For why these are superior:
Fully open mode = big hole for air go thru.
Slanty mode = very windy ez, rainy ez, rainy and very windy… just close window.
But, the innovation I miss more than the windows were the roller shutters.
First of all, light blocking. Forget blackout curtains or something, just roll down the shutters and no light is getting in. If you work nights or something, you can block the sun completely and sleep in the dark. Along with that, the light is being blocked while it’s still outside. Why does that matter? Light means heat. In summer you don’t want the heat inside. Block it at the shutter and it doesn’t come inside to heat the inside of the house. Compare that with blinds, curtains, etc. In that case, the light has already entered the house before it hits something and heats it up. With white curtains you’ll reflect a lot of the light back out, but you’re still heating the interior of the house. They also reduce noise, add security, protect in bad storms, etc. But, to me, blocking the light and keeping the heat out was so much more important.
Ich will zu Dort gehen
Fr though I hate my shitty apartment blinds so much. It’s midnight with the lights off and blinds closed amd I can read next to the windows
I lived in Germany for several years and moved to the U.S. and purchased a “fixer-upper” home. On the docket for replacement were the windows. To make a long story short, the cost of replacing every window on the house with a normal American window was within ~$1k of the price of a single “German” window. The cost to replace all of the windows with the German style was nearly the total price of the home itself.
So yeah, I would love to have those windows, but they’re not made or at least readily available in US markets.
Economy of scale magic
This. I have these windows in one room in the US because I installed them myself. IDK if they are significantly cheaper in Germany, but for the price to have one professionally installed in the US I could have actually replaced the entire wall with floor to ceiling windows.
Just checked a local factory, 50x50cm is 100 € for a regular window and 200 € to open both ways (entry level PVC, not including installation).
All in all it’s not unheard of for bigger jobs to be south of 1000 €/window for professional installation, though you can get them for half that if you know the right contractors.
Now I wonder how much an American window costs over here
Your dignity
Those are just regular windows
You can do the same with American windows–spend the cost of an entire house replacing your windows.
Andersen and Pella windows.
My American windows can also do this if I push hard enough.
My drunkenly installed American windows (previous owner, not me 😉) ALSO do this, but randomly throughout the house!
Some are so tight you break a sweat moving them (“locked”), some are so loose the top part falls out (angled), and some work normally (the normal one I guess)
Having 30 days of paid holiday per year is nice too.
And a 35h work week.
that’s in effect in Germany? They tried instating it here in Spain but Corruption industrial complex didn’t let it through
Not for all. But some of the big unions have them, so a lot of people get them, but not the majority of workers.
They try so hard to make forget WWII
The (by law) 35h work week is French, I don’t know if Germany has the same.
Nope, only in the good unions (IG Metall for me). Please support your union! Just pay the fuck up, it’s the only thing stopping these disgusting rich pigs from completely exploiting you.
French’s trying too hard to forget what they did to Mexico
“only” 20 of those by law, though. Most employers will give you more than that, but it’s not guaranteed
Depends on the amount of hours.
In Belgium, if you work 40 hours instead of the regular 38 hours, you get 12 extra paid vacation days (ADV) on top of the 20 regular ones.
Not in Germany. The amount of vacation is based on the amount of days you work, not the hours. The goal is that everyone should be able to take at least a total of 4 weeks off per year. That means you get 20 days of vacation if you work a regular 5 day week. If you work a 6 day week, you get 24, but that is pretty unusual.
So, if you work fewer hours, that only matters for your vacation if those hours are also done across fewer days. If you only work 10 hours a week, but spread them across all five days, you still need 5 days to take an entire week off, so you still get the 20 days.
But anyway most employers will give you closer to 30 anyway, so the legal minimum usually only matters when it comes to things like transferring to the next year or paying out untaken vacation, because the rules differ there between mandatory and additional vacation days
30 days of paid holiday per year is unfathomable to me. I wish we had that here.
Working in the US with no holiday and dodgy health insurance is unfathomable to me.
And paid sick leave.
Guys, this doesn’t exist only in Germany.
source: I live in Eastern Europe and we have such superior window design.
Können Sie gültige Ausfuhrdokumente für besagte Fenster vorweisen?
