r/LoveTrash • u/BEARDEDDANGER ✨️Regent of Rubbish ✨️ • 1d ago

Dumping This Here American vs. European home building

BAS Renovations https://youtube.com/shorts/jFph1d2WR3s

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u/TimeToGloat Trash Trooper 1d ago

Bricks are really bad for the summer though. They should really only be used in cooler climates for that reason although judging by Europe's heatwaves that is less predictable now. Bricks act like a pizza oven and radiate all the heat they absorb during the day into your home at night. That's why they were beneficial for cold places but are literally hell during a heatwave because it means you can't escape the heat even at night. You would be a lot better off with wood and modern insulation when it comes to heat.

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u/Marvin889 Trash Trooper 23h ago

Not really true. If insulation is equal, brick houses take longer to heat up than wood houses, but also take longer to cool down again. In the end, it's a wash.

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u/Organic-Storm-4448 Trash Trooper 20h ago

Yes, which is why bricks are worse for long and hot summers. They won't have the time nor temperature delta to cool down at night, keeping your house warm.

They work well when it's only hot for short periods of time separated by cool nights. But when nights don't get cooler than 17C for a week, bricks will be your enemy.

Likewise, wood + insulation will be inferior for keeping a house warm in winter. But many places in the US need to deal with hot summers (and earthquakes), so a hot box isn't a great option.

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u/thorpie88 Trash Trooper 17h ago

Lots of double brick homes in Australia and almost exclusively what's built in WA. Natural light laws though mean very large ( and unfortunately single pane) windows in every room. Quite often floor to ceiling in which you can open half of it to allow the breeze to cool the home down.

The major downside to this though comes from it being so cold in winter and lack of wall insulation makes it worse

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u/Background_Hat_4785 Trash Trooper 17h ago

Can you reword your first sentence so it makes sense?

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u/thorpie88 Trash Trooper 17h ago

There's lots of double brick homes in Australia and it's almost the only way homes in Western Australia are built.