Why do Europeans Oppose Window Screens?

Windows screens are similar to a filter that blocks insects from flying in
through the windws, yet allows vision outside and breeze inside.

Considering how many European hotels lack air conditioning, window screens
would be useful in controlling mosquitoes access to sleeping quarters
without the guests stifling to death due to lack of air circulation.

I'm sure screens can be made in varous sizes, even for Eurpean-sized
windows.
See photo:
http://www.crystalclearwindows.com/w...%20screen1.jpg

Kevin wrote:
Windows screens are similar to a filter that blocks insects from
flying in
through the windws, yet allows vision outside and breeze inside.

Considering how many European hotels lack air conditioning, window
screens
would be useful in controlling mosquitoes access to sleeping quarters
without the guests stifling to death due to lack of air circulation.

I'm sure screens can be made in varous sizes, even for Eurpean-sized
windows.

I've always marvelled at that myself. According to my German wife,
windows in the past in some areas had screens in the days when you
would change the screens for glass in the winter. Now, of course, most
places have double glazed windows. However, this doesn't suggest why
screens are not used because they could easily be fitted to such
windows as they all tend to open inwards in their two open
configurations. Putting up screens on multi-story buildings might be
difficult.

Living in Stuttgart, we don't really have any mosquito problems.
However, what is worse are moths that can enter your house and eat your
textiles.

George

Kevin wrote:

Windows screens are similar to a filter that blocks insects from
flying in through the windws, yet allows vision outside and breeze
inside.

I think that anybody knows what they are, at least in his own local
language.

I'm sure screens can be made in varous sizes, even for Eurpean-sized
windows.

Here in Germany, they are mostly made without any size: The net fabric
is sold by the meter or in certain sizes. A kind of self adhesive velco
tape sticks to the window frame an the fabric is simply fixed to itand
cut around to the right size. Those devices are available at any DYI
market, i. e. at any corner. See
http://www.tesa.de/consumer/products/flieg11.

Window screens with own (aluminum) frames and/or wire netting are not as
popular as in the States. The house where I grew up in South Germany
had window screens made from wire net and light wooden frames that were
hooked to the windows during the warmer months and removed during the
winter.

Jens

On 2 May 2005 22:38:50 -0700, "george" wrote:

Kevin wrote:
Windows screens are similar to a filter that blocks insects from
flying in
through the windws, yet allows vision outside and breeze inside.

Considering how many European hotels lack air conditioning, window
screens
would be useful in controlling mosquitoes access to sleeping quarters
without the guests stifling to death due to lack of air circulation.

I can't speak for all Europe, but I can give a little perspective on
my particular corner of Italy.

First, screens are ugly and would probably not be allowed in the
historical center of my town for aesthetic reasons: the only window
fixtures allowed, other than the glass, are the traditional wooden
shutters, painted green. Outside the historical center, the rules are
much more flexible, but screens are still perceived as ugly.

Second, screens do impede the circulation of air. You get a much
better breeze without them. During the day, all our windows and the
door to our terrace are open wide, and I love the airiness and also
the unimpeded views of the countryside and the Apennine range.

Third, many Italians wouldn't dream of sleeping with the windows open,
as the night air is considered dangerous to the health. The first year
I was in Italy, I couldn't believe my husband really intended to sleep
all summer with the windows shut tight. I couldn't convince him that
we wouldn't die of pneumonia if we opened the windows. He would leave
the windows open during the day and evening, when no one was in the
bedroom and no lights were on. In these circumstances, the mosquitoes
stayed outside. Our windows have a sort of heavy metal shutter,
called a "seranda", that has some little holes in it. At bedtime, he
would close this heavy shutter, which pretty much kept mosquitoes out,
but also kept that dangerous drafty air out. If the temperature was
below about 85 degrees, he kept both the shutters and the windows
closed. I often slept on the terrace to get a bit of air.There were
maybe two nights that year that it was so hot that even he wanted to
open both the windows and the shutters. On those nights, he just
didn't turn on a light in the bedroom as a way of discouraging
mosquitoes.

