Spin-Off of House Hunter Thread: Must Have Home Features

[fla4fun]

If I were in the market, which I am not, I would want three bedrooms with walk in closets, two full baths (the ensuite for the primary bedroom would have a walk in shower), a laundry room, a two car garage, a great room, with an eat-in kitchen and good flow throughout the space. I would like the house to be in kind of an O shape, with the rooms completely surrounding an interior courtyard, and all on one floor.

I haven’t seen a house like this, but I did see house plans for sale online that were what I would be looking for.

 

[Lumpy1106]

No disputing the political aspect. Not sure what you are asking for certain. If it isn't piped into your house, it doesn't get burned and doesn't pollute the air.

But it does. Natural gas is a byproduct of fuel processing as well as being a by product of oil extraction. It either gets piped into your house, burned to generate electricity, or (much worse) flared off when they process the oil into fuel (that's the flames you see in an oil refinery) or just gassed to the atmosphere (really the worst thing you can do with it). If you shut down all the natural gas power plants (in progress, especially in CA), and don't let people use it in their homes, it will get flared or degassed, and those are far worse options. The oil companies cannot just leave it in the ground. Maybe some day there will be enough solar and wind farms to power everything, but we are a long, long way away from that. As long as we are burning fossil fuels, you want us using the natural gas.

 

[Moliphino]

3+ bedrooms (preferably at least 2 upstairs)
2+ bathrooms
Good storage
Not too close to neighbors
Basement isn't terrifying (we looked at some houses built in the 1700s and 1800s. I love them in theory, but couldn't actually live in any of the ones we saw)

Nothing else was a compete deal-breaker.

 

[mumto3girls]

If I were in the market, which I am not, I would want three bedrooms with walk in closets, two full baths (the ensuite for the primary bedroom would have a walk in shower), a laundry room, a two car garage, a great room, with an eat-in kitchen and good flow throughout the space. I would like the house to be in kind of an O shape, with the rooms completely surrounding an interior courtyard, and all on one floor.

I haven’t seen a house like this, but I did see house plans for sale online that were what I would be looking for.

That sounds fabulous. Add a fireplace and I’m all in.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Well, we are hydro and solar here for electric production, so that is much greener that natural gas. Certainly we have brain washed for decades with the natural gas industry advertisting "clean natural gas" when it never was.

I think the ads back in the day were going for "cleaner than coal" - which I do think was true.

We all bring our experiences to the DIS.

A very good point! We all come at any given decision from different angles - because we're trying to correct/prevent different problems. While I admit I do prefer cooking on my gas stove to my MIL's electric, I expect the main reason gas is still popular here is because you don't lose gas heat in a New England winter when the snow knocks out the power lines!

I'm still a big fan of solar and wind, though, and want to see more of it!

 

[Wendy31]

To make our current house perfect (is there ever really such a thing?), I’d add the following:

1 more bedroom
a covered front porch that extends at least across 1/2 of the front of the house
a pool in the backyard
a larger master bedroom closet & larger master bathroom
larger kitchen w/ more cabinets, a larger pantry, & an island

So, if we were in the market for a new house, the following would be on my list:

4 bedrooms - w/ the master preferably on the main level
master bedroom w/ large closet & large master bath
roomy eat-in kitchen w/ plenty of cabinets, large pantry, & an island
separate dining room - can be open/combined w/ the living room
large family room w/ fireplace - open to kitchen
kitchen, dining room, living room, & family room all on the same level
an ”extra” flex space - either a loft area on the bedroom level or a basement rec room w/ the flex space including a good-sized storage room
laundry room/mud room area
including the master bath, at least 2 1/2 bathrooms - depending on the layout
at least 2 car garage w/ space in the garage for 2 cars w/ enough room for stuff like tools & lawn mowers

And, a pool & a covered front porch

 

[tvguy]

But it does. Natural gas is a byproduct of fuel processing as well as being a by product of oil extraction. It either gets piped into your house, burned to generate electricity, or (much worse) flared off when they process the oil into fuel (that's the flames you see in an oil refinery) or just gassed to the atmosphere (really the worst thing you can do with it). If you shut down all the natural gas power plants (in progress, especially in CA), and don't let people use it in their homes, it will get flared or degassed, and those are far worse options. The oil companies cannot just leave it in the ground. Maybe some day there will be enough solar and wind farms to power everything, but we are a long, long way away from that. As long as we are burning fossil fuels, you want us using the natural gas.

No idea. Just like radon gas I guess, naturally occurring hazard.

 

[tvguy]

, I expect the main reason gas is still popular here is because you don't lose gas heat in a New England winter when the snow knocks out the power lines!

