A lot of Americans who plan to move to the Philippines and live here for good tell me the same thing – “I want to live in an American style house.” I think it is kind of natural to feel that way, given the fact that mostly have lived in the USA for their entire life, and they want something that is somewhat familiar to them. But, do you really mean you want to live in a nice house, or that you really want an American Style house?
I mean there are some things that are American style that probably would not be feasible or even desirable here. Let’s look at a few such things.
Central Air Conditioning. These days, most American houses, except perhaps in much cooler parts of the USA, have Central Air Conditioning. Almost every time mo Mother comes to visit us, she complains about the fact that we do not have Central Air Conditioning. Instead, in the more Asian style, or at least Philippine style, we have a room air conditioner in each bedroom. Other rooms of the house are not air conditioned at all. Electricity is very expensive here. It is actually, in a per kilowatt hour basis, about twice the price here that I paid in the USA. If I had central air in the house where I am living, I would probably have an electricity bill of $700 to $1,000 per month. As it is now, my power bill is about $250 per month, which is already quite high. Why would I want to cool the entire house 24/7 when I can just cool the rooms where we are, and save 2/3 of the cost?
Fences/Walls. Most houses, at least in the City here in the Philippines are surrounded by a perimeter wall, usually a solid wall that cannot be seen through. This took some adjustment for me at the beginning. Most foreigners that I talk to while they are visiting tell me that they don’t like the walls, feeling isolated, or even getting a feeling of being in jail. I can perfectly understand that. But, I have come to accept that such a wall is needed. It is not that it is dangerous here and you are keeping armed people out, or that sort of thing. It is something with a several pronged reason. Firstly, it keeps the riff-raff out. Do you want beggars and such coming right up to your door, or to the windows and asking for food or money? I feel sorry for people who are genuinely poor, but many of these beggars are nothing but professional beggars, and frankly, I don’t want to deal with them any more than necessary, and I certainly don’t want them at my place of residence. Secondly, a wall does offer an element of safety from thieves or others who mean you harm for one reason or another. I don’t feel that it is unsafe here, but no matter where you are in the world, there are people who want to steal your things and such. A wall minimizes that.
Carpeting. A lot of foreigners tell me that they want wall to wall carpeting on the floors, just like back home. Honestly, this is a bit crazy in my opinion. The biggest reason is that there is a lot of dust here, and the carpets are going to be a constant source of work to keep it clean. Secondly, I am not even sure if you can buy wall to wall carpet here or not. I’ve never seen it before. Another thing about carpeting is that it is going to be hot. In the West, where Winters are cold, carpet helps keep your feet warm. You don’t need that here, and generally, carpet, in my opinion, is going to make it warmer in the house than you want. The most common types of flooring in the Philippines are hardwood floors, tiles or even cement floors covered with linoleum or something of the sort. Now, you can find space rugs to accent the floor, but I’ve never seen wall to wall carpet.
Central Hot Water. We Americans are used to having a hot water tank in the garage, up in the attic, in some closet in the house, or some “out of the way” place, and this tank heats the water and stores it for use anywhere in the house. Frankly, this is wasteful. In these days of expensive electricity, and a desire to go more green, hot water on demand makes a lot more sense. Here in Asia, centrally heating hot water and distributing it throughout the house is unheard of. We have small heating units right in the shower where cold water comes in and is instantly heated to give us a hot shower. With this, you heat the exact amount of water that you need, you don’t have to keep the water warm for later use, etc. It is efficient, and it works great.
So these are a few of the differences between an American style house and a nice house in the Philippines. Do you want or need “American style” or do you just mean that you want a nice house to live in? For me, those are two different things. Philippine houses can be nice too!
You are quite right Bob, in the West, we are wasteful with things like hot water and heating. My eyes were opened somewhat when my Mother in Law visited us here in Scotland for a few months? She was astounded at us washing dishes in water she considered too hot even to put her hands in, washing ourselves in what she thought of as uncomfortably hot water, and many other wasteful aspects of our lives. Throwing excess food in the bin too was painful for her. She used to watch me trimming the fat from bacon slices and throwing it away, with a mixture of amazement and horror? I’d say: “Well, we don’t have any pigs or dogs or chickens, and we’re certainly not eating the heart attack inducing stuff, so there’s nothing else I can do with it”! And she’d look out at our beautifully manicured lawn to the rear of the house, and you could see her dream of a pig pen and a few chickens running around, no food wasted, every resource managed well! I hope that one day, I will be able to be in a position to combine the best of both cultures, melding them together to create something closer to an ideal than we have at the moment.
Hi Jim – Ha ha…. I enjoyed hearing the vivid story about your Mother-in-law’s visit! That was great.
I believe that what you are looking for is what all of us need to find… a balance, a melding of cultures.
Well put, Bob.
One thing regrading the central air issue … what we normally call central air in the US depends upon a forced air furnace and duct system .. the air con is simply an add-on to the central heating system.
Well, we don’t have the central furnace and air ducts that convey the ‘heat or cool; to each room … so in addition to being wasteful, such systems are near impossible in a lot of Philippine houses.
The best alternative … aside from individual room units which are cheap and easily controlable … are quality ‘split units’ with the noisy, hot compressor outside asnd the quiet, cool room fan and evaporator unit isnside, typically wall mounted. Usally this is the best compromise, especially as you can buy these units with multiple inside units connected (by small diameter piping) to single outdoor units.
Currently we are just using two window units in our small home, if our remodeling/rebuilding plans go through I will continue to use the bedroom window units until the ‘die’ and then replace them with a two-headed ‘split’. We’ll put in a split for our living/dining area as well, once we replace the current windows which are so ‘leaky’ it makes air conditioning foolish.
Central air in the US is extremely wasteful for many families, rooms are air conditioned hour after hour with no one (except the power company) benefiting. As you know I just came back from a trip to the US and once again I am aghast at the waste.
