Good luck and bad luck

[Ian Forbes]

My whole life seems to be that way. I have some bad luck, but it never gets me down and I'm able to deal with it. And, because I always plan for the unusual I'm able to deal with it. Anyone who has ever owned a home for any length of time knows you will run into problems from time to time. Once I got UNMARRIED for the second time I always made sure I had emergency money in the bank.

Yesterday was a perfect example. We had one of our infrequent sunny days and I was trying to fix an old raft that has served me well for 25 years, but it was leaking and needed some serious work done on it. I was hoping to patch it enough to get another few years out of it.

I came into the basement at noon to discover my 10 year old hot water tank decided today was a good day to die on me and leak water all over the floor. I needed to do something about it pronto! That meant stopping my work on the raft and start hooking up hoses to the water tank. At the same time I had to contact a plumbing company and order a new tank. They are always busy and seldom available at a moment's notice. Then it was back to trying to drain the tank and cleaning up the water on the floor.

Unfortunately, the tank had a crappy plastic release valve and the hose would not connect properly. That meant I had to be on my knees mopping up the dripping water while the tank drained slowly... some through the hose and some onto my absorbent rags... an all day process.

I finally shut off the water valve to my whole home and went to bed at 2 AM.

Finally, this afternoon a plumber came by with a new 60 gallon hot water tank. It is huge. My old one was 40 gallon but I thought it was a 60. There were no markings on it to say the size. That meant changing all the fittings so the copper pipe would fit the new one. $1500 and I now have a new hot water tank that should out live me.

[Bacon]

Who uses tanks anymore. The idea of keeping that much water hot all the time in case you need it is pretty silly in this day and age when better tech is available. You should have gone for an on demand hot water system. Cheaper and more efficient. But still, glad it all worked out at the end.

[obes]

Who uses tanks anymore. The idea of keeping that much water hot all the time in case you need it is pretty silly in this day and age when better tech is available. You should have gone for an on demand hot water system. Cheaper and more efficient. But still, glad it all worked out at the end.

Um - depends if you have relatively cheap Natural Gas available, we don't, and an on demand LPG system would cost a stonking fortune to run !

[Bacon]

Is that because on demand uses greater bursts to quickly heat the water up? In that case it might still work out cheaper in the long run in case of people who have low usage. Not sure.

Most people don't tend to change their settings during the day. So if you're at work 9-10 hours a day you have gas constantly running to keep the tank hot.

[obes]

Is that because on demand uses greater bursts to quickly heat the water up? In that case it might still work out cheaper in the long run in case of people who have low usage. Not sure.

Most people don't tend to change their settings during the day. So if you're at work 9-10 hours a day you have gas constantly running to keep the tank hot.

Electric hot water tanks heat the water off peak - generally over night, so the cost is minimised. The tank is insulated, so it can hold the water hot for a relatively long time.

LPG hot water is not cheaper than electric - not in my neck of the woods anyway.

[justcruzing1]

Who uses tanks anymore. The idea of keeping that much water hot all the time in case you need it is pretty silly in this day and age when better tech is available. You should have gone for an on demand hot water system. Cheaper and more efficient. But still, glad it all worked out at the end.

Um - depends if you have relatively cheap Natural Gas available, we don't, and an on demand LPG system would cost a stonking fortune to run !

The best system is the electric heat Pump storage system.

For a family it is as cheap or cheaper than gas in running.

It basically uses the heat of the day to warm the water in the tank then uses a little bit of electricity to top it to the desired temp.

Heat Pump

[Bacon]

Most tanks I've seen are gas. But electricity makes sense.

[Bacon]

The best system is the electric heat Pump storage system.

For a family it is as cheap or cheaper than gas in running.

It basically uses the heat of the day to warm the water in the tank then uses a little bit of electricity to top it to the desired temp.

Heat Pump

That's pretty good. Wonder if they do pool versions.

