Laurence Brown continues to bring us his adventures as a first-time homeowner. He is typical of people who have lived in rental home all their adult lives and are in for a shock when they have to learn how to use and maintain the infrastructure of a house on their own, but he makes it funny. At least for experienced homeowners. Those who are still renting may be baffled and terrified as Brown explains what must be learned about his water heater, furnace, and the other confusing sights in the basement.
Worked with a fellow who was complaining his furnace was crap and didn't heat his house. I asked him when he last changed his filters. "Change my what?"
ReplyDeleteAlso knew a couple who had rented for years. They were in their late 30s when they got their first home and were borderline outraged at having to pay utility bills and service calls for appliances. They thought once you bought a house that was it.
We have owned our home for over 23 years and the only thing I have done with our furnace is change the filter.
ReplyDeleteAs for our water heater, I helped our handyman replace the old one with the new one--mainly helping lug the heavy things up and down the basement stairs.
Also, there are boilers in the US. Mainly for large buildings and very old houses.
ReplyDeleteMost new-ish homes use the forced-air furnaces like Laurance has.
To make a long story longer, in the US, boilers and furnaces are different but are used for the same things: to heat places.