Lustig aber fick nazis
Same, this is the default in Croatia
Don’t forget the mode where it’s anchored only in one corner and you freak out because you feel it will fall out any moment despite you know it won’t
Wait what? IS THIS A MODE AND NOT ME MESSING UP??
I feel like it’s a “can survive, but please fix quickly” kinda scenario.
I have no doubt the mechanism can support it. But used regularly will likely break something (where the entire fucking window falls into your room)That’s what they want you to believe
It’s one of the things everyone experiences but no one talks about
I experienced so many heart attacks for that damn thing and now i discover it was just one of the modes 😭
I’m still not convinced it’s an actual mode and not user error, that everyone hides under the rug by frantically pushing the window close somehow
Let’s just say it is an unintended mode
Yeah! It’s the “you messed up mode”.
Wait, it doesn’t fall like that?
No, nothing will ever happen. Don’t worry
CHAT, IS THIS REAL???
The “ever” is maybe stretching it.
I think it can survive the occasional mis-opening. But I wouldn’t do it regularly, not leave it like that for a day.
Like “yeh, you’ve fucked up but I’m fine for now. Please fix me and never do it again” kinda scenarioPutting it back in place is kinda difficult, iirc. It’s a scary “oh, shit. Put it back, put it back” moment. It’s a lesson in not playing around wuth the door (ah, yeah, mine was a big balcony door window (small balcony, big door))
In Poland these are common too. I fail to understand why someone would not install these windows in the first place
Because my house already has windows
Bro. You should try linux.
We have these windows, they are 35 years old and were most certainly not the first of this kind.
Yeah these windows already existed when wooden frames without seals and single panes were the standard. My grandmas house has them so basically at least for 50-60 years. There is no excuse not to have these windows other than cost savings. (Or non availablity or preference i guess…)
Coming from someone that builds them. At least where I live the mechanism is proprietary so it may not exist for every extrusion profile. Plus for big enough doors/windows the hinges to bear the load either don’t exist or get expensive quick.
I’ve got an 80cm door with double pane glass (of course) and metal-pvc construction that does this. It’s pretty heavy, it’d have to be a huge window to be heavier than that.
PVC tends to be lighter than the thermal isolated aluminum we usually use. At least the stuff we have over here. (I work with steel and aluminum though. Never dealt extensively with PVC since it requires specific equipment).
Usually the problematic ones are the long “strip windows” (80cmx3 to 4 m) that some places use especially with argon filled glass panes (thick, layered double panes. With argon filling for emissivity. It may be what you have as well). But for them the style in the picture is usually set aside for a vasistas style closure. Which has an extra support for the panel. Paired with a pull string opening mechanism. I don’t know what’s the generic name.
80x400cm horizontal? Those only open via vasistas, you can’t swing around a 4m window lol. I’ve seen those mostly paired with electrical actuators.
Mine are aluminum frame, steel reinforcements, PVC is only the external layer:
Those only open via vasistas, you can’t swing around a 4m window lol.
Yeah. Didn’t think too hard about it, the idea for that project was to segment it and use tilt and turn. But in the end it was kept a singular window And wasistas was used with the string mechanism for commodity’s sake. the change of plans we did made me brain fart… sorry It late over here 😅. still. I’ve made some doors that were too heavy For the tilt and turn hinges we normally use. Mostly due to weird glass pane requirements and sizes. The hinges could most likely handle it. But the specifications said otherwise.
Mine are aluminum frame, steel reinforcements, PVC is only the external layer:
That’s similar to what’s used over here. But iirc the aluminium is not in the ones I’ve seen only PVC and steel Reinforcements. Could be wrong though. I’m quite sure is the same company though. That profile looks very similar.
That was my thought when I was living in Denmark. Why would You have windows that open horizontally to the outside in a country where it rains almost every day, when You can have these.
Windows that open to the outside? That’s bizarre. The ones I’m used to open horizontally but towards the inside.
My current flat only has windows that open horizontally outwards. Even the windows on the gallery side open outwards, so I can’t open them all the way without preventing my neighbours from passing. It also rains inside constantly.
That sounds quite annoying
Bugs. Lots and lots of bugs.
Nothing prevents one from installing a screen on those windows.
I guess. Over here its more common to have the screen on the interrior to make the screens easier to replace and/or clean. Here, it’s common for houses to have a 2nd or even 3rd floor so it’s not always easy to be able to access the screen from the outside.
