Air Conditioning Tips

I love my kids dearly.

But had I known that they would be picking at each other over any little thing, I might have stayed with just owning a dog.

Again, I wouldn’t trade my family for the world but I finally had to call the HVAC company in order to stop what was quickly becoming a big battle. It seemed that each day, there was a knock down, drag out fight over the thermostat setting. And I mean every, single day with the kids and even my wife and I. For me, I like to come home from work and kick back in the air conditioning for a bit. We live in a region where there are many months of heat and a lot of my work is done outside. So coming home to enjoy the HVAC cooling for a few minutes after my shower really isn’t asking too much. But my kids start in. Somebody thinks there’s too much cooling so somebody else chimes in that it’s actually hot. That’s where it starts and then it unravels from there. The screaming starts and then I have to jump in and stop this stupid behavior. So I finally just decided to take away any need for an argument over one thermostat setting for the house. I called the HVAC company and had them install zone controlled HVAC. Had I known how easy and affordable this heating and cooling tweak was, I’d have done it far sooner. Now, there are 6 independent HVAC zones in the house. And believe it or not, there is some peace and quiet now that the thermostat setting is no longer a point of contention.

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This brain should come with some sort of warning system.

When I choose to do stuff, I should have to run it through an internal filter mechanism.

That way, I could get very clear signals that I’m making a colossal mistake before I actually do it. But that didn’t happen when I decided to diagnose my HVAC problem online. The thinking going on in my brain at the time was that I was saving us money. It was late on a Friday evening and my wife was away with the girls so I had a bit of a bachelor weekend. So coming home to the HVAC equipment running but no air conditioning wasn’t the start I was look for. It seemed logical somehow that if the HVAC equipment was running, then there had to be just a little tweak that I could do. This would save an emergency HVAC service call and I’d have HVAC cooling for the weekend. That’s when this machine that should be in my brain would have been flashing all the sirens and waving all the bad idea flags. But again, I have yet to be outfitted with this decision filter. I went to the hardware store after I decided that all I had to do was recharge the refrigerant. Well, that wasn’t the problem at all of course. Had I called the HVAC professionals right away, they would have been in and out in 10 minutes as a relay went bad. Instead, I ruptured all sorts of thing with the recharge kit and turned a small HVAC repair into a very big problem.
air cleaner

It seemed like the right thing to do.

• Essentially, we’d spent almost 2 years inside the air conditioning of our house due to the pandemic.

My one son has a genetic predisposition that put him at high risk for serious problems with Covid. So we had to do everything we could to make sure that we kept him safe. And the best thing we could do was keep to ourselves inside the security of the heating and cooling in our home. I worked remotely as did my husband. We actually emptied out the guest bedroom so we could share a proper office space. The kids really pretty much took care of themselves. Neither my husband nor I had to stand over them to be sure that they were doing the studying they were accountable for. When both of our offices with zone controlled HVAC reopened, we still had to stay home to protect our son. This sort of made it tough for all of us but we had to err on the side of caution. Finally, we have entered a stage in the pandemic where the numbers are much better in our region. So I decided to really go all out and add ductwork cleaning and ductwork resealing to the spring cleaning this year. Actually, I took a long weekend and we simply tore this house down and cleaned it completely. The ductwork cleaning really set off the rest of the spring cleaning though. There is such a noticeable difference in the indoor air quality. The house smells more crisp and clean than ever before. Take my advice and add ductwork cleaning and ductwork resealing to your spring cleaning list.

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It feels like my plate is so full that I’m just trying to not spill it.

Once we were vaccinated and I could go back to the office with the zone controlled HVAC, it was on.

And I can remember my wife and I promising to each other that we wouldn’t allow our schedules and commitments to overwhelm us again. That was the nice thing about staying home in our own air conditioning during the pandemic. We were together and we had fun and the kids were good and it just all worked out. Sure, we missed going to eat or on vacation. But we had all this time and the demands on our schedule just vanished. During that time at home, my wife and I really swore that we wouldn’t go back to the old way of life. Those were great intentions but they just didn’t work out that way. Once we got back to work and the kids back in school, our plates began to fill up again. It got so bad that I was forgetting stuff like my HVAC responsibilities. And that just wouldn’t do. Each month, I make sure that HVAC air filter is changed to ensure that the HVAC equipment is getting maximum air flow. But I was forgetting. And then, I forgot to call for the spring air conditioning tune-up until we were well into summer. This was enough and I just decided that I was going to cleave my schedule and take care of stuff that mattered at home first. I have become better at saying no and I’m once again on top of all things heating and cooling in my home.

 

 

heating and cooling equipment

The house we bought came with a sunroom.

I had wanted to move home for decades. But the timing just wasn’t ever quite right. Once we had kids and they were sort of entrenched where we were, I didn’t feel right about jerking them out of their comfort zone. But being a southern girl living up north for all those years wasn’t easy. I don’t care how much I tried, I just couldn’t get accustomed to the winter and all that HVAC heating. Until I moved up here, the worst that winter had to offer where I came from was having to move the thermostat to heating. The heat pump hardly even ran during the winter when I lived down south. But I took my first job offer out of college thinking I’d just live up north for a few years and then work my way back to the land of the heat pump. Of course, it didn’t work out like that. I met my husband, fell in love and we raised a wonderful family. I don’t regret that one bit. But now that I’m back in the south, I’m never leaving again. We had to wait until retirement for me to get back home. But we lucked out and were able to retire in our mid 50’s so we are getting a headstart on the next chapter of our lives. The house we bought came with a sunroom. And I just fell in love with the idea of having a sunroom. What was even better was the fact that the sunroom came complete with a ductless heat pump. This way I’d have all the HVAC cooling I would need to enjoy the sunroom during the hot, hot summer.

a/c installation

At first, I was really not feeling so good when the HVAC technician told us it was time to start planning for an HVAC upgrade.