The summer of 2003 was so unusually hot that even my husband felt the
need of overnight air most nights. So he bought a sort of screen for
the bedroom, that you can pull up and down like a shade. I ordered one
also for my little office. My husband asked his son, who lives in the
US, but spends a good part of the summer in Italy, if he also wanted a
screen in his bedroom, but his son said he didn't. That shows that
sceens are not a big priority for Italians. However, that may be
changing, as I see a lot more of them for sale now. I also see more
air conditioners for sale. Unless it gets a lot hotter, I wouldn't
want that.

--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

On 2 May 2005 22:38:50 -0700, "george" wrote:

Kevin wrote:
Windows screens are similar to a filter that blocks insects from
flying in
through the windws, yet allows vision outside and breeze inside.

Considering how many European hotels lack air conditioning, window
screens
would be useful in controlling mosquitoes access to sleeping quarters
without the guests stifling to death due to lack of air circulation.

I can't speak for all Europe, but I can give a little perspective on
my particular corner of Italy.

First, screens are ugly and would probably not be allowed in the
historical center of my town for aesthetic reasons: the only window
fixtures allowed, other than the glass, are the traditional wooden
shutters, painted green. Outside the historical center, the rules are
much more flexible, but screens are still perceived as ugly.

Second, screens do impede the circulation of air. You get a much
better breeze without them. During the day, all our windows and the
door to our terrace are open wide, and I love the airiness and also
the unimpeded views of the countryside and the Apennine range.

Third, many Italians wouldn't dream of sleeping with the windows open,
as the night air is considered dangerous to the health. The first year
I was in Italy, I couldn't believe my husband really intended to sleep
all summer with the windows shut tight. I couldn't convince him that
we wouldn't die of pneumonia if we opened the windows. He would leave
the windows open during the day and evening, when no one was in the
bedroom and no lights were on. In these circumstances, the mosquitoes
stayed outside. Our windows have a sort of heavy metal shutter,
called a "seranda", that has some little holes in it. At bedtime, he
would close this heavy shutter, which pretty much kept mosquitoes out,
but also kept that dangerous drafty air out. If the temperature was
below about 85 degrees, he kept both the shutters and the windows
closed. I often slept on the terrace to get a bit of air.There were
maybe two nights that year that it was so hot that even he wanted to
open both the windows and the shutters. On those nights, he just
didn't turn on a light in the bedroom as a way of discouraging
mosquitoes.

The summer of 2003 was so unusually hot that even my husband felt the
need of overnight air most nights. So he bought a sort of screen for
the bedroom, that you can pull up and down like a shade. I ordered one
also for my little office. My husband asked his son, who lives in the
US, but spends a good part of the summer in Italy, if he also wanted a
screen in his bedroom, but his son said he didn't. That shows that
sceens are not a big priority for Italians. However, that may be
changing, as I see a lot more of them for sale now. I also see more
air conditioners for sale. Unless it gets a lot hotter, I wouldn't
want that.

--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

"Kevin" wrote in message
...
Windows screens are similar to a filter that blocks insects from flying in
through the windws, yet allows vision outside and breeze inside.

Considering how many European hotels lack air conditioning, window screens
would be useful in controlling mosquitoes access to sleeping quarters
without the guests stifling to death due to lack of air circulation.

I'm sure screens can be made in varous sizes, even for Eurpean-sized
windows.


In the UK many people have transparent net curtains that
work quite well as a bug screen as well as allowing those inside
to see out while notting letting outsiders see in (in daylight)

Also used as an insect screen are bead curtains which are
also useful for doorways

http://www.onevillage.org/walk-through-curtain.htm

In England of course we dont have many mosquitoes
around and the main nocturnal pests are moths which
while harmless to humans usually cause the females
of my household to panic when they start fluttering
around the light fittings

Keith



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Here in Germany(Rheinland-Pfalz and Hessen), most people sleep with the
windows open, even during the winter.
Also almost all windows have a complete system with built in metal
shutters(without as many holes) that roll up over the door way, and the
windows can be open all the way, or have a middle position when the top
part of the window tilts into the house. Do wish I could get thoses in
the US.

For the most part insects are rare so they screens are not really
needed, however I have seen a few houses with them built in, primarily
in the bedrooms. What you do find a little more often are screens with
sticky tape on them which can be purchased and placed on the outside.

