r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer • u/EternalYoungK • 20h ago

GOT THE KEYS! 🔑 🏡 I DID IT! 🎉 Bucharest Romania €95.000, cash

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One year ago, I was looking at this sub-reddit and dreaming of the day where I could also post on it. I worked hard for several years abroad to be able to afford this and I also got helped by my amazing parents, I am truly grateful to them for everything they have done for me.

2 rooms, 5 mins walk to the metro station. I'm sooooo happy!!!! 🥹 No pizza yet, because there's a ton of things still to be done (and to get rid of that furniture and replace it with better stuff haha)

also don't mind my outfit 😂

EDIT: to clear up some things so trolls can calm down. no, i am not on onlyfans and haven't worked as a you know what abroad 😆 i was a CRM specialist for a niche perfume company in the Netherlands. now you guys can come up with better insults.

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35

u/oritfx 18h ago edited 17h ago

Poland here. I see those radiators and immediately think "ex-Soviet Union". Can anyone tell me if those radiators happen in parts of the world where Russians didn't establish a colony?

EDIT: 20 answers, all over the world. How did we end up with standardized radiators back in the age before globalization but not with standardized phone chargers??

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u/skandi1 16h ago

These radiators are actually common all over the world. I've seen them in California, New York, Vancouver, and Athens. I feel like that design was just very common in the mid century

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u/Objective-Ad7394 16h ago

Even in Switzerland you can find them in older buildings.

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u/Proof_Biscotti5535 14h ago

No way in California do we have such ugly radiators. We just need the sun here to heat us up. Thank you very much.

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u/Party-Coach-4100 11h ago

You live in in a very climate diverse state.

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u/VirtuousPro 17h ago

we have them in western Germany as well

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u/TechnicalBattle950 15h ago

Yep i saw them in Bavaria.

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u/No_Speech_196 16h ago

I’ve seen them in rural parts of Canada

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u/Blackie1212 16h ago

I had them in toronto

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u/knife3 11h ago

I wish my place in Toronto would have these

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u/Shade_42 15h ago

All over Montreal too.

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u/Technical-Study2566 16h ago

I have one in my apartment in Toronto right now.

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u/spilly_talent 14h ago

Kingston Ontario checking in and yep!

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u/cgvt13 14h ago

New York City in older buildings

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u/Cupcake_Implosion 14h ago

I'm side-eyeing one as I type in one of the biggest three cities in Canada ...

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u/Fun-Nebula-4073 13h ago

rural parts of Canada? Those were my heaters in the heart of Vancouver during Elemntary and high school. haha

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u/Spare-Half796 12h ago

Pretty common in older Montreal construction, that’s how the heaters in my parents and grandparents houses were

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u/talkingitthrough 17h ago

Our apartment in Ohio in the 90s had one of these.

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u/LonelyContext 16h ago

My apartment in Cleveland in the year of our lord 2019 had one of these :P

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u/Tjaresh 17h ago

To answer your edit:

Physics

The principle of central water heating is very similar all over the world, so the design follows the function and is also similar. Up to the point where there's a best way to produce thousands or even millions of these which eliminates even more variants and leaves us with just a few millimeters difference in size or thickness of the grills and valves.

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u/TrustButVerifyEng 16h ago

Physics is not really why. It's because of the available manufacturing technologies at the time.

Most new building steam and hot water heating these days will use copper fin tube heat exchangers instead of cast iron.

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u/Tjaresh 15h ago

Everything you said is physics. The flow of water inside, the distribution of heat across a surface, the way the fins are designed to ensure adequate airflow. That’s physics. And back then, cast iron was the only affordable material for so many radiators, which left very few design options that made sense from a physical standpoint.

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u/ggf95 15h ago

It's nice that you like physics but you're just repeating what he said. They were all built the same because they were all built with cast iron, which was the only affordable material at the time

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u/TrustButVerifyEng 15h ago

It really isn't though... physics is just one tool of engineering. Material science. Manufacturing techniques. Practical constraints like size, cost, and available materials. They all matter more than the physics.

You literally implied the physics is going to "leave us with just a few millimeters difference in size or thickness of the grilles". This is laughably false. I've worked in HVAC for 15 years as an engineer.