Every American seems to think that s/he is born with a silver “energy spoon” in their mouths and that wasting cheap government subsidized power is the right and privilege of all who can afford it. Someday I suppose we might learn, but I am not all that hopeful…
Hi Dave – Here in our house, we have three different window units. One in the master bedroom, one in the kid’s bedroom, and one in my office. It works great for us, and it keeps the energy use down to what is needed. We have had the split units too in the past, but for some reason, always seemed to have trouble with them! 😉
Every house that I go to in the Philippines smells mildew! I was told because not the entire house has air condition so the smells came from the rooms that has no air…is this true? If not, why houses in the Philippines smells…
Hi Bob – Guess we’re in a luck/no luck situation with the hot water system. We have a combination of both “on demand” heaters and the ol’ hot water tank – different uses, different sources. As luck (or should I say no luck) had it, all of my “on demand” units have crapped out within the first year of service. Good ol’ tank – kept the shower nice and warm for us while awaiting repairs!
btw – I believe they still use former married officers’ quarters in Subic as rental/lease housing. These, I believe, are pretty much American style sans the wall-to-wall carpet. That stuff easily grows mold and other cultures of unknown/undesired micro-plant/animal life between itself and the floor beneath!
Hi Paul – I’m surprised that your on demand hot water units failed. In my 10 years of living here, I have never had a failure of one of those units.
HI,
Great information. I was med retired from the Army in 2013, at which time I moved here to the Philippines. I had visited here several times before and I LOVE it here. However, the one things that kept baffeling me were the water and the air con issues. For the life of me I couldn’t understand why they don’t use hot water heaters and central air con. The heat here can be unbearable at times , and the fans we have just don’t seem to do the trick unless you’re sitting right in front of them. We do have a window unit but we use it sparingly because of the electric cost. I am wanting and planning to move my family to a nicer, bigger house with more rooms and I have thought about trying to look into if central air con was even an option. But after reading your post and some other replies, everything makes perfect sense now. I hadn’t thought about how expensive the cost of electricity is until now. Now that you guys made me think about this and realize it, it has completely opened my eyes to just how wasteful it is to have central air. So that I can deal with. Just get portable units for the rooms and one of those triangle air cons for our living area. My plan is to get a place with plenty of windows. Where we live now, we have ONE window. There is no cross breeze what so ever. So if I find a place with several windows throughout the living area and a couple windows per room, then that will cut down on the need for air, especially with how cool the nights have been lately.
As far as the hot water thing goes. I MISS taking hot showers. The little portable heater thing we have doesn’t work because the person that built this place and did the wiring did a really crappy job, so we can’t use. BUT, while we were out looking for counter tops at Wilcon, we saw something I absolutely want to have. They have a SOLAR HOT WATER heater for less than 35k pesos. It works like a regular water storage thing they use here for when water isn’t working so well, which for us is every day. But it also heats the water using solar panels. So you can have your cake and eat it to in regards to somewhat “American” style hot water, and not have to worry about the energy costs. I certainly plan on looking into this more when we do finally find a place and move.
HI David – I am a little surprised, you say that you have a window A/C unit, but you don’t use it much because of the cost of electricity… yet you want a central air unit. If you use central air your electricity is going to be much higher! It doesn’t make sense to me.
As for the hot water, I have no problems, our hot water unit works great. The solar unit you describe does sound pretty cool, though.
Wall-to-wall carpeting, now that would be something 😀
Lot’s of folks use window units in the States, you just gotta drive over to the other side of the tracks once in a while 😛
Hi Gary – Yeah, I am aware that there are people with window units in the States. In the area where I came from, at least, the central units are much more widely used, though. Maybe it varies by region. I do know, though, that I have had a lot of Americans ask me about central air here, though…
yeah I know, kinda jokin’. Where we lived in Dallas was all centralized, but neighborhoods just a few miles away the majority had window units. It’s really what you can afford, even in the states. Believe me, Dallas in August you will have central air if you can afford it.
BTW, I never had AC any places I lived in California. Being near the beach, the only days it was needed was during San Ana’s, we just toughed it out those days!!
Hi Gary – The way things are going in the US these days, maybe both sides of the tracks are going to end up with window units! 😆
No doubt – the joke now is when locals see a foreigner (American), they say “he’s here looking for work.”
😉
I’d shudder at the thought of wall to wall carpet here, along with what Bob said about dust, the mold and mildew from the humidty in a non A/C house would absolutely kill me !
Hi Tommy – Yeah, that would be a bed of nasty built up germs and such! Talk about allergies! I actually talk to Americans, though, who long for the carpet that they left behind! 😯
Hi Bob;
We keep a window Air-con for sleeping, when it’s very hot, most nights after midnight it cools off. Central Air, is as you said, pure wasted money. I like fans also.
Walls and fences also have another great purpose, to keep my dogs inside and safe from disease, and of course privacy.
Carpeting, you are so correct on that score. Cool tile underfoot is nice on a hot day. Hardwood is beautiful to look at and easy to maintain.
Central Hot Water Tank, does no one watch Mythbusters? There dangerous and wasteful, again you hit it right; hot water on demand is the way to go, unlike Paul K’s mine keep working and working…
Hey Bob, if I wanted an American house I’d build it there!
Hi Paul – Exactly! If you want an American house… well, you have 50 States to choose from for the location! 😉
We also have a lot of ceiling fans in our home. They help save from running the aircon all the time (I am sitting here in my office right now with no air conditioning, and the ceiling fan going full blast), and at times when you do use the aircon, they help circulate the air better too. I love them! Kind of gives me that “Casablanca” feel too. 😉
Hi Bob – You may have overlooked this, so I’ll add it in 😉 :
“This, of course, is not a recommendation or endorsement of ceiling fans produced by the “Casablanca Fan Company” of Memphis, Tennessee and no promotional fees were received or sought for the mention of the name/word ‘Casablanca’.”