On Tue, 03 May 2005 15:08:21 +0200, B
wrote:

On 2 May 2005 22:38:50 -0700, "george" wrote:

Kevin wrote:
Windows screens are similar to a filter that blocks insects from
flying in
through the windws, yet allows vision outside and breeze inside.

Considering how many European hotels lack air conditioning, window
screens
would be useful in controlling mosquitoes access to sleeping quarters
without the guests stifling to death due to lack of air circulation.

I can't speak for all Europe, but I can give a little perspective on
my particular corner of Italy.

First, screens are ugly and would probably not be allowed in the
historical center of my town for aesthetic reasons: the only window
fixtures allowed, other than the glass, are the traditional wooden
shutters, painted green. Outside the historical center, the rules are
much more flexible, but screens are still perceived as ugly.

Second, screens do impede the circulation of air. You get a much
better breeze without them. During the day, all our windows and the
door to our terrace are open wide, and I love the airiness and also
the unimpeded views of the countryside and the Apennine range.

Third, many Italians wouldn't dream of sleeping with the windows open,
as the night air is considered dangerous to the health. The first year
I was in Italy, I couldn't believe my husband really intended to sleep
all summer with the windows shut tight. I couldn't convince him that
we wouldn't die of pneumonia if we opened the windows. He would leave
the windows open during the day and evening, when no one was in the
bedroom and no lights were on. In these circumstances, the mosquitoes
stayed outside. Our windows have a sort of heavy metal shutter,
called a "seranda", that has some little holes in it. At bedtime, he
would close this heavy shutter, which pretty much kept mosquitoes out,
but also kept that dangerous drafty air out. If the temperature was
below about 85 degrees, he kept both the shutters and the windows
closed. I often slept on the terrace to get a bit of air.There were
maybe two nights that year that it was so hot that even he wanted to
open both the windows and the shutters. On those nights, he just
didn't turn on a light in the bedroom as a way of discouraging
mosquitoes.

The summer of 2003 was so unusually hot that even my husband felt the
need of overnight air most nights. So he bought a sort of screen for
the bedroom, that you can pull up and down like a shade. I ordered one
also for my little office. My husband asked his son, who lives in the
US, but spends a good part of the summer in Italy, if he also wanted a
screen in his bedroom, but his son said he didn't. That shows that
sceens are not a big priority for Italians. However, that may be
changing, as I see a lot more of them for sale now. I also see more
air conditioners for sale. Unless it gets a lot hotter, I wouldn't
want that.

Hi Barbara

I read it all, understood your point of view, and disagree
entirely:-)

After living all my life in a country where every window has
a screen on it, or at least, has had a screen since the
1950s, the pre-conceptions just don't stand up in real life.

"First, screens are ugly and would probably not be allowed
in the historical center of my town for aesthetic reasons"

Not if they are properly designed. Come out here and look
around.

"Second, screens do impede the circulation of air. You get a
much better breeze without them."

Sorry, but that just not true with modern fine-mesh screens.
And you sure get a better movement of air than you do
through a window that had to be closed to keep out the bugs
and flies.

I didn't expect to find the total lack of screens that I did
in Europe. And, as the spring turned to summer, I was
surprised to find there were nearly as many flies in the
European country towns as we get back here - all those
cattle should have been a clue.

Maybe it's different in Italy. But, in Mycenae (tiny flies
kept invading the wine-jug in the restaurant), Zbraslav
(Prague, moths), Seeg (Bavaria, flies) and many other little
country villages the insects were a problem that we noticed
and everyone else blithely ignored.

Actually, it was the same in Buonconvento in early May '03;
the 4* hotel refused to turn on the air-conditioner on a
very hot night (claimed the government didn't allow it
before a certain date), so we had to open the windows wide -
with an invasion of assorted bugs.

As an aside, some other time I'll post a story on bugs in
Darwin. You call that a bug?...

Cheers, Alan, Australia

On Tue, 03 May 2005 15:08:21 +0200, B
wrote:

On 2 May 2005 22:38:50 -0700, "george" wrote:

Kevin wrote:
Windows screens are similar to a filter that blocks insects from
flying in
through the windws, yet allows vision outside and breeze inside.

