…really is cold. The heating has stopped working. Again. And not only in the flat. Just as the weather turns colder, warmth temporarily evaded the houses in Chelmsford and Galleywood at the weekend.
They should be fixed now, and I have a plumber coming to the flat on Wednesday to look at the radiators and the semi-working wireless heating system that could be in need of replacement.
It really isn’t happy. The digital thermostat in the hallway sends a signal to the wireless receiver in the pantry, which determines if heating is needed according to the temperature reached by the thermostat.
Or at least, it should do. It’s reported an ‘alarm’ error for the last few days, which necessitates mindless and time-consuming resetting of the system, which I did almost every night last week.
Something’s definitely not right somewhere, as the supposedly technologically-advanced system did much the same this time last year. While the radiators are warm in some rooms (though not hot), others are freezing. Maybe the pump’s not working properly; the boiler certainly seemed to be when I looked last night.
I’ve never known a winter with so many people experiencing problems with keeping warm. Not that it really mattered a great deal at the weekend, as the cold stayed away long enough for fun with family visitors.
It returned in time to jump start the car, though, as lots of traffic on Friday morning had left me flustered enough to leave the lights on, resulting in a very flat battery, and an-almost tired-looking Polo, drained of any power it might have had.
But, as we were hot-footing it from house to house, and house to shops, we rarely stood still long enough for it to bother us that much (though mooching around Freeport in Braintree yesterday really was, quite literally, freezing). And with toasty showers waking us up at the house, the mornings definitely had warmth to them.
Hopefully all will soon be well (and warm) at the flat once more, too (bar the ticking radiator – which I’m assured hasn’t got any air in it), and I can stop sitting wrapped up on the sofa in the evenings. The weather’s not even properly cold yet, so I don’t want the catalogue of heating problems to get worse, costing even more to get fixed.
It’s almost enough to make to you hot and bothered.