I am always doing the dishes, but maybe built in step ladder, or since I have won lotto and flush with cash, just have 2 kitchens built to your comfort needs...ha ha

The excuse people use as to why condos/apartments in Vancouver don't have a/c generally is because it doesn't get hot here, and yes most of the year is mild, but as soon as the sun comes out in May through September, especially when facing east, south or west, all these condos become little miserable hot boxes. Only 24 outside but people facing east and south especially reporting their units are 30C and f course they make it so few windows open and open a few inches, our unit only has 1 window that opens + patio door but no screen door, so patio door open = bugs and flies getting in.

We face north now, but when we faced south a 23C day outside our little 410sq foot space would mean 30C inside, and only 1 window opened but then it was also the only window...ha ha

I would value a/c in Vancouver over heat, its been 4 years since we had to turn on the heat, but every summer is gross.

It's a shame the landlord didn't install sunblock blinds or curtains, nowhere near as good as air con but they do keep a bit of the heat out. Doesn't sound like your landlord would even do something like that though, he/she sounds a right tightwad.

I have a sump pump, but it isn’t creepy, it’s lovely! My house is built on an aquifer - anyway we have underground springs coming into our basement, as do lots of houses all down our hill and they come in all the time regardless of rain, snow or lack of either. It’s fantastic clean and clear water, anywhere else in the world I would have gathered the stuff up to feed my plants or wash my toilets. One time when my husband left, a few years back, the sump pump stopped and we had to start getting it gone ourselves. We were getting over 100 big buckets night and day, it was exhausting. Now I laugh and say that when the Zombie Apocalypse comes we can just lock ourselves in the basement!

As part of my ‘living in Canada skills’ I now know how to change a sump pump...my list of accomplishments just goes on

i think you may be overlooking the portal to the underworld aspect. When you have a hundred buckets full of the offspring of the Canadian version of the Loch Ness monster you may moderate your enthusiasm

Most landlords in my experience renting in Canada are cheap.....I have not had positive experiences renting in Canada, probably why I hate it so much, renting also ends up being less stable, severe supply shortage of dedicated rental buildings, where the US is opposite, dedicated rental buildings are dime a dozen in most city's with few exceptions.

Its not too bad now as our current unit gets no direct sunlight, it just has poor ventilation the inside warms, but not enough cool air at night comes in to cool the place off, but could be worse the units facing south are ovens which is why we moved to a north facing unit when one opened up.

I'm glad you were able to move to a unit with no direct summer sunlight, but the (lack of) ventilation sounds horrible. I remember you said a while back that you use a fan a lot in summer, that must jack up your electricity bill?

The rental market in the US sounds far kinder to tenants.

Electricity here is cheap, one of the benefits to BC, last I saw we had 2nd lowest electric charges in North America, and one of the lowest in the world, I know my dad for example pays 3 times more per kWh compared to our rate, our bill averages $45 or so a month, if we actually lived somewhere cold (for Canadian standards) and had to use the heat like most in Canada do, it would be higher since the heat is electric baseboard, but in winter the place stays warm so we never have to turn it on, most of the winter the window is cracked or it gets too hot...

I run a fan nearly 24/7, I need the moving air or I get coughing fits and too stuffy, so fans last me 2 years on average, but I really run fans hard so I can't expect fans to last...lol

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I do wonder at times what the actual air quality inside is, we live on a busy road, and black dust builds on everything that I haven't had anywhere else, so must be from vehicle exhaust, and there have been nights when I have woken up and a semi truck is idling outside and the fumes are strong enough to taste, I imagine living on a busy street reduces life span a bit.

you have a balcony...why not leave the door open for fresh air?

I had the same issue at my first apartment in Canada - despite being on the 6th floor everything got coated in a soot like black substance, sometimes it clogged the bug screens and made using the balcony problematic - though I was lucky to have a balcony and not just an opening window with a Juliette balcony (one that you can't actually go on, just a metal cage to stop you falling out). Being next to the traffic lights and vehicles idling waiting for the lights to change didn't exactly help I suspect!

It's not as exciting and glamorous as when you were wrestling crocodiles and taming camels though.

It probably doesn't help we are 2nd floor.... We do have a patio but never use it, its noisy, dusty and anything left out there gets covered in black soot stuff, leave a piece of paper out there 24 hours and its already visible.

I imagine my annual March to August congestion and cough could be linked to air quality, less rain, more soot and dust in the warmer, drier months.

Ideally we could live in a nice tree lined street away from arterial roads, but that is a luxury really, the rents in those areas are way higher.

It's open, also leave the bathroom fan on hoping maybe it has a small affect on air movement.

City is trimming trees, the living ones.

Too bad they can't manage to cut down and remove the dead one, been dead over a year now.

Good, that should give you a reasonable amount of fresh air if the outside door is open. Do you have a window you can open too...that way it helps draw the air through?

The living room has this big window it would have been nice if they made each section open, but only one small section does, opens about 5-6", its not the most useful. I had last summer taken off the child safety thing so it could open further, but the strata had a fit over it so had to put it back so it only opens the small amount.

It's not too bad today, a bit cooler outside, only 24.5 inside.

I think part of the issue might be the front door, air from the hallway always pouring from the bottom, if you place a hand at the bottom can feel the air coming in, they don't have a/c in the hallway so its always warm, the strata sometimes turns the fan on to blow air but its not air con.

I am just most comfortable around 68-70F and above that I just don't do well, the heat makes me feel unwell, probably why I don't like summer ha ha