I read an Anti-Microwave thread and got rid of my own!
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cwolfman13 wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Safari_Gal_ wrote: »Interesting! So I grew up in a 100 yr old brownstone....our microwave was also on a counter. Fast forward 20 years and yep/ my newer place also has a built in... though it’s a convection/microwave. We spend part of the year in Europe and we don’t even own a microwave overseas... In the US - I mostly use the micro function for reheating. Disregard the dirty oven photo 😉
Yeah, I was curious about when built in microwaves started to become more the norm and did a google and posted up thread. It appears that sales of counter top microwaves peaked in 2001 and have declined significantly and steadily since and the sales of built in microwaves have increased 100% since 2000. So that tells me they started to become a thing in the early 2000's. Every new build I've seen since, I'd say, about 2005 has them built in.
I was reading through and thinking to myself that they became popular in the early to mid 2000's when I got to your post which confirmed as much.
What's kind of funny is that when we lived in Nebraska the place my dad worked for as an administrator provided the house...they didn't pay much, but they provided a pretty nice house. This was in 1983 or thereabouts and it had a built in microwave. I had never actually seen a microwave before, either counter top or built in. I thought we were the Jetsons or something. That thing was a behemoth too.
My in laws house, built in 1984, still has the original over the stove mounted microwave. Thing has dials and knobs on it. Of course, they still have the original pain and carpet, but that's a whole other thing, lol1 -
paperpudding wrote: »
is not something you would expect to be included if you buy a house - unlike the oven and cooktop which would be because they are attached.
Houses here do not come with any appliances - except oven/cooktop.
It is not something expected when you buy a house here either but is often included if it is a built-in model. Apartments almost always include a dishwasher,stove, and refrigerator but no other appliances. Houses generally include a dishwasher (because it is built in) and may or may not include other appliances like a stove and refrigerator. Occasionally they include a washer and dryer. Basically, if it is built in or the space was designed around the appliance, it stays.
The main reason why appliances are included or not is the new home for the sellers. Will their appliances fit and look good in the new place? Do they even want to bother moving them (especially if the new home already has them)? I know many who switched and took their appliances with them but brought the ones from the new home to the old.
When I bought my condo, the dishwasher and stove were included but I had to buy a refrigerator.
oh yes a dishwasher would be included here too - if the house has one (not everybody does) it is nearly always built in and stays with the house. I forgot about that.
as does the oven and the cooktop.
Microwave, refridgerator, washing machine, dryer (if you have a dryer, many people do not) - they are not included with the house/apartment.
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In southern California, new constructions for homes have a separate laundry room. Older homes have the hookup in the garage. But things change depending on the area. I don't know about is going on with apartments or condos these days.0
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most houses in Australia have a separate laundry room, not very big but a separate room you can walk into, and usually with a door to outside, not just a built in cupboard.
some flats or apartments have the washing machine in the bathroom or the kitchen and some apartments and some smaller houses have a built in cupboard sort of thing with sink, washing machine, dryer (if you have one, many people in Australia do not use dryers)
I have seen this referred to as a european laundry - so I assume this type of cupboard laundry is common in Europe?
some older houses still have a separate outside laundry room and I have also seen some houses with the laundry built into the back of a garage
but a separate room is most common in a house, the space saving variations more often in apartments/flats.
basements are very uncommon in Australian houses (something to do with the water table, I beleive)0 -
paperpudding wrote: »
basements are very uncommon in Australian houses (something to do with the water table, I beleive)
Whether or not a basement is common in the US depends on the water table and also the makeup of the soil. Many parts of the Great Plains cannot have basements even though the water table is low because the soil is very sandy and shifts enough that walls will crack within a couple of years. This is the same type of soil that blew all the way to the Atlantic Ocean in the 1930's creating the Dustbowl. Without the deep rooted grasses that kept the soil in place it was open for the winds to just take it.
My friend moved to Oklahoma and was able to get a tornado shelter which was a pre-built steel container set underground so it would withstand the shifting ground.
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I got rid of my microwave about 3 years ago and I never miss it at home. Food tastes so much better reheated on the stove. But I find myself using the one at work occasionally. Guess convenience is more important in some situations than in others.0
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Nony_Mouse wrote: »wwwtheselion11 wrote: »I want a in wall microwave. I can feel the radiation coming of my microwave. I hate microwaves. Would not mind a dry fryer
What do you mean by 'I can feel the radiation coming off my microwave', @wwwtheselion11?
