When we were planning the move to our present home, I had told the builder I
wanted an electric stove as I had been used to for 37 years.  However, one day
we came home from church, hungry for lunch, and as we walked into our old
place, yet another power cut hit and we couldn't even make a cuppa.  That was
the final straw, and on the Monday I marched up to the builder and told him to
put in the gas cooktop and electric oven that he had planned all along.

So now I can cook and make tea, but - silly system(IMHO) - our instant gas hot
water has an electric ignition, so although the water is gas heated, we still
can't get it in a power blackout.  In addition, laws in this state limit how
hot the hot water can be anyway, because someone's child got burnt by climbing
in the bath when Mum wasn't looking, so all new properties now have a
thermostat which limits the temperature of the water.  This is also driven by
electricity and it goes off in a blackout and must be turned on manually.  I've
lost count of how many times in 12 months that I've turned on the shower and
stood patiently waiting for the hot water to arrive, trying to hide from cold
water at the far end of the shower recess, only to realise that I needed to go
to the other end of the house to turn the thermostat on and reset the
temperature again!

Ruth Budge (Sydney, Australia)

Clay Blackwell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:Tamara said,

> But, since we
> got the gas stove, I might have had to go puter-less on
occasion, but
> never tea-less... 
>

Some years ago, we had a severe ice storm which took out
power in nearly the entire city. We were without power for
four days. Because if was winter, there was no heat, and
many people had to go to public shelters to keep warm.

WE were very comfortable! Our fireplace has a gas-burning
logset installed, and it kept the living room fairly warm.
Our cooking was on a gas stove, we could bathe because our
hot-water heater is gas, and the only real hardship was not
being able to read at night! I was delighted that the TV
was silent, although DH wasn't happy about it.

To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line:
unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]


http://search.yahoo.com.au - Yahoo! Search
- Looking for more? Try the new Yahoo! Search

To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line:
unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Reply via email to