Water

The feeling of virtue from using solar power to heat the water for my shower is washed out by the amount of water that must run until what comes from the tap is hot.

I fill the kettle and a pan to boil an egg, but the water's still running cold.

The washing machine, built on the European model, is filled from the cold water tap. The machine then heats the water to the temperature you indicate. True much laundry is washed in cold water, but there ought to be a way to fill the machine from the cold water in the hot-water pipe.

A note: if you rent a flat, ask whether there's a solar water heater, but don't say "solar," which means diesel fuel in Hebrew. Ask if there is a "dood shemesh." If there is, don't turn on the supplementary water heater on any day that has four hours or more of sunshine, or you'll get water that's way too hot and waste electricity as well as water.

Unfortunately this winter far too many days have hours and hours of sunshine. That rain is needed. Water is scarce. I do hate running that tap till the water flows hot.

Copyright 2009 Jane S. Fox