you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[+] 61 points 2 years ago (41 children)
  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    One European downvoted you for speaking the truth

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (6 children)

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but that style of window doesn't allow you to open it fully, right?

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    They open fully. The tilt feature is 10-15 degrees, but they swing open fully like a casement window in the US. At least the ones I used did.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • [+] 2 points 2 years ago (3 children)
  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    You can have screens. I don't understand why everyone thinks these windows don't have screens

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (16 children)

    Opening from the bottom is inherently worse

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 16 child comments
  • [–] 46 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    it's inherently superior because you can have the window slam onto the fingers of a person trying to crawl in through the window

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (6 children)

    In Europe we use roller shutters for that

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
  • [+] 1 point 2 years ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

    Those metal shutters, that black out the whole room? They have those in Portugal, Spain, most of the mid-southwest Mediterranean. France also. But they're basically ubiquitous in Portugal. Pretty nifty actually.

    Edit: This was driving me nuts, sorry, but I couldn't find a single good image of what I mean. Here's the best I could make the robot monkey do (YMMV):

    It sounds like you're describing "Persianas" – a term used in Portugal (and other Spanish or Portuguese-speaking countries) for a specific type of heavy-duty indoor blinds or shutters. These are not the thin metal or fabric blinds but rather thick, often horizontal slats that can be rolled down to cover windows or doors completely, providing excellent light blockage and insulation.

    Why? Because they're amazing.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    The worse part is now they’re built cheaply so the screen is only the bottom half. You can still open the top, or from both top and bottom for convection, but now you get bugs

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago

    Windows are the kind of thing that are generally built locally for multiple reasons. So your experience will vary greatly based on what the window factory in your area is doing.

    Where I live, single hung windows (only one sash) are most common, so only one screen is needed. Double hung windows are less common because people don't want to pay for the expense of the additional sash (a lot of springs and mechanisms needed for a sash). A screen is an expense too, but nowhere near the expense of an additional shaft. Possibly the intent was to allow for opening the top to making cleaning easier, but that's usually accomplished by having the top "fixed" portion of the single hung window be able to tilt out because putting all the springs and mechanisms for an additional sash for a feature to make it easier to clean isn't necessary.

    Yeah... I worked at a window factory before. The calculations needed to figure out the tension needed on the springs so that it will counter the weight of the sash was fun.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] -4 points 2 years ago (11 children)

    That window design looks like it would never seal properly. Here in Germany any window from the last 30 years or more will not let any air in when its fully closed.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 11 child comments
  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago (6 children)
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (5 children)

    Because its not possible to pull the window into the seal when the window also needs to move up and down.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (4 children)

    The seal is on the bottom so it just falls into it using gravity

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (3 children)

    And how is it sealed on the sides and the top? European casement windows actually get pulled into the frame (and seals) all around the frame by rollers which move sideways along sloped ridges when you move the hinge to the closed position.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

    The window stays sealed on all other sides. It just slides up and down. Windows in Europe sound needlessly complicated

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    But will there still be air coming through when there is wind pushing on that side of the house?

    I guess they are kind of complicated, but energy efficient windows make it possible to increase the window area and size without losing too much heat. Energy is also more expensive over here, which probably helps in that decision, as the cost of these windows can be easily recouped in a few years just by needing less energy to heat the house.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    Double hung windows don't seal quite as well as casement windows, but honestly, unless you're going to the absolute best energy efficiency possible, like a net-zero house, then it's really not a big difference. Any halfway decent quality, properly installed window won't have any noticeable drafts. Plus, as others have mentioned, double hung windows are far cheaper than casement.

  • source
  • parent