Winter: Mother Nature's annual reality check

[slipjig3]

figmentj and I returned home after some time away today, and with her at work I headed home and immediately turned the heat up, as we had cranked it all the way down before we left to economize and now it was 50°F in the flipping' living room. Bundled in my coat, I hopped on the Interwebs for a bit while I waited for the house to warm up.

An hour later, with teeth still chattering like castanets, I put my hand in front of the heat register to make sure things were progressing as planned. It was met with cool air. Uh-oh.

As it turned out, our understanding that we'd be paying our landlady quarterly for the heat and she'd take care of the particulars only applied to gas for the stove and hot water, and not the heating oil, which is now empty. And the temperature is expected to drop below 20 tonight, which is cold enough to freeze the pipes. Uh-oh.

Further research determined that since we do not have an account with any heating oil company, we would not only be smacked with an after-hours surcharge and a minimum purchase quantity, but it would have to be paid up front in cash. All of a sudden, "uh-oh" just isn't cutting it any more.

Fortunately, our landlady does have a heating oil account, and she was gracious enough to order on our behalf, which will be filled tonight and which we need to pay back by the end of the month. So immediate crisis averted, but we have some serious discussions in our future about the affordability of our cabin in the woods (the variety without gruesome murder and/or Bradley Whitford in the basement). We adore the place, but where do we draw the line? In the meantime, I'm at the library where figmentj works one of her jobs, soaking up the free heat and pondering the way of things until quitting time.

Stay warm, everyone.

Comments

[nchanter.livejournal.com]

What does your lease say? Shouldn't this be all spelled out there?

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, we were in the wrong on this one. Lease says what the landlady says. Oops.

[intuition-ist.livejournal.com]

yeah, oil heat? non-starter. giant wad-o-cash every so often, no way to predict how much or when. :\ good luck!

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

If things ever get desperate for heat, I'd suggest turning the oven on. Maybe do a lot of cooking. Old-time wood-burning stoves in some old homes were as much or more for heating the place as they were for cooking. The modern stove can cover some heating duties in a pinch.

[rubian77.livejournal.com]

Yikes. Now you know why the wood stove *was* there (and taken by the previous tenant).

What about the feasibility of buying a wood stove for the place? I'm fairly certain wood's cheaper than oil...maybe the landlady will let you plant a few trees and you can coppice.

Who pays for the electric? Oil-filled radiator heaters run $30-60 and are actually pretty good (and not gawdawful fire hazards like many space heaters are).

Using the gas stove to heat the place might work to supplement the heat in a pinch, but is Incredibly Inefficient and you'll have to be *right next to* the stove if you want to stay warm. (Trust me. That was part of my childhood.)