When my husband went to turn on the cooling system for the first time, I asked him if we had the HVAC maintenance done. He shrugged and said how it was an early summer and he didn’t have time to get around to it. I had to counter with the fact that we did this once in the past and the cooling system broke down altogether since there was no tune-up done. I told him that we better not be using the AC system until it was tuned up properly because I didn’t want the cooling system to become damaged. He sighed and made an appointment to see a cooling system specialist. Fortunately, the guy was able to show up on the same day. In the meantime, we just used our ceiling fans in the house to keep relatively cool and honestly, it wasn’t so bad because it wasn’t all that overheated outside, I believe it was somewhere in the high 70s. When the cooling system specialist finished with all the work that was needed and said we were ready to go, my husband asked if I was happy. I told him I definitely was because having to call for emergency HVAC repairs is no joke and that’s an experience we shouldn’t ever have to face again. He admitted that I had a good point and he didn’t give me a difficult time any longer. It was just nice to have the relaxing AC working in our home, even though we would only be using it on the hot days. Most of the nights have been extremely chilly so it’s good to keep some warmth in the house before the sun sets just to help you get through the night hours without having to turn on the heating system.
I need two dehumidifiers
Living out west we had a problem with hot, dry air.
Now that I live on the coast everything is quite the opposite, and the temps stay pretty mild throughout the year, while the humidity never takes a break.
I suppose there is no such thing as a perfect place to live, even the coastline is remarkably beautiful, especially during sunsets. The sun sinking low over the horizon and disappearing into the ocean is a delight to watch. Does it make up for the humidity, and the fact I needed to buy two separate dehumidifiers for my house?The salty sea spray makes for a caustic type of humidity, one that can damage the more delicate parts of your home. Even though my central HVAC system has anti-humidity components built into it, that was not enough to fight off the high levels of humidity. Since paper is very susceptible to being damaged this way, I keep one dehumidifier in my home office. The second dehumidifier sits at the foot on my bed on the hope chest, to keep the clothes in my closet from getting moldy or mildew. Once mildew gets a foothold in your house it can lead to a lot of chronic issues, so the dehumidifier is a necessity. The funny thing to me is how I rarely need to use the heater or the air conditioner, because the temps are so nice for most of the year. I keep the system fans running for better air circulation through the house, but hardly ever use the temperature controls.
I hated chopping wood for the fireplace
After we graduated from college I went back to my hometown to find a job.
- My best friend Carl had other ideas, though.
He didn’t want to get a job at all, he wanted to move out to the middle of nowhere and live off the land. I thought it was admirable, to try to leave society behind and live a life of solitude, but it certainly wasn’t an attractive lifestyle to me. Some years passed, and I stayed in contact with Carl. He asked me to come visit him last winter, and stay for a couple weeks in his hand-built log cabin. It sounded like a fun idea at the time. I live in the deep south, and work for an air conditioning manufacturer. I’m not an HVAC tech and to be perfectly honest I don’t know the first thing about air conditioners. I work in accounting, so what I do is calculate payroll and expenses for the HVAC company execs. The only thing I know about an air conditioner is how to work the thermostat. Carl had no air conditioning, of course, because he had no electricity! He truly lived off the land, and in the depths of winter the only source of heating he had was the brick fireplace. That was truly magnificent, I must admit, because he didn’t buy bricks, he made his own bricks out of clay, and used them to build the fireplace. We needed a lot of firewood to keep the fireplace blazing, which meant I had to spend a couple hours a day chopping wood. Never again!
Keep it simple, stupid!
Once upon a time my friends and I started a podcast.
We talked about professional sports, including pro wrestling, and for a few months it was a great time.
