Here’s something interesting about the Tiffany (my apartment building). They advertise that central heating & air is included in your rent—but that’s not entirely true.
Built in the 1950s, every apartment has a “heating/cooling pipe” in the bathroom ceiling, and a propeller fan that blows a steady stream of air on this pipe.
You have a thermostat in your apartment to contol the temperature. BUT:
- From October 1 to April 30, that pipe in the bathroom ceiling is HOT.
- From May 1 to Sept 30, that pipe is COLD.
So there are days thru the year when you wished for cool air, but it’s not time for the switchover yet. And there are times (usually early May) when it got switched to cool for summer, but outside temps are still chilly.
That’s what happened a few days before Memorial Day. The local weather forecast chilly temps for May 20-26 and Steiner (our landlord) sent an email to everyone with suggestions for keeping warm as they’d switched to cold on May 1. Don’t turn on your air! Keep your windows shut! Sip warm drinks! Take hot baths!
I told my friend Diana what lay ahead. She gave me the same suggestion she did last year when something similar occurred, and this past winter when the pipe in my ceiling went cold a couple mornings and was not supplying heat. “Why don’t you get a space heater?”
Here’s another picture of my friend Diana, from her recent trip to Utah to visit her son & daughter 
Anyway, the first time she suggested a space heater I thought of that metal box with glowing orange rods we had in our farmhouse in my childhood; it’d burn you if you got too close. I told her “No way!” Then I’d lose my heat again, she’d make the suggestion, I’d remind her I’m a man and can handle a little cold air.
Then this Memorial Day cold spell came along, and over that week I watched the temperature in my apt drop from 70F to 66—62—58—!
So, one night while shivering under my blankets in my chilly bed, I got out my tablet, pulled up space heaters on Amazon.com and was very surprised. These portable heaters looked smaller and a lot safer than the contraptions I remember from the 1960-70s.
I placed an order for one and prayed I wasn’t getting rooked.
Just a couple days later, I’m sitting here on my computer and an email pops up from Amazon. “Your order has been delivered. The driver has left your package under your mailbox in the lobby downstairs.” Yes!
I grab my phone to call Diana and tell her the space heater is here, and run downstairs. I go into the lobby and see a CRATE-SIZED BOX from Amazon under my mailbox. What the—!! How big is this heater anyway??
I call Diana back and tell her this box is HUGE. She says “Maybe it’s like one of those Russian nesting dolls, and they just packed it in different sized boxes to keep it safe.”
I say “Nope—it has HEAVY stickers all over the box, and when I tried to lift a corner it won’t budge!”
I called Amazon and said if you’re still in the area this is too big for me, come and take it away. No way do I have room for this thing. The Amazon driver returned, pointed his tricorder at the carton on the floor and said “Er… this isn’t your order.”
He went around the corner to the smaller mailroom (for first floor tenants only), and returned with a much smaller box. “Here’s your package, sorry for the mixup.”
Whew! I brought it upstairs, unpacked it, was surprised at it’s compact size. It only stands a foot tall. Anyway, I couldn’t be more pleased. It’s whisper quiet, gently rotates and pushes out a WHOPPER of very warm air. I have a bookcase thermometer that had been displaying 59F when I plugged it in, 20 minutes later it was 72F in here.
That’s my story and here it is. How did I go this long without one?
EDIT: Wait, this story isn’t over! To be continued…
I am so glad to hear it works just the way you hoped. I look forward to "the rest of the story."
ReplyDeleteHaha--DJan you're very kind, thank you my friend. :^)
DeleteDuring the 1990’s I worked in a small office that I shared with two other accounting folks, one of them being my boss. She was about 5’4”, weighed roughly 80 pounds (she was always dieting 🙄) and she would run one of those old school red hot wire space heaters in that office year round. It could be 100 degrees outside and she’d have that thing running full blast. It made me feel sick on a regular basis. We lost several of those Rubbermaid trash cans to that hell fire incinerator due to it being in close proximity. One day I couldn’t take it anymore and I fired off a rubber band into the space heater. Not long after, smoke and the smell of burning rubber started to fill the small office. She freaked out and turned it off. The days ahead were much cooler and more comfortable. 😈
ReplyDeleteHaha--wow! Thanks for sharing, Jase--that was pretty clever on your part. Well, I'm just glad these heaters aren't what they used to be! :^)
DeleteOkay, Jase's story is hysterical.
ReplyDeleteI am glad your new heater works just the way you hoped it would. It must be pretty efficient! What I don't understand is why on earth it has to be etched in granite that the heat comes on on this date, and the heat goes off on this date. Can't they see the weather forecast like the rest of us? Maybe delay it a couple weeks? Here we have a problem with the schools and housing units. When the heat is on, it is so hot that the students wear summer clothes. In our low income housing, it is so hot that windows are left cracked in winter. It just seems to me that this could be adjusted. That's a lot of wasted taxpayer money, and saying that out loud makes me feel like Elon Muskrat.
