Yes, good description of the use of district heat in the soviet cities. Your accurate description will surprise
a lot of Americans., I'm sure. I have traveled through Russia and a number of former soviet states many
times over about a decade, and became quite familiar with the "advantages" of their system. In one apartment
I was visiting in January in St. Petersburg, a living room window was open about a foot to keep the room from
being so hot (about 15F outside), since they had no control over the heating into the apartment. I was amazed at the huge waste
of energy, but this is very common. We stayed in hotels, so rarely had no hot water, but I was aware of the
spotty nature of it for most, although many that I worked with had installed their own flash-heat electric
units to provide on-demand hot water when the district supply was down.
Central planners plan central everything, including heat. And NO AC. I have had to complain and then
get quite insistent that my bill be adjusted when no hot water was available in my hotel room in Krasnoyarsk
(Siberia) one visit. The clerk attempted to ignore my complaint, but I was able to convince her that I was going
to cause her a lot more trouble if she didn't change my bill. They are very surprised at people expecting proper
service, and willing to complain at bad service. Those crazy Americans.
I noticed you are an NRA Metallic Cartridge Reloading Instructor, me, too. My class had a bunch of folks
from Hodgdon and Sierra and Hornady in it. THAT was fun.
Bill
