Unexpected technology in Europe (or elsewhere)
Sep 25th, 2007, 12:44 AM
#41
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I remember an American friend being very impressed by our cordless electric kettle.
He also mentioned the light-switches in my daughter's block of flats.
Those ones are not on timers. You push in the switch and the lights stay on until it slowly returns to the off position.
He also mentioned the light-switches in my daughter's block of flats.
Those ones are not on timers. You push in the switch and the lights stay on until it slowly returns to the off position.
Sep 25th, 2007, 01:28 AM
#44
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One note on minibar sensors, which luckily aren't found in the kind of hotels we frequent. I've been told that they charge you, not because you moved things around, but because they assume that if you moved something, you probably drank it and then replaced it with the same product bought more cheaply - i.e., you went to a supermarket, bought a bottle of Perrier and replaced the one that was in the minibar. So in their eyes you used their expensive product and should pay for it. Since hearing about this I just don't go near minibars
Interesting thread for someone who lives in Europe. I had forgotten that things like automatic taps and flushers didn't exist in North America - and is it really true that your toilet stalls don't have the little red and green flashes to indicate whether they're in use.
One thing I do notice when I go back to Canada (along with how BIG all the appliances are) is that toilet stalls are so skimpy. Here in France they are almost always completely enclosed - walls and doors go down to the floor. I was in one in a restaurant in Toronto the last time I was there where I could clearly see the person outside washing her hands - and I assume, if she looked sideways, she could have seen me. Not used to that.
Maybe this is why you don't need green and red indicators - you just look for people's feet!
Interesting thread for someone who lives in Europe. I had forgotten that things like automatic taps and flushers didn't exist in North America - and is it really true that your toilet stalls don't have the little red and green flashes to indicate whether they're in use.
One thing I do notice when I go back to Canada (along with how BIG all the appliances are) is that toilet stalls are so skimpy. Here in France they are almost always completely enclosed - walls and doors go down to the floor. I was in one in a restaurant in Toronto the last time I was there where I could clearly see the person outside washing her hands - and I assume, if she looked sideways, she could have seen me. Not used to that.
Maybe this is why you don't need green and red indicators - you just look for people's feet!
Sep 25th, 2007, 01:41 AM
#45
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Some of the service station rest stops on the motorways are absolutely stunning, especially in France. The coffee machines are incredible with their selection of 18 different ways to drink coffee and an LCD screen that shows a cup filling up so you'll know when yours is ready. I've heard many UK people at the machines asking 'why don't we have this in Britain?' (Why not indeed?)
The design of some of the rest stops defies description. I think my favorite is the Aire de la Somme on the A16 autoroute with a belvedere for viewing waterfowl and wooden piers through the Picard marshes to see the ducks and geese. They seem to take a lot of school groups there.
The design of some of the rest stops defies description. I think my favorite is the Aire de la Somme on the A16 autoroute with a belvedere for viewing waterfowl and wooden piers through the Picard marshes to see the ducks and geese. They seem to take a lot of school groups there.
Sep 25th, 2007, 01:48 AM
#46
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Ah, I know that one! There is even a website in English for it: http://tinyurl.com/2vedbn
The "Aire des Volcans d'Auvergne" is another good one.
The "Aire des Volcans d'Auvergne" is another good one.
Sep 25th, 2007, 06:01 AM
#47
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While much of this technology has not yet become popular in the US we do in fact have many public toilets with automatic flushers, water taps and paper towel dispensers. In the Northeast and California anyway.
Sep 25th, 2007, 06:38 AM
#48
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Ditto to lemidi. My father-in-law, a construction project manager, was putting them into U.S. projects as far back as the late 1980s.
We like the Aire de la Baie de Somme as well. It's a great place to stretch your legs for a bit and it's usually fairly quiet. But the hot meals that we've had there have been too dry, as if they've been sitting under the heat lights too long (probably because it's not busy enough).
http://tinyurl.com/3cxhdh
We like the Aire de la Baie de Somme as well. It's a great place to stretch your legs for a bit and it's usually fairly quiet. But the hot meals that we've had there have been too dry, as if they've been sitting under the heat lights too long (probably because it's not busy enough).
http://tinyurl.com/3cxhdh
Sep 25th, 2007, 06:54 AM
#50
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To go in a completely different direction, we were enthralled with <i>light fixtures</i>. As re-modelers of historic homes we're probably more attuned to such things than others might be.
We went to Venice expecting to see fussy crystal chandeliers and such. Instead, we were stunned by the hi-tech, stainless & crystal fixtures, all like nothing we'd ever seen before. After Venice we went to Paris and continued visiting lighting stores, still amazed at the variety/quality compared to the U.S.
We brought a couple of sets home and put them in our next project. Everyone who came through exclaimed about "those lights in the bathrooms!". (It sold in 10 days.)
Back in the States, we found a few similar items at stores in NYC. And we've found an importer whose catalogue lists some of the fixtures we saw. But stores here still don't generally display anything like the beautiful items we saw over there.
We went to Venice expecting to see fussy crystal chandeliers and such. Instead, we were stunned by the hi-tech, stainless & crystal fixtures, all like nothing we'd ever seen before. After Venice we went to Paris and continued visiting lighting stores, still amazed at the variety/quality compared to the U.S.
We brought a couple of sets home and put them in our next project. Everyone who came through exclaimed about "those lights in the bathrooms!". (It sold in 10 days.)
Back in the States, we found a few similar items at stores in NYC. And we've found an importer whose catalogue lists some of the fixtures we saw. But stores here still don't generally display anything like the beautiful items we saw over there.
