Alle moderne huizen waar ik tot nu toe in ben geweest hebben het nog steeds aan de binnenkant. Apart haha!
4:55
The advantage with that is that if a child manages to lock themselves in a room you can just use another key to push the key inside out the other side and then you can lock it open.
Likewise if someone has passed out or some such you can get to them if needed.
The reason why garbage disposals are not usual in Europe is probably because we care a bit more about the environment and flushing the disposed garbage down the plumbing requires way more complicated water cleaning facilities that have to get rid of all this. It is not a good idea to dispose stuff this way.
As for the locking door, the European door is not locked when you shut it. You can't open it without the key but it is not locked, there is just a small latch holding it and it is still easy for a thief to get in. When you turn the key, the door locks that means that a larger piece of metal slides out of the door and often there are locking bars that slide out to all sides of the door if you have security door which is very common these days. When I was in the US, I wondered how insecure the doors were. If you only shut the European door when you go out, you're not securing your apartment in fact and the insurance company won't give you anything if you get robbed.
And finally, yes, switching the light off by a kid is a usual thing :). I guess the reason is electric safety, so that the switches were not in the wet environment of the bathroom in older buildings. Nowadays, they are often in (but not always).
I always turned the light off and on when my sister was in the bathroom :D
Me too😂
same here
I only know garbage disposals from horror movies, so I think it's very good that we don't have that kind of killing machine in Europe..
Shouting "hey, i'm in here" out of the bathroom is something I got used to ...
My brother uses this method to tell me, that I should hurry up ^^
I guess the main reason was to have a light switch with a light in it, so you can see, if the bathroom is occupied without pushing the handle.
But unfortunately it is a very good way to drive your siblings crazy.
They don't always have the light, it's all about keeping electricity out of the bathroom, except for an extra-insulated waterproof lamp. Besides the risk of touching a wet faucet and electricity at the same time, there is also the fact that electrocution from getting power directly across your wet torso requires fewer volts than what is likely to happen when dry and fully clothed.
In the UK it's the law that you can't have normal light switches or normal sockets in the bathroom, to minimise the likelihood of electrocuting yourself with wet hands, or for example, by dropping your hair dryer into the bath while you're in it.
For light switches you can have them outside the bathroom, or have a pull cord light switch. Both are common but maybe the outside the bathroom light switch is the most common.
The only sockets you can have are the shaving ones, because they are lower voltage.
I think sockets in the USA are already lower voltage (?) so maybe you don't need to be as careful with electrical stuff in your bathrooms?
One difference you didn't mention in the bathroom, although you must have noticed it, is that in the US you tend to have fixed shower heads, while in Europe they tend to be hand showers you can move up and down, and take off the rail into your hand. That explains why they need flexible hoses leading to them.
I'm from Germany and in my bathroom I have that "counter" kind of thing :D
The power outlets! Sure, they're different due to the different Standards, but the US outlets look like sad Ghosts!
+Tenkai hahahaa I never imagined them as ghosts but definitely saw disappointed little faces there too!
+Tenkai I think the US outlets look suspiciously like one of the characters in Star Wars, one of the Rebel commanders in either Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi... can't remember which one exactly but I can't help seeing him every time...
+Tenkai In the US they can afford to build them that way, because they have only 110V AC. Which, as rumour has it, is because Westinghouse won the Current Wars and also held big stakes in the copper industry; so for that voltage to power appliances effectively (W=A*V, hence double current, A=V/R) at roughly 3k sustained wattage he could make everyone build in copper wiring twice the diameter than is commonly used in 240V countries. Can't say I like those plugs, personally. Also explains the rather flimsy light switches which in Germany you might still find in some houses built in the 50ies or before. especially in cellars. Or the lovely bakelite "Knebelschalter" for turning.
+Tenkai Schuko- and Europlugs are the best plugs. I don't think these flimsy US-plugs, which you don't actually plug in, being very sturdy or safe...
+noir German sockets (and French ones, which are different but compatible with the same plugs) are indeed way better than US ones. And I won't even talk about the non-grounded ones.
As a start, they have safety shutters (preventing kids from inserting anything in it), and the recession of the socket is so you can never touch the pins of the plug when they're still in contact with the socket. And they have a much higher power rating (16A at 240V = 3.8 kW instead of 15A at 120V = 1.8 kW).
toilet paper cover prevents the toilet paper of rolling! and it helpd to get paper without touching the rest of the roll..
OMG the outside bathroom light switch! I was waiting for you to mention that. That was a difference that surprised me and that I definitely see everywhere in Germany. And to answer your question, yes, my sibling has turned off the light switch quite a bit, but usually never on purpose, but it's not always her, sometimes my parents do to. It's definitely annoying ;P
I have not seen your outtakes before. Humorous. Having grown up in Toronto, Canada, we had a home where the light switch was on the outside of the bathroom, so drama took place. When I visited Lithuania, in a home I saw a long pipe with a faucet that could swing from the bathroom sink to the bathtub.
8:00 ya, german kids practically do this all the time to annoy their siblings ;) at least in my childhood...
i totally used to turn the bathroom light off when my brother was in there ALL THE TIME. was i supposed to let him poop in peace after he ate all my carnival candy? hell no.
so everyone can go into your home in the usa? thats creepy!
+Nekos Pencil Art By Michéle Bauer uhm no? You can lock it, but it doesn't lock automaticly....
i think that is unsafe ^^
Well, aside from the fact that most people remember to intentionally lock their doors, you'd be an idiot to attempt to enter someone's home unwarranted, particularly states in the south, due to gun owners. Keep in mind though - that doesn't apply everywhere. Some US states have more strict gun laws than some European countries. Anyway, many homes are alarmed too, as additional assurance.
