It was meant to be an easy evening to start Easter, since I am going to have to work half of it, my wife the other half as they are understaffed and have weekend overtime - she pulled Easter weekend. Instead, after getting home late from work and getting into the shower - the water was - bloody cold!!
... we ran out of heating oil
The gauge is conveniently broken and the ex-owners said there should be enough to mid-May...
My wife called a 24 hour oil place and they said that the smallest amount they deliver is 1000 liters, which is about 800 euros worth and will last 3-4 months - but we are getting rid of the oil heating system in a few weeks. There was a full Jerry can in the corner, so I tipped most of it into the tank.
This was my first time and I have no idea...
It was the wrong thing to do as there wasn't enough to even start the motor.
FML.
What I should have done is undo some pipes and stick them straight into the oil can - I should have called the service number earlier. But all was not lost, as there are supposedly 24-hour service stations to get heating oil from - So, I went for a drive, red Jerry can in tow. Just one problem...
All the 24-hour service stations were closed
Because of Covid-19, nothing was open and I couldn't find anywhere to fill the can - so after an hour driving, I gave up and went home. With a little under a 1/4 tank, I decided to try if it would at least be enough to start the pump and warm through the night
It is past midnight at this point
After finding some tools to loosen the threads and then bunging the hoses into the bottom of the can, I gingerly pressed the pump on, expecting instant death - but it kicked into gear, he light went green and it started heating. I figure that there is only a few hours worth of fuel in the can before it runs out, but at least it should warm enough until I can get back to the service station in the morning - which looks like it is going to be one of my regular gigs until the new heating system is installed, the one that will run off electricity instead.
And if you are wondering, yes - I did have a cold shower.
It was refreshing and reminded me of once upon a time in the house I bought, the hot water service broke and I didn't fix it for about 6 months and instead, had cold showers. But, that was in the tropics of Australia - This is Finland. We do have a fireplace and a sauna we are yet to try, so we won't freeze - if we had wood.
After driving around for an hour with the Jerry can leaking fumes, I am a bit light-headed and think I will head off to bed and get some rest. Tomorrow, we will open up some walls with my shiny new crowbar - and then I will work in the evenings to prepare the training deliveries I shouldn't have taken next week.
Another "relaxing" weekend ahead.
Night night
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Arghhh some bad luck there..
Time to go back in time and buy a metal bucket shower...get the kettle boiling, pop it in, hang it over current spot and done. A instant 2 minute low volume shower :)
I don't mind it that much - it isn't the end of the world to fill up the cans for a few weeks. just annoying - and a bit expensive per litre.
Fun and games with a new house. I had the fumes last week looking for petrol as well for the generator. I don't blame you as two weeks of jerry can filling is nothing against forking out 800 Euros.
Yeah, not the end of the world and fuel is "cheap" here at the moment due to the global crises. Wasn't what I had planned for the night though.
Hope you are well.
Yes thanks all good. Lock down pushed out another 2 weeks but been worried about work. Can only do so much and need to think of opportunities as I know they are there. You must all stay healthy and well.
Good luck, times are hard on most at the moment with so many businesses cutting back. I hope this nonsense doesn't last too long.
I'm glad I run on electric heat. So much less complicated.
Good luck on your quest!
It is very expensive for electricity here, especially for such a large and old house that has a lot of leaks. We are changing to an electric system, but it is an air water heat exchanger, and much cheaper than straight electricity.
Exchangers are way more efficient. Where I live it's pretty much as cold as where you live I think ( eastern Canada) and we also had to change many windows and our front door too help with costs. We could feel the cold air coming through before we changed them. Especially when it's -30C, it really helped.
But that's also a big expense 💰
They said it with such convincing assurance!
I am a total klutz with mechanical things. Our refrigerator died last night and, if someone competent hadn’t fixed it, I might have been reduced to leaving the food out on the cold back porch, hoping the squirrels wouldn’t have eaten it.
:D
This is common practice here. "Squirrel traps"
Exactly what you needed right now. Awesome.
Yeah - a few more weeks. Found a place for a backup Jerry though.
Nice...will save constant trips.
This looks so complicated, simple water heaters are not available ? In my place a new water heater (10 liter) running on electricity costs only 150$ approx, those kinds are not available there ?
It gets to minus 30 celsius here - this isn't a water heater, it heats the entire house.
wow - minus 30 celsius is way below - probably we will not survive 😕
I guess you don't have a bathtub in there somewhere though lugging down boiled water would likely have been just as painful XD otherwise could have always just done the sponge bath with boiled water?
How did people in Finland survive before heating x_x
No bath... yet. I want to put one in, but we don't have the money now for all that luxury.
Sauna. There are systems for saunas that boil hot water too. Finns aren't overly clean anyway, which is why they love the Summer cottage life where no one visits and bathing is a distant second to absolutely anything else :D
Goodbye cold world... out to Twitter