The Heat Is On

Central heating was not a forte of Victorian technology.

For starters, only the first floor of this three-story house had/has any heat. The design relied on heat rising to the upper floors. The furnace under the crawlspace was on its last legs after decades of steady service, but now it spews heat and carbon monoxide in equal measure. The PG&E guy refused to turn it on, and the heating contractor's hair stood on end. "This thing was running before? Are you sure?"

So what are you saying? It's time to replace the furnace?

So selfsame heating contractor is now under aforementioned floor replacing said furnace with a modern, high-efficiency Energy Star-certified one. It's not a cheap piece of machinery but (the thinking goes) it'll pay for itself in lower heating bills.

So now we have heat! Any time we want. It's like magic! I turn it up high, just because I can. The novelty wears off after awhile; the default setting of 70 degrees seems too hot, so I'll probably program it for 66 degrees or so. I may name my next kid after this thing.