Before I got married, I was able to replace my air filter two to three times per year.

An HVAC professional would remove the dirty air filters during my HVAC tune ups, and I’d occasionally replace an air filter on my own in between appointments.

It wasn’t until I got married that I had to replace it more often. My husband dealt with some pretty serious allergies, so the air in our home had to be pristine. I had always purchased cheap, thin, air filters because I was content with the amount of dirt and pollen they trapped. My husband on the other hand would suffer from allergy attacks frequently due to the extra dust getting through the air filter. This is when we decided to upgrade our air filters to something more durable and thick. After doing some research, we discovered HEPA certified air filters, which were known for trapping airborne illnesses and stopping everything that tried to pass through. HEPA air filters were used in hospitals all around the country, because they were the best at keeping a space clean and free of air irritations. As expected, HEPA air filters were more expensive than the thin air filters I was used to purchasing, but we knew they would make a difference in my husband’s allergies. We’ve been using the HEPA air filters for a month now, and we can already see a difference. There’s no more particles floating around in the air and my husband’s allergies rarely flare up.

 

heat and ac products

One of the biggest responsibilities I have as a homeowner is taking care of my HVAC system.

It wasn’t until I moved into my first home that I realized the importance of hiring an HVAC professional twice per year to service both the furnace and the air conditioner.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that homes didn’t have working heat and air by chance. Instead, you had to put in the effort to keep your HVAC system running smoothly. Although I hire an HVAC professional twice per year, I still like to manage the HVAC system the rest of the year on my own. I make sure to clean the outside condenser unit with soap and water, I clear the leaves and sticks away from the bottom of the unit, and I replace my air filter whenever it’s congested. I didn’t realize that I could change the air filter myself until an HVAC professional showed me how to do it. The HVAC professional said that changing the air filter twice per year wasn’t enough, because it slowed down the air flow. I needed to change it at least twice in between the times an HVAC professional serviced my HVAC system. I agreed, but I struggled to find a good time to replace the air filter. I didn’t want to constantly check it to see if it was full or not. The HVAC professional suggested that I replace it halfway between each tuneup or if there was a significant increase in my utility bill.

 

 

furnace/heater repair

For my son’s third birthday, we kindly asked the guests to donate money for season passes to either the zoo or the aquarium.

My son loved doing both of these things and he wanted this as his present instead of a bunch of little things.

After his party, we counted the money and saw that we had enough money, so I asked my son which place he wanted to get season passes too. He couldn’t decide, so we decided to visit both the zoo and the aquarium to see which one we liked better. We went to the zoo first, and while it was fun, it was hot, humid, and there was almost no relief from the sun. My son loved seeing all the animals, but we ended up leaving after a few hours because it was too hot to stay. The day we went to the aquarium, it was rainy and cold. Thankfully though, the aquarium was inside and we were able to continue our day despite the weather. When I discussed the possibility of the zoo versus the aquarium, I made sure to emphasize that we could go to the aquarium anytime because it was inside with both heat and air. If it was hot outside, the aquarium would be cool from the AC. If it was cold outside, the aquarium would be warm from the furnace. The zoo would only be fun if the temperature wasn’t too hot or too cold. After explaining this, my son decided that he wanted to get season passes to the aquarium and I couldn’t have agreed more.

Cooling tech

I thought having a screened in porch would be more enjoyable than having a standard deck.

I loved the idea of sitting in a cozy lounge chair, drinking my coffee, and reading a good book. I never saw myself doing this with a deck because the bugs were horrible in the summer and I didn’t want to build something that I’d never use. When I was explaining my dream for the screened in porch to my brother, he told me that I’d never use the screened in porch if there was no proper source of AC. The summers in this region are hot and humid, so despite having a screen around the porch, I’d never enjoy it. Part of me wanted to resent what my brother said, but deep down, I knew he was right. He could tell how crushed I was, so he recommended that I install weather shades and a ductless mini split system. The weather shades were basically rolls of plastic that rolled up and down along the sides of the screen. You could see through them, so the natural light would continue to shine through. During the summertime, I could roll the weather shades down and turn on my ductless mini split system. The shades would insulate the screened in porch and trap the AC that was coming from the ductless mini split system. This would be the best way to enjoy my screened in porch while the temperature was high, without needing to build a sunroom that would cost more.

 

heating repair

My oldest son is just one of the most amazing people I have ever met.

Sure, I’m his dad and I’m going to be a bit less than totally objective.

But by any standard, this kid is really great. Like he comes home and gets to studying in the air conditioning without being told. He’s also great at getting chores done and the kid just has a great outlook and attitude. So when he asked me if he could create a bedroom of his own in the attic, I was all in. Sharing a room with his younger brother was just not ideal. The attic in our house is actually a finished space with electrical and all of that. What it doesn’t have is heating and cooling comfort. Obviously, when the house was built, HVAC ventilation was not extended to the attic. It was not meant to. But when we turned it into a bit of a game room, there were parts of the year where it wasn’t exactly comfortable up there. So I called the HVAC company to see what we could do to make my oldest more comfortable in his new digs. They had an easy answer and sent out an HVAC technician. The HVAC professional installed a ductless heat pump in the new bedroom my son created. I was amazed that the entire ductless heat pump installation was done in like a half day. But I was totally blown away by how comfortable that one ductless heat pump made that space. In fact, when he goes to college, I’m taking the room over as my man cave.

 

quality HVAC

I really don’t know exactly what I was thinking but I chose to go the summer without my HVAC.

This is quite unusual for me given that I live far enough south that our air conditioning is on the better part of 8 months of the year.