I have screens on my 3rd floor windows. Mine are attached to the window frame with long thin velcro strips but I think there’s other systems as well.
Mine have hinges that open, you can remove them by pushing up to remove from the hinges. My parents have one with magnets, but i don’t recommend it. The magnets get rusty, and they aren’t that well attached, some screens fell and broke with stronger wind.
Do you need to remove the screen if you want to open the window?
The screen is on the outside. The window opens to the inside. So no.
For american ones where you have a screen on the inside I have seen crank handles to push window out, or some have a tiny screen door in the screen you can open to reach the window latches, then close the tiny access door. It looks stupid, but it does work
I think those are casement windows which are similar I think but not the same as tilt and turn windows.
Just get a detachable screen? We had them at my family home?
I’m guessing that that is more annoying to operate. What is common here are casement windows which are operated with a hand crank so you dont have to remove the screen each time you need to open or close the window.
You can still have the screen on the inside with these tiltable windows…
I cant see how without needing to remove the screen each time. I probably need to see a picture.
I have a removable screen with one of these windows. The window opens inwards, the screen basically clicks into the window frame from the inside and sits between the window itself and the frame. So the screen sits outside the window, but you can easily remove it from inside. You just open the window and pull the screen out of the window frame.
I see
I have an insect screen which can be glued to the inside like so:
(There’s a white velcro strip already there, which you glue on before this step.)
But yeah, it isn’t a given that it fits there. I have an ancient window, where they didn’t use plastic or rubber yet, so they tried to seal the window by having it contact right where you’d glue the insect screen and then it obviously doesn’t fit in between (I tried 🫠).
Oh there’s many options. My windows are tiltable, they have (electric) roller shutters and bug screens.
Most of my screens roll up to the top (I have a little chain connected to the mechanism to roll it up and down), but I also have two doors whose screens’ mechanism works horizontally, with a spring, it locks closed with magnets, when you release it from the magnets it rolls open by itself. It’s even got a little cable-chain-like thing on the top and bottom to hold the screen, guide the movement and remove the gap.
And it can be removed from its frame with a snap catch, if you need to have the maximum opening to move something large through the door.That does sound p. cool. Unfortunately they do not appear to be well supported here T_T
Did some quick research. It seems pretty difficult to install screens on these for some reason. So that’s probably why these are not common where I live.
Weird research you did there, we have screens, even different types and they take 5 min to install. Hardest part is cutting it to size.
I thought these were doors. Them being windows makes a lot more sense.
Balcony doors work the exact same way
Including down?
yeah
You’ve been on very different balconies from the ones I know.
this is not a German thing. they exist outside of Europe, let alone Germany, as pretty much standard. I’m actually surprised if Americans don’t have to this. although I think shouldn’t be, considering in how many ways it’s such an ass backwards country.
edit: just want to clarify that I don’t know whether Germans invented it or not; by “not a German thing” i meant it’s not exclusive to Germany.
these are far from standard for Americans. they’re luxury for sure and they’re called German windows.
Somewhat reminds me of https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/vasistas#Etymology
From where I am from, they are called Plastic Windows. Seems to be they were indeed either created or made popular by Germans.
this is funny, because I’m pretty sure most sold in Germany are made in Poland. Not that Poland invented them or anything
The only thing typically missing from these windows, are a hook or latch to prevent the windows from repeatedly opening and shutting when its windy
My father was a sales & marketing executive for a window company in Germany. You can prepare for a long rant whenever he sees “those dreadful sliding windows” in a TV show from the US or Great Britain. Like every time. 😅
Me, being smug about how I can have a bookshelf on both sides of the window and still open it fully without a large piece of glass protruding into the room:
But how can you stoßlüften your room efficiently without opening the whole area of the window?
We have those windows in Ireland, they are generally made and designed by Velux who are Danish.
Why is a normal window there? Or does it do something special?
They are all one window. You turn the handle in different directions to get it to do different things. The “normal” one is just shut and locked
Lemme clarify - do you mean just this (this is a normal window to me, common like sand).
These are extremely uncommon in North America, unfortunately.
