living with no hot water...

General_Grant

Gas boiler broke a couple of years ago.  Have a bath a couple of times a week - using two electric kettles to fill.
Other days just strip wash from handbasin (no complaints from nearest and dearest!) - and actually saves time as well as water.
Gas use lower than before obviously (still used for heating by gas fire) and metered water lower than comparable houses.

Asparklierblonde

Interesting thread, thank you for this! 

We get regular power cuts here due to rural, high elevation. Our wood burner is lit most of the year, and I have a kettle that sits a top that all day long. 

I switch our hot water on (powered by expensive LPG!) twice a week for us all to have a shower / bath. Then it goes off again. But I appreciate not everyone has stoves and would see the above as a hassle - to us it’s just a way of life x

maryb

Couldn't do without hot water at home but when the boiler packed up I made a very effective temporary shower from a garden pressure sprayer.  One kettle full of hot water to two of cold is the perfect temperature.  Pump it up and you can wash hair and have a good shower standing in the bath

annieb64

Can remember we used to visit my father's cousin in Rochdale. He lived in a house with no hot water or central heating all his life.
He kept a kettle on a ledge in front of the fire for hot water and washed in the kitchen sink. He had two bowls- one for washing up and one for washing himself. If he wanted a bath he visited the public baths. He always seemed clean and didn't smell

elsien

I used to live somewhere with no central heating and an outside toilet. Doesn't mean I'd want to do it now. 

oystercatcher

We turned off the hot water from the boiler as we found the hot water tank was making our bedroom unbearably hot in summer . We do have an electric shower though and a dishwasher so we actually weren't using much of the hot water from the tank. Just washing hands and the odd cup or pan to wash up by hand . We haven't noticed the difference to daily life. I need to look at the bills to see if it makes a difference, It would probably be cheaper to have baths heated by the gas boiler but we both have difficulties with the bath now due to mobility so we we're using the electric shower anyway.
I don't fancy cold showers in winter but have had them in the summer !

JIL

I worked with someone who had lived at home with her parents and the boiler had broken. The dad refused to repair it. Three years later the mum caved in and called out a plumber. The pilot light had gone out. There was nothing wrong with the boiler. 

gentlepurr

Yep, i do this! I have an electric shower, so still get hot water to shower in. I heat water in a kettle to wash up ( no fancy dirty dishes cupboard, lolol!), the washing machine heats its own water. If ive had a hot water bottle overnight the water is still warm to use for odds and sods the next day and i have two empty gin bottles ( hahaha!) that i fill with water and leave on the radiator in winter or in the conservatory in summer, so water is already warm to use to wash hands or fill kettle with. I live on my own, so its my choice and i dont even think about it, doesnt bother me at all.. Saying it out loud is making me think i sound weird....................

xx

mumtoomany

When we first moved here, in November ten years ago, we had no heating as the boiler had been condemned. No hot water, in fact the previous owners had removed the pipes that supplied hot water, no idea why. No bath, also removed and put outside to collect rainwater for the animals. No kitchen, other than a sink. No curtains and a three inch gap under the front door. An electric shower, held together with an elastic band; on the second day the elastic band broke! Also one room had no floor, and there were holes in the landing floor. Amazingly the house was only on the market for six years! All now fixed, but it makes you appreciate the simple things, when you have them again. Hugs, mumtoomany.xxx

Rosa_Damascena

mumtoomany said:

When we first moved here, in November ten years ago, we had no heating as the boiler had been condemned. No hot water, in fact the previous owners had removed the pipes that supplied hot water, no idea why. No bath, also removed and put outside to collect rainwater for the animals. No kitchen, other than a sink. No curtains and a three inch gap under the front door. An electric shower, held together with an elastic band; on the second day the elastic band broke! Also one room had no floor, and there were holes in the landing floor. Amazingly the house was only on the market for six years! All now fixed, but it makes you appreciate the simple things, when you have them again. Hugs, mumtoomany.xxx

Incredible! Did you know all this before moving in?

@JIL - your post made me . Shows what can happen when the need to save cash overrides basic common sense.