My husband and I spent over a year touring properties for sale.
While we were anxious to move our family out of a cramped apartment, we had specific requirements for our new home.
A safe neighborhood, sizable yard and two-car garage were priorities. I was hoping for a large kitchen, open floor plan and plenty of closet space. My husband was interested in having a workshop for his tools. We were both more interested in those houses with privacy and not a lot of traffic going by. When we finally found the ideal house, there was one drawback. The house was outfitted with an oil furnace. We decided to purchase the property and replace the furnace as soon as possible. Unfortunately, all sorts of home improvement projects took precedent. Upon moving in, we discovered that the water heater was leaking, the windows were only single-pane and the roof needed to be replaced. Since the furnace seemed to be working fine, we kept putting off replacement. I was very unhappy about the ugly tank sitting in the backyard. Scheduling fuel delivery was inconvenient, and I worried about running out of oil during the winter. We sometimes rely on the furnace for eight straight months. Blizzard conditions sometimes make the roads impassable. It took us over five years to finally get around to calling a local HVAC contractor and inquire into conversion from oil to gas heating. I expected a super expensive, difficult and lengthy process. Instead, the company handled everything quickly and professionally. They took care of removing and disposing of the fuel tank. Our home is now outfitted with a top-of-the-line gas furnace. The new heating system is far more energy efficient and saves us a considerable amount of money on heating costs. Plus, the living space remains cleaner and is far more comfortable.