ugh, I think our heater is broken.

lyndausvi

It was getting cold in the house so I kicked up the heater. It's not kicking on. 

We rent and our landlord is not the easiest person to get a hold of.    Oddly I saw the gas people around the parking lot a few hours ago.  Our neighbors moved from one unit to another.  I hope they didn't do something by mistake. 

larrygaga

My heat went out for a few days when it was about -40F to -50F a few years ago. My landlord actually stopped by with a few space heaters and some apologies and that he would pay the electric bill. I spent most of the time at my sisters!

It's a huge inconvenience, hopefully your landlord is reasonable! For now, keep your shades closed and maybe put blankets over the windows. It'll be dark but it will insulate. Dress warm and drink lots of hot liquids. 

WinstonsGirl

Brutal.  Heaters always seem to go out in the middle of the coldest days.  Stay warm!!

lyndausvi

so the gas company confirmed they did not cut off any service.    Since I'm only a tenant I can't schedule them to come out because I do not own the appliance.  I just pay the gas bill.   

And it's 4pm and I have to be a at work soon.   This sucks.

jenna8984

Sorry! That does really suck. Our furnace died in January one year and we woke up to a 32 degree house. It was insane trying to get a new $5,000 furnace installed within like a day. I really hope your landlord is able to come check it out and figure something out quickly. 

lyndausvi

oh it gets better.   Our lease says it's our responsibility.  To get someone out here will cost us $400.  That is just the service call.  Not any repairs.

We were in such a bind to find a house that allowed dogs that we signed this stupid lease.   The heater is 15 years old and never been replaced.  Wish I had done more research I would have passed on this place.   It's pretty obvious that a 15 year old heater will need repairs from normal wear and tear.

We would not be responsible if it needs replacing. 

huskypuppy14

lyndausvi said:

oh it gets better.   Our lease says it's our responsibility.  To get someone out here will cost us $400.  That is just the service call.  Not any repairs.

We were in such a bind to find a house that allowed dogs that we signed this stupid lease.   The heater is 15 years old and never been replaced.  Wish I had done more research I would have passed on this place.   It's pretty obvious that a 15 year old heater will need repairs from normal wear and tear.

We would not be responsible if it needs replacing. 

Is that legal? I know it depends on the state you live in, but I think MA doesn't allow this type of clause in the lease. Are you renting a detached house, or an apartment in a house/building?

Either way it sucks.

beethery

You're welcome to come to my house Lyn! It's a balmy 68 degrees (probably higher, that weather station is in the coldest part of the main floor) and I know D would loooooove some bulldog company!

Wood stove is a-rollin!

lovegood90

Ugh, that's so irritating! This happened with our AC when we first moved in, but it's much more difficult and uncomfortable when it's your heater. Hopefully it gets fixed soon!

lyndausvi

I just told the landlord's husband that I've never heard of a tenant being responsible for a heater before. 

 I mean it's a heater, what kind of damage does one do to break a heater?   Windows, over flowing toilets,  putting metal in a microwave,  putting wrong things in the garbage disposal? Sure, my actions may have caused the problem. But a heater?  The extend of my interaction with the heater is moving the temperature thingy.   Certainly not something that would break a heater.

anyway, off to work.   

jenna8984

@beethery We keep our heat on 61 to save on oil....I'm on my way to your house! lol

beethery

jenna8984 said:

@beethery We keep our heat on 61 to save on oil....I'm on my way to your house! lol

It's that wood stove! Heat is set to 60! Shit is fuckin amaaaaaazing.

jdluvr06

That sucks. I hope it gets worked out for you guys.

theartistformerlyknownas

What kind of furnace? If it's gas, did you check the pilot light? Also check the circuit breaker and furnace filter (a clogged one can cause the furnace to shut down) before you call for service.

If it's really cold and the heat is still out overnight, turn your faucets to a slight trickle - keeping water running will keep your pipes from freezing.

huskypuppy14

lolo883 said:

What kind of furnace? If it's gas, did you check the pilot light? Also check the circuit breaker and furnace filter (a clogged one can cause the furnace to shut down) before you call for service. If it's really cold and the heat is still out overnight, turn your faucets to a slight trickle - keeping water running will keep your pipes from freezing.

This is another reason you dont' want your tenants responsible for the heating system. Frozen pipes.

sophhabobopha

Brrr! My heater has been taking it's sweet time kicking in lately.

MairePoppy

beethery said:

jenna8984 said:

@beethery We keep our heat on 61 to save on oil....I'm on my way to your house! lol

It's that wood stove! Heat is set to 60! Shit is fuckin amaaaaaazing.

Another hardy New Englander, here. We keep our thermostats at 60 degrees. We have two infrared heaters to warm up the rooms we use most, which I highly recommend. It' much easier than using the fireplace. I'm comfortable in a jersey, yoga pants and bare feet. 

@Lyndausvi -  Your furnace has passed it's life expectancy.  The landlord should not be able to force you to pay for repairs on something that is due to be replaced. Is it possible that the pilot light has gone out?

theartistformerlyknownas

MairePoppy said:

beethery said:

jenna8984 said:

@beethery We keep our heat on 61 to save on oil....I'm on my way to your house! lol

It's that wood stove! Heat is set to 60! Shit is fuckin amaaaaaazing.

Another hardy New Englander, here. We keep our thermostats at 60 degrees. We have two infrared heaters to warm up the rooms we use most, which I highly recommend. It' much easier than using the fireplace. I'm comfortable in a jersey, yoga pants and bare feet. 

@Lyndausvi -  Your furnace has passed it's life expectancy.  The landlord should not be able to force you to pay for repairs on something that is due to be replaced. Is it possible that the pilot light has gone out?