Maybe he has one of those combo microwave/x-ray machines. My dentist's office has one.
(Not really.)0 -
paperpudding wrote: »
basements are very uncommon in Australian houses (something to do with the water table, I beleive)
Whether or not a basement is common in the US depends on the water table and also the makeup of the soil. Many parts of the Great Plains cannot have basements even though the water table is low because the soil is very sandy and shifts enough that walls will crack within a couple of years. This is the same type of soil that blew all the way to the Atlantic Ocean in the 1930's creating the Dustbowl. Without the deep rooted grasses that kept the soil in place it was open for the winds to just take it.
My friend moved to Oklahoma and was able to get a tornado shelter which was a pre-built steel container set underground so it would withstand the shifting ground.
I lived in Oklahoma for a few years when growing up, and we didn't have a basement (always thought that was really bizarre given how common tornados were). We'd go over to my neighbors who had kids my age and a basement when there were tornado warnings, which was fun (maybe it was also some kind of steel container, this was when I was like 5-7 so I don't know).
We then lived in Alaska for a while and when we first got there and felt our first earthquake my mom had no clue what to do and took us down to the basement (which we then had, but that's not what you do).
Basements are really common where I am now (Chicago), although originally most would have been unfinished (and some have ceilings too low to finish although some of those can be dug out apparently). This piece says basements being common has something to do with the depth of the frost line: http://moss-design.com/basement/
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You will pry my microwave out of my cold, dead hands.
It is, by far, the most-used appliance in the house. I batch cook meals and freeze them. The microwave is ideal for warming them up without drying or burning them.
I'm 65 and perfectly healthy, btw
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paperpudding wrote: »
basements are very uncommon in Australian houses (something to do with the water table, I beleive)
Whether or not a basement is common in the US depends on the water table and also the makeup of the soil. Many parts of the Great Plains cannot have basements even though the water table is low because the soil is very sandy and shifts enough that walls will crack within a couple of years. This is the same type of soil that blew all the way to the Atlantic Ocean in the 1930's creating the Dustbowl. Without the deep rooted grasses that kept the soil in place it was open for the winds to just take it.
My friend moved to Oklahoma and was able to get a tornado shelter which was a pre-built steel container set underground so it would withstand the shifting ground.
I lived in Oklahoma for a few years when growing up, and we didn't have a basement (always thought that was really bizarre given how common tornados were). We'd go over to my neighbors who had kids my age and a basement when there were tornado warnings, which was fun (maybe it was also some kind of steel container, this was when I was like 5-7 so I don't know).
We then lived in Alaska for a while and when we first got there and felt our first earthquake my mom had no clue what to do and took us down to the basement (which we then had, but that's not what you do).
Basements are really common where I am now (Chicago), although originally most would have been unfinished (and some have ceilings too low to finish although some of those can be dug out apparently). This piece says basements being common has something to do with the depth of the frost line: http://moss-design.com/basement/
My friend lived in Illinois and Wisconsin for over 60 years so a basement of some kind was pretty much a given. When she moved she was so freaked out over not having anywhere to go during a tornado warning. As you know, we get them a couple of times a summer. Go from that to Tornado Alley and I can understand her concern.
That article makes sense. When I lived in Madison, I rented a 800 sq foot house set on a concrete slab. The moisture from the frost actually caused mildew not only in the carpet but on my area rugs. The tile floor in the bathroom always felt cold and clammy all winter. I do think the article explains why basements are necessary in the north but doesn't really go into why other areas can't, even if they wanted to.
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We are in the UK where it is norm to have the clothes washer and dryer in the kitchen. When we lived in the Netherlands these appliances would typically be located in the largest bathroom. That made more sense to me as it was closer to both the laundry hamper and the closets. Curious where these appliances are typically located in the US?
It depends on what kind of building your home is and where you live. Here in the Great Lakes region, almost every single family home has a basement and the laundry is commonly placed there along with something like a utility sink. Other parts of the country don't have the kind of land where basements are possible so the laundry might be in a mud room or utility room on the main floor. Condos and some apartments will have the laundry in something like a utility room that also holds the water heater and furnace. A few will have it in a closet in a place like the powder room. Many apartments will have community laundry facilities used by the whole building.
