Maytagbear = Polar Bear

[maytagbear]

Thanks everyone, and

Thank you Toggle.

I am hesitant to say it, but the thing is off again.

I do not play with the thermostat (an older Honeywell analog roundie), the power is stable.....

I am really getting frustrated, and I am getting embarrassed to update the ongoing saga here.

I'm going to bed soon. I have lotsa blankets, and a fiberfill comforter.

Mr. Boris has his built in fur coat.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[toggleswitch]

It's risky but also, GET A HEATER FIRST! This will take

~If he were smart he'd get a maintenance contract/agreement and give you their number.

....and a key to the @#$%^-ing furnace room!

If you really wanna get ballsy (and the furnace that is yours is directly inderneath your apt), you can call the utility ---fibbing savagely--- and say

"I SMELL GAS and FUMES!"

This gets your service shut off.
This forces a plumber to come out.
This forces a repair/replacement.
This forces an inspection.
and finally service turn-on (re-establishment)

The may find a real (but tiny) crack in the heat-exchanger and force the landlord to replace the furnace, which can only mean greater efficiency and lower heating costs to you even if a crappy "builder's grade."

Just a thought in that it could (pardon the pun) backfire!

 

[maytagbear]

I haven't ruled

anything out......including calling Dominion/East Ohio Gas.

However, most anyplace else here in Kent in my price range is not on the bus, does not have washer/dryer hookups, and most importantly, couldn't have my Mr. Boristhecat.

Toggle, you have email

L/Mb

 

[sudsmaster]

Warrant of Habitability

I did a little searching and Ohio does honor the concept of "Warrant of Habitability", albeit with more restrictions on the tenant than in some other states like California and maybe New York.

In any case, here's a link to a snapshot of a book on Ohio tenants' rights.

It says that a furnace off in winter is indeed a breach of the implied warranty of habitability. And as Pete has pointed out, the tenant's remedy is to document the landlord's failure to fix the problem, take the case to a court, deposit one's rent check with the court, and then let the court decide what to do. Normally it takes 30 days, but in the case of a furnace off in the middle of winter, I would imagine that this would be sped up considerably.

Calling early in the morning may not have the desired effect since it sounds like the landlord just lets his answering machine handle calls anyway. Better to start writing letters so that a paper trail is established.

Ohio Renter's Rights

books.google.com

 

[maytagbear]

Guess What?!?????!!!!

No, guess!

It was on last night when I went to bed.

It isn't on now.

He was here last night for over an hour, rattling, banging, and vacuuming the thing. I thought it was fixed for good and for all. What a stupid fool.
(Doesn't matter..him or me...him for being too cheap to hire a real furnace tech, me for not screaming for his cell number).

While he was here last night, something happened, and he triggered the fuse on the furnace circuit. Yes, the fuse. He came up here, and went to the fuse box, and tried to determine which fuse had blown....Over a year ago, there was a licensed electrician in the building, and I said then that I wanted to switch to a breaker box.......

The location is decent, the neighbourhood is slowly rising. There is a bus stop across the street. I have permission for Boris-the-cat. I have machine hookups.....

Not every apartment here in Kent will accept cats, "thanks" to irresponsible owners (mostly,) but not totally, KSU students.

Anyway, he said last night that he would look in on the furnace before he left for his day job. I guess he was too busy or simply forgot.

I pray that those of you who are landlords (or love a landlord) don't pull this sort of sheananigan on your tenants.

Lawrence/Maytagbear/Polarbear

 

[toggleswitch]

Just what we need; a *rejection* base.......

Have faith sir, things will get better.

The below are a nice compromise with a standard Edison base screw-thread (type "T" fuses). Fits many fuseboxes, but not those with tamper-resistant fuses (Type "S")

How Do Fuses and Fuse Boxes Work?

Learn how a fuse box works and how to select the right fuse for specific circuits in your house.

homerepair.about.com

 

[toggleswitch]

Did you get a heater yet?

Type "T" and type "S" fuses.

Type "T" are the full Edison screw base (same as US light-bulb "lamp").

Type "S" are more slender and are designed to fit in a sleeve that sits within an edison screw-shell (the female receptacle). With Type "S" adapters in place, only a fuse of the proper rating (amperage) will fit.

The nice thing about these screw-in repalcement breakers is that they are reset-able and there is no installation cost! Just make sure there is room for the stem to pop out in case of a trip!

Now as far as the furnace now blowing fuses, I can say this with compelete confidence: Your landlord does not know what he is doing. Seek professional help!

 

[maytagbear]

Professional Help----

JOKING, JOKING, JOKING-

The "professsional help" I am thinking about seeking at the moment would be a BARTENDER!

JOKING, JOKING, JOKING.

There's the matter of the locked basement-----

I must seem like a pathetic, ineffectual wimp. I'm really not, I just try to behave myself and go with the "more flies with honey than vinegar" method.

I would have called him at 6 am, if I had been awake then....

Lawrence/Polarbear

 

[toggleswitch]

~I must seem like a pathetic, ineffectual wimp.

Uh no dear, the landlord is in the position of power and you are dealing with him properly.

All landlords seem to remember how to collect the rent. Providing the services for which one PAYS rent, that is another issue that frequenlty needs a forced reminder or two.

