I'm an Arizona girl so I don't know about things like cold weather, snow, boilers or radiators! Okay, yes I did live in Spokane Washington for a few years but that was a long time ago and I have long since forgotten what cold felt like. I moved to England from Florida so I thought cold was 70 degrees. In Florida if the weather got down to 70 you broke out your only coat and perhaps a long pair of pants that were waaaay back in the closet for emergencies.
Boilers and radiators? To be honest I thought a radiator was a thing-a-ma-jig under the hood of a car, and boilers...I thought those were just things from scary movies like Nightmare on Elm Street. Like, the boiler room where Freddie would chase you...it was hot and had lots of steam in it. I even thought it was one of those big giant steel box things that people would throw coal in to stoke the fire. (think maybe that is an incenerator?) Yea sure laugh it up...I know it sounds awfully stupid that a woman my age could not know what these things are but like I said I grew up in the desert...Tempe, Arizona or also known as "The Valley of the Sun!"
Last Friday we woke up to a very cold house, come to think of it now it was really Thursday night sometime that the heat stopped flowing thru our pipes. It was Friday morning however, that we figured it out. COLD water in the shower and cold radiators on the walls. And the blood in my veins turned to ice when it hit me...we must be out of oil!!!!
I don't know if it is all of England that heats their home and water this way or just the older houses, but without oil in our tank out back there is no heat! Everything else in the house runs on electricity but the hot water and heating. We filled up our oil tank when we moved into this house back in September. At that time I think we needed 500 liters as it was already about half full. Our tank I believe will hold over 900 liters of oil (not totally sure). Oil is a bit pricey and depending on when you fill it, the price can vary...like gasoline I suppose. So when we filled it we paid about 400 pounds and that would equal out to somewhere around 635.00 depending on the currency exchange rate at the time. So yea...it isn't something you just decide one day you want to fill up, it's a good chunk of money and keep in mind that was for only half a tank of oil.
Two weeks prior to our oil outage I started to get a nagging feeling that we should check the oil level. I told the husband several times..."We should check the oil honey" but he put it on the back burner and it didn't get done. I did go and look at the gauge several times and it showed the oil level was still half full, but each time the gauge showed the same amount. Now I'm a girl and don't know about these things so I thought either the gauge is wrong or...I'm a girl that doesn't know about these things.
Friday morning after two cold showers hubby and I went out to the tank together to check it. We beamed a flashlight down into the tank and guess what...NO OIL! Checked the gauge on the side of the tank and it read half full. Now it was time to panic! It was early Friday so I was hopeful someone from the oil company could just run us out a few hundred liters. I called before they opened at 7:30 and finally spoke to someone live around 11. While they were very nice I was told the first time I could expect someone would be in a week. WHAT?! ONE WEEK??? The man on the phone must have felt sorry for this silly American girl and he said he would get it to me by Tuesday at the latest and not charge us an emergency fee. I hung up the phone and actually felt lucky we only had to wait 5 days and then I checked the weather forecast. Ahhhh no biggie...so it would be 25 degrees that night, we will just have to bundle up...right?
It is by far probably the most miserable I have ever been. I went to bed that first night with my long johns on, two pairs of sweat pants, two t-shirts, a sweater, sweatshirt and two pairs of socks. All while sleeping under two sheets a blanket and a very thick comforter. It sounds ridiculous but I was barely comfortable in all that!
We have one fire place in this big house and it is electric at that. It is in the living room so when we have been home we are for the most part... living in the living room. We also have one space heater...we thought about going out and buying a couple more but they aren't cheap and with the oil bill coming we decided to buck up and get by with the one. During the day we keep it in the living room, that with the fireplace on non-stop has been enough to keep the room warm...it doesn't get hot just barely warm. We have a lot of very large windows in that room and the installation is very bad in this old house. Also to give you and idea of the size of the room, we have three large radiators that are normally running just to heat that room and normally we still have the fireplace on with that.
No hot water has meant sponge baths! I do not like sponge baths, I think if Brad Pitt himself was sponging me off I still wouldn't like them. I've been heating water on the stove in my largest stock pot which by the way isn't that large but it's all I have. Once the water is hot enough I run it upstairs, set it in the shower and then use it to sponge off. It's an ordeal. I also have to boil hot water to wash dishes in the sink. I feel like I have fallen off the time machine and any minute the Morlocks are going to crawl out of a well and capture me...and like the Eloi I'd probably go willingly thinking at least I would be warm underground with them. (until they ate me and then I wouldn't have to worry at all about being cold)
It's a miracle!!!! The fuel truck just pulled up outside!!!!! Gotta run...I'm going outside to give him a big kiss!!
6 comments:
It's the same with propane, you have to watch the gauge or you'll run out. Because it's so expensive we can't afford to fill the tank, we got on the level-pay plan: They look at how much we spent on propane the previous year, divide that amount by twelve, and send us a monthly bill. We do the same with our electric bill. That way we know what to count on every month.
Your story caused me to giggle a little but I know the feeling. In most of the houses I've lived in, I depeneded on electricty to stay warm (yes I have a small wood stove but when it's the worst~there seems to be a burn ban)so when the power goes out there's no heat, no hot water, no stove to cook on..it's miserable. I remember several times over the years where the power's been out for 3-4 days at a time. Not a fun time. So I'm happy to hear you are back in business. You might get that tank topped off in the summer when oil prices are normally lower then you'll be ready for the start of next fall/winter. Also around here, you sign up for automatic delivery....a top off every 4-6 weeks....so you always have plenty of oil.
Like living in the country, just a different country :o)
I am so happy the oil truck arrived!! Yay!!! We had to live a whole week without electric during a Kentucky ice storm and only a fireplace to keep us warm. We tacked heavy wool blankets to the doors to keep warm in one room and everyone lived in that one room for a week also. Thankfully we were able to cook on our grill by putting it in the garage instead of standing on the icy deck.
Lisa
Well, I'm glad you've got your heat back - better have that gauge fixed as well!
Been a long time, enjoying catching up on your blog. Hope your doing great!
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