Our heat is set to 60 cuz the house is so poorly insulated that it doesn't get any warmer. it's a few degrees cooler here in the family room.

huskypuppy14

@Lyndausvi make sure that your switch hasn't been turned off on accident. My dad is a heating technician and that's the first think he will ask people on the phone. You don't want to pay 400 dollars for someone to come over and flip a switch. It's usually a red light switch thing.  Ours is right next to our front door, so it would be easy to accidentally turn it off.

velvethelicopters

MairePoppy said:

beethery said:

jenna8984 said:

@beethery We keep our heat on 61 to save on oil....I'm on my way to your house! lol

It's that wood stove! Heat is set to 60! Shit is fuckin amaaaaaazing.

Another hardy New Englander, here. We keep our thermostats at 60 degrees. We have two infrared heaters to warm up the rooms we use most, which I highly recommend. It' much easier than using the fireplace. I'm comfortable in a jersey, yoga pants and bare feet. 

@Lyndausvi -  Your furnace has passed it's life expectancy.  The landlord should not be able to force you to pay for repairs on something that is due to be replaced. Is it possible that the pilot light has gone out?

Only problem with infrared heaters is if you lose power, you lose heat. Sure are easier however. But I'm keeping my wood stove.

lurkergirl

This thread is truly shocking to me. I would die in the north. In atlanta this morning it is 60 outside and my heat (my regular heat, what is this Little House on the Prairie wood and oil craziness?) is set to 73. And I'm still wearing pants, socks, a long sleeved t shirt, and a hoodie.

lyndausvi

So still no heat.    We have flipped both the switch and breaker nothing.    I have no idea where the pilot is even located.   I do not smell gas though.  

Our space heater worked well in our bedroom.  We just took it down stairs to heat up the living room.

 

kaitlynmichelle

That sucks. I live in the basement of a house with H while BIL and his gf live upstairs. They control the heat so we are usually freezing. As per our rental agreement we pay a flat rate so he pays the heat bill when it gets cranked. So we have to use electric space heaters constantly which I'm sure is less efficient and likely costs more in the long run.

It sucks that when he's away his gf cranks it up super high anyway and then we're roasting instead.

WinstonsGirl

I don't know how you all live at 60F.  Our house sits at 22C (72F), though it goes down at night and during work hours.  And I need socks and a hoodie.  Just for you @lurkergirl, we're hitting -30C (-22F), -41C (-41F) with the windchill today.  Think warm thoughts for us!! 

Lynda, I'm glad you've got some form of heat with you.  Any word on when you can get it fixed??

lyndausvi

They are sending someone over tomorrow.  They are too cheap to get someone today.

We keep our thermostat set at between 65-68 (thermostat is on the 2nd - main level).    The bedrooms heat up to more than that though.  3rd floor, heat rises thing going on.  My office is unheated so it's pretty cold down there, but I have the space heater which works pretty well.

[Deleted User]

jenna8984

@lurkergirl I swear you get used to it. When I lived in AZ, my blood really thinned out and I was like you. I came home to visit my brother one year and his was on 60 and I literally thought I was DYING. My teeth were chattering. 

But now that I have lived here for a few years, I'm totally used to it. I don't even sleep with pants or socks. Sure, it would be nice to have that shit on 75 but you have no idea how expensive oil is. You have electric heat. We have a 200 gallon tank of oil in the basement ($4 a gallon) and even set that low, we fill it twice per winter. So I made myself get used to it rather than pay a thousand more dollars. 

@lyndausvi sorry that you have to wait until tomorrow, hope you have a space heater and stuff until then, and hopefully they fix it on the spot. 

huskypuppy14

Electric heat is usually more expensive than gas and oil. Luckily, I have gas heat. We leave ours at 64. I can't believe people need their heat in the 70s. My parents (also live in NE) had their house at 73 or 74 and my husband and I were roasting. 

We have a fireplace also, but haven't used it yet. 

ETA: NE= New England

lyndausvi

We do have space heaters.  Actually it made the bedroom too hot last night. 

 The living room is finally warming up.  It's a long narrow open space with stairs going both up and down, so not as easy to heat up as a bedroom.     

DH is at work, dogs are snuggling next to me.  I think we will be okay till tomorrow.

MairePoppy

velvethelicopters said:

beethery said:

jenna8984 said:

@beethery We keep our heat on 61 to save on oil....I'm on my way to your house! lol

It's that wood stove! Heat is set to 60! Shit is fuckin amaaaaaazing.

Another hardy New Englander, here. We keep our thermostats at 60 degrees. We have two infrared heaters to warm up the rooms we use most, which I highly recommend. It' much easier than using the fireplace. I'm comfortable in a jersey, yoga pants and bare feet. 

@Lyndausvi -  Your furnace has passed it's life expectancy.  The landlord should not be able to force you to pay for repairs on something that is due to be replaced. Is it possible that the pilot light has gone out?

Only problem with infrared heaters is if you lose power, you lose heat. Sure are easier however. But I'm keeping my wood stove.

After we lost power for  a miserable10 days a few years ago, with night time temps in the 10s and 20s, we bought a portable generator. We also have a fireplace with heating vents and plenty of apple and maple wood. The infrared heaters are for everyday use because they're easy and  very cheap to run them. We have electric heat and they have lowered our power usage considerably. I would love an old pot bellied wood stove though.

@lydanusvi - dog heat works, too:)

ashley8918

Man, I must be really crazy. I never turn my heat up higher than 60, and I am always hot! I pretty much only wear a t-shirt in the house, and I sleep naked hahaha. Otherwise I would be WAYYY too hot.