greenlandlord

Usually in January, it’s a matter of thermal underwear, tshirts, sweaters, and jackets. A couple days ago I got a call complaining that the heat hasn’t turned on. I called my super who replied “Yeah man, the heat doesn’t come on when it’s 60 degrees outside.” That makes sense, i thought. Today, at 70 degrees outside, my tshirt and uninsulated leather jacket got mighty toasty, and I was sweating even after I took it off.

One concern I had while i was sipping down a breve at a local coffee shop is now that our weather lacks the harshness that forges the strength of a New York character, will we all become a bunch of wussy California folk who pass around the frisbee and don’t smoke, drinking expensive coffee and don’t get mugged. Oh and we drive too. What a bunch of douchebags.

I love hardwood, I have to say. I’ve given up carpeting since moving out of the suburbs and I’m never going back (to either suburbs or carpeting). Well, the question of what kind of an environmental impact our hardwood has is addressed at treehugger today.

I personally advocate Smith & Fong’s Plyboo as a great way to have bamboo and eat it too (I actually do eat bamboo shoots). They are low VOC and (correct me if I’m wrong) they are harvested in an environmentally sound and socially responsible manner.

Every once in a while it still amazes me that people are arguing against the existence of climate change. Besides today’s article about global warming causing a lack of snow in ski towns the proof is in my keyspan energy bill. My energy use for the boiler is down from 556 therms for last year to 329 therms this year. That combined with the cheaper cost of natural gas this year has dropped my from $1097 to $379 for the same period. That’s also combined with the fact that quite a bit of that was just overhead for switching the thing on. I bet the amount of energy used would have been less if I had a more efficient heating system.

Speaking of a more efficient heating system, there are a couple of things that I intend to do once I get some permits. No bitterness, honestly ;) Once I’m living in the building, I can start spending my free time insulating pipes, which would save a lot of money and heat leakage. Another option I’m thinking about doing is for the 4th floor (my apartment) putting in a tankless heater in the 4th floor, but I have to consider that I already have 2 tanks in the basement and will it actually be economically feasible? Especially since I have to provide hot water to the building, does a tankless heater in every apartment count? Will that be worth it, or would it be a double expenditure for heat that’s already leaking from the 2 tanks down there?

Ok well, about a week ago, i got a call saying there was a problem with a toilet and i should fix it. I come over and find that one of the metal bolts holding the basin to the base was rusted out or the rubber holding it in was decayed so the water was pouring out of the hole it left if (or would be if they hadn’t shut off the water to the toilet). So we replace the bolt. And then a couple days later another call another tenant has the same problem. Fix it the same way. This morning… the exact same emergencia. I think the (insane record breaking) heatwave is causing this.

So here’s my deal. I figure, I might as well pre emptively replace all these suckers. I then decide I might as well replace them with water conserving ones (why not? I pay for the water it’s good for me too, right?) So now I need some place in Brooklyn/Manhattan (or… dare I say even Queens?) that has dual flush toilets (I would like them for less than, say $400 a toilet either). If used correctly, this can save 67% of the water used for flushing…

Which brings me to another water saving idea that I just don’t understand why they don’t use… How about some kind of basin so that all the water that we shower in gets saved and then used for flushing? Do I need pristine water to urinate in? As much as I like the idea of deflowering the water like that, I really like the idea of cutting down the water usage 50% between the toilet and the shower combined (or rather 100% of the toilet water). And then you can stop feeling guilty about peeing in the damn shower.

I am a big fan of zipcar and am trying to get everyone on the bandwagon. With the possibility of the upcoming MTA strike, zipcar has set up free pick up and drop off points in the city.

Personally, not having a car is one of the better things about living in NY, especially with my mode of transportation of choice available to me. But since i became a landlord, there are a lot of things that need moving and a lot of space, like the new Ikea kitchens I put in. One of the times when people actually need a big SUV. Well, I got zipcar for my property business, and as a business account, any of my tenants can sign up for $25/year instead of $50/month. And you get cars for a big discount of $8/hour for weekday travel. I know i’m going to be getting one just in case for this weekend.