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Glasgow Live
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Courtney Pochin & Katie Williams

Clever homeowner shares 'little known' reason why most kitchen sinks are beneath a window

Ever thought of the reason why certain things are places in a home?

Radiators are often found under a window and it is said that this was done in the 20th century when windows were encouraged to be opened for ventilation to combat viruses.

The hot air would then tackle the cold air and allow the room to have a comfortable temperature.

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But now people are just realising why kitchen sinks are also below a window.

It is a feature found in most homes and while it can provide a nice view to look out of as we mindlessly wash the dishes, there is in fact a logical reason behind it.

Thanks to a post on Reddit, homeowners are now realising why sinks are placed there, as the Mirror reports.

An anonymous homeowner took to the Casual UK forum to share how they were planning to renovate their kitchen and didn't want to put the sink near the window - but thought this is where most were usually located.

The post read: "Planning a kitchen renovation, and realised we can easily move the kitchen sink away from the window to give us more usable counter space. Then I realised, I’ve never seen a kitchen sink that isn’t in front of a window.

"Is there a reason for that? Is staring out of the window while washing up just a British thing? Or am I crazy in even suggesting a sink with no window?"

More than 200 people responded to the post, with one sharing a clever reason as to why the sinks are often found under a window, quoting from kitchen experts at KDCUK.

They explained: "The simple reason why kitchen sinks have traditionally been placed under the window is that the window is, obviously, on an outside wall. In terms of plumbing, using as short a waste pipe as possible from the sink to the drains is not only the most effective but also the cheapest solution.

"It's also because it's where the most natural light comes through. Plus if you wash by hand plates dry quicker. This is a hangover before the dishwasher."

The original poster replied to say they hadn't thought of this before - and many others hadn't either.

Another person commented: "Lol omg I always thought it was so housewives could send the kids out to play and watch them while she washed up! Idk why I thought that though, nobody has ever said that to me now that I think about it."

However, there were lots of people who weren't bothered about the sink being near a window - and didn't have one near a window in their home.

Someone else replied: "We have cupboards above our sink. I can’t think of any reason why you couldn’t have one. The only reason they don’t normally is because there is usually a window there instead."

A different user added: "Used to have a sink in front of the window. Now, after an extension, no, as we moved it to create a more open plan kitchen/diner. Do I miss looking out of the window when using the sink? Er, no... Did take some use of additional lighting to help the ambience though."

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