Then Mike quit the show, because he got bored with it. Joe and I kept recording episodes for a few weeks, but it just wasn’t the same without Mike, so we pulled the plug. After that I realized that I didn’t want to stop, I just wanted to do a different kind of show, something that could help people. Since I am a certified HVAC tech working for a local contractor, I thought I would start recording videos about my work. I know that this isn’t the most fascinating topic in the world, but it does have value, so I posted several short videos involving basic HVAC usage. I started simple, with how to check and change an air filter, as well as what to look for when buying an air filter. Much to my surprise, the video got a lot of hits – I had no idea people were so clueless about air filters! Using that as a model, I made more videos about the most basic aspects of heating and cooling. I explained what the pilot light in the furnace was for, and how to change the batteries in a smart thermostat. Whenever I discussed a topic that was too advanced, such as how to deep clean your own ductwork, it would not be as popular. That is why I decided to rebrand the channel as HVAC KISS – keep it simple, stupid!
Is it a late night HVAC repair, or something else?
My grandmother is the neighborhood snoop.
Ever since Grandpa passed she has been so incredibly bored, so she started being a busy-body.
Grandma is a part of the neighborhood watch, and I know that’s a good thing but she doesn’t do it to help people she does it to learn all the gossip. Grandma loves gossip. Now she spends most evenings in her rocking chair, looking out the front window with a pair of binoculars in her lap for when she sees something interesting. A few weeks ago she mentioned something about an HVAC company van driving around late at night, but I didn’t pay attention to her. I’m sure she was right, but there are some very good reasons for an HVAC company to be in our neighborhood, even late at night. I thought she was just making a mountain out of a molehill, but then she said that same HVAC van came back night after night! I told grandma that I would sit up for her, so she could go to bed, and I would watch for the mysterious HVAC van myself. I was actually quite surprised to see that it was real, because I thought granny was just losing it. I saw that HVAC pulled up in front of the neighbor’s house around 2 in the morning, definitely past business hours! I was shocked when I saw my neighbor’s wife come out of the house and jump into the HVAC van. They sat for a while, and the HVAC van rocked back and forth, and then I realized what was happening here.
Dangerous and toxic air quality
Every summer my allergies get really bad.
I take a few different kinds of allergy medication, and see a doctor every three months for tests, but no matter what I do it never seems to get any better.
The summers are the worst time of year for me, because of all the pollen in the air, and the excess humidity that makes it hard for me to breathe. A few weeks ago my allergies got as bad as they have ever been, and I had to go to the emergency room! My doctor advised that I use a whole-home air purifier in addition to upgrading the air filters in my central system. I already use HEPA rated air filters, and they didn’t seem to help enough. I took his advice on the air purifiers, but that didn’t make enough of a difference, either. I called around to a few different HVAC companies until I found one that had an air quality expert on staff. An air quality expert usually tests places like medical suits, labs, or places where chemicals are stored. They look for toxicity in the air quality, and since it is such a specialized service it costs a ton of money. I decided it was worth the investment in my health, and paid her to come and run tests on the air quality of my home. Within five minutes of her inspection, the air quality expert told me to either leave the house or put on a protective mask. It turns out the air quality here is dangerously toxic.
The AC issues were my fault entirely
I was experiencing some trouble with the air conditioner in our house and I didn’t guess what to do about it.
I finally booked a meeting with the Heating, Ventilation & A/C corporation and set an inspection to have them come out to work on it for me.
The Heating, Ventilation & A/C professional who came to the house asked me if I replaced the HEPA air filters respectfully and I told him that I did. However, I ended up humiliating myself because I was lying to him when I told him that! The truth of the matter was that I didn’t even guess that I was supposed to change my own air filters in the Heating, Ventilation & A/C system. This is the first time that I have ever owned my own house and so it’s the first time that I have ever easily had to deal with any sort of maintenance issues at all. Honestly, I felt like an idiot when the Heating, Ventilation & A/C professional asked me about the HEPA air filters because I didn’t even guess where the air filter was. He figured me out pretty easily, though. The tech went down into the basement and within a few hours he was back upstairs looking at me suspiciously as he showed me the air filter. I think I should say he showed me what was left of the used air filter. The bad thing looked like a blackened piece of trash and you could tell that it hadn’t been changed in several years! I was so embarrassed when he told me that the only reason the air conditioner wasn’t easily working was because the air literally couldn’t circulate through the junk in the air filter.