Haha yeah, my b. Most windows in NA just open up and down. If you are lucky, it will have a little release for it to open inward for cleaning, but I dont think its supposed to be used in that orientation. Doesnt seem sturdy
Am American.
…What?
German windows are (like a lot of things in Germany) extremely well engineered. This is a point of pride and whenever I have hosted Germans at my house (I’m Australian) they have actually brought this up with me.
It’s become a bit of a meme.
So their windows… Open?
If handle is rotated 180 degrees up from the closed state, window would tip slightly but not fall down. This allows room to ventilate while not opening window fully. Possible pros: doesn’t make room too cool, doesn’t let rain inside, presumably wouldn’t let burglars inside as tip point is too narrow to squeeze through. Maybe something more, dunno.
If handle is rotated 90 degrees, window opens as normal.
I havent met so many Americans or non-EU people in my life who have different windows in their homelands. But those who I’ve met, like our type of windows more than theirs. Also, these are sturdy AF and foolproof. Never saw one with a broken frame.
Two different directions depend on the handle orientation. The handle correlates to the pic below it.
Took me a minute.
I live, laugh, and lüfte!
Tbf it’s more of a european thing. I’m Italian and I’ve installed hundreds of these.
Also… Assuming Liftup windows actually exist in America and aren’t just a myth. You.should be able to do something similar by jamming something in the window rail.
Standard swing windows though… Pray.
Sash windows are the common type used for American homes, though you’ll find a good mix of casements (typically the ones you have to crank to open/close).
The only deal breaker for me would be casement windows that open outwards. The area I live gets a lot of bugs in the summer, and so our windows have screens to help keep pests out while windows are open. Sash windows and casements that open inwards work fine with screens, but casements that open outwards typically don’t.
We took my in-laws back to my father-in-law’s hometown in France this summer and it was kind of mind-boggling to me how most of the homes had no air conditioning but also no screens on the windows to keep bugs out.
This shit drives me nuts. The locals will be like “oh well, the bugs usually aren’t this bad…”
Sure Jorge, the bugs always just follow me from the US whenever I visit. The entire European continent has such a weirdly abusive relationship with the very concept of climate control.
I do wish screens were standard here, or at least more common… But AC is typically an excess/luxury in most of Europe. Only common in offices, schools, hospitals and the like.
People have started to get those portable standing ACs more often now that our climate is getting clapped, but window units are alien to us.
Heat pumps are probably more common now
I’m not sure how windows are installed elsewhere. But here usually you have a good wall thickness. It’s not uncommon to have aluminum/ steel shutters that swing outwards. For privacy. some form of screen for bugs. And then on the inside casement windows that swing on the inside. Either the normal kind or the tilt and turn style shown in the post (I think that’s how it’s said in English).
In this case it’s shutters with adjustable slats to let more or less light in. A steel “grating” (not sure how it’s called in English) for safety and a twin casement window.
Shutters are less commonly used here, usually found more on older homes. Their intended purpose is protection during storms, but sometimes people install “fake” ones just as decoration.
For light management/privacy, most houses I’ve seen have adjustable blinds inside that you raise or lower to let more or less light in.
A steel “grating” (not sure how it’s called in English) for safety and a twin casement window.
Grating or grates is right, and sometimes people just call them window bars.
Every home I’ve lived in with casement windows has opened outwards, and has had screens. They work just fine. I don’t know where you get the idea that screens are more challenging if the window opens outwards.
In fact, it’s probably easier to deal with the screens. If the window opens inwards, the screen is on the opposite side of the glass, so to access the screen you have to fully crank the window open. If the window opens outwards, the screen is on the inside, and it can be removed or adjusted whether the window is fully open or fully closed. The only problem I’ve ever had is that if the crank is in an “up” position it can get in the way if you’re trying to take the screen off, but you just give it half a crank and you’re set.
I have (in New England) a few windows that open outward and screens are just mounted inside rather than outside.
Yeah if you have those crank style ones it’s possible at least. I’ve only seen one which was a push to open window with screen on the inside that opened on a hinge, but it seemed like it had a pretty poor seal with the wall as a result and bugs would have an easier time crawling through.
Honestly having the screen on the inside is probably more convenient too. If you’re cleaning both sides of a window where you’d have to remove the screen either way, I imagine it’s easier to remove the screen from inside than outside just given the elevation differences.