Considering how many European hotels lack air conditioning, window
screens
would be useful in controlling mosquitoes access to sleeping quarters
without the guests stifling to death due to lack of air circulation.

I can't speak for all Europe, but I can give a little perspective on
my particular corner of Italy.

First, screens are ugly and would probably not be allowed in the
historical center of my town for aesthetic reasons: the only window
fixtures allowed, other than the glass, are the traditional wooden
shutters, painted green. Outside the historical center, the rules are
much more flexible, but screens are still perceived as ugly.

Second, screens do impede the circulation of air. You get a much
better breeze without them. During the day, all our windows and the
door to our terrace are open wide, and I love the airiness and also
the unimpeded views of the countryside and the Apennine range.

Third, many Italians wouldn't dream of sleeping with the windows open,
as the night air is considered dangerous to the health. The first year
I was in Italy, I couldn't believe my husband really intended to sleep
all summer with the windows shut tight. I couldn't convince him that
we wouldn't die of pneumonia if we opened the windows. He would leave
the windows open during the day and evening, when no one was in the
bedroom and no lights were on. In these circumstances, the mosquitoes
stayed outside. Our windows have a sort of heavy metal shutter,
called a "seranda", that has some little holes in it. At bedtime, he
would close this heavy shutter, which pretty much kept mosquitoes out,
but also kept that dangerous drafty air out. If the temperature was
below about 85 degrees, he kept both the shutters and the windows
closed. I often slept on the terrace to get a bit of air.There were
maybe two nights that year that it was so hot that even he wanted to
open both the windows and the shutters. On those nights, he just
didn't turn on a light in the bedroom as a way of discouraging
mosquitoes.

The summer of 2003 was so unusually hot that even my husband felt the
need of overnight air most nights. So he bought a sort of screen for
the bedroom, that you can pull up and down like a shade. I ordered one
also for my little office. My husband asked his son, who lives in the
US, but spends a good part of the summer in Italy, if he also wanted a
screen in his bedroom, but his son said he didn't. That shows that
sceens are not a big priority for Italians. However, that may be
changing, as I see a lot more of them for sale now. I also see more
air conditioners for sale. Unless it gets a lot hotter, I wouldn't
want that.

Hi Barbara

I read it all, understood your point of view, and disagree
entirely:-)

After living all my life in a country where every window has
a screen on it, or at least, has had a screen since the
1950s, the pre-conceptions just don't stand up in real life.

"First, screens are ugly and would probably not be allowed
in the historical center of my town for aesthetic reasons"

Not if they are properly designed. Come out here and look
around.

"Second, screens do impede the circulation of air. You get a
much better breeze without them."

Sorry, but that just not true with modern fine-mesh screens.
And you sure get a better movement of air than you do
through a window that had to be closed to keep out the bugs
and flies.

I didn't expect to find the total lack of screens that I did
in Europe. And, as the spring turned to summer, I was
surprised to find there were nearly as many flies in the
European country towns as we get back here - all those
cattle should have been a clue.

Maybe it's different in Italy. But, in Mycenae (tiny flies
kept invading the wine-jug in the restaurant), Zbraslav
(Prague, moths), Seeg (Bavaria, flies) and many other little
country villages the insects were a problem that we noticed
and everyone else blithely ignored.

Actually, it was the same in Buonconvento in early May '03;
the 4* hotel refused to turn on the air-conditioner on a
very hot night (claimed the government didn't allow it
before a certain date), so we had to open the windows wide -
with an invasion of assorted bugs.

As an aside, some other time I'll post a story on bugs in
Darwin. You call that a bug?...

Cheers, Alan, Australia

and the windows can be open all the way, or have a middle position
when the top part of the window tilts into the house. Do wish I could
get thoses in the US.

Those windows can be ordered in the USA with no problem. Most
Americans prefer windows with screens, so those windows are not
common.

For the most part insects are rare so they screens are not really
needed,

Maybe where you are, but I remember a hotel in Zurich where the
flies were all over the breakfast. Yuk!


Pete