The Vent and Rant Thread

[fum]

Ohh. You are lucky. In Denmark we have to pay for the water into the house, around 1 dollar for 1000 liters, but thats not all. NoNo. We have to pay around 5 dollar pr 1000 liters to get rid off the water. And what if you used the water for the garden, you might ask, and it didn`t go in the sewer? Dosen`t matter. Still 5 dollar.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

I put our kettle into storage when we had our kitchen updated recently. We now have a boiling water tap instead; no waiting for a cup of tea for me anymore

YES. That's an InstaHot, or whatever yours is called. I thought it was the best thing since...well, I don't care for ready-sliced bread, so something else. LOVED THAT. (Not to mention, handy for all kinds of other things, too. Need pasta? want to peel tomatoes? Man...)

Hitch

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by fum

Ohh. You are lucky. In Denmark we have to pay for the water into the house, around 1 dollar for 1000 liters, but thats not all. NoNo. We have to pay around 5 dollar pr 1000 liters to get rid off the water. And what if you used the water for the garden, you might ask, and it didn`t go in the sewer? Dosen`t matter. Still 5 dollar.

So...if you use an average amount--an average American amount, which assumes that you're at home all day, flushing the toilet and all that, that's what, 375 litres/day? For showers and all that? Let's round, and say 1000 litres every 3 days? Is that $10/month, for your water, I do I misunderstand? For the incoming, I mean?

And apparently 5x that for sewer, is that right? So, all in, $60/month, for a single person? Or am I completely off?

Hitch

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by fum

Ohh. You are lucky. In Denmark we have to pay for the water into the house, around 1 dollar for 1000 liters, but thats not all. NoNo. We have to pay around 5 dollar pr 1000 liters to get rid off the water. And what if you used the water for the garden, you might ask, and it didn`t go in the sewer? Dosen`t matter. Still 5 dollar.

That wasn't what I meant. Water coming into the house is about the same as yours.
Water leaving the house is more expensive.
Doesn't matter here either.

I meant in addition to our regular water bill, we have to buy drinking water. It costs between 20 and 25 cents for every 4 liters.
So we have our water bill around $75 a month which includes water, sewer and trash, and an extra $15 a month for drinking water. (Note: that does not include the initial costs for the containers nor the gasoline to drive and get the water.)

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Hitch

...Mr. H is nagging me for a Keurig-style pod-people coffee maker. I get the convenience and speed, I do. But my understanding is that the coffee isn't amazing, so...

You can buy third party filters for those machines and then put in whatever amount of whatever brand you want. And from my experience the flavor that comes out is as good as the coffee that goes in. It's individually brewed, not instant.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I grind my own coffee, so I can't really make use of the pods/k-ups (I've never found a you-fill-em-yourself-and-reuse-em thingy that worked well). If it's just me, then I use a french press or a one cup pour-over, but I'm often making for several, so the drip machine is more convenient (and reusable filters are murder to clean--my disposal doesn't take kindly to the grounds, and that sludge won't fall out into the garbage without water pressure).

And it's not that the flop-over is such a disaster itself, but rather that it's become a consistent harbinger of doom. The world caves in on me on flop-over days.

This are the latest set of filters I bought, and they are the best so far. Easy to clean, and the design allows them to be dropped in without worrying whether they're properly aligned (I've had guests who didn't align filters that needed it and the result was major punctured holes in the bottoms that made them useless as coffee grounds go straight through into your cup).

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AUBYMK2

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

This are the latest set of filters I bought, and they are the best so far. Easy to clean, and the design allows them to be dropped in without worrying whether they're properly aligned (I've had guests who didn't align filters that needed it and the result was major punctured holes in the bottoms that made them useless as coffee grounds go straight through into your cup).

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AUBYMK2

Thanks, I'll take a look.

