For the first time in over half a year, we have hot water being supplied to us by the people that run our apartment blocks! When we returned from Britain back in May, we installed a water heater in the second bathroom so we could easily bathe Anna etc., but the kitchen water supply was on a different pipe, so whenever we did the washing up, we had to go and fill the washing up bowl with water from the taps in the bathroom.
No hot water (because a lot of other residents owed a LOT of money to the company (something shocking like $130,000!), and so the company couldn’t afford to buy the diesel to power the boilers) also meant no heating – not such a problem in the summer when temperatures can occasionally peak at 40 degrees centigrade, but as winter draws nearer, the electric fire re-borrowed from the in-laws wasn’t really going to cut it, in terms of keeping Anna warm, and the air conditioner unit has a nice warm air function, but can’t be used once outside temperatures are below freezing. So far the hot water coming out the taps is a little orange still, which will soon pass, and the radiators aren’t that much better than room temperature, but there is at least hope 🙂
Oct 15 2009
October 18th, 2009 3:22 am
That’s crazy. In Moscow there’s a two week period every year when they turn off hot water so they can repair tubes etc., and even this looks crazy to me.
October 18th, 2009 2:05 pm
Heating is now definitely effective. Even with turning them down, we’ve occasionally had to open the windows to stop it getting too hot for Anna!