😆
Only one problem with your thinking on that one, Paul… I wasn’t talking about the fan company… rather the movie! 😯
Oh, that changes everything! 😉
“This, of course, is not a review or endorsement of movies produced by Warner Brothers Studios of Hollywood, California and no promotional fees were received or sought for the mention of the name/word ‘Casablanca’.”
😆
Ah shucks, Paul.. you’ve ruined my day! I was hoping some of those promotional funds would change hands! 😯
Hi Bob- Since the USA is so diverse in terms of climate etc from North to South and East to West I’m sure there are places there that have a similar climate to the Philippines.There is also a diversity of climate here in the Philippines that may influence choosing a house style to suit the particular area that you decide to live in.But as you say cost and needs determine what one ends up with at the end of the day.If we had for example fitted carpets here in Talakag the vacum cleaner would be out daily due to the ammount of dust from the traffic passing the house and god only knows what would be living and breeding in said carpet.The old adage horses for courses comes to mind and a sensible mix of what is practical and what is a waste of money.Thats why I also say to people who wish to come and live here, experiance it first and see what others have done before deciding what is best for them.
Like Jim H we also many years ago had Marilous mother come to visit us in the UK and our kids who were young then reported one evening at the diner table that Granny was always looking at our garden fish pond and they were sure that our fish were for the frying pan one lunch time when we were at work.Granny told them that having fish in a pond just to look at was pointless.When I told Granny what they had said she laughed but I’m glad I did mention it in the long run hahaha!
Meanwhile I’m happy with my 8′ high wall around the house as it keeps some of the dust out and as you mentioned Bob all of the riff-raff or maybe thats my Scots culture coming out in me (kuripot).
Regards.
Jim in the Bukid.
Jim
Hi Jim – How are things up in the Bukid today? I hope you and Marilou are doing well! I never heard that “horses for courses” adage, that must be a British thing! 😉
I love Granny’s logic on the fish pond! That’s a wise woman!
Hi Bob- We are still surviving and enjoying life here in the mountains,much cooler than in CDO at the moment with the power outages going on.
The saying means whatever suits you best,very British of course.
Granny never did get to raid the fish pond that we know of lol.
All the best to you and Feyma.
Regards.
Jim
Hi Jim – The power situation around Mindanao is not good. We have been lucky in my neighborhood, though… haven’t had a brownout since last Saturday. Others around town tell me they are having 2 or 3 brownouts per day… I just smile…
Hi Bob- Just keep smiling they will never see you in the dark lol.
Take care.
Jim.
Speaking of American style houses I was just thinking a day or 2 ago if you could build a wood frame house in the Philippines? The recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile made me think about this. I have heard there are varying quality of hollow block there in the Philippines and if you build a house do you know for sure what quality you will get?
If the quality of the hollow block was not so good it seems your house could crumble in a strong earthquake. Here in the states wood frame houses seem pretty good at withstanding earthquakes.
I have lived in two different wood framed houses in the Philippines. The termites are a constant battle.
Termites are a constant battle? More so than in the US?
It’s huge, Ray. There isn’t even a comparison between the Philippines and the States. I have seen wood structures filled with termites only days after they were put up!
I heard you need to treat the wood with something. I think it was called sorgum?
One house I lived in (next door to where I am now) was built with treated lumber. It was still full of termites. Hey, I have no problem with anybody building with wood… I would personally never do it, though.
A friend in Bohol, just built his home like Americans. However, instead of 2×4 studs, he used the steel studs. The was are drywall and the house has done well for the last 5 years. Im building a cement cement block home now in Leyte but like you said the quality is not there. Sometimes you pick up a block and it cracks in half. To counter act this effect, Im having the workers fill it with cement. So far so good. As for american style, i had the house rooms layout like an american ranch. We have the bathrooms in the hallway and the master br. I dont like when they think of putting the CR afterwards. The architect wanted to put the CR next to the kitchen. I like it in the hallway, not where I eat. We will see how it goes.
Just make sure that the hollow block makers use good Portland cement, don’t skimp or try to stretch the bag (use proper ratio or cement, aggregate and water), and reinforce the block construction with steel rebar. Works for me – earthquakes & typhoons.
One thing about cement, Paul.. you are right, it’s a bad idea to stretch it… the elasticity just is not there! 😯
We are constructing a house in Philippines and made it solid outside walls up and down. This is earthquake and typhoon resistance. Another thing we did it added tie beams that tie all the vertical columns together just under the floor level. The vertical colors go down 6 feet into the ground below the tie beams. Usually its is only recommended on buildings above 3 stories a civil engineer advised me.The last thing we did was to increase the gauge of the of the deform bars above standers. A Japanese friend advised me to do so.
This type of construction is supposed to withstand 8.1 strength. I still worry if it really is that strong. Let pray i never find out.
Our house will have solar central hot water every where soon. We already ran hot and cold every where. I miss that from US.
As for central air there is know way I can afford to cool the entire house but I am going to try something different. We have installed a central ventilation system that pulls fresh air from out side and changes the air 8 times per hour. It is important that your house has fresh air.
Heat is not the only problem its also a function of humidity and cross ventilation. So we are ordering a whole house de-humidifier to hook into ventilation system. The problem with that is it will add heat to the air. So we will add a very super small central air that will cool the the air just to add sensible cooling to the entire house. What i meant by sensible cooling just to cool the house slightly. This system will only run on and off to exchange the air in every room 8 time per hour. It will use less electricity than refrigerator.
The goal of this equipment is to provide fresh air with cross ventilation and take some humidity out of the house so the split AC dont have to work so hard.