However, I wasn’t going to be at home for the summer due to a business need. Primarily, I’m on the road for my company much of the summer to try and win back some of the business that we lost due to the pandemic. When Covid hit, our offices closed and all of the employees worked from home in the air conditioning of their respective homes. The company I work for is not some huge corporate conglomerate that has endless resources. No, we’re a small family owned firm that has been around for over 50 years. Being small helps to navigate something like a pandemic. But being relegated to the air conditioning of home was like putting on handcuffs. We simply couldn’t physically spend time with our clients and that’s one of our biggest values. That means I’m on the road literally all summer. Being that I’m single, I am the one who got this duty. So I’m living in one hotel or motel room after another. I have found that I miss the HVAC equipment from home. It’s so consistent at HVAC cooling that I obviously took it for granted. But I am finding a few places that have really superior wall HVAC units. They seem to be the very best so that’s what I look for when I get off the interstate and am figuring out where to stay.

 

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I actually did something romantic.

For me, that’s a very big deal.

It’s not so much that I’m not into being romantic but more like I just don’t think about it enough. And that’s a shame. Instead of just coming home and plopping down in the air conditioning, I could maybe bring home dinner and a bottle of wine to share with my wife. These are just tough stuff for me to actually work into our day to day lives. So the fact that I got extra proactive to plan a weekend out of the HVAC comfort of our home is indeed a big thing. Taking some time to research really helped me dial in just what I wanted to do. Finding a really neat bed & breakfast not too far away, I made a reservation. This place looked really lovely and it offered a private bath and separate heating and cooling. I had stayed at one before where that wasn’t the case and it wasn’t so great. But this weekend was about treating and pampering my wife. And that was done really well from beginning to end. The room I booked was lovely and had all the amenities that my wife really loved. She was really moved and we had a great time. The restaurant recommendations were spot on as well. And the ductless heat pump in our room was fantastic. It was so comfortable that it didn’t see that we were in a quaint bed and breakfast at all. I’m so glad that I could do that for my wife. And I really had fun as well. Perhaps I should make this romance thing a regular attraction.

air purification system

I learned more than I really wanted to over the past year.

With so many changes and challenges due to the pandemic, there were a lot of learning curves to tackle.

When you’re in your mid fifties, all that change can be a bit tough to get accustomed to. However, I firmly believe that the person who is always evolving is the most at peace inside. So I embraced staying at home inside the air conditioning of my house. I worked in the HVAC of home instead of my office downtown with its own thermostat. Plus, there was no dining out. That one really hurt. And we also really went after saving on the HVAC cooling since we were at home the whole time. That was tough initially. But all that money we saved on HVAC cooling sure made for a most motivation reason to keep the thermostat in check. But I also learned, due to the pandemic, just how important indoor air quality is to our health. And since I certainly want to be in good health at my age, I made some changes there as well. I didn’t realize that the paper air filter I change every month religiously wasn’t doing any filtering of the air for my health’s sake. To do that, we changed the air filter to a HEPA filter. This thing traps over 99 percent of airborne contaminants that attack our respiratory system and pull down our overall and immune health. I was amazed by the difference in our indoor air quality. It’s really quite remarkable what a HEPA air filter has done to help upgrade our indoor air quality.

New HVAC systems

I’m thankful to have such a great partner in my wife.

She’s both supportive and a great counsel as well.

That is a wonderful combination. Her common sense had kept me from doing a lot of stupid stuff that would have otherwise cost me. Recently, she saved me big time when it came to the HVAC equipment. I had noticed that our HVAC cooling seemed to be a bit less than what I was accustomed to. The neighbor next door came over and confirmed my suspicions about the air conditioning in my home. He told me that he had run into a similar problem but the fix was pretty easy. My neighbor said he went out and got a recharge kit, watch a few videos on HVAC recharge online and then did the job himself. This was interesting news to me. If I could save on an HVAC service call, that would be great. And from the way he made it seem, there wasn’t much to it. I watched the same videos online and then asked my wife what she thought about it. She too watched the HVAC recharge DIY videos. And all she said was to check the HVAC equipment warranty before doing anything. Once again, she headed off disaster. For one, I didn’t have the proper tools or gauges they displayed on the HVAC videos. But more importantly, the HVAC warranty expressly stated that only certified HVAC professionals were to work on the HVAC equipment. So had I taken the HVAC service into my own hands and messed something up, I would have voided the entire warranty on our HVAC equipment.

Heating and air conditioning system

The actual workout isn’t really the thing that gets to me about exercise. It’s all the effort it takes for me to actually get to exercising. I’ll use just about any excuse to stay seated and enjoy the air conditioning comfort of our living room. I just hate the thought of getting out after work to a gym to workout. The gym atmosphere isn’t really for me all that much. Mostly, I just get in there and get my exercise done. My wife it much more of a gym rat than I am. The good thing about this is that she is knowledgeable enough to create a workout program for me. But she was also always after me as I was just beginning to relax in the HVAC cooling. That ended up with me avoiding the gym more and more. Plus, I didn’t really like the fact that it the HVAC cooling just wasn’t all that effective at our gym. I thought my wife might have decided to just let it go and let me do nothing in the air conditioning. But my wife had the last say on that. She quietly bought exercise equipment online and created a home gym in our basement. To top that effort off, she called the HVAC company to have them come out for custom heating and cooling in our new home gym. We now have a ductless heat pump that makes the area in the basement so comfortable. I would never have thought that so much heating and cooling power could come from one ductless heat pump.

 

 

electric heater