Bye-bye!
As of Friday, April 8th, yr fthfl srvnt waved goodbye to just over 1,200 smackaroos ($1,201.72).
$946.57 to Isaac Heating and Air-Conditioning Friday, and $255.15 to Miller Plumbing.
Thankfully I had enough to cover it without overdrawing. But not out of current monthly cash-flow, which includes -a) my Transit disability pension — a pittance, -b) Social Security, and -c) a monthly draw from my IRA. It replaced my wife’s pension, which ended. That was how we set it up.
My added income was a refund on my prepaid 2015 taxes from the IRS.
I don’t count on that; the feds ain’t payin’ me interest.
I have a tankless water-heater, installed and maintained by Isaac.
“Tankless” is just that. There’s no holding-tank.
Water gets heated almost instantaneously to 120 degrees as it flows through the wall-mounted unit.
Turn on a hot-water faucet, and it starts flowing cold water through the unit.
Viola! Hot water; on demand. Only when you ask for it.
It’s not storing a tank of heated water.
As first designed our house had a tankless water-heater. But it was Swedish = very hard to get parts. At that time (26 years ago) no one American was making tankless water-heaters.
It also had a pilot, and it liked to blow out on windy days.
How many times did I relight that pilot?
We finally gave up, and installed a tank-type.
That was shortly after my stroke. Relighting that pilot was almost impossible for a stroke-victim — although I managed once or twice.
That was the first of two tank-types over the years.
Then our gas supplier offered a rebate to install a tankless. Supposedly tankless uses less gas.
So we bit, installed by Isaac, not our furnace contractor, but they were maintaining our standby generator.
That was eight years ago. My wife died four years ago.
My tankless has been acting up.
It cuts out and throws up an error-code.
The error-code is an overheated thermister.
In other words, all-of-a-sudden no hot water.
The thermister was overheating only during high demand. Like filling the washing-machine, or two demands at once.
A shower is low demand. Most uses are low demand, but the unit would stay cut out after cutting out.
Around-and-around I went with Isaac, including phonecalls where Ray Isaac serenades for hours about how wonderful his company is while you “hold for the next available representative.”
I dread calling Isaac Heating and Air-Conditioning. If I’d had any idea how frustrating a call to Isaac would be, I’d have taken my business elsewhere.
Although eight years ago the only HVAC that would install a tankless water-heater was Isaac.
I’ve even had a plumber blame a plugged toilet on my tankless. To which I observed I didn’t know my toilet was connected to hot water.
I have a service contract on my tankless, sort of an insurance policy.
But all it seems to cover are annual safety checks, maintenance, and low-level parts.
A couple weeks ago an Isaac service-tech flushed the unit’s heat-exchanger with vinegar — it was corroded.
That cost me $155.88; not covered, and the unit cut out the next day.
So, another service-call to Isaac, and how many times have I complained about Ray’s serenading? “Ya gotta hire more help, Ray. One office-lady is not enough.”
This time the tech took things apart, and photographed the heat-exchanger with his smartphone.
It was still severely corroded; apparently the vinegar wasn’t enough.
“It needs a new heat-exchanger. It’s so corroded not enough cooling air is getting to that thermister, so it overheats.”
“And it’s guaranteed 10 years.”
Nope; five years according to Rinnai (“Rin-AYE”), maker of the unit.
“They say it’s guaranteed 10 years, then list all the exceptions which cover most of the unit.”
$880 for a new heat-exchanger coil, the part that heats the water.
Almost a complete rebuild.
It’s my first major house repair since my wife died, and I can afford it.
I worry about my air-conditioning. It’s as old as the house. Replacing it will require dipping into my savings. —I didn’t hafta do that here.
My wife and I designed this house to be livable as we aged. All 3-foot doors, and everything on one floor, including freezer and laundry.
Plus it’s super-insulated. Foot-thick exterior walls, and 22 or 32 inches of blown insulation atop the ceiling — I don’t remember which.
We blew an energy-audit right outta the box.
So I ordered the heat-exchanger, and Isaac called last Monday to say they could install it last Friday.
Then last Thursday a toilet plugged. It happens occasionally.
Dare I say it: “shit happens.”
After five tries I couldn’t unplug it, and I heard gurgling through an adjacent sink, which told me the line was plugged, not the toilet.
I was planning to call my plumber because I had a couple slow drains, one extremely slow.
So I called the plumber, reporting both my slow drains and plugged toilet.
$255.15. I suppose they hafta charge enough to offset a service-call.
The contractor who built my house used to say any trip was worth over $1,000. That is, not the trip alone, but a job over $1,000.
I got this removing a tree. No one wanted to come out for a piddling job. My tree was HUGE. It required a crane. $1,235.75.
Just imagine some geezer older than me with a toilet that plugs. The poor guy will hafta enslave to his plumber.
My plumber heard the gurgling too, and thought he’d hafta snake.
He removed and inspected the toilet = not plugged.
But then the line apparently unplugged itself. —I had been pouring hot water in the toilet.
He poured a bucket of water in the drain, and it swallowed.
He reinstalled the toilet, but my bog-slow kitchen drain was so clogged he had to replace a pipe.
He left the clogged pipe in my garage, and it was so packed with crude it’s amazing anything passed through it.
“Yer cleanin’ me out,” I said to the Isaac tech as I cut his check for $946.57.
But as I say, I could afford it, and it’s the first major house-repair since my wife died.
My life is fairly easy. Our house ain’t breakin’ the bank.
• I had a stroke October 26th, 1993, from which I pretty much recovered. Just tiny detriments; I can pass for never having had a stroke.
• My beloved wife of over 44 years died of cancer April 17th, 2012. I miss her immensely. Best friend I ever had.