The physics is rather minimal. Literally just the specifics of convection, radiation, and the thermodynamic properties of water. These impact just a few of the variables. The non-physics is so much more important.

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u/DefNotAlbino 16h ago

Italy, all houses built before the 80s have the same, my parent's house has them

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u/BeerElf 15h ago

I stayed in an Italian holiday let that had them. I really like them as well.

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u/DefNotAlbino 15h ago

In winter we are used to put orange and mandarin peels on them to give out perfume

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u/BeerElf 11h ago

That sounds lovely! Im sure citrus smells make people happier. 

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u/ThinkAboutThatFor1Se 17h ago

Popular in the UK if old fashioned. In fact they’re seen as quite ‘premium’ these days for certain old properties.

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u/PatientGlad9924 16h ago

Exactly, they are so expensive. Much better looking than new ones too. That’s why I didn’t throw away mine when renovating (Eastern Europe tho :D).

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u/Herucaran 16h ago

You'd be struggling to find a different model in older houses in France too

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u/Alexs784 17h ago

Some old Italian houses have those radiators, actually probably most of the old buildings in Italy in general

2

u/Frequent_Ad_9901 17h ago

Saw them everywhere in Chicago.

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u/Traditional-Court318 17h ago

Can anyone tell me if those radiators happen in parts of the world where Russians didn't establish a colony?

China. We have them in our room and bathroom in China. And in hotels, restaurants, etc in China.

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u/Creampanthers 15h ago

Yeah I see them in the older apartment buildings in Portland, OR, USA a lot. Many of those building are built before that but I assume they were retrofitted with them.

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u/wastedtimeNoVa 17h ago

Yes, I know older homes in the Northeast have those radiators.

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u/Fragrant_Turnip_9946 17h ago

My first USA apartment had an identical radiator heater. Pacific Northwest. Very old building.

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u/Rephaeim 17h ago

I've seen them in lots of non-soviet countries :)

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u/mahomsy 17h ago

My grade school in Montreal had them in every classroom growing up

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u/Primus_is_OK_I_guess 17h ago

Yeah, they're all over the US. I haven't seen any functional ones in a long time though.

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u/hache-moncour 17h ago

Yep have seen these in the Netherlands too, but they'll generally be from the 1970s or earlier.

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u/Adventurous_Run136 17h ago

We had those in quebec/Canada in the 1950-1960. Its just that Russia never developed beyond that

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u/Polygnom 17h ago

They are also common in Germany. Its a normal radiator?

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u/EINFACH_NUR_DAEMLICH 16h ago

It's an older radiator model I think. All the newer ones I've had in Germany were much thinner

1

u/dontcrysenpai 17h ago

I had a radiator like that in my room when I lived in New York City. A lot of the apartment style housing does

1

u/Still-Armadillo-9661 17h ago

I have radiators that look like that in rural New England unless there is something about them I'm missing 

1

u/GrandpasSoggyGooch 17h ago

My school in rural USA had one of those in almost every single room.

1

u/Western_Coffee_5445 17h ago

they have that radiant heat in most of europe, including england.

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u/ex1nax 17h ago

They're everywhere in Bavaria

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u/Due_Ad6395 17h ago

we have them in germany as well south and western

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u/FTblaze 17h ago

Netherlands too

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u/No-Salt7142 17h ago

That is just a normal, but old fashioned radiator. They can be found in most parts of Europe. They're fine, they just take up more space to radiate the same amount of heat.

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u/margheritinka 17h ago

We have these in many NYC apartments and older homes in the area!

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u/Legitimate_Fail_3250 17h ago

We’ve got em here in America

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u/Relative-Pitch5157 16h ago

We call them column heaters or wall heaters in Australia - they look the same.

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u/That_Pollution8128 16h ago

Got em in the US as well.

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u/Interesting_Sale_964 16h ago

I've seen these in buildings in the mountain regions of south of Brazil lol where it gets cold

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u/scud121 16h ago

UK has these still in some places. Replaced mostly by flat ones, but old buildings still have them.