Sep 25th, 2007, 06:56 AM
#51
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Yes - automatic toilet flushers, sinks, and paper towel dispensers for ages. I didn't know they don't exist everywhere in the US? That's news to me. Ditto to the occupied/empty indicators - not prevalent in every restroom, but they certainly aren't new (or news)...
Sep 27th, 2007, 07:45 AM
#52
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I have been thinking of kerouac's post as we are in France.
I have seen a few restaurants in Canada that have the portable credit card machines but it is mandatory here. Your credit card never leaves your sight in s restaurant, the transaction is processed at your table.
Hot water on demand - why do we heat 40 gallons of water on the chance that someone might use it, only to have it run out in the midst of the second shower? The hot water heaters here seem so sensible and efficient.
Tap water never tastes of chlorine in France. Compared to any North American city, France tap water is wonderful.
I have seen a few restaurants in Canada that have the portable credit card machines but it is mandatory here. Your credit card never leaves your sight in s restaurant, the transaction is processed at your table.
Hot water on demand - why do we heat 40 gallons of water on the chance that someone might use it, only to have it run out in the midst of the second shower? The hot water heaters here seem so sensible and efficient.
Tap water never tastes of chlorine in France. Compared to any North American city, France tap water is wonderful.
Sep 27th, 2007, 08:11 AM
#53
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Other countries don't use people as much to collect fees. While in a Canadian National Park, you park and buy time from a machine with your credit card. For 30 minutes, you might only be charged 50 cents while in the US a person will charge you $20 saying that you can visit the park for 7 days. If you are only visiting the park for 1 day, that's just your bad luck. If you cannot pay with a credit card, you go to the ranger station and buy a pass. Similarly in Europe, you prepay for downtown garage parking through a machine with a credit card or coins. You receive a pass to exit the garage which you post on your windshield. An attendant cleans the garage and is available if you encounter problems exiting. Unfortunately, in this country many would try to park and not pay under the "honor" system. A park ranger continuously monitors parking lots looking for cars without passes. Also, this system creates more jobs performing multiple functions which doesn't seem to be very popular in the US.
Sep 27th, 2007, 09:02 AM
#54
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"Hot water on demand - why do we heat 40 gallons of water on the chance that someone might use it, only to have it run out in the midst of the second shower? The hot water heaters here seem so sensible and efficient."
I'm not sure what you are describing there, as I'm not sure what you mean by "the hot water heaters HERE. . . ". My water heater in the US is "quick recovery" and energy efficient. Yes, there is hot water at a moment's notice, but it takes very little heating from time to time to keep it that way when it is not being used.
The water heater in the flat we rent in London has a timer. It is set to run twice a day and provide hot water for those most logical times -- about 6 AM and 6 PM. Want to take a shower at 5 PM? Forget it. The water is cold. I can't believe that heating that entire tank of water that goes cold after a couple of hours from cold to hot takes any less energy (in fact, I'm pretty sure it takes a lot more) than mine which holds the water temperature even.
I'm not sure what you are describing there, as I'm not sure what you mean by "the hot water heaters HERE. . . ". My water heater in the US is "quick recovery" and energy efficient. Yes, there is hot water at a moment's notice, but it takes very little heating from time to time to keep it that way when it is not being used.
The water heater in the flat we rent in London has a timer. It is set to run twice a day and provide hot water for those most logical times -- about 6 AM and 6 PM. Want to take a shower at 5 PM? Forget it. The water is cold. I can't believe that heating that entire tank of water that goes cold after a couple of hours from cold to hot takes any less energy (in fact, I'm pretty sure it takes a lot more) than mine which holds the water temperature even.
Sep 27th, 2007, 09:10 AM
#55
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I think robjame is referring to the hot water devices in France that do not rely on any hot water heater at all. It is a gas heater that springs to life when you turn on the hot water faucet and heats the water as it is running through various copper coils. There is no hot water kept in stock at any time, so there is absolutely no storage of hot water in a tank.
I must confess that my own apartment is all electric, and I have a normal hot water heater -- often insufficient on cold winter days.
I must confess that my own apartment is all electric, and I have a normal hot water heater -- often insufficient on cold winter days.
Sep 27th, 2007, 09:16 AM
#56
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As Emily Litella might say: what's all this about <i>hot water heaters</i>. If it's already hot, why do you have to heat it?
Anyway - tankless water heaters - which are widely available in the States - save both electricity and water (the latter because there's no need to run the water until it gets to the tap from the heater - in our house a matter of two minutes or so).
Here's the USDoE blurb: http://preview.tinyurl.com/a8ze3
Anyway - tankless water heaters - which are widely available in the States - save both electricity and water (the latter because there's no need to run the water until it gets to the tap from the heater - in our house a matter of two minutes or so).
Here's the USDoE blurb: http://preview.tinyurl.com/a8ze3
Sep 27th, 2007, 09:29 AM
#57
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a grocery chain in Arizona had self marking and weighing of produce years ago. I ber they got nothing but complaints about it and they disconitinued it after a few months.
Self marking, but not weighing, is common in health food/farmer's markets groceries for bulk grains, etc.
Automatic handwashing in public restrooms is almost standard in newer buildings in Arizona. A pain in the butt if you do a thorough job of washing your hands. I have to go to the next sink to complete rinsing my hands.
Self marking, but not weighing, is common in health food/farmer's markets groceries for bulk grains, etc.
Automatic handwashing in public restrooms is almost standard in newer buildings in Arizona. A pain in the butt if you do a thorough job of washing your hands. I have to go to the next sink to complete rinsing my hands.