• “HVAC” is heating/ventilation/air-conditioning.
$946.57 to Isaac Heating and Air-Conditioning Friday, and $255.15 to Miller Plumbing.
Thankfully I had enough to cover it without overdrawing. But not out of current monthly cash-flow, which includes -a) my Transit disability pension — a pittance, -b) Social Security, and -c) a monthly draw from my IRA. It replaced my wife’s pension, which ended. That was how we set it up.
My added income was a refund on my prepaid 2015 taxes from the IRS.
I don’t count on that; the feds ain’t payin’ me interest.
I have a tankless water-heater, installed and maintained by Isaac.
“Tankless” is just that. There’s no holding-tank.
Water gets heated almost instantaneously to 120 degrees as it flows through the wall-mounted unit.
Turn on a hot-water faucet, and it starts flowing cold water through the unit.
Viola! Hot water; on demand. Only when you ask for it.
It’s not storing a tank of heated water.
As first designed our house had a tankless water-heater. But it was Swedish = very hard to get parts. At that time (26 years ago) no one American was making tankless water-heaters.
It also had a pilot, and it liked to blow out on windy days.
How many times did I relight that pilot?
We finally gave up, and installed a tank-type.
That was shortly after my stroke. Relighting that pilot was almost impossible for a stroke-victim — although I managed once or twice.
That was the first of two tank-types over the years.
Then our gas supplier offered a rebate to install a tankless. Supposedly tankless uses less gas.
So we bit, installed by Isaac, not our furnace contractor, but they were maintaining our standby generator.
That was eight years ago. My wife died four years ago.
My tankless has been acting up.
It cuts out and throws up an error-code.
The error-code is an overheated thermister.
In other words, all-of-a-sudden no hot water.
The thermister was overheating only during high demand. Like filling the washing-machine, or two demands at once.
A shower is low demand. Most uses are low demand, but the unit would stay cut out after cutting out.
Around-and-around I went with Isaac, including phonecalls where Ray Isaac serenades for hours about how wonderful his company is while you “hold for the next available representative.”
I dread calling Isaac Heating and Air-Conditioning. If I’d had any idea how frustrating a call to Isaac would be, I’d have taken my business elsewhere.
Although eight years ago the only HVAC that would install a tankless water-heater was Isaac.
I’ve even had a plumber blame a plugged toilet on my tankless. To which I observed I didn’t know my toilet was connected to hot water.
I have a service contract on my tankless, sort of an insurance policy.
But all it seems to cover are annual safety checks, maintenance, and low-level parts.
A couple weeks ago an Isaac service-tech flushed the unit’s heat-exchanger with vinegar — it was corroded.
That cost me $155.88; not covered, and the unit cut out the next day.
So, another service-call to Isaac, and how many times have I complained about Ray’s serenading? “Ya gotta hire more help, Ray. One office-lady is not enough.”
This time the tech took things apart, and photographed the heat-exchanger with his smartphone.
It was still severely corroded; apparently the vinegar wasn’t enough.
“It needs a new heat-exchanger. It’s so corroded not enough cooling air is getting to that thermister, so it overheats.”
“And it’s guaranteed 10 years.”
Nope; five years according to Rinnai (“Rin-AYE”), maker of the unit.
“They say it’s guaranteed 10 years, then list all the exceptions which cover most of the unit.”
$880 for a new heat-exchanger coil, the part that heats the water.
Almost a complete rebuild.
It’s my first major house repair since my wife died, and I can afford it.
I worry about my air-conditioning. It’s as old as the house. Replacing it will require dipping into my savings. —I didn’t hafta do that here.
My wife and I designed this house to be livable as we aged. All 3-foot doors, and everything on one floor, including freezer and laundry.
Plus it’s super-insulated. Foot-thick exterior walls, and 22 or 32 inches of blown insulation atop the ceiling — I don’t remember which.
We blew an energy-audit right outta the box.
So I ordered the heat-exchanger, and Isaac called last Monday to say they could install it last Friday.
Then last Thursday a toilet plugged. It happens occasionally.
Dare I say it: “shit happens.”
After five tries I couldn’t unplug it, and I heard gurgling through an adjacent sink, which told me the line was plugged, not the toilet.
I was planning to call my plumber because I had a couple slow drains, one extremely slow.
So I called the plumber, reporting both my slow drains and plugged toilet.
$255.15. I suppose they hafta charge enough to offset a service-call.
The contractor who built my house used to say any trip was worth over $1,000. That is, not the trip alone, but a job over $1,000.
I got this removing a tree. No one wanted to come out for a piddling job. My tree was HUGE. It required a crane. $1,235.75.
Just imagine some geezer older than me with a toilet that plugs. The poor guy will hafta enslave to his plumber.
My plumber heard the gurgling too, and thought he’d hafta snake.
He removed and inspected the toilet = not plugged.
But then the line apparently unplugged itself. —I had been pouring hot water in the toilet.
He poured a bucket of water in the drain, and it swallowed.
He reinstalled the toilet, but my bog-slow kitchen drain was so clogged he had to replace a pipe.
He left the clogged pipe in my garage, and it was so packed with crude it’s amazing anything passed through it.
“Yer cleanin’ me out,” I said to the Isaac tech as I cut his check for $946.57.
But as I say, I could afford it, and it’s the first major house-repair since my wife died.
My life is fairly easy. Our house ain’t breakin’ the bank.
• I had a stroke October 26th, 1993, from which I pretty much recovered. Just tiny detriments; I can pass for never having had a stroke.
• My beloved wife of over 44 years died of cancer April 17th, 2012. I miss her immensely. Best friend I ever had.
• “HVAC” is heating/ventilation/air-conditioning.
posted by BobbaLew at 2:41 PM
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