Have you been to Europe? Do you know about the radiant heat?
You won't find central heating here. It's radiators, everywhere you go. They're in all offices, they're in all supermarkets, shops, and every home.
What qualifies as a very good radiator is a quiet one, because as you know if you've ever been near one, radiators are loud. They sound like tapdancing dragons--lotta clicking, lotta hissing.
The radiators in my house, therefore, could not be called "very good", nor could they be called even "kinda decent". They are monstors attached to the walls.
Now, the second thing you must understand about Europe is that they only heat water when they need it. Water heaters do not keep water constantly hot--you must turn them on about 30mins before you need hot water. Most people in Ireland still do dishes by heating a kettle of water, rather than heating up the hot water tank. In the morning, you must turn on the "immersion", or water heater, about an hour before the house gets up and gets to showering.
Now, you can set a timer if you wish, which is what my roommate did. Our water heater starts revving up every morning at 6:30am. We get up at 8. And at 6:31 when the first POP! of my room's radiator---noisiest in the house---sets in, I awake with a start.
From then on its a constant car-backfiring noise that spats from my radiator every 4 seconds for the next hour or so. It's not regular, it's just barely irregular enough that you think it's done, then BAT! the snare drum goes off again.
It's a pleasant way to wake up, and it makes getting ready in the dark and walking 45mins to work in the rain a reeeeeeeal treat. Needless to say, after 3 days with this wakeup call, I'm practically walking on sunshine this morning.
So when you wonder what it is I miss about the States, you can tell yourself I miss central heat, hot water taps that fulfill their promise of delivering hot water, and most importantly, the complete and utter lack of radiators, barring those skin-melters in most old apartments in NYC.
But please, don't get me started on NYC. Not today. Not in my state.
You won't find central heating here. It's radiators, everywhere you go. They're in all offices, they're in all supermarkets, shops, and every home.
What qualifies as a very good radiator is a quiet one, because as you know if you've ever been near one, radiators are loud. They sound like tapdancing dragons--lotta clicking, lotta hissing.
The radiators in my house, therefore, could not be called "very good", nor could they be called even "kinda decent". They are monstors attached to the walls.
Now, the second thing you must understand about Europe is that they only heat water when they need it. Water heaters do not keep water constantly hot--you must turn them on about 30mins before you need hot water. Most people in Ireland still do dishes by heating a kettle of water, rather than heating up the hot water tank. In the morning, you must turn on the "immersion", or water heater, about an hour before the house gets up and gets to showering.
Now, you can set a timer if you wish, which is what my roommate did. Our water heater starts revving up every morning at 6:30am. We get up at 8. And at 6:31 when the first POP! of my room's radiator---noisiest in the house---sets in, I awake with a start.
From then on its a constant car-backfiring noise that spats from my radiator every 4 seconds for the next hour or so. It's not regular, it's just barely irregular enough that you think it's done, then BAT! the snare drum goes off again.
It's a pleasant way to wake up, and it makes getting ready in the dark and walking 45mins to work in the rain a reeeeeeeal treat. Needless to say, after 3 days with this wakeup call, I'm practically walking on sunshine this morning.
So when you wonder what it is I miss about the States, you can tell yourself I miss central heat, hot water taps that fulfill their promise of delivering hot water, and most importantly, the complete and utter lack of radiators, barring those skin-melters in most old apartments in NYC.
But please, don't get me started on NYC. Not today. Not in my state.
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