The other thing we did was to use a non metal roof. Metal roofs which are common here create an oven on second floor. Also recommend to ventilate your roof as they dont like to do that here.
We are currently living here while construction is being completed but one thing i can say it is already much cooler than the last two places we lived at because of the roof is non metal and ventilated.
I dont know if the centralized dehumidifier and air conditioner system will be energy efficient or not. I was give advice from a factory engineer that in our climate that is good idea. I will post back here and let you know how it all worked out.
I then will add split AC in some rooms and ceiling fan in all rooms.
The workers here even though they are used to me buy now think i am crazy but i miss my comforts from US. Carpet is out and wood is problem here I seen it to much. I spent two years house hunting looking for an American style house I could afford. I finally decided we better build after what I saw in my price range.
Life as an expat is some a struggle but I love it here.
Hello Randy…
I’m planning building my so called retirement home in Pampanga. But, the heat, humidity and mildew smelling house without air in the house is just intolerable in some. A person can have a big and fancy house but when you come in, first you smell is mildew…because my friend only have the air conditions in the bedrooms. I watch them so miserably sitting in the living room with sweats pouring out…I don’t want to live this way but trying to find a way to have a centralize air with less electricity bill. If your plan works, please share to us that would like to live comfortably in the Philippines without spending arms and legs for air…
Thank you…
Just replaced the ceiling in the living room had the only wood partion structure in the house. Termites…And carpeting I don’t know about you there, but here in Metro Manila, the Ants would love you for that.
I hear you lenny! Those termites can be vicious!
Hi Bob!
We have just finished a ventilation project on our house in Gen San. It has made a world of difference comfort wise. Marie built our house before we met about five years ago. It is three bedroom two bath home that is maybe two thousand square feet. It was nicely constructed and ornate but dreadfully hot. While there were many soffit vents there was no vents in the top of the umbrella style roof. The result was a big pocket of trapped hot air. Our solution was to cut the top of the roof out and add a decorative cap that allows the heat to escape much like the roof of a manok lechon stand. I then added two large exhaust fans in the ceiling for the really hot days. Other than some ceiling fans and air cons in the bedroom
Hi Tom – Your project sounds like a good one, and I’m glad to hear that you met with some success on that!
Hi Tom,
For the exhaust fan on the roof, how does work when it’s raining?
Sorry my laptop has a mind of its own and submitted my reply before I was finished. We are very fortunate that where we live in Silway 7 we have clean air and cool breezes. If you get out of the sun the air is usually pretty nice. American style house? Probably a foolish luxury.
I noticed the perimeter walls in the Philippines. The thing that caught my eye was the walls were pretty thin, with glass and other undesirable objects cemented into the top. Does anyone know if they are expensive to put one of these walls around an 300-400 square meter lot?
Hi Jakeb – The glass and such on the top (or nails are also common) are there to keep people from being able to easily climb over. Putting up a perimeter wall is relatively inexpensive.
Hi;
I often wondered about people with nails, broken glass and spikes on top of their wall, and what it says about them as a person. Do they wear both a belt and suspenders, because the trust nothing? Just string out the razor wire and mount the mortar on the roof and be done with it. I don’t want to live like that, and no matter what you put on top of the wall it won’t stop a determined thief.
Hi Paul – I also don’t really like having the nails or broken glass on the wall. We have it on our wall, but this is a rented house, and you have to take it the way it is. I personally don’t live in fear that somebody is going to climb the wall and think that the glass is totally unnecessary.
Yes Bob;
I should have specified if building a wall don’t use that stuff, as when I rented we had a wall like you described and I had no use for it.
Coming from a Corrections setting, I know too know the glass is a wasted effort. If they really want in, they’ll get in. In order to ensure nobody gets in, or out in my experience, you will need several layers of concertine wire, motion sensors, and a roaming patrol. And even then, it’s no gurantee. There’s also that huge opening above the walls. Which brings in hanging wires to keep out helicopters, and you better add a man in a tower with a rifle to boot. And still, not going to be fool proof. It’s like putting a lock on the liquor cabinet. It’s to keep the less than determined out. Could I jimmy the lock and get some booze? Yeah, but do I want to deal with Dad later? The fence is there as a simple way of saying, we don’t want any, unless we open our gate for you. Otherwise, have a nice day.
I just realized I’m replying to a two year old post. It’s late here. Noon there. I need some sleep. 🙂
We have a lot that is about 50W by 47L (meters) = 2350sqm and cost us one million for 3 sides with a metal car entry gate. Using concrete steel reinforced block and painted on both sides. Also it was in a fairly remote area so that probably added to cost. I guess you can interpolate your cost from this. hope this helps
Great size lot, richard! We have 1,000 sq. m in Samal Island, and I love that size and up to about your size.
Wow. That sounds high. I don’t know anything from anything about the Philippines really, but if that’s a normal price, I better rethink getting a 3-5k sq. mtr. lot. I know I read a link to a site from here about a guy that built his house and he broke it down, and also bought good quality block and ensured high cement ratio… let me see if I can find that link… Yes, I found it. This site is FILLED with awesome information if you’re thinking of building in the Philippines. I’ve read it 2-3x’s over already and plan on using it as a major source of knowledge if we build when we get there next year!
http://myphilippinelife.com/building-our-philippine-house-index/
I believe I got the link from LiP, so I don’t think you’ll mind the link out Bob.
Hi Bob. Great article and something I hope to reference when we retire to Leyte. I need to look into the hot water on demand for the shower. I normally apologize to everyone in Baybay on using all the hot water after a shower. I think they are more amused with hearing me scream with the cold shower.
Hi Jack – The hot water on demand is really the way to go, IMHO.