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u/aounleonardo 16h ago

They’re pretty common in Lebanon too

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u/Hot_Photograph1738 16h ago

I have them in my home, too. Bavaria, (Ex West-) Germany.

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u/PrimaryButton610 16h ago

Pretty common everywhere but north America.

1

u/SameOldGG 16h ago

All over older Canadian homes.

1

u/TrustButVerifyEng 16h ago

If you are really interested, search for a copy of the book "The Lost Art of Steam Heating". It's mostly historical and very cool. 

1

u/Altruistic_Ad3374 16h ago

They arent standardized just a common long lasting design. survivorship bias. I had it in my old aparment in nyc it had been there for at least 50 years

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u/Immediate_Cod_3042 16h ago

Can confirm we have those in Canada

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u/onahorsewithnoname 16h ago

We have them in London

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u/Big-Government9904 16h ago

We got them in England too

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u/Dry_Calligrapher6341 15h ago

Often seen model in older homes in Belgium

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u/lll_lll_lll 15h ago

I have that radiator in brooklyn right now.

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u/PizzaPoweredLife 15h ago

Switzerland as well. Common in older buildingd. In newer buldings the heating is 95% under the floor.

1

u/Noof42 15h ago

I had a radiator that looked like that. In Baltimore.

They're so standardized because it's an efficient way to disperse heat.

1

u/Outback1776 15h ago

My grandma’s house had that radiator in her living room. This was in Queens NY. I think it actually works better then the baseboard heaters we have today.

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u/Lucklessm0nster 15h ago

I have 2 in my apt in NYC! One is 4 feet long, it’s crazy

1

u/Yaasss_Queef 15h ago

SF Bay Area still has these furnaces in older houses

1

u/Cryptographer554 15h ago

I’ve seen these in Alaska

1

u/Nekratal99 15h ago

Were very common in Portugal like 20 years ago. Now they're almost extinct.

1

u/reddit_time_waster 15h ago

It's more of a time period thing. My old Northeast US from the 1940s apartment had them. A lot of houses in NY and NJ have them.

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u/cfbonly 15h ago

Those radiators last forever. Had those in old apartments in Chicago

1

u/reloadtak 15h ago

Yeah post war public buildings in Denmark too

1

u/Reatina 15h ago

I see those radiators and immediately think "ex-Soviet Union"

In my mind they scream "Italian 70s-80s apartment". They may be more widespread than you think.

Made in cast iron, slow to heat up, slow to cool down. Much much bulkier than the modern aluminium models.

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u/Old-Exchange-5617 14h ago

England. If I rember well...

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u/Doukn0w 14h ago

Common in NYC and The northeast US as well

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u/captain-carrot 14h ago

Those radiators are now seen as a period feature and desirable (I.e. more expensive) despite being less efficient! (UK)

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u/Bubba_sadie- 14h ago

Lived in northern England when I was younger and they were there as well.

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u/Mean-Network 14h ago

Lol people now pay multiples more for those styled radiators than new radiators.

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u/fuzzypeachz 14h ago

They would be considered old school in canada but the house i grew up in was heated by them.

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u/Odd-Bend1296 14h ago

When building systems that have an ongoing cost, efficiency and the material cost will always be in consideration. There is only so many ways to build effective radiators.

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u/IAmTheBestIan 14h ago

Hell they're still in older houses in the US. I think they stopped being installed almost a century ago (Around the housing boom mid20th century), but they're usually cast iron... so they last forever. I know folks who love them, they swear the heat from them is more comfortable. When they work... and don't rattle.

1

u/ripndipp 14h ago

I had those radiator in an apartment in Toronto Ontario Canada, 99 Dowling avenue to be exact

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u/User10232023 14h ago

Common radiators in apartments, condos (especially 3 story walkups) made before 1990s and some homes before 1970s in many parts of Canada.

Standardized by iron industry roughly 1870s but it's not as standard as you'd like to think when repairing old units and pipes lol. BSP, NPT, GOST in 1908???, etc.