Self-locking doors and exterior light switches are obviously stupid designs. Even BMW's are not the Ultimate Driving Machine if the road is not perfect, look at those tiny wheel wells with no space, if anything goes wrong it will snap like plastic
It helps me to remember my keys =) Doorknobs in the US can normally be locked using the key from the outside, but on the inside will automatically open or can be opened with just the twist of a little button. (IE you can't unintentionally trap yourself inside a room-- you can lock the door while inside so no one else can get in, but you're not going to be trapped inside; the interior side has a button to lock and unlock the door so you can exit without needing a key. A lot of knobs will automatically release the button thereby unlocking the door when you open the door though, so you don't lock yourself out). So, basically if you forget your keys when you go to lock your door from the outside, the side that requires a key, you end up with that sort of "duh" moment and run back inside to grab your keys so you can lock the door. I mean either way the design isn't perfect. You guys can more easily lock your keys inside, carelessly dash out without your keys-- we can forget to lock our doors on our way out, but yeah it becomes so routine to have to lock your door as you leave that that rarely ever happens. Its like having to put socks on in the morning or something, it's just what you do.
I live in a house in the US built in the 1920s. It has an different kind of lock; the keys are not standard now. But I really like the lock. It has a toggle switch that it will either lock when you close it or not lock. There is a separate dead bolt built in.
The switches for the bathroom is outside the room if their is no window cause you can switch on the light and don't have to enter a dark room.
Standard switch location for all American rooms is directly beside the side of the door that opens, so it is easy to turn the light on as you enter and off as you leave.
we do have ceiling fans but from what ive seen only the old apartments have it. Idk but only my old relatives like grandmas or uncles have it and its a bit oldstyle so we don't use it anymore.
+Evi1M4chine yeah i don't know either because lets be honest those fans aren't really helping much
+Natii Natiis They are very useful at blowing the hotter air down on you...
Ceiling fans are not typically used for direct cooling by evaporating sweat off of skin. They are to circulate air. Warm air that rises is pushed downward where people actually are. This reduces temperature gradients in the home. It reduces the amount of time that the heater has to be on, saving energy.
In the US people use remotes to open garages, usually from their cars. In Germany, at least where I live, you do it manually.
Next thing: In the US, garages are generally connected to the house, while in Germany, garages are usually connected to the backyard rather than the house. Makes the American front door mostly redundant, unless you expect company or the UPS man.
Toilets in the US are different too.
American kitchens usually have a counter in the middle - German kitchens usually don't.
The parents' bedroom usually has a separate bathroom while there is a regular bathroom for their kids/guests.
American houses usually don't have an attic, but a big basement.
Probably more. These are the things I could think of in a couple minutes.
Garages? A kitchen big enough to build an island worktop? Sign of a rich person in Germany!
In flats, the "Tiefgarage" (large, underground garage shared by many cars) is connected to the cellar and by stairs or lift (big block) to the flats. The door is opened by a switch or cord on the inside and normally by a key on the outside by where the driver waits to enter. A typical German "Haus" in small towns might have three floors as well as a cellar, and house three separate families (perhaps grandparents, parents, children)...
+Robert Tolhurst Actually in Germany around 55 % of people live in their own houses, usually with a garage, so not really a sign for a rich person but rather for a normal one
I suppose it depends where you live. In the cities people are far more likely to live in flats than they are in the UK - generally rented - and property owners are far more likely to live in a flat. A standard house in the southern part of Germany is a very large thing with a cellar and three more floors, split into two to give up to six flats or two semi-detached halves.
Cars are generally parked outside the house, hence Webasto heaters for winter mornings.
yeah, i guess it depends :)
When I lived in NY, *everyone* had a big attic (and basement), but now that I live in Virginia, it's rare to see a basement or attic (except a small one with pull-down ladder-stairs). In NY, walking up into the attic had its own staircase, not pull-down ladder-stairs. lol So it depends on the State / region, imo.
These videos are so interesting!
Im not as much into eletrical Installations (I'm more the guy to build devices) but as far as I know the Light Switch thing outside the Bathroom is a safety thing. There are actually Bathrooms with the light Switches inside but they are actually quite rare, especially on smaller Bathrooms. We got, especially on Bathrooms some quite huge safety rules. And there are like "safety zones" in a Bathroom. Under no Circumstances are Switches or Sockets allowed near the shower or the bathtub. And there are rules on how far they got the be away. And RCDs where a MUST for many many years on Bathrooms though they didn't needed to be installed on other rooms (that changed now, every room must be secured by an RCD now).
So my guess is that the switch on the outside could have to do something with the safety distances. Doesn't matter if the switch is on the outside.This would also explain why bigger Bathrooms have more often switches on the inside.
Unser Bad scheint echt unsicher zu sein. Der Schalter ist innen, und das Bad ist winzig
One very personal question about toilet paper (I heard rumours...). Is it true, that Amercians form some kind of ball, where as Germans take a short strip, fold it and use it. What would a ball do any good? I'm just as curious as I am about the three seashells ;-)
Everyone is different I suppose.
As a young child, I remember wadding it up in a loose ball. But now I fold it. I think most Americans fold it. I think the bigger divide is that some people wipe back to front/ front to back/ some dab or blot.
Erverthing totally fits to Germany. And it really happend, that my brother turned off the light while I was in the toilet room. It is funny to see what you think is funny about Germany being totally normal for me.