Okay, what kind of system do you have that doesn't require electricity to turn the natural gas furnace on, and blow the heated air through the house?
I lived with natural gas heat for 24 years, and when the electricity was out, it was offline.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I don't think I've actually seen a gas stove in person.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Back to OP - the one thing we really want in our house and do not have is a separate den/TV room. We have a "bungaloid", a bungalow that we added a 2nd floor to. It's got great flow but the front room is the enrty way and the only place you can sit down and relax and the kids can play. If that was a separate space you wouldn't feel lik eyou were always in the way.

One thing we have and didn't really plan on is a 2nd office (yay COVID!). DW got the office we did design, and we converted a room in the garage (was going to be the place I shaped surfboards and other projects) into an exercise room when we bought a Peloton (again, yay COVID!). I had bounced around several rooms in the house for my home office (sharing with DW was a non-starter) and as we cleared out the exercise room it became really clear that was the best room for an office. It's quiet and has its own bathroom. Honestly if we ever decide to get rid of one of the home offices, this is the one I would keep, and I really don'tthink we could live without it now.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Okay, what kind of system do you have that doesn't require electricity to turn the natural gas furnace on, and blow the heated air through the house?
I lived with natural gas heat for 24 years, and when the electricity was out, it was offline.

A gas fireplace (with a pilot light, not an electric starter). - Doesn't reach the whole house, but better than nothing in a pinch.

I was just agreeing with you about how people worry about different things. - If someone has gone through times with no heat, they might worry about not having heat, if they know someone who's experienced a gas leak, they might worry about gas leaks, etc. I seriously thought you made a good point about us all bringing different backgrounds to the DIS.

 

[tvguy]

A gas fireplace (with a pilot light, not an electric starter). - Doesn't reach the whole house, but better than nothing in a pinch.

I was just agreeing with you about how people worry about different things. - If someone has gone through times with no heat, they might worry about not having heat, if they know someone who's experienced a gas leak, they might worry about gas leaks, etc. I seriously thought you made a good point about us all bringing different backgrounds to the DIS.

My parents had a natural gas starter in both their wood burning fireplaces. But most of the heat went up the chimney. No pilot light, just open the gas valve and use a match to ignite the gas. But you don't to use those for very long because natural gas is very expensive here. We normally just used newspaper and kindling to start a fire.

 

[tasha99]

I don’t want to continue the OT topic but those that are hung up on their gas stoves I highly recommend you try induction. Once you go induction, you won’t go back.. no more worrying about catching a kitchen towel on fire

I use an induction hot plate. I like it a lot, but unless a full stove is better, it's not as good as gas. My hot plate has 10 settings, that are very low, low, high, HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT. It's kind of hard to simmer on it, but it's great for getting to a rapid boil.

 

[fla4fun]

That sounds fabulous. Add a fireplace and I’m all in.

I believe the plans included an optional fireplace. I currently have a wood burning fireplace and it hasn’t been used for years since I am in Florida.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

A gas fireplace (with a pilot light, not an electric starter). - Doesn't reach the whole house, but better than nothing in a pinch.

I was just agreeing with you about how people worry about different things. - If someone has gone through times with no heat, they might worry about not having heat, if they know someone who's experienced a gas leak, they might worry about gas leaks, etc.

One thing I'll say is there is no way I can turn on my gas stove unintentionally. You have to press down and turn the knob far enough over at the same time to start the lighting. I've had enough electric stoves where it's ridiculously easy to accidentally start the burner with barely any effort. Anyone watched videos of pets accidentally turning on stoves?

 

[DLgal]

But it does. Natural gas is a byproduct of fuel processing as well as being a by product of oil extraction. It either gets piped into your house, burned to generate electricity, or (much worse) flared off when they process the oil into fuel (that's the flames you see in an oil refinery) or just gassed to the atmosphere (really the worst thing you can do with it). If you shut down all the natural gas power plants (in progress, especially in CA), and don't let people use it in their homes, it will get flared or degassed, and those are far worse options. The oil companies cannot just leave it in the ground. Maybe some day there will be enough solar and wind farms to power everything, but we are a long, long way away from that. As long as we are burning fossil fuels, you want us using the natural gas.

Exactly. It's like some people forgot their 6th grade Earth Science...

 

[DLgal]

I don't think I've actually seen a gas stove in person.

Wow. I can't imagine that. Not even in a restaurant open kitchen?

 

[tvguy]

Exactly. It's like some people forgot their 6th grade Earth Science...

Well, it has been 55+ years. I do remember my 6th Grade Teachers name though.

 

[tvguy]

Wow. I can't imagine that. Not even in a restaurant open kitchen?

38% of all stoves are gas (both natural and propane), so electric are more common but hard to believe not seeing one.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Wow. I can't imagine that. Not even in a restaurant open kitchen?

Maybe that. But not in a home.