The Heat Is ON...

by Amy

In most apartments in our city, heat is government regulated. That means they turn it on on a certain date and turn it off on certain date. Most homes do not have a thermostat so individuals cannot regulate the temperature of the home. The cost of heat is based on a flat, per-square-meter rate.

Last year when our friends were explaining the fee, etc, we considered not paying for heat at all. Everyone we talked to thought we were crazy! The insisted we would definitely need heat. And, if we didn't want heat, we still had to pay about 33% of the cost. So, we decided to go ahead and pay the full amount so we could have heat. So, on Nov. 5, of last year, the heat came on! It was on in our home for about 4 hours, then, Brad (who had watched the maintenance man flip the "on" switch after we paid) turned it off and opened the windows! It never came back on again.

This year, we felt a little more experienced in the heat arena. We didn't ask for any advice; we decided we weren't waisting that money again! And, thankfully, the people who didn't want heat only had to pay about 15% of the heating fee, instead of the 33% like last year.

It is absolutely amazing how toasty warm our 13th floor home is! It is about 35 degrees F outside right now, and I was sweating in my "unheated" home until I opened the window. Brad woke up the other night at 1am, burning up and couldn't get back to sleep he was so uncomfortable and hot! It is crazy! We will have no problem teaching our kids the concept of hot air rising!

On a different note, though, you may remember last year this country had a huge snow storm at the end of January and many travelers were stranded in train stations and airports for days and days. This storm lead to a shortage of coal. Well this year, the government has cut back the number of days they'll provide heat and increased the price. Our "turn on" date was delayed 10 days and our "turn off" date will come 1o days earlier. And, the price went up about 75US cents per square meter. In a country where an average job pays less than $200/month, that's a HUGE increase! Although our family is happy for the 20 less days of heat, and only had to pay less than $80, many people here are not in the same boat. Their windows leak and are poorly insulated. Their homes are too cold without paying for heat, but they cannot afford the increase....