Heating, Ventilation & A/C installers in the house when we are gone
I don’t guess that it’s very safe to leave the Heating, Ventilation & A/C installers in the house while Max and I are gone next week. Max had to make an appointment a long time ago because they were so tied up this season. Max thinks they have a whole lot going on at this time of year because numerous people pay to get their air conditioners diagnosed and tuned up before the weather gets too intensely hot. Now that the temperatures are getting hotter and hotter, there’s no way that I will be able to last easily long without our central air conditioner. When the air conditioner stopped working last week, I never dreamed that it was going to take so long to get an appointment to get it repaired. I think our air conditioner just picked the wrong time to tear up, though. The Heating, Ventilation & A/C corporate tech that I usually use for all of our repairs and replaces was just easily tied up and so they wouldn’t get to our repairs as early as they normally would, but usually they have a rather quick turnaround time. Anyway, they are supposed to be here in a couple of days, however Max and I found out that the people I was with and I have to be out of neighborhood at the same time. Max doesn’t want to reschedule because that will move us back down to the bottom of their schedule, however I don’t guess if I should leave the installers in our home when Max and I aren’t home, either. I mean, I think that they are trustworthy, but I also don’t guess any of them personally.
My fiance got us a new Heating system
My fiance Bess won us a Heating, Ventilation & A/C system on a stereo contest a couple of weeks ago and now she is gleeful about it coming to be installed and she can barely contain herself.
I think when you’re an adult like Bess and I are, you get gleeful about unusual things like up-to-date washers and dryers and more up-to-date Heating, Ventilation & A/C systems.
I used to not care at all about things like that. But now I absolutely do. Bess, on the other hand, is easily giddy about the fact that she and I are going to be getting this up-to-date Heating, Ventilation & A/C system installed this week. Bess has been needing to get a up-to-date Heating, Ventilation & A/C system for a little while now, however they are easily lavish. Both of us wanted to get a high efficiency model so that Bess and I would be able to save currency on our heating and cooling bills, however Bess and I just didn’t have enough currency for one like that. Then she heard about this contest on a local stereo station and the prize was a more up-to-date high efficiency Heating, Ventilation & A/C system supplied by one of the Heating, Ventilation & A/C companies here in the city. I think they were supplying the Heating, Ventilation & A/C system as the prize in exchange for free advertising on the stereo station. Anyway, our fiance called in and she ended up getting the grand prize. Both of us were all easily shocked and she was so cheerful that I thought Bess was going to explode or something. I can’t wait for it to be installed later and she’s basically on top of the world knowing that she’s the one who won it for us.
It is too cold in my mom’s house
Whatever the reason might be, it’s just too cold in our mom’s house for me to go in there and rest around for any length of time at all.
My mom always keeps her house so cold that I can barely rest to visit her most of the time. I don’t understand why on earth she wants to keep it so cold in there, however it’s almost like a meat locker for some reason. My sweet mother has to take a whole lot of different medications and I think some of them tend to make her feel hot for some reason. I don’t guess however mom usually wants to keep the air conditioner turned down because she says that her joints hurt and ache whenever she gets too hot. I think that’s just something that happens to you whenever you get older. Whatever the reason might be, it’s just too cold in our mom’s house for me to go in there and rest around for any length of time at all. Mom keeps wanting me to come over and hang out however I just can’t do it unless I have a Winter coat and our fuzzy slippers! Mom thinks that I am consistently being overly dramatic about the thermostat settings in her house, however I do not think I am. Everyone else who goes over to her house feels the same way that I do about mom’s thermostat settings. I think cold cold is a nice temperature for our mom, however it’s not nice for everyone else who is going over to her house to try to visit her. I told our mom that she’s going to have to hand out jackets at the door if she keeps this up.