Scottish home interior - Radiators and Switches

First, a look at this week's weather forecast.  :o)

That's in Celsius by the way. :o)

The sidewalk was just wet but there were patches of slush as Steve and I walked to the car this morning. I commented that it looked like most of the ice had melted. Steve agreed, "Yeah, looks like there's almost no ice left," as he slipped. "Except there!" I giggled. Don't worry, he didn't fall or incur any injury, so you can laugh.


Tonight I'd like to discuss a few more things Americans visiting will need to adjust to, other than the weather, which will be a HUGE one for all you Texans out there. I have to write.. I love it.

Let's begin with one thing I don't like. I do not like this "bed" for a few reasons:

1. It's not a stand-alone bed. The headboard is built into the wall so that all that lighting you see could be wired into the wall and activated with switches installed on the wall on both sides of the bed. For some, it's a great idea. For us, we have a full bed coming that cannot stand without the headboard. Now what?
2. Those spot lights on either side, are NOT LEDs. They are high beam super hot lights. Please see the following picture for an example of the damage they can do. I do not recommend these, especially if you have kids. Bed - 1. Kristal - 0.

All of my burned fingertips. Yes, it hurts.

 Moving on. I have no feelings really for the next few items. I just had to figure them out. I'm not sure how it is in all houses, but ours is a process when controlling temperature. Using radiators is much different from the central heat we have in Texas. It's kinda nice I guess because if you want your living room to be nice and warm, but you want the bedroom cooler for sleeping, it works out easily. Except, unlike in Texas where you control everything from one location, here it is a 3-step process. Here's how it's done. :o)

First is the schedule. Hot water and central heat can both be set on timers. If you are home during a time you have one or the other turned off, you can push the advanced boost button to get things going. Good stuff.

Next, you have the actual temperature control for the entire house.

Lastly, you have the temperature control knob for each radiator in individual rooms.

Got it? Good. You now have no excuse for messing up the temperature in the house or in your room when you come to visit. "Please refer to the blog titled Scottish home interior - Radiators and Switches."  hehe

Let's take a look at switches. Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs) are almost non-existent in Aberdeen as far as I know. Those are the outlets rigged with a safety switch to turn it off if it gets wet or something else happens, such as pulling too much by using too many devices. Instead, they just put everything outside here, which I find quiet entertaining if, for example, while Steve is in the shower,  I feel like turning the lights off and on for my amusement.

Let's begin at the top. The top switch, unreachable by those my height or shorter, is for the hot water. The next switch down controls the fan and the "underglow" from the cabinets. The last two, which are knobs, control the bathroom and closet lights.

I still catch myself sometimes walking to the bathroom and then turning around because I forgot to push the button! Eventually, habit will form. Some bathrooms have one outlet designed to provide the voltage needed for electric toothbrushes and shavers, but there are none in any of our bathrooms... unless I've completely missed them in the month we've been here. In that case, I'll feel like the biggest noob when I have to post that I found them... or I won't tell you. For now, I'll continue charging my toothbrush on my nightstand and blow drying my hair in my bedroom using the closet doors (see above reflections?) as makeshift mirrors. No problem. I've got this.