The coldest night of the year so far, and we had no heat.
By kris182_2000
@kris182_2000 (5444)
Canada
December 9, 2010 10:58am CST
Last night while at work, I got a call from my husband asking me when I was coming home from work.
I asked him why and he said it was because we had no heat. I asked him if we had hot water and he said we did, so I knew we hadn't had the gas shut off.
When I got home from work a few hours later it was really cold in the house. He said it seemed like it was fixed before I'd hung up and gone back to work. But he was wrong.
Being the coldest night of the year so far, I did not look forward to going to bed and freezing all night. It was clearly too cold to stay comfortable, this is an older house with no insulation at all, and that makes it worse for us.
So I went down to the basement to look at the furnace to see if I could figure out what was wrong with it. The ignition flame wasn't on, that was the first problem, and the second problem was the blower motor. It doesn't kick on properly.
It's taken about 12 hours for it to warm up 5 degrees, that definitely proves that the blower motor isn't working right at all. And that means that work has to be done on the furnace so we don't freeze again tonight.
Last night I was wearing 3 pairs of pants, 4 tops and had 4 blankets on my side of the bed. I decided last night that I was going to buy a heated mattress pad, this way I would never have to worry again.
But that would be just for me, now we really need space heaters for the pets and everyone else, so no one else has to freeze.
A few years ago, we had the A/C die, and now when it's cold out, the furnace dies. It's one more thing that we don't need but at least we wont have to pay to have it fixed, it's not our problem. We just have to suffer until it gets fixed.
2 people like this
7 responses
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
10 Dec 10
Just checked the temperature and it is also 5 degrees C. Would not want to be without heat. During an ice storm some years back I survived about 5 days without heat because we had no power for the electric heaters to work but it was pretty horrible. It was good that during the day I could go to work where there was heat.
I sympathize with you and hope you get your heating system working soon! 
1 person likes this
@peavey (16936)
• United States
9 Dec 10
Can you borrow a couple of space heaters until the furnace gets fixed? I live in Colorado, so I understand what a cold night is! We used to live in a house where the bedrooms weren't heated at all and I prefer a cold bedroom, but maybe not that cold.
I hope it isn't long before your heat is fixed.
1 person likes this
@Thoroughrob (11742)
• United States
15 Dec 10
How horrible to be without heat. I hope that you made it through ok and it is up and going now. I am glad you don't have to come up with the money to fix it. That can be pretty expensive. Maybe you should also watch for an electric heater or kerosene just for emergencies.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
10 Dec 10
It sounds like you need a new motor. So what should needs to be done is to get a repairman or if you want to save on it, get one from the Home Depot or other place and have your husband do it yourself. But I see a bigger problem, you need a new airconditioner and a new furnace and I gather you do not have the money to get it. And I also get the feeling that your gas bill is quite high.
I hop that those who think Americans are all rich and greedy realize that not all Americans have money to throw around. I hope you are able to get a new furnace and a/c pretty soon.
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
10 Dec 10
I do like to have some backups available for when electrical things break down...I have a gas stove and an open fireplace,which was useful when my oil fired heating quit in the subzero weather we got here in January this Year,and my (previous) usual service guy was too busy to return my calls at the time....I was in the US for Thanksgiving this year with nice sunny mild weather the whole time (in Va) and arrived back here at the end of November to snow on the ground and temperatures heading for double digits below in Celsius! Thankfully the heating has been working fine all the way through this time,and today the temperature's risen to around 9C so there's a noticable thaw under way since yesterday... I do hope things get sorted out for You quickly!
@luvandpower (2048)
• United States
9 Dec 10
I feel your pain, I live in the southern part of the states and so it may not get as cold, but it was in the 30's for the past week. My brother doesn't live with me anymore and he moved in with his girlfriend. What a surprise he got when he found out they didn't have any gas. They have been trying to stay warm under like two heated blankets.
@kris182_2000 (5444)
• Canada
9 Dec 10
We rely on gas heat, and we don't have electric blankets or anything, so we'd suffer if it wasn't working at all. No insulation at all.
@rendevouz (82)
• Philippines
10 Dec 10
For the time being while it is being fixed, why don't you stay in a friend's house. Maybe you could bring a portable "heater" temporarily. The other option is to have it fixed right away asap.