 

[maytagbear]

--Questions--

These are in the "gallows humour" vein.

What do the poor people who don't have a stack of SA8 clean and Downy soft sweaters do when their heat is on the blink?

And then, whot do they do if they don't have a purring (or barking) "hot water" bottle?

Some days, gratitude is more of a challenge!

Love and laughter,

Lawrence/Polarbear

 

[toggleswitch]

Scew-in fuse-replacement cicuit-breakers.

ooopss sorry aobut that. Here is the neglected linkie.

Seen in Homo Depot and bLowe's

http://www.doityourself.com/invt/u243089

 

[sudsmaster]

Minibreakers

What a great idea - saves the cost and bother of replacing a glass fuse everytime the circuit overloads.

Of course, fuse boxes can be an indication of ancient, perhaps dangerous, wiring inside the walls and ceilings and under the floors, but that's a different issue.

I still have to love what my Mom's last landlord did with the fuse boxes in the apartment house. I guess somebody complained about the fuses, so the landlord put in a breaker box at the service panel, gave each apartment one 40 amp fuse, pulled the fuse boxes in the apartments, and reconnected the leads to the now missing fuse box using twist connects. When I moved her out of there, I looked in my Mom's hall closet and there was this square hole in the wall where the fuse box used to be, with exposed wires and the twist connects. Not nice. Luckily she got out of there before a major electrical fire or electrocution event.

 

[toggleswitch]

Any updates?

 

[maytagbear]

Well.........

My landlord did put in the new solenoid on Thursday, and it has been pleasantly warm here for several days in a row!

However, I do think the thermostat is clapped out and needs to be replaced. It is a classic heat-only Honeywell Roundie analog.

I think, though, that I am going to not call him for a few weeks.


Boristhecat is happy too.

I'm hoping to let this trying time fade into dimmest memory.

THANK YOU AGAIN for your support and kindness. Yous guys is da greatest.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[sudsmaster]

Maytagbear,

Do youself a favor... go down to the local HW store (Orchard Supply around here) and get a Lux 1500 programmable thermostat. It's relatively inexpensive (about $35 when I got mine), very easy to install (two wires on mine) and fairly straight forward to program. It will let you set the temp for different times of day/night, and different settings for M-F and Sa-Su. Easy to override, and it will click back to the next setting when that time comes around.

A simpler model, without the weekday/weekend feature, is the Lux 500, if you don't care about that and you prefer simple. But if you can navigate the internet you can program either one.

When you move out you can take it with you and slap the manual Honeywell roundie. Or keep the Honeywell if it's metal and collectible

 

[selectomatic]

Warm=Good.

Not Warm=Bad.

Glad to hear that things are Good again, MTB!

-kevin

 

[maytagbear]

I try to be

optimistic. I am not an optimist by nature, but by conscious thinking.

I am very glad to have heat, but I am not yet secure in it.

My landlord was politely adamant about not replacing the furnace. I would like a new furnace, but it is his money, his property......

As for the new thermostat, I will entertain all suggestions. This is a heat only system, so that might make a new thermostat a bit less expensive.

I have heard of electronic thermostats with "armchair programming"....that they can be detached, and taken to somewhere with better light and some place to sit down.

I am afraid that in the last years of our life together at the house, I made sport of Ma needing a flashlight to illuminate the Roundie we had there. She was in her 60s, I was a punk in his 30s then. Now that I am in my late 40s, I understand why she needed the flashlight!

Thanks again, guys.

L/Mb

 

[sudsmaster]

The Lux 1500 has a built-in light, which allows you to see the basics: current temp, programmed temp, and any override you might want. It can also be detached from the wall for programming - I think - but I normally don't do that. It's got a dial for the various settings and they are pretty easy to set. The dial is under a little flap, which is not lit, but with regular room light it's easy enough to read.

Most programmable thermostats I've seen can control both heating and cooling. Haven't seen a heat only one. Don't think it's an issue - you're paying mostly for the programmable/setback features.

 

[rp2813]

I've had a Lux model (not sure if it's the 1500) for a number of years now and it's been fine. The programming doesn't always apply, like on weekends I don't need 4 different timeframes seeing as how we are home all day so I just set all 4 for the same temp.

I'm looking to replace this t-stat only because the "down" temp button has decided to stop responding unless you really press hard in just the right spot. Otherwise this one has been no trouble.

I had a Hunter brand programmable before the Lux. That one went squirelly on me but I did like that it had a "Return" button to press when you wanted to go back to the pre-set temp from higher or lower override. With the Lux you need to manually keep pressing the temp button to get back to the pre-set.

Also, my Lux was top rated by CR, for what that's worth anymore.

 

[mickeyd]

Hello Lawrence

Holmes makes a really effective ceramic heater fan, very small, about 6 inches square, thermostat or manual, two speed, a surprisingly versatile little machine.You can get it at Ace's or Home Depot for $19.99. I use it in the fall in the sleeping chambre before firing up the boiler.

Wish we were in Michael Chrichton's novel "Timeline" or that the future were here, and I could fax it to you, then you and Kitty could relax, the warm breeze flowing, whenever the Grinch who stole the Christmas heat rears his ugly head.

All the best,

Michael