Inconvenient Annoyances

Omg. My husband rarely turned the boiler on unless he was going to take a bath. We have an electric shower.

When I moved in I told him hot water was not a luxury where I come from and it won't be now. I gladly pay the extra electric for the convenience of having hot water.

Hot water has been a luxury for me since 2012 (I first came over for a "visit" in June that year).  In the old house, our heating/hot water was fueled by oil.  It was expensive and our house was really draughty.  Plus, we paid our landlord for the oil we used, so we made a conscious effort to use as little as we could.  One delivery, our share of the cost was so low, she didn't bill us for it.

We had a thermostat/control panel in the bathroom cabinet where we could individually turn on the boiler and/or the heating.  After a few winters, I realized turning the heating on also provided hot water at the taps so I started doing the washing up during that hour in late afternoon/evening when I just couldn't take being cold anymore and turned on the heating... no kettle required!   

(So, too bad if you had to be to work at7:00am - the boiler didn't come on until 6:00am and with an hour's commute....)

Oh, ugh!  How do you wash in that situation?  Nothing could persuade me to take a cold shower!  At least, not in winter!

You take your shower/bath the night before. As long as it's before 8:00pm, when they turn the boiler back off. We used to get home around 6:30pm, so it was straight into the shower and hoping people hadn't done a lot of clothes washing that evening!

You take your shower/bath the night before. As long as it's before 8:00pm, when they turn the boiler back off. We used to get home around 6:30pm, so it was straight into the shower and hoping people hadn't done a lot of clothes washing that evening!

Ugh.  I'm glad you don't have to live with that situation anymore!

I've actually been doing the kettle thing for the whole time I've lived in the UK... at the old rented house, we kept the boiler turned off most of the time. We only turned it on for about an hour or so in the late afternoon/early evening in the coldest days of winter, and for about 15-20 minutes before we wanted to shower to heat up one tank(?) of water for the shower.  Otherwise, it was kettles there, too.

The new house is an upgrade in the hot water department, because now I can take showers of unlimited duration.  Showers at the old house would be about 10 minutes, max, before it started to run cold and I had to get out (I turned the boiler off just before turning on the water).

When I first moved here my husband was SUPER strict with how much and often we had the heat on/going. Like if I turned it up, he'd tell me to shut the doors so the rooms all heated up more and then turn the head off after a shorter amount of time. I get it. it saved money. But, I swear, the more I lived over here the less tough my New England body became hahaha I now get cold at the drop of a hat, I swear! Now we have a NEST so I turn it up using the phone and hope he doesn't here the boiler start up LOL. Thankfully, though, ours was never needing oil (that I'm aware of at least).

When I first moved here my husband was SUPER strict with how much and often we had the heat on/going. Like if I turned it up, he'd tell me to shut the doors so the rooms all heated up more and then turn the head off after a shorter amount of time. I get it. it saved money. But, I swear, the more I lived over here the less tough my New England body became hahaha I now get cold at the drop of a hat, I swear! Now we have a NEST so I turn it up using the phone and hope he doesn't here the boiler start up LOL. Thankfully, though, ours was never needing oil (that I'm aware of at least).

You'd know if you had an oil tank.  Those things are crazy expensive to fill.  Usually found in older properties I think (and big properties at that).

I've had to "break" my husband of some of his weird things.  Like the whole "dryers are the devil."  He LOVES the dryer now.  And happily uses it.  He realises that our utility bills are still affordable and that the improvement to our quality of life is worth it.  Plus I did 4 loads of wash last night.  Where would it all be hanging now?!?  There would be no room!

You'd know if you had an oil tank.  Those things are crazy expensive to fill.  Usually found in older properties I think (and big properties at that).

I've had to "break" my husband of some of his weird things.  Like the whole "dryers are the devil."  He LOVES the dryer now.  And happily uses it.  He realises that our utility bills are still affordable and that the improvement to our quality of life is worth it.  Plus I did 4 loads of wash last night.  Where would it all be hanging now?!?  There would be no room!