It wasn’t as though I was surprised by the fact that we needed new HVAC equipment.

That was not a shock. When we bought this house, we had to replace the old HVAC unit. And we were able to negotiate that into the price of the house. This allowed us to get the latest in residential HVAC for the time. Again, that was like over 20 years ago. So, the fact that the old HVAC unit was now running out of steam was not a surprise. What had me in a funk was the fact that my wife and I had come to an agreement about what would happen when we replaced the HVAC. That’s what I was scared about. We had talked about it for a long time before we agreed that when the HVAC unit died, we’d consider selling the house. The kids were gone and only one was left in college. But she was on her way and had already landed a job. So with the new HVAC equipment came speaking to realtors about what else we needed to do to get the house on the market. Selling any home is a big, big undertaking. But selling our family home was particularly tough for me given all the memories. Yet, I knew that upgrading the heating and cooling equipment signaled that time in our lives as we had agreed. So there was nothing to do at that point but to do it.

a/c workman

When the pandemic hit, my husband was the only one who was able to hang onto his job. And even with that, he had to take a big pay cut just to work from home in our own air conditioning. I wasn’t as lucky. Being one of the first to be laid off from our offices with the zone controlled HVAC was not a great sign. The chances that I’d be brought back weren’t great since I was one of the first to get a pink slip. That turned out to be the case as I was officially terminated some 6 weeks later. I had unemployment but it wasn’t enough. So, I had to figure out a way to work from home in the air conditioning alongside my husband. The first thing I did was try to get a new job. But of course, no one was hiring. Then I tried some online gigs but those were few and far between. So I decided I’d finally use that education I got in college and start my own blog. I was a communications major in school but never really used those skills. To supplement our income, I would deliver groceries to houses in the evening and work on my blog all day. Finally, my husband went back to work and I was able to take over the home office we’d made out of the guest room. The first thing I did was to call the HVAC company to get a ductless heat pump installed. That room was stuffy and hot but I didn’t want to mess up the thermostat setting for the rest of the house. So that ductless heat pump really came in handy. A year later and I’m actually making money from my blog and loving my life far more than when I was in that downtown office all day.

 

 

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Although, a few months later, the bosses were quite surprised when I opted out of staying in the zone controlled HVAC of the office

The day that the news came that we’d have to leave the zone controlled HVAC of the office was when I finally got the picture. At first, I was hoping that the virus was not going to be as serious or as contagious as the reports I was hearing. But when the company shut down our offices and sent us home to work in our own air conditioning, I knew this pandemic was for real. I also realized soon after that it was going to take a lot more than I thought to deal with it. What I had hoped would only be working inside the air conditioning of my house for a month or so turned into a year and then some. That was the case for many, many people who found themselves suddenly working remotely from home. For me, the transition was not the easiest. I did my best to have a good attitude but I missed my office, my desk, my colleagues and that quality heating and air. But the longer I kept working at working at home, the more I realized that there were some real positives. I could sort of supervise the kids as they went to school online. And then, I was able to have more freedom to my work schedule which really helped me be my best. By the fall, I really was doing great with my work and the bosses were never happier. Although, a few months later, the bosses were quite surprised when I opted out of staying in the zone controlled HVAC of the office. Instead, I had a ductless heat pump put in my new home office and I chose to stay at home.

 

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It was sort of hard to believe.

My wife and I were actually going to be moving into our very own house.

Not only that, but we were moving into a house that was being newly built. After years of dealing with not so much quality heating and air, loud neighbors and steep rent, we were getting our own house. And that house came with some really great HVAC equipment. We bought in on a small, new development that fit our budget. Our house is 3 bedrooms and two full baths. It’s plenty of room for us right now and if we have children, I think we’re only going to have one. So having this house built seemed like just the right thing to do. We were able to choose from several floorplans as well as different grades of HVAC equipment. We went with the highest SEER rating and all the HVAC technology we could get. It was worth paying a bit more for that to have the sort of quality heating and air we wanted. But when we moved in, we noticed that something seemed a bit odd with the way the HVAC ductwork was laid out. It just didn’t make any sense. The HVAC air vents appeared to be in the most curious spots. I finally brought this up with the builder. Turns out that the HVAC contractor put in ductwork for a different floorplan. But those HVAC professionals made short work of changing our ductwork to fit the floorplan that we chose. I have to say that we are just thrilled to be living here and the quality heating and air is everything we had hoped for.
commercial air conditioning

I love my old thermostat, and I know that I am honestly going to be sad if I ever have to get rid of my old thermostat. Why would I ever want to get rid of my old thermostat anyway? Sure, my thermostat may not have as many settings as the finance new thermostats, but do I honestly think that I will ever need one of those cool fancy thermostats anyway? My thermostat was one of the nicest thermostats that you could purchase, and I honestly felt like I never complained about the thermostat. The thermostat did everything that I needed a thermostat too. Sure, there are a bunch of features, but I think that people think that they are going to use the features on these new thermostats a lot more than people actually do. They may have the ability to change the thermostat with their phone, but let’s be honest. How often during the week do you actually need to change the thermostat at your house? You probably have never changed the thermostat aside from changing it when the seasons change. You may have wasted a ton of money on your thermostat. The thermostat that I purchased has a bunch of character, and it has been here forever. I have never had trouble with the thermostat. I know that I will eventually have to buy a new thermostat one day, but I honestly think that I will probably purchase a thermostat that is pretty similar to the thermostat that I already have. Who knows? Maybe I will finally purchase a newer thermostat once my old one dies.

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