[Distantpeak]

Gas is dirt cheap in the UK... in comparison to electricity... so on-demand boilers here save you a fortune for heating water... and central heating.

[MarcTwoSix]

My whole life seems to be that way. I have some bad luck, but it never gets me down and I'm able to deal with it. And, because I always plan for the unusual I'm able to deal with it. Anyone who has ever owned a home for any length of time knows you will run into problems from time to time. Once I got UNMARRIED for the second time I always made sure I had emergency money in the bank.

Yesterday was a perfect example. We had one of our infrequent sunny days and I was trying to fix an old raft that has served me well for 25 years, but it was leaking and needed some serious work done on it. I was hoping to patch it enough to get another few years out of it.

I came into the basement at noon to discover my 10 year old hot water tank decided today was a good day to die on me and leak water all over the floor. I needed to do something about it pronto! That meant stopping my work on the raft and start hooking up hoses to the water tank. At the same time I had to contact a plumbing company and order a new tank. They are always busy and seldom available at a moment's notice. Then it was back to trying to drain the tank and cleaning up the water on the floor.

Unfortunately, the tank had a crappy plastic release valve and the hose would not connect properly. That meant I had to be on my knees mopping up the dripping water while the tank drained slowly... some through the hose and some onto my absorbent rags... an all day process.

I finally shut off the water valve to my whole home and went to bed at 2 AM.

Finally, this afternoon a plumber came by with a new 60 gallon hot water tank. It is huge. My old one was 40 gallon but I thought it was a 60. There were no markings on it to say the size. That meant changing all the fittings so the copper pipe would fit the new one. $1500 and I now have a new hot water tank that ]

Here is my answer and why I think I am pretty stress free through life

None of that wss bad luck.
Just a water heater that died and you needed a new one
No bad luck involved

This is an interesting subject to me because my sister is the epitome of "poor me"
She puts herself in bad positions all the time and then cries how much "bad luck" she has

My wife is a bit like that herself, although she doesn't put herself in the bad positions my sistsr does
But anything that happens, any bad life event, is poor me

I've just never bought into any of that
Something happens, you deal with it (like you did with the heater) and move one
Don't dwell on it

I had a lot of shitty things in my life when I was growing up
How poor we were and some of the shit I had to go through....
No heat, electric, etx all the time, getting evicted
A bunch of deaths in the family

Yeah they all sucked but everyone has shit they have to deal with

Just put yourself in a good position and these "bad luck " situations don't hit as often and when they do you are prepared to deal with them(as you did with putting money aside)

[Bacon]

Gas is dirt cheap in the UK...

For as long as Putin decides it's cheap. He fucks with the valves and poor people start freezing to death in Europe.

[Distantpeak]

For as long as Putin decides it's cheap. He fucks with the valves and poor people start freezing to death in Europe.

Not all gas comes from Russia though...

[RakThai]

For as long as Putin decides it's cheap. He fucks with the valves and poor people start freezing to death in Europe.

Fake news, or maybe just old news..
Surely there is a lot of gas coming from Russia and Siberia.
But efforts to diversify the EU gas have been going on for decades..
The gas-lines to Azerbaijan have been completed and will be extended to Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan soon..
And the biggest Gas reserves are in the Persian gulf, Qatar and Bahrein area, which is reported to be the biggest reason for the wars in Syria.. Pipelines over that country to make Europe less dependent on Russian gas..

[Bacon]

Glad to be corrected in this case.

[Ian Forbes]

If I had a family and was living in my home for 12 months of the year then gas is quicker and cheaper than electricity. Same with a heat pump. The big cost is switching over to a different system. I have an old oil furnace sitting next to the hot water tank. I has not run for the 16 years I started spending my winters in Thailand. I still have oil in the inside tank that has to be removed.