Yes, you'd know if you had oil!  I could smell the exhaust from it wafting in from the bathroom window when I showered.  And I knew when our bill was coming because the small tank truck would come make a delivery, pulling up pretty much outside our bedroom window.  A few days later, my landlady would slide a card through our mail slot to let us know what our metered readings were and the cost of our usage.

I seriously wonder how families with small children coped with the laundry situation going back a little ways.  Life must have been constant chores, and I don't know how they ever had clothes that weren't damp.

You'd know if you had an oil tank.  Those things are crazy expensive to fill.  Usually found in older properties I think (and big properties at that).

I've had to "break" my husband of some of his weird things.  Like the whole "dryers are the devil."  He LOVES the dryer now.  And happily uses it.  He realises that our utility bills are still affordable and that the improvement to our quality of life is worth it.  Plus I did 4 loads of wash last night.  Where would it all be hanging now?!?  There would be no room!

Yeah we definitely never had one!

Oh man, I've only half-broken my husband on the dryer issue! In the winter he doesn't argue much (just when the weather gets warmer).

We had a Smart Meter installed for the Gas and Electricity last week.  Hubby's new toy!  He has already changed all 8 light bulbs in the kitchen and enjoys running round, turning something on, then checking the meter, then turning the thing off, then checking the meter again.  Before we go to bed he tells me how much the day has cost.

I'm hoping the novelty will wear off soon.

Having said that - we got a water meter installed over a week ago and then got a bill a couple days later.  We were in credit by 300 pounds!

Thankfully he can't check the water meter so easily or he would be timing me in the shower! 

We had a Smart Meter installed for the Gas and Electricity last week.  Hubby's new toy!  He has already changed all 8 light bulbs in the kitchen and enjoys running round, turning something on, then checking the meter, then turning the thing off, then checking the meter again.  Before we go to bed he tells me how much the day has cost.

I'm hoping the novelty will wear off soon.

Having said that - we got a water meter installed over a week ago and then got a bill a couple days later.  We were in credit by 300 pounds!

Thankfully he can't check the water meter so easily or he would be timing me in the shower!

Oh man! I'm exhausted just thinking about mine doing that (and he probably would LOL).

We weren't metered until recently and I wouldn't be shocked if actually being metered on water is actually saving us money compared with unlimited water for a flat fee.

Oh man! I'm exhausted just thinking about mine doing that (and he probably would LOL).

We weren't metered until recently and I wouldn't be shocked if actually being metered on water is actually saving us money compared with unlimited water for a flat fee.

I want a smart meter and new utility company. We are still using an electric key.

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I do NOT want a smart meter.  My husband will go OCD on me!

I learned recently (from an advert from my electric company) that smart meters only work where there's good mobile signal.  We have no signal, so they can't force a smart meter on us!  Yay!  (I'm resistant to them.)

And we don't want metered water just yet, as we have leaky taps and an actual leak somewhere in the bathroom.  I'm sure we use more than my annual water rate costs.  But I don't even feel bad about it because it rains all the time here, so I don't think we suffer from a shortage of water.

Oh man! I'm exhausted just thinking about mine doing that (and he probably would LOL).

We weren't metered until recently and I wouldn't be shocked if actually being metered on water is actually saving us money compared with unlimited water for a flat fee.

You are right, I found out that a meter on water almost always saves money over a flat fee because of rip off Britain. 

I want a smart meter and new utility company. We are still using an electric key.

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That is the king daddy of rip offs!  Plus it's annoying as hell to have to go to the shop to buy more credit.

I love the story about your husband not being able to deal with chicken,  It reminds me of the story of when Prince Charles got back late to the palace one night and staff had left some food out covered with cling film and he freaked out cause he had never seen it before!  Admittedly, it would be a bit spooky if you saw it for the first time as an adult....

That is the king daddy of rip offs!  Plus it's annoying as hell to have to go to the shop to buy more credit.

I love the story about your husband not being able to deal with chicken,  It reminds me of the story of when Prince Charles got back late to the palace one night and staff had left some food out covered with cling film and he freaked out cause he had never seen it before!  Admittedly, it would be a bit spooky if you saw it for the first time as an adult....

I have to wonder how much we would save with a different utility company with a proper meter. We are tenants to a private landlord. I don't even know if we could switch to something else. How does that work anyway?

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