Heating in Mongolia

Those of you who heard me speak during our furlough in the United States may remember that I mentioned that we cannot control the heat in our apartment through a thermostat. Someone sets the apartment heat for the building and walks away. If its too cold or too hot, there is nothing that the building occupants can do other than complain to the people who control the building's hot water system, and I am still not sure who that is.

One consequence is that buildings and some districts have obtained a reputation as a "hot" building or "cold" building or "cold" district. It can even affect the rental value or resale value of an apartment. The first apartment we had was in a cold building and the problem was exacerbated by the old, leaky windows. We sealed the windows as best we could, bought several space heaters, and wore sweaters.

Our current apartment is in a warm building with vacuum sealed windows. It is a "hot" building and has stayed warm all winter. Amazingly, we only pay about $15 a month for the heat.

However, the rooms that I use for an office and church meeting place are in another building nearby. Last week there was a leak in the hot water radiators. All night hot water steadily dripped on the floor while I was away; by morning, the carpet in one of the rooms was soaked. I have included a picture of the doorway that shows the frost build-up around the door. The warm water would evaporate from the floor, fill the air with moisture, and then freeze when it reached the door.

The plumber who deals with such things was called and came and fixed it. However, he said that he thought the pipes were too hot and that the hot water running through them needed adjusting.

Sunday the temperature in the rooms was fine. Monday morning, a church member came by to inform me that there was no heat in the rooms and that it was very cold over there. I went to check it out for myself and, sure enough, the heat had been turned completely off. It turns out that Sunday night, whoever controls the heat turned it off. A Mongolian had them turn in back on, but it is still chilly over there. And no wonder, it was about -30 below over night and perhaps has warmed up to zero outside today.

My wife heard that some buildings in the city have had their heat turned completely off overnight and by mornings apartments in those buildings are chilly. I speculate that the city is having trouble providing heat because of all the new buildings that are being built. But it is hard to say. Just another part of living in Mongolian, I guess.