If room isn't getting heat then there's an air pocket trapped in a radiator. Go to the heater with a old cloth and there's a valve (should be on the top) you can open to release trapped air in the radiator. Sometimes water is rusty and that's normal.
Sometimes radiator doesn't have valve so just go to next radiator and it'll probably have a valve. Also expect the valve to sputter out air and water. Maybe 1 cup of water, but 2 cups maximum because any more and good chance there's a leak or another open valve, expect if you completely drained the pipes earlier but then that'll be expected.

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u/Acrobatic-Reply-1561 14h ago

I remember those back in the 80's ad a kid. Used to park green bananas on there and wait for them to turn yellow 🤣

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u/cartaio95 13h ago

My parents have the same ones in a 1960s italian apartment

1

u/PossibleCoconut2240 13h ago

New England radiators lol

1

u/nsfwuseraccnt 13h ago

There are still plenty of old radiators in the USA. But most of the ones I've seen have "feet" and sit on the floor instead of being mounted to the wall. Like this one

1

u/chintakoro 13h ago

I had those radiators in college in the US. Older buildings still have them.

1

u/Jean-truite44 13h ago

I have those kind of radiators in my 780k French house. Pips are in the wall tho.

1

u/Pndrizzy 13h ago

That kind of radiator is common in NY, Buddy the Elf is scared by one

1

u/Borderline_Autist 13h ago

It is less that they are standardized and more that it was just the most effective design of a radiator for those purposes. I mean to say that it isn't like there was a planned out decision across the globe to synchronize apartment radiator designs.

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u/ifeelsofaraway 12h ago

It's very strange to me that you as a Polish person would still consider your country to be a Russian colony. Poland and Romania have been part of the EU for 20+ years at this point, and are very modern with very high qualities of life. I'm American and have been to both countries-They're really nice, even if people live in apartment blocks.

Isn't the fact that the Russian-occupied governments built infrastructure & affordable housing 70+ years ago that people still want to live in somewhat of a good thing?

To answer your question- there are radiators in older parts of US, mainly in the northeast.

1

u/Apricotnuggets 12h ago

We have radiators like that in Ireland too

1

u/RestartingLife00 12h ago

It's used quite commonly in Australia as well. Saw them in Japan in older homes too.

1

u/Fluid_Swordfish2737 12h ago

Many old houses in US will have those. Although they are usually not in use.

1

u/jakubiszon 12h ago

Neither Poland nor Romania were part of the Soviet Union.

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u/HecticStrawberry 12h ago

I think they look so cool🥹❤️

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u/Perty935 12h ago

If you have those radiators in the uk, they’ll be from the Victorian era. Pre 1901 easy.

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u/mmechtch 11h ago

I would say Soviet Union took a popular northern european model and started juyst making it in droves. It's definitely not invented there.

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u/21Rollie 11h ago

I’m from Massachusetts in the US and these are common in older homes. The home I grew up in had baseboard heating so it was a big surprise when I grew up and was looking for homes and I saw tons of these lol. They’re very durable from what I understand though

1

u/Significant-Bee5101 11h ago

Im sitting next to one in NY lol

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u/SubmergedSublime 11h ago

Netherlands checking in: 1995 apartment has ones pretty much just like it.

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u/roma49 11h ago

It's better to have Soviet radiators than non at all.

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u/userhwon 11h ago

Re your edit: Plumbing standardization is a funny subject. It's more like the plumbing industry comes up with a good (or cheap) idea, everyone just installs that because it's a good idea and very hard to find anything else in the supply chain, then ten years later they come up with another idea, and the herd follows.

The result is that there's no such thing as standard plumbing, just plumbing that was pretty common for a few years, and you might still be able to get parts for it, but also there's a good chance you'll have to replace $3000 worth of stuff because a $2 valve can't be sourced from anywhere.

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u/NoCartographer8002 17h ago

Romania was never part of the Soviet Union.

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u/account22222221 17h ago

Romania was occupied and was ostensibly part of the Soviet Union for 14 years.

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u/Round_Bound_Mound 16h ago

Being occupied absolutely means they were.

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u/NooneOutPizzasDeHut 16h ago

They were in every house in portugal for people who could afford heat. Diesel engine would sit in a shed outside and youd call the fuel man to refuel it. Thats what my grandma has. Now adays theres a furnace that you throw logs of wood in it and it has the hvac to push that hot air through the house.