Did you know that in Mexico they don't have a city supply of natural gas to run to your homes, yet every home uses gas for water heaters, dryers, and cooking? What a conundrum, right?
The solution is that when you are building your house, you have to purchase and install underground (with adequate above-ground access) a large (if you're lucky) gas tank that is then run into the house after the fact by a hopefully proficient plumber. My plumber was not proficient and after we moved in we realized that the pipes were working just fine into the laundry room (dryer worked) and into the kitchen (stove/oven worked), but somewhere between the kitchen and the hot water heater three feet away (off the back of the house outside the kitchen), the flow of gas abruptly stopped. I'm not a big fan of cold showers or cold dish water, so we had to request the plumber come back and fix it. He couldn't figure out what happened, so he capped off the pipe after the stove and ran an entirely NEW pipe from the tank around the outside of the house to the water heater. We still have problems with our hot water because having the heater outside seems to pose some problems. When it rains hard (as it does daily for four months out of the year), the water often stream right on top of our un-roofed heater and puts out the pilot light. Or another time, we couldn't figure out why the pilot went out and wouldn't relight. The super awesome plumber came back and showed us where a spider had climbed in that little tube and laid an egg sack for us. Wasn't that sweet??
Well, overall the system seems to work and I usually don't even think about our gas or water heater or anything to do with it. Until days like today. I DESPERATELY need a shower. I mean, we're going on third day hair, 2 mm thick layer of oil and junk on my face, my feet are black from walking around barefoot yesterday, and frankly - I just stink.
This brings me to the fatal flaw of the system. When the gas tank is empty - it is empty. There is no backup. There is no warning that it is about to be empty. Its just empty and you're out of luck until you get someone to come fill it. No cooking, no showering, no hot water for laundry or cleaning. Nada.
I would rant a little more - but I have to go take a cold shower now.
4 comments:
The "hopefully competant" plumber part scares me. :o
Sorry you had to take a cold shower.
Before i moved to my parents house last week...i was taking cold showers every day. We had our gas shut off for nonpayment like two months after we moved there. It does make your day challenging...especially with little kids.well...i am sure you saw on my blog that i left pete. I know i met you through him so i just wanted to let you know that we can still be friends.
Why can't they somehow put a gauge on the tank? Wouldn't that be nice...
Fun, I absolutely love cold showers and baths. During the winter our shower/bath water(and this water only) never seems to get wuite hot enough. Like I said, I LOVE IT.
Good Luck.
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