New Gas Hot Water Heater!

I just got a very good house improvement and it should cost me very little if anything. I get credited for carbon offsets, and I might even save money every month.


A guy from livclean came by on Wednesday (Sept. 16) to offer me a new gas water heater (Energy Star-rated), at no charge to me upfront. I don't think very many of my neighbours took advantage of this offer, although quite a few people rent their gas hot water heaters from Enbridge. I imagine that callers going house to house are not fully trusted, especially considering some reports of unscrupulous natural gas marketing firms. But I fell for it, so to speak.


My furnace, kitchen range, and hot water are gas-powered. My 5-year fixed-price contract with Direct Energy will end next month, and I'll be billed again by Enbridge, Toronto's gas distributor; they'll charge 19.9 cents per cubic meter (I'm now paying 27.9 cents/cM), at least for the next few months: http://www.thestar.com/article/699257).


Anyway, I used to rent the water heater from Enbridge. That heater was more than 15 years old and it was putting out calcium deposits that clog up my low-flow faucets and shower head, and some of the laundry was getting a bit of a brownish stain.


livclean is an independent Canadian company that has partnered with Enbridge to take over their water heater rental business. So instead of renting my water heater from Enbridge I'll be renting from livclean. The monthly rental charge will be $5 more but I will save some money on the gas to heat the water (maybe $7.00 per month). And livclean offers carbon offsets.

Two installers came yesterday (Sept. 21) at about 1 pm. Considering that I made the appointment the previous Wednesday for between noon and 5 pm, that was quick service. They did the work quickly and neatly, cleaned up after themselves, showed me how to operate it in vacation mode, when to do my own maintenance (drain a bucket every six to 12 months), and how to restart the pilot if I have to turn it off. I asked if it was safe to replace the insulating blanket I'd had on the old heater, and they said I could, but the new heater has good insulation (I put my hand on it once the water was heated---which took about 30 minutes from cold---and the surface was cool).


They also replaced the foam insulator with a nice thick new piece. One of the installers offered me the spare pieces. "Cats like to play with them," he said. Imagine my dismay---I thought my two girls had invented those games!

http://diabetes-cats.blogspot.com/2009/02/cat-entertainment-bwais-new-toy.html

Cat Entertainment -- Bwai's new toy!

Dis Bwai new toy! It's a 5-foot length of foam insulation for hot water pipes, soft and light-weight---perfect for attacking. I got extra pieces from a city power conservation campaign a couple of years ago (pipe insulation, faucet aerators, etc.). She recently found one of the pieces in the basement and hauled it upstairs with much struggle and arguing. Then she found the other piece and brought that up too.

She's a playful cat by nature, if I initiate an interesting game like laser tag. But she never went after it further than a couple of feet, then needed to rest and contemplate. And now I can't find the laser pointer.

These "toys" gets dragged from room to room and floor to floor (though they haven't made it back to the basement, and they're covered in teethmarks.

This morning I found that she had managed to drag one of the pieces up to the bedroom. (The other night I got up to pee and kicked about 5 toys down the hall in the dark. Once or twice a week I collect the toys and put them back in the basket in the living room.)

Here she and Handsome Stranger are vying over each end of the longer piece.

Bwai, you might have noticed, is somewhat obese. And has an odd coat. She needs a body shave once a year (at least) to deal with her matted fur (and she's too fat to clean her own bum). The vet puts her under general anaesthetic to do this, and charges me an arm and a leg. But she's much happier and more active (and cuddlier) once it's done. This time I've greatly restricted her diet (and she's prevented from scavenging the other three cats' food). I think she's lost a pound or two. I'll let you know.

My furs are such pals

They bring me toys all day. Every day or so I pick up the toys and drop them in a special basket. All four cats bring the toys to my room.

Handsome Stranger loves the fur-covered rattly mice, and he drops them close enough to my hand that I have to throw them.

Gril brings her favourite: a hard rattly whiffle-type ball that I put in a plastic net, so she can carry it around ("mrr, mrow, mrr, yeow, argh, mrow", etc.). She also like to carry around white plastic forks and spoons. I have yet to get a photo of her carrying a plastic spoon in her mouth.

Bwai will bring a rubber cat brush half-way up the stairs, arguing with it the whole way (her voice is quiet but scratchy and annoying). She also likes to play with a dog toy my brother sent me -- it's a medium-hard rubber ball with a cable and hand loop. She never gets it past the bottom of the stairs, though.

Peabo plays with everything but hasn't got the hang of sharing with me. He's only 1.5 years old so he might get it.

I need to get to a hardware store for some sisal twine or carpet. They do all like scratching the furniture...