My main comment is to point out that if you own home then there are always upkeep issues. The older the house gets the more problems occur. A lot depends on how the building was constructed in the first place, and by whom. There is an old but true saying... Build it correctly in the first place, with good quality materials, and it will be cheaper in the long run. Use extra wiring in the construction process and it won't have to be replaced. In Canada we have 110 wiring unless 220 was demanded beforehand. Trying to install new wiring in a 50 year old home is a long, slow, costly process. Had extra wiring been installed when the building was being constructed then the extra cost would have been minimal.

Unfortunately, speculation homes in a new subdivision are usually done on the "cheap". They look nice on the outside, but it's all "floss and gloss"... kind of like a hooker in a bar. You really don't know what you've bought until you've been with them for a while. My home was obviously one of those spec homes where the builders cut corners. There was very little long range planning. Then, the subsequent owner, or owners, tried to upgrade and develop the basement area, but with little or no long range planning.

I give full marks to the Swiss and Germans. They are noted for doing things correctly the first time. Compare that to the Thais that can't see much further than a meter in front of their face. Everything has to be rebuilt on a continual basis.

[Ian Forbes]

My comment on good luck vs bad luck has mostly to do with "timing". Paul's (M26) comment that luck has nothing to do with it is asinine. If you plan an expensive trip and a violent storm ruins it while you are there, then that is bad luck... unless you took the trip during the stormy season but were willing to take the risk. Same as going on a winter trip in snow country with bald, summer tires on your vehicle. That's just poor planning. If your plane crashes with you on it, but you survive, then that is both good and bad luck.

My point is I can always laugh at things that happen to me, no matter how unfortunate. I can always find some "good luck" out of "bad luck". I never complain about anything because I always get a story out of it... just like this one. My hot water tank leaking could have been much worse had I been away for a week on a fishing trip. The good luck is I now have a brand new hot water tank that will probably out live me.

[MarcTwoSix]

My comment on good luck vs bad luck has mostly to do with "timing". Paul's (M26) comment that luck has nothing to do with it is asinine. If you plan an expensive trip and a violent storm ruins it while you are there, then that is bad luck... unless you took the trip during the stormy season but were willing to take the risk. Same as going on a winter trip in snow country with bald, summer tires on your vehicle. That's just poor planning. If your plane crashes with you on it, but you survive, then that is both good and bad luck.

My point is I can always laugh at things that happen to me, no matter how unfortunate. I can always find some "good luck" out of "bad luck". I never complain about anything because I always get a story out of it... just like this one. My hot water tank leaking could have been much worse had I been away for a week on a fishing trip. The good luck is I now have a brand new hot water tank that will probably out live me.

We are basically saying the same thing

My point was that some people look at their water breaking as "bad luck" and have a "poor me" attitude about everything

And most times they think it's "bad luck " because they haven't prepared themselves like you did

[OZZYGUY]

My main comment is to point out that if you own home then there are always upkeep issues. The older the house gets the more problems occur. A lot depends on how the building was constructed in the first place, and by whom.
.

Much the same with life partners really...........55

[Tingtong]

When my last Electric Hot water system shit it's self bout 6 yrs ago I down sized the the tank from 120 ltr (?) to a 70 ltr off peak system and it has saved my quite a bit over the years .
My 70 ltr is plenty for 1 to 3 people .....You have the think of a Hot Water System as a giant electric kettle . I never fill the kitchen Jug and boil it for one cup of tea , so why have too big a Hot water Tank heating for your actual needs .

[Ian Forbes]

When my last Electric Hot water system shit it's self bout 6 yrs ago I down sized the the tank from 120 ltr (?) to a 70 ltr off peak system and it has saved my quite a bit over the years .
My 70 ltr is plenty for 1 to 3 people .....You have the think of a Hot Water System as a giant electric kettle . I never fill the kitchen Jug and boil it for one cup of tea , so why have too big a Hot water Tank heating for your actual needs .

I like to have long showers with 2 or 3 ladies at the same time. 5555

At least it's only in operation for 7 months of the year. It will be interesting to see if there is a difference in my electricity bill from previously.