We’re having some really cold weather lately, and it is forecast to be this way for the next 7-10 days. Last summer, our air conditioning unit went out, and we sweated a bit during a heat wave, getting it replaced. At the same time, we also had them replace the heating portion and the blower, and now, I’m so glad we did! Our central heat is running, and it’s warm and toasty in the house. 🙂
However, not so with our hot water heater – it went out yesterday. I had run the washing machine and dishwasher. Tim had gone out in the yard and noticed a little stream of water running in the yard, and came back in to ask, what are you doing, did you by any chance leave the water hose on outside? No, I had not been outside, just inside running the washer and dishwasher. Come to find out, it was neither of those, but the hot water heater (which in our house, is located in the attic). The hot water heater is original to the house, so it was nearing the end of its life span. It had some kind of clog, and it was overflowing from the water drip pan beneath it. Also, there was a pipe on the outside of our house that was just running water, like a water hose or water faucet opened up would do. What a pain!
It’s been an ordeal ever since. Tim trying to go to Lowe’s and buy a new one, trying to get it installed himself, then trying to get a plumber (or the installation people that Lowe’s use) to install it, etc. Come to find out, the one we bought at Lowe’s is too wide to go through the tiny opening up the stairs into our attic. And even better – Lowe’s doesn’t sell one that narrow, nor does any place in town. Apparently, ours is so old that they don’t make them that narrow any more. We’d have to go way down on the gallon capacity to get one that would fit, which is not what we want to do. Switching to a tankless system would be nice, but that’s cost and time prohibitive right now. We really don’t want to be without hot water that long. So, Tim is trying to do what he does best…. “rig” it. Sigh.
Don’t get me wrong – it’s an inconvenience, but I know it could be a lot worse! I still have heat, so I’m warm. We still have cold water, so we can brush our teeth, boil water on the stove, flush the toilets, etc. I tried to be all 1800’s “pioneer girl” last night and heat up big soup pots of water on the stove and take to the bathtub to try to take a warm bath. After 5 pots of boiling water, the water in the tub was getting cold, and it was less than an inch deep, so it was not the best bath I’ve ever had! However, it was a lot better than a freezing cold one, and I know I’ll appreciate a hot shower all that much more once we do get this fixed! 🙂
It’s always something, with a house, isn’t it?! LOL!