We’ve had a couple of wonderfully rainy weeks here. This does come along with some potential downsides when you’re used to free solar energy!
The laundry hasn’t been easy to stay on top of, despite having two freestanding racks that can be kept indoors since I posted about living without a dryer. But the bigger issue has been hot water. For the last couple of months, our electric hot water heater (which is turned on by demand) hasn’t been working too well. Then a couple of weeks ago, it stopped working entirely.
With no sun overhead for two weeks and no way to electrically heat the water, this wasn’t so fun! The biggest issues were showers, so we compensated by fewer showers (which isn’t really such a big deal in the winter) and heating water on our gas stove. Yesterday, the electrician came out to see what needed to be done, and found the heating element had burnt out. That had burnt out the switch, so he replaced both of them. He also replaced the thermostat.
These repairs weren’t very complicated but took place over three days – we learned that “I’ll be back in a minute” could (and did!) mean leaving one morning and coming back the next afternoon! But last night, when the repair had finally been done….bliss! Steaming hot showers for a reasonable amount of time (versus get in and out as fast as you can before the warmish water runs out), so nice!
You really do appreciate things more when you haven’t had them for a while!
Avivah
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