But my biggest beef with most reusable k-cup filters I've tried is the inability properly pressurize them (the pre-filled pods have an accordioned paper filter that surrounds the contents). The water just falls through them. Because of that, the water just doesn't remain in contact with the coffee long enough to get the strength I like. And I can't seem to get enough coffee into one of them to compensate. All the reusable filter cups I've tried result in a weaker (to me) cup of coffee. If I have to buy the tiny paper filters for use with these kinds of reusable cups (and pack the coffee in them) to get the strength I like, then most of the associated convenience and cost-savings are lost anyway.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Thanks, I'll take a look.

But my biggest beef with most reusable k-cup filters I've tried is the inability properly pressurize them (the pre-filled pods have an accordioned paper filter that surrounds the contents). The water just falls through them. Because of that, the water just doesn't remain in contact with the coffee long enough to get the strength I like. And I can't seem to get enough coffee into one of them to compensate. All the reusable filter cups I've tried result in a weaker (to me) cup of coffee. If I have to buy the tiny paper filters for use with these kinds of reusable cups (and pack the coffee in them) to get the strength I like, then most of the associated convenience and cost-savings are lost anyway.

My experience as well. It isn't about the money, it's about the coffee coming out. I get excellent coffee with regular k-cups (assuming I buy good coffee, obviously), but can't duplicate it with the reusable ones, no matter how I modify the grind.

[fum]

Originally Posted by Hitch

.....
And apparently 5x that for sewer, is that right? So, all in, $60/month, for a single person? Or am I completely off?

Hitch

Not quite that much. We are living 4 in the house, the oldest one has moved out. And we pay around 1000,- danish kroner a month for the water. Thats around 150,- dollar a month. Then theres the heating, around the same, electricity, around the same. 500 dollars, before we start paying the loans, car, gasoline, food........

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by fum

Not quite that much. We are living 4 in the house, the oldest one has moved out. And we pay around 1000,- danish kroner a month for the water. Thats around 150,- dollar a month. Then theres the heating, around the same, electricity, around the same. 500 dollars, before we start paying the loans, car, gasoline, food........

Does your heating stay the same year round?
Our gas bill is under $30 for about 8 months of the year. We have a gas stove and gas water heater. It doubles at least in the winter.
Though once we installed redneck central air, the cost went down in the winter.

Spoiler:

Redneck central air is a stand fan to blow the warm air through the house.
It is on top of the file cabinet beside the heater. Looks weird but works.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by Hitch

YES. That's an InstaHot, or whatever yours is called. I thought it was the best thing since...well, I don't care for ready-sliced bread, so something else. LOVED THAT. (Not to mention, handy for all kinds of other things, too. Need pasta? want to peel tomatoes? Man...)

Hitch

Yep, not an Instahot, but I'm sure it's a very similar thing. My wife thinks it's (yet another) gadget, but I do most of the cooking and the utility of having boiling water on tap is just great. It also frees up worktop space where the kettle would otherwise have been.

[fum]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Does your heating stay the same year round?

Yes, it is the same all year. We have central heating in our town. So, hot water goes into the house, heats the water for shower etc, and around the house for heating. We don't use much in the summer, and a lot in the winter. We pay 150 -> 200 dollar a month. So you can say that we pay in the summer, for what we use during winter.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by fum

Yes, it is the same all year. We have central heating in our town. So, hot water goes into the house, heats the water for shower etc, and around the house for heating. We don't use much in the summer, and a lot in the winter. We pay 150 -> 200 dollar a month. So you can say that we pay in the summer, for what we use during winter.

Oh. So rather than having your own water heater, the city provides the hot water.

[fum]

Yes. Actually it is quite a nice system. We have a giant plant, north off Aarhus(The main city), built to produce electricity, and the waste heat goes into heating our houses. Around 200.000 people. So there are some big pipes dug down around the cities in our municipality.

[DiapDealer]

Pulled a shirt out of the laundry that I was certain was inside-out. But after believing I'd turned it right-side-out and pulling it on; it was still inside-out. Not sure where the failure-point was. Which at this moment, is slightly more distressing to me than the thought of walking around with my shirt on inside-out!