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An Expensive Way to Settle an Argument...
Jul. 29th, 2005 08:08 pmSo we have to replace the hot water heater.
My grandmother asked me to shop around by phone and compare electric to propane at the various places in Livingston. Unfortunately, despite her objections- "I have NOT made up my mind!"- she'd already decided not only to go back to propane, but to get the tank at the most expensive place in town.
Her reasons:
(1) With gas we could have hot water by noon Saturday. (True- the only point in her favor.)
(2) An electric one won't fit in the trailer house cubbyhole. (False- she didn't know for certain. For that matter, we eventually had to drive into town today anyhow to measure, because we didn't know what the actual dimensions were on the things we had.)
(3) We'd have to dig ditches for buried water and electrical lines to put in an electrical heater. (What?? Only if we put the new heater somewhere else, and even then digging ditches is not an issue with electrics.)
(4) It'll cost $1,000 or more to have a 220 line put in. (Even after I got a rough ballpark quote of $250 from an electrician, she persisted in this because, despite all evidence to the contrary, she thought that figure did not include wire, new breakers, conduit, plugs, hookups, etc. etc. etc. etc. Eventually she began making equipment up to explain her costs.)
(5) Electric is more expensive. (Bullshit. The electric tanks run between $100 and $150 less than propane, and the electricity the tank runs off of is cheaper than the propane is, -and- the water heater is the only thing left in the house that uses propane.)
Finally, to at least stop the argument for now, I bought a cheap electric water heater with my own money. ($250 with delivery. OUCH. But it arrives tomorrow.) Electrician comes to look things over and refine the estimate; installation may be expected Monday. Tomorrow we take the old heater out and put a new floor into the rotted-out soaked-down heater room, and then hook up the pipes to the new water heater.
Yes sir, this is precisely what I needed- long shouting arguments with an 89-year-old woman in full martyr mode, punctuated by a purchase I really couldn't afford to make, but had to to save -her- from spending about $200 more. Yrgh.
My grandmother asked me to shop around by phone and compare electric to propane at the various places in Livingston. Unfortunately, despite her objections- "I have NOT made up my mind!"- she'd already decided not only to go back to propane, but to get the tank at the most expensive place in town.
Her reasons:
(1) With gas we could have hot water by noon Saturday. (True- the only point in her favor.)
(2) An electric one won't fit in the trailer house cubbyhole. (False- she didn't know for certain. For that matter, we eventually had to drive into town today anyhow to measure, because we didn't know what the actual dimensions were on the things we had.)
(3) We'd have to dig ditches for buried water and electrical lines to put in an electrical heater. (What?? Only if we put the new heater somewhere else, and even then digging ditches is not an issue with electrics.)
(4) It'll cost $1,000 or more to have a 220 line put in. (Even after I got a rough ballpark quote of $250 from an electrician, she persisted in this because, despite all evidence to the contrary, she thought that figure did not include wire, new breakers, conduit, plugs, hookups, etc. etc. etc. etc. Eventually she began making equipment up to explain her costs.)
(5) Electric is more expensive. (Bullshit. The electric tanks run between $100 and $150 less than propane, and the electricity the tank runs off of is cheaper than the propane is, -and- the water heater is the only thing left in the house that uses propane.)
Finally, to at least stop the argument for now, I bought a cheap electric water heater with my own money. ($250 with delivery. OUCH. But it arrives tomorrow.) Electrician comes to look things over and refine the estimate; installation may be expected Monday. Tomorrow we take the old heater out and put a new floor into the rotted-out soaked-down heater room, and then hook up the pipes to the new water heater.
Yes sir, this is precisely what I needed- long shouting arguments with an 89-year-old woman in full martyr mode, punctuated by a purchase I really couldn't afford to make, but had to to save -her- from spending about $200 more. Yrgh.