I have a townhouse condo (commonly called a terraced house in the UK) with 2 stories plus a basement. My laundry is in a utility closet in the main floor powder room but the furnace and water heater are in the basement.
Yes, I would say the most common place for a washer and dryer in a house with a basement is in the basement.
In a nicer house I saw a stackable unit upstairs where it was convenient and a full size washer and dryer downstairs.
For most of my life, my mother has not had a dryer. She has clothes lines outside and in an attic-type room above the kitchen, and racks that can be put near the wood stove. She was considering stackable units at one point, but at that time they were expensive and not big enough to handle quilts unless they were super expensive, so she stuck with her current system.
She's in a wicked old house which does not have a basement, so part of the issue is that there is no obvious location for a dryer.corinasue1143 wrote: »My house is a big ranch. To do laundry, I go to the east end of the house to my bedroom, hamper in closet in northeast corner of bedroom, walk down the hall to the west end of the house, north through a door to the living room, back east through a door to a 256 square foot room dedicated to the washer and dryer.
Who the heck designed that?
Why?
Who ever designed my sister's house was smart - they put the washer and dryer in a laundry closet in between the bedrooms. There's not a place to fold, but it's a heck of a lot more convenient.
On the plus side for your situation, more steps 0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »We are in the UK where it is norm to have the clothes washer and dryer in the kitchen. When we lived in the Netherlands these appliances would typically be located in the largest bathroom. That made more sense to me as it was closer to both the laundry hamper and the closets. Curious where these appliances are typically located in the US?
It depends on what kind of building your home is and where you live. Here in the Great Lakes region, almost every single family home has a basement and the laundry is commonly placed there along with something like a utility sink. Other parts of the country don't have the kind of land where basements are possible so the laundry might be in a mud room or utility room on the main floor. Condos and some apartments will have the laundry in something like a utility room that also holds the water heater and furnace. A few will have it in a closet in a place like the powder room. Many apartments will have community laundry facilities used by the whole building.
I have a townhouse condo (commonly called a terraced house in the UK) with 2 stories plus a basement. My laundry is in a utility closet in the main floor powder room but the furnace and water heater are in the basement.
Yes, I would say the most common place for a washer and dryer in a house with a basement is in the basement.
In a nicer house I saw a stackable unit upstairs where it was convenient and a full size washer and dryer downstairs.
For most of my life, my mother has not had a dryer. She has clothes lines outside and in an attic-type room above the kitchen, and racks that can be put near the wood stove. She was considering stackable units at one point, but at that time they were expensive and not big enough to handle quilts unless they were super expensive, so she stuck with her current system.
She's in a wicked old house which does not have a basement, so part of the issue is that there is no obvious location for a dryer.corinasue1143 wrote: »My house is a big ranch. To do laundry, I go to the east end of the house to my bedroom, hamper in closet in northeast corner of bedroom, walk down the hall to the west end of the house, north through a door to the living room, back east through a door to a 256 square foot room dedicated to the washer and dryer.
Who the heck designed that?
Why?
Who ever designed my sister's house was smart - they put the washer and dryer in a laundry closet in between the bedrooms. There's not a place to fold, but it's a heck of a lot more convenient.
On the plus side for your situation, more steps
In our house in Virginia (DC area, new build 2000), we had a laundry closet upstairs where all bedrooms were. Honestly, I disliked it and it just felt super cramped and tight, though it was supposed to be super convenient. I grew up with laundry in the basement and was used to having lots of space around the washer and dryer, even if you had to tote baskets around. Our house now (new build in 2004, lived in since) has no basement, but a mudroom/laundry room where you enter the house from the garage.0 -
In my London flat we have the washer and dryer in the kitchen, which is the norm in the UK. The weird thing is the flat came with a condenser dryer which doesn't need drainage plumbed in (you empty out a vessel with collected condensed water after use), despite it being next to the washing machine which clearly does require drainage plumbed in.1
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Nony_Mouse wrote: »wwwtheselion11 wrote: »I want a in wall microwave. I can feel the radiation coming of my microwave. I hate microwaves. Would not mind a dry fryer
What do you mean by 'I can feel the radiation coming off my microwave', @wwwtheselion11?