How water on demand is something that they have started to use here in the U.S., trying to be more green. The problem is, that it costs a lot of green to be green. Of course, our hot water on demand is still hot water for EVERY tap in the house, except toilet. So, the systems, I am sure, are much bigger. I had been thinking of getting one installed in my house and checked into it a few years ago. Back then, the price was going to run me about $900 for the unit, plus installation. And, I was told that if I started a family and had a lot of people using it at the same time in multiple showers/tubs/dishwasher, etc. that I might need to run two in-line. Now, we’re really talking green. And this was from a friend, who does contracting on the side for plumbing. He wasn’t trying to rip me off. He gave me the best price I could get on some other work he did. And, he is the best damn plumber I’ve ever met. And I’ve known a lot of them. Keep him supplied in coffee and he’s a happy camper!
Hi all;
I still live near Indianapolis. I formerly had a 2300 sq ft two story house in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with wall to wall carpet, including the stairs; central air conditioning, etc. The house had lots of fiberglass insulation in the walls and ceillings. There were also tightly fitted double pane windows, that were hardly ever openned. We also had, and still have a portable electronic air cleaner that keeps the dust to a minimum. Part ot this, of course was to deal with winter cold temperatures that could occassionally hit 20f. below zero. Summer temperatures and humidities could go to the other extremes. Before I sold it, I had to have the mildew washed off the vinyl siding on one side, with a power washer. I had it for 10 years and only changed the carpet in the family room, once from wear and tear. Part of our problem, is that my philippine wife is alergic to the pollen that blows freely around in Indiana. That house was new in 1996. Our present smaller ranch house in Indianapolis was built new for us in 2006, with many of the same approaches.
I’ve been reading the posts of Andy Hyner on My Space as he is getting his 2 new houses built in Santiago, Isabela Philippines. His walls are poured – reinforced concrete, with a layer of foam insulation being installed between two layers of reinforced concrete. He has posted a lot of pictures, and videos. I haven’t heard his plans about appliances etc. yet. They are just in the process of installing his roof trusses now. It looks like he is building a house that will be tighter than the standard Philippine construction. I suppose that the cost would be a lot higher also.
Hi Larry – Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.
Hi Bob,
Great article, well informed; your website is really neat place to get information. I’m new here, a Filipina friend told me to check this web page out. And I’m glad she did, now I’m convinced to really get my feet out of here and look into Davao soon. As you are aware, I’ve heard a lot of people from the media and from friends who works with the financial services that we are going to have the 2nd bubble here in the US and it’s coming. I am preparing myself to either live in an RV (recreational vehicle, that I bought from my neighbor a while back and I paid off)and keep a frugal living.
American style of living in a tropical area is not a wise way to live. I prepare to live in a house like the Balinese style if I can. I guess I’ll find out when I get there.
Thanks for your website 🙂
Andrea
Hi Andrea – Welcome to LiP! I’m glad that you found my site, and I hope that you continue to find it informative and helpful. Unfortunately, the USA is in some real trouble financially, and I don’t think it is going away soon. I hope it does, because it has hurt my business badly, but I just don’t see it dissipating soon, though. I think the timing is good for a move to the Philippines! I moved here 10 years ago, and I’m loving every day of my life here.
Hi Bob
I plan to build my own house in the not to distant future. Having lived here for over 5 years now I have a good take on the good and bad of Philippine house design and efficiencies and I plan to build one that utilizes the best efficiencies of both countries. Utilizing Wind and or solar for independence from the massive energy issues in the country if needed. Using a Heat pump which delivers hot water to the household at much less cost than any other heating system and as an offshoot, provides cool air on the out fan of the heat pump unit which can be used for room cooling purpose. Larger American style rooms ie: bed,bath, closets, office, entertainment, etc…. American style two car garage. Sheds for tools, storage, gardening stuff, etc……
The house will cost no more than most any quality Philippine house at about 25 – 30 thousand peso per sq. meter. or $57 USD sq foot. There will only be higher upfront coast associted with the heat pump and solar and wind. In any event this house would be very desirable and easier to sell in case of a financial emergency.
Hi richard – I, in my opinion, believe that you did a very wise thing in renting here for a while first! Many people don’t do that, and a lot of them end up sorry for it! Congrats!
Hi Bob – off topic. Have been speaking with some friends there saying the brownouts are much worse than when you last mentioned on the LIP site. He said almost daily now for 3 to 4 hours at a time. Muct be driving you nuts. I know it would me. Air Con is my God in the Philippines
Hi richard – we have been very lucky in my neighborhood. We had a brownout for one hour last night. Before that we had not had one for about 5 days. Much of Mindanao is in extreme trouble right now with power shortages. Some places are having 10 to 12 hours per day of brownout!
I am hearing from more than one person all these power issues will dissapear after elections and they exist only to make the administration party look bad before the elections. Politics Philippine style I guess.
Hi richard – another scenario is that it is not being done to embarrass anybody, or make them look bad. However, this being the first ever automated election, it is possible that a power shortage like this could cause a failure of elections. I am not saying that will happen, but just looking at possible scenarios.
Hi Bob;
Normally I’d be taking a nap right now (13:00 hours), but as the house is full of helpers preparing for my wife’s birthday party Friday. She woke me to inform me of another Brownout, the third time this week. 2 @ 8 hours and today at, we’ll see! So my job was to start the generator so they can work. Next week I’ll write about the party.
Since the subject was about American style houses, I thought I’d point out that a generator is fast becoming required for Philippine style houses. I’ve had mine for ten years but so far here in 2010, in the past two months it’s been used more so than ever in the past during the same period. I just can’t figure with the power off so much, the monthly power bill remains the same.
You are certainly correct, Paul… if things keep going as they have been, a generator is standard equipment! I hate to see it… but we may have to look for one ourselves.