Thanks Debby--well, I totally agree the "etched in granite" date switchover can be frustrating, I am not the only one who filed a complaint ticket about it when I moved in. They explain it's an old, complicated timing mechanism and when they attempted to manually adjust it before, mayhem ensues. It could be worse! 😉
DeleteI had to chuckle about the large, heavy box and then wonder, how do you get heavy things to your apartment? Our packages are delivered to our front porch, just feet away from the front door, and if nothing else, and it was a heavy box, I could always get my cart to put the package on and haul it inside. Terry has taken to having items he orders delivered to the store and then the clerk will bring it out and put it in his trunk if it's too heavy. Most of the time, though, he just runs in and gets it. Like the new vacuum cleaner he ordered from Best Buy. They take the old vacuum for recycle. Very convenient
ReplyDeleteNow, about that space heater: do you pay your own utility bill? You may find that space heater will increase your electricity bill.
Thanks dkzody and haha--good question! I was wondering that myself, as I DID order the IKEA chair and I only paid the $19.00 shipping which does not include it being brought upstairs. It's 50-75 lbs coming July 3, so we'll see. Anyway, boy that was nice of Best Buy and I could use a new sweeper too and I need to see if my store would take my old one too. Thanks again
DeleteInteresting story, Dug. I've thought about getting a small floor heater for our master bath. It doesn't have a ceiling heater like some... guess we decided against it when we built 40 years ago. But sometimes it is cold in there in winter. So, does that pipe in your bathroom ceiling heat or cool the whole apartment? We had a gas wall heater in our bathroom growing up. Mom lit it before we bathed and it really heated up the room.
ReplyDeleteRian, thanks for sharing and I grew up in an old farmhouse and we had 1930s-era individual gas heaters in some of our rooms too we had to light. Gosh I miss those. Anyway, yes the bathroom pipe does heat (or cool) the entire apt. My place is only 550 sq.ft.
DeletePS Rian, you should buy this little space heater for your bathroom, it's small and doesn't get hot, you'd love it. :^)
DeleteWhen I got a job in an office near the entry door, my coworker brought out her "ceramic heater". It looks similar to what you have. My memory of the coils is the same as yours and I was stunned. Isn't technology wonderful? And they work pretty slick too!
ReplyDeleteI have gotten the gigantic box before and found the nesting system. The last one I got was ridiculous. Someone had decided to put my subscriptions - a case of toilet paper, a case of kleenex and some other items in one box which was the size of a small Volkswagen. I can't believe it was cheap to ship that monstrosity.
I saw you thought you missed a yard living in the apartment. Full disclosure, I have nothing to do with mowing, trimming, watering, edging, gardening, raking or snow removal. My only outdoor chore is shopping for flowers.
Haha--thank you Miss Merry, yes you're very right that tech has come a long way. This little heater does wonders, PLUS it blasts the warm air out like a central furnace and it's the size of a flour cannister--c'mon! Okay, your lawn explanation made me chuckle. I really like you. :^)
DeleteI can't stand being cold so the thought of your place being in the high 50s made me uncomfortable, even from thousands of miles away. I'm glad you now have the space heater. It looks space age indeed!
ReplyDeleteMargaret, you're always so kind--thank you my friend! I just hope it lasts a couple years, I've seen what you've had to go thru for some extra heat with your cool gas fireplace!
DeleteWill watch for your further verdict on this heater, Doug. Might order one for myself this autumn. Funny how the crate-sized box gave you a start. You MUST stay comfortable, especially with ongoing health issues! Your friend Diana is a great advisor. ❤️🦉
ReplyDeleteThanks Florence--well, my apt is only so big and I was expecting a box the size of a couple of books Luckily that's what I wound up with. :^) And yes, Diana is very health conscious and has me thinking twice about half the stuff I buy at the market.
DeleteI stay in the basement when I'm at my son's, a few weeks in the spring and fall, and it can be quite chilly. He keeps his thermostat at 64F, which results in about 62F for the basement most of the time. (We both like it cool). But, in the spring and fall when the sun shines in the windows upstairs, his furnace doesn't cut in very much. So I purchased a small space heater for the bedroom. It's amazing how quickly it heats up the space. Your new space heater looks more modern than mine, but there are no heating bars in mine either.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Maebeme, yes I'm sure one of these would be just right for a basement. Your son keeps cool temps alright! I used to like things cool too, but the older I get the better I like the warmth. Right now it's 76F in my place and that's fine with me. :^)
DeleteMy apartment was built in the sixties and has central heating – one that I control. It doesn’t have air conditioning, that wasn’t considered a thing back then. It sure is a thing now.
ReplyDeleteI always see if I can make it to the first of June before I need to turn the heating on. I’ve only managed that once, but it was cheating – I was visiting my sister for all of April and most of May.
Like you I have a small ceramic heater, smaller than yours and it doesn’t rotate. I got it for the days that are a bit chilly, but not cold enough to justify the central heating. I’ve had it for three or four years, and like you, I think: why didn’t I get one earlier?
Very interesting, thanks for sharing Peter. I'm glad to hear from you, I was just thinking about you. Well, my little heater is packed away for the summer but I'm still shocked I waited this long to get one.
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