My microwave is old . Laughing out loud it was a joke
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My dream house Victorian. I almost bought one. My microwave is old an i want new kitchen cabinets with a microwave above the stove. I hate my kitchen an i hate PCH0
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In my London flat we have the washer and dryer in the kitchen, which is the norm in the UK. The weird thing is the flat came with a condenser dryer which doesn't need drainage plumbed in (you empty out a vessel with collected condensed water after use), despite it being next to the washing machine which clearly does require drainage plumbed in.
My washer an dryer is in basement. I hate the layout of my house. I like my parents layout an sister's. Garage , laundry room, then kitchen, or garage, laundry room, master bathroom, master bedroom. I like the exercise, but falling down stairs sucks.
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My first microwave was a giant beast that lasted 20 years. I decided I needed another when it died because I do reheat a lot of food and wanted to do it faster than stovetop.
I remember when my High School Home-Ec kitchen got its first microwave. This was sometime around 1972-3 and we had no idea what to do with it except blow up marshmallows. Mrs. Brown was not amused.0 -
nicsflyingcircus wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »We are in the UK where it is norm to have the clothes washer and dryer in the kitchen. When we lived in the Netherlands these appliances would typically be located in the largest bathroom. That made more sense to me as it was closer to both the laundry hamper and the closets. Curious where these appliances are typically located in the US?
It depends on what kind of building your home is and where you live. Here in the Great Lakes region, almost every single family home has a basement and the laundry is commonly placed there along with something like a utility sink. Other parts of the country don't have the kind of land where basements are possible so the laundry might be in a mud room or utility room on the main floor. Condos and some apartments will have the laundry in something like a utility room that also holds the water heater and furnace. A few will have it in a closet in a place like the powder room. Many apartments will have community laundry facilities used by the whole building.
I have a townhouse condo (commonly called a terraced house in the UK) with 2 stories plus a basement. My laundry is in a utility closet in the main floor powder room but the furnace and water heater are in the basement.
Yes, I would say the most common place for a washer and dryer in a house with a basement is in the basement.
In a nicer house I saw a stackable unit upstairs where it was convenient and a full size washer and dryer downstairs.
For most of my life, my mother has not had a dryer. She has clothes lines outside and in an attic-type room above the kitchen, and racks that can be put near the wood stove. She was considering stackable units at one point, but at that time they were expensive and not big enough to handle quilts unless they were super expensive, so she stuck with her current system.
She's in a wicked old house which does not have a basement, so part of the issue is that there is no obvious location for a dryer.corinasue1143 wrote: »My house is a big ranch. To do laundry, I go to the east end of the house to my bedroom, hamper in closet in northeast corner of bedroom, walk down the hall to the west end of the house, north through a door to the living room, back east through a door to a 256 square foot room dedicated to the washer and dryer.
Who the heck designed that?
Why?
Who ever designed my sister's house was smart - they put the washer and dryer in a laundry closet in between the bedrooms. There's not a place to fold, but it's a heck of a lot more convenient.
On the plus side for your situation, more steps
In our house in Virginia (DC area, new build 2000), we had a laundry closet upstairs where all bedrooms were. Honestly, I disliked it and it just felt super cramped and tight, though it was supposed to be super convenient. I grew up with laundry in the basement and was used to having lots of space around the washer and dryer, even if you had to tote baskets around. Our house now (new build in 2004, lived in since) has no basement, but a mudroom/laundry room where you enter the house from the garage.
In Australia it would be very unusual to have a washing machine upstairs. They are always at ground floor level, whether the house has one or 2 stories.
Because many people don't have dryers and even if you do, it is assumed you will also have a clothesline and air dry at least some things.
So a laundry will usually have a back door directly to outside or if not, be at least close access to an outside door.
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I've never owned a microwave. I don't know why - it's not for health reasons, I've just never seen the need.
I am old and stuck in my ways. So the use cases presented in this thread aren't sufficient to make me want to buy one. (For example: I don't like pop corn; microwaved baked potatoes are evil; I make coffee fresh using freshly ground beans, generally in my v60; I heat up leftovers on the hob.)
I couldn't live without my slow cooker or sous vide, though.0 -
I quite enjoy shocking people when I told them that we didn't have a microwave in our house growing up until I was about 14. It makes me semi want to get rid of ours now.
However that was mean that I'd have to remember to take the meat out of the freezer the night before and our butter would always be too hard.0
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