In another forum I saw a design for bamboo house but I guess that would be termite prone? I thought a good idea would be concrete housing, open concept, tropical style with lots of openings, (like top and bottom windows to have good ventilation. Tile flooring. Once I was on Guimaras, and visited the Trappist monastery and whoa, it was cool, I could just lay on the floor and take my siesta.
Many of the “American” style housing are really made for North America, which require air conditioning, e.g. Florida or central heating (up north). The problem is the design of the houses I think.
Carpetting is now going out of style here, because they’re really unsanitary. Even hotels are switching to non carpet flooring.
Anyway, for now, I don’t mind sticking a nice large designer nipa hut.
Hi AlexB – That is very interesting.. I never thought about termites and bamboo. Maybe they don’t go for bamboo, I’m not certain, though. Bamboo is certainly widely used in construction here, and I never saw a piece of bamboo infested with termites, but I am not fully certain on this…
Hi;
Bamboo is very prone to termite damage, I found out the hard way in Puerto Rico. The inside of my club was decorated with Bamboo, and the guy doing the work warned me that if it’s not cut at a certain time of the month, then cured until it’s not green any longer it will last. Of course I failed to follow his advice, thinking next he’ll want me dancing in a loincloth around the pile of Bamboo cursing Evil Spirits, I just waited six months and had it done again. The lesson I learned, was to listen to the local guy!
Thanks for passing that along, Paul. It is something I never thought about before.
Bob and AlexB, Termites can also be a problem with bamboo. In our town near the water there was a fancy secluded “native style” resort built by a corporation of rich investors that never really got off the ground. It now sits idol, but already the fancy bamboo cottages are showing the powder and dust and holes left by termites.
Our house sounds similar to other setups. It has three window aircon units, one in the bedroom, one in the guest bedroom and one in my husband’s office. We also have some high power metal electric fans that really move the air around. We have a lounge area upstairs that I’ve considered getting a split or free standing air conditioner, but it’s yet to happen.
Tile floors are in every room, that help to keep things cool underfoot.
We just recently had an on-demand water heater put in upstairs that is a dreamy alternative to cold tub baths. Perimeter walls seemed odd at first, but they really do lend privacy as our house is situated in a barangay along the national road. Many palms and trees also shade and cool the house.
Hi queeniebee – Yep, that sounds pretty typical to what we are doing too.
Glad you got that on demand water heater…. I had to take a cold shower the other day (brownout…) for the first time in a long time.. I really hate that! 😯
I prefer window air con myself as opposed to central air. At least this way if one unit goes bad or needs repair I have the others to use as backups. I use a 10,000 BTU window unit in the living room and a 5000 BTU in the bedroom. If I am careful those two units can keep the house livable during the summer here.
I have seen and used those instant hot water units in the UK. They are nice and quite efficient.
What about constant water pressure Bob ? I have seen places where it is just not there where you think it should be on city water systems. For me that would be a certain ” Must Have ” . I have always lived where I had my own well, and house water system. The water may be free but getting it out of the ground , stored in the tank and pressureized at 30 to 50 PSI, does cost money when it comes time for replacing the pump, tank etc.
Hi Bob – Over the years, water pressure has been a problem for us. A few months back, Davao City Water District was doing upgrades to it’s system all over town, and we have not had pressure problems since, at least nothing I’ve noticed. Hopefully that got everything where it should be.
Hi Bob
In my condo in Baguio I have a small central water tank heater which I plug in about 30 minutes before my shower. If you leave it on all day gets very expensive. I like that better because you get hot water at your kitchen and bathroom sink which makes shaving much easier. At my wifes house I have to go to the shower to get the hot water in order to shave. I think most homes that have a wood floor is actually a laminate type of floor which contains no wood at all. Though narra wood is beautiful and have some really nice patterns to them. Hardwood floors do require a lot of upkeep. You need a plywood or wood subfloor bottom in order to have and since most homes have a concrete bottom you are much more likely to see laminate, though you can use engineered hardwood but I think that is very tough to find.
Hi neil – A tank system that allows you to switch the power on and off sounds pretty good. Just for clarity… you can also get on-demand units that heat the sink water and such as well, they are very common. You can get one that heats the entire bathroom, which is handy to have!
My house has a hardwood floor, and I can assure you it is not laminate, and it is 100% wood. The house was built in the 60’s, and this is certainly wood. Upkeep? Sweep it every day, that’s about it. Our maid does wax it every few months or so, that’s all. There is no plywood under it either… the hardwood is on the second floor (which is the main floor of the house – it is a daylight basement type of construction).
Hi Bob
When I mentioned upkeep of hardwood floors, I should have said that they can get easily scratched by furniture or pets, I just had Brazilian walnut installed in 2 bedrooms here, and if you go by the janka scale it is the most dense wood out there, and I have already scratched it and a small indentation in the floor. Basically all hardwood floors are nailed down in the U.S. which requires a plywood bottom or in my case a wood subfloor. I don’t know how it is done in the Philippines.
Hi neil – our hardwood is nailed directly to the joists.
Bob, et al…Thanks for the input. But here’s what I know or have found out.
1. Bamboo, as Paul T says, has to be a certain “age”, and treated. Read in some forum (I think here about bamboo houses), some treated in seawater?
2. Termites, from what I heard from a German guy (the way they construct houses over there), to prevent infestation, you have to raise the floor by some feet, supported by concrete bottom posts or if you use wood support columns, have to be encased in concrete in the bottom?
3. Earthquakes, typhoons, Paul K mentions steel rebar reinforcement for hollow blocks, and proper cement. This I’ve seen since I was a kid. Just got a quote for a concrete perimeter wall from an engineer, 5 ft high, steel rebar supports are part of it. There are construction codes in the Phil, esp for earthquakes, worth knowing about. (My family was still there in 1968 with that big quake, where only one building collapsed in Manila, because of defective supports)
4. “Tropical design” – was talking to the rep of an intl dev agency in Cebu, who has been to Jamaica to observe. He noticed that there are top and bottom row of windows for ventilation, but not in the middle. Some pics of Aussie houses (maybe of Queensland?), have these top/bottom windows as well.
5. Working roof vents (as in not for decoration). I think you can find exhaust fans for that as well? Seen big ones here in Toronto, on a church roof.
5. High ceiling, tiled floor, open concept, windows where the sun don’t shine, large shady trees around. I’ve seen modern houses like these that are so cool, no air conditioning, just fans.
Having been checking out houses, places over there, I find that all these sub-d’s and housing units they build are heat traps. Even the glass jalousies they use, they get pretty hot esp when exposed to the sun, too much concrete around, instead of yards, plants etc. That’s just my 2 cents worth, if you buy my idea then it will cost you 2.5 cents. Alex
Hi Alex – You’ve been busy with some research there!
A good suggestion also that has helped us, downstairs our curtains are light and airy because the rooms are more shaded, but upstairs in more exposed rooms to the sun, we have heavy drapes that keep the sun out and cut down on energy during the day.
Just back home [ in The Netherlands ] from our trip to iligan ,
i have to agree with BoB .
My house here [ in Heerlen ] has the central heating ,
wall to wall carpeting in all rooms , etc.
Still planning to come live in iligan , we do not need it there.
Now my parents in law booth died , we will use that house .
I allready made a drawing of expanding it.
Make a gap in the wall and use 1 airco for living and bedroom.
Than 2 electric heaters , 1 for shower and 1 for kitchen ,
that,s it.
I think allso , that,s electric is not expensive in iligan ,
same as your cable TV , including internet , cost only 999 P
[ about 15 euro , $ 20 a month ]
but yes , i am not an american , but from europe ,
and i think , no i saw it myself the last weeks ,
that,s iligan is less expensive than Cagayan d,oro , Cebu
and Manila [ that i visited the last weeks .
Hi Anton – It’s good that you already have a house waiting for you. A few modifications, improvements and such, and you’ll be in business! Congrats on that!
Unfortunately, the Philippines’ power companies charge one of the highest rates in Asia and the world. I think we rank on the top 5 countries that pay the most for electricity. We pay so much less in the US than in the Philippines.
Yeah uh,
Dont know where everyone lives, but dust?? Where i live near santiago we have no dust it Rains almost every night and every 3 or 4th day i havei lived here in this current house for a year and we have not dusted once. We do sweep the floor daily of course but, no dusting. As far as the american style house. Just look around in manila and other big cities. The philippines is americanizing and fast, kids are being taught english right as the enter school. The local channels are now over half of english commercials, just turn to channel 5 and see. New houses are starting to get centeralized air units. Hot water tanks are even to being brought in. I just bought a hectare, and i am building an american style house all the quirks, except carpet yeah i can see that mildewing in a week here. They have anything you want go to home depot in pasig near mega mall and you can build and furnish everything you want american head to toe inside and out, they have everything ,the american home depot has. I am not going to get sheetrock but, i am building a all stone house, no cement well the floor will be but i am getting stamped cement to look like wood, and then will acid stain it, that is all the cement i will use. , the things i cannot stand is no centeral water heating: just draining bath and laundry water in the yard: most bathrooms ventilation why they baord up and keep the bathroom pitch black is beyond me, so this house my bathrom will be an open bath so one side will have no roof and a garden, natural lighting, and it will always be air dried, just a couple big fans on rhe celing to keep out blood suckers, and lastly: verry poor lighting i always feel like i am in a barn, so lights, lots of lights, and during the day o am a big fan of natural light so most of the wall will be windows smoke windows. And yes of course the wall, in the provinse everyone makes themself at home in my home they just walk up and plop a seat on the chair they always do this right before s meal time of course. Every day i walk out of the room and see 10+ Kids just standing at the door of course it is uncustom to turn away a guest so we always have people at the house, i wonder how much one of those shotgun store guards cost??? 🙂 just kiding.
Hi Berry – What you are describing is exactly what I am talking about.. nearly impossible to sell. Now, in Metro Manila or nearby, it may not be hard to sell, and you may see the area becoming more and more Americanized. However, Manila is not the Philippines, and the Philippines is not Manila. Down here in Davao what you are describing would never sell on the property market.
Good luck to you.
I never knew you replied sorry for couple year late response, just seen this thread today, I hear you on the province and I am done with the province I cant take it anymore. I grew up in west texas and was fine without money now in province with virtually endless funds “sort to speak” and want to pull my hair out on an hourly basis, I am currently looking and wanted visia for the beach but realized the same as any other province I have set my site to boracay or subic freeport, Boracay is wonderful but lot of freeloaders as well if main beach would be okay but seams will get old because of the nonstop music, Subic freeport would be great but cannot own only lease so what to leave for children, Boracay I hear stories that they buy a property and in 5 years they will come around again and say buy this property again or get banned from the PI??? dont know if true but what i have heard.
As for the province I am tired of it everyday someone always comes begs for something OI am tired of feeding people i never seen before, I swear they are watching me because we buy a butterball turkey in SM mall in santiago and i swear they know when we buy one because seems like the whole damn province comes running when we buy one even drove me and my wife apart because I cant take it anymore internet is crap they never came through with it and electricity is a joke may go off for hours at a time and we cannot keep anything stocked because every time i turn around someone is eating it, at first the area was perfect but they built a barangay center across the street and now they have marching band practice 18 hours a day no joke and same tune over and over and over. couple months ago they had a miss gay universe competition then everyone got made at me because i didnt give money to the charity with a bunch of fags running in bikinis and refused to go to the show, i swear here that common seance and just plain old thinking does not exists in the province, i have literaly been left scratching my head because of intelligence and swear my IQ has dropped since i have been here, and this is not a cultural difference cant understand but more like you are dumber than a box of rocks are you sure you are not inbreed stupid..
I got central aircon, water heater, wall to wall carpet, no outside walls, no laundry in the neighbors front yard, no dust, quite streets, an American designed and built house with a grassy yard. Also, being next to burger king and Wendys and a bunch of other American restaurants helps too. Oh yea, my life is duty free and I order from the USA anything I want duty free. I love Subic! I would not ever consider living like a Filipino or living anywhere else in the Philippines, not for million dollars. I live the way I wan’t with all the trimmings and waist. Call it what you wan’t, it is better…
Hi Bob,
I stumbled on your website because I was just curious on building an american style house in the Philippines in the future and I find your blog interesting. I am Filipino living in the California and I always wondered if I can build an american style house, with carpets, central AC, etc. Your reasoning makes sense, but I really wanted a carpeted style on the second floor (where the rooms are) since I am used to not wearing slippers walking around.
I also wanted to American style roofing and insulation like what we have here (to withstand the tropical heat) but I don’t know if it will survive the typhoons and rains though(I am from the North).
Hi Ramsey – American style houses and materials are not designed to survive the conditions in the Philippines. I feel that a carpet would become infested with tropical bugs quickly, and very difficult to keep clean. I don’t even know where you would buy carpeting, I have never seen it in the Philippines.
I do wish you good luck, though, on your project.
if can go to the home depot near mega mall in pasig they have everything to build a house from fiberglass installation, shingled roofs, centralized A/C havnt seen sheet rock (but wasnt looking either) Also harbor point in subic has lot of american products, I havnt looked at construction stuff in subic so dont know if have good material or not, as for the carpet these claims are false yes they can run into problems because they put them in filipino made houses wich means non insulated, if you also can go to up scale hotels in boracay and look they have great stuff and are out of the way, I lived and worked in marshall islands in kwaj and all houses have carpets with centralized A/C they are properly made and last long time, the only downside to that is because it is a little speck on the south pacific and salt is bad really bad there wind blows the salt and you get build-up on everything and eats through it like acid but, here in the PI no problems. Granted you will spend some to get it but as said before it is a house and place to live so why not put the time money into it and just like any other place on the globe it will be fine.
As most things I read Americans go to the philippines and embrace the suck if you want to call it that, why? They have American products in the home depot near mega mall i mean A-Z you can get everything you want american just might have 2 washers instead of 100 as in states but really easy to get anything just need to know where to look. As for the carpet that is false, I lived in phillipines for last 6 years and worked in marshall islands kwaj and literally a small little dot in south pacific, 10X more humid than PI there you have to worry about salt here you dont as for the carpet no, you have an american house that is sealed up like any other house in the states with centralized A/C and you will be fine, very short carpet like in an office building A/C cures a lot of problems that kill us sort of speak, mold grows in hot humid dark environments. Granted you will spend a few pecos to get it built but it is a house so why not build it to last, There is no difference from here or florida yet florida they live full houses no problems so why not here? A few minutes on google will put you in contact with construction companies who have worked with filipinos who worked construction in the states and know exactly how to build it, same as instalation you put fiberglass in and will last you forevor just like the states. As my time here i am somewhat nieve to the filipino way, lazy, lazy, lazy, like 30 people working in a little store and nd one knows anything? No it is a reason why the philippines is the last 3rd world asian country left because they are lazy and will no adapt to anything. Just like the language in province now and only 1/4 speak english they tell me all the time you need to learn, learn why? the flipping national language is english all laws, rules, and business is in english, you technically cannot get hired in a company without speaking english (that one realy doesnt work well in province) and it is law that you learn english in school so why should i learn a language that is really supposed to be dead? back on point is that the filipinos are behind, I recently read an article that blew my mind that in the 60’s manila was considered the most pristine tropical city in the world so what happened I thought it was ww2 but apparently it took another 20 years for it to go to crap. we are slowly building it up, you gain an inch and loose a mile when it comes to trying to teach filipinos, 6 years later and my wife still tries to cut meat and cook on the floor, even countless times i tell her i am not a dog and will refuse to eat it but every once when someone comes over she is like embarrassed to act like a decent human being and will go back to doing it. I even kicked her uncle out because he came over and refused to throw the food in the trash for 2 days he kept throwing food right in the front door and day 3 i told him stop or leave when he didnt listen i grabbed him by the arm and threw him out.
I live in florida , in a 1200 Sq foot home ,we had a 15 x 26 foot Breese way I inclosed ,and tried to cool with a,window unit , plus,ran a vent from the central ac unit to it , had the same setup in one of the rooms that used to be a carport .
The breeze way was always to warm , and our electric was 280 a month in the hot season .
I eventually replaced the central ac unit with a new one ,and 1/2 ton larger .
And removed those horrible window shakers
Wow ! What a difference . Our electric bill dropped to 125 a month , the hole house is cool now .
So central ac is more efficient , those window units,cost more to run .
You could probably cool the hole house 24 / 7 for what u spend on running two window units at night.
Thanks for your response. We are just about to get the central AC installed. I am rethinking the size now. I did not realize the efficiency of the central AC. The problem is here in Philippines the humidity average is up around 80%. The temperature is between 80-90f, the killer is the humidity. So we will defiantly need the whole hose dehumidifier or else the AC will get over worked. The AC will act as a dehumidifier but wont bring the humidity down enough unless we over work the AC.
Thank for your input i am now thinking to put larger central air and abandon the idea of splitt ac in every room. Not only it overall cheaper for the Central Air i think now that you pointed out the efficiency it will save on the electric.
Hi Randy,
How’s the centralize AC and dehumidifier? I’m planning to build my house next year and been reading different pros and cons on the centralize ac or anything to keep my house cool. Thanks.