HVAC Information For Homeowners

I just bought my very first electric fireplace and I have to tell you that these things are the best.

Sure it cost me a few grand of an investment, but it was well worth it.

Because electric fireplaces are like super large space heaters and can heat your living room real nice and fast. And if you were to run the electric fireplace in place of your central heating and air conditioning system’s heater, you can actually save a few bucks on energy use because electric fireplaces do not take up as much energy as a central heating and air conditioning system. Even a central heating and air conditioning system with a top grade SEER rating. Also electric fireplaces are nice for holiday decorations at Christmas. If you had a gas fireplace you would not be able to decorate it because of the risk of things catching fire. So if you can not have a real authentic fireplace in your home, an electric fireplace is the best second alternative and much cheaper. Even though there is no flame, you have the feel and atmosphere of a real authentic fireplace with an electric fireplace. This is why I love the electric fireplace I just invested in so much! I really recommend getting one to anyone and everyone who does not have a real authentic fireplace and would like to have a fireplace in their home if they can spare the small investment. Sometimes you can find them on sale even cheaper than what I paid. You just have to check around to see when and where sales on electric fireplaces are.

 

New heating and cooling information

I want to tell you that I am super impressed with today’s central heating and air conditioning systems. They are so much better than the central heating and air conditioning systems of even 10 years ago. Heating and cooling technology has changed so much and has brought so much to the table. Radiant heated floors as well as heating and cooling zone control (also known as zoned heating and air conditioning systems) are 2 of my personal favorites and really amaze me! Who would have thought that you could actually have heating coming out of your floors all mostly generated from hot water pipes? That is like a major energy saver. If they would only make them cheaper everyone would have radiant heated floors and put the energy companies out of business eventually for the most part. And that would be a great thing with the high cost of energy use these days. Then you have heating and air conditioning zone control or zoned heating and air conditioning systems. This is where you can have different temperatures with several thermostats throughout your home as if you had a single central heating and cooling unit for every single room. But the fact is there is only one heat and air conditioning system running it! These are high in energy use but are a great thing if you have a house that has uneven temperatures and needs indoor climate control that would be impossible otherwise. Today’s heating and cooling is simply amazing!

Air quality systems

Not to mention the portable space heaters of today are way more powerful than the portable space heaters of yesterday

I was thinking the other day about the old portable space heaters and the new today’s portable space heaters. And I have to say that the old portable space heaters were really big! They were not so portable the way I remember it. I recall having one in the family bathroom growing up that was used to heat the bathroom when we took showers. And if anyone wanted to move that thing it was not a simple thing like how portable space heaters are today. Back then they were a heavy metal type made and very heavy! I remember having to move that portable or so called portable space heater with 2 hands! And then when I got it to where it needed to be moved to I felt like I just had a mini work out. I would not call that a portable space heater at all. While today with portable space heaters they are made of heat resistant plastic, are very light and are about as small as a little blender. Not to mention the portable space heaters of today are way more powerful than the portable space heaters of yesterday. This just goes to show how heating and air conditioning technology has highly changed over the last several decades. I do not miss the old portable space heaters one bit and am super pleased that today we have the portable space heaters that we do. They are so much better and truly portable space heaters! I wonder if they will get even better?

Further information on AC

I recently bought a brand new central heating and air conditioning system unit.

And let me tell you that this central heating and air conditioning system that I bought is like no other. It is the most powerful central heating and air conditioning system I have ever experienced in my whole entire life! I am not used to a central heating and air conditioning system being this powerful. I had not bought a new HVAC unit in almost 20 years, so this is proof here of how much heating and cooling technology has changed majorly over the last 2 decades. Who knew? Who had any idea? I sure as heck did not! I am not one who keeps up on the latest and greatest in heating and air conditioning technology. To me, if it works and does the job, that is all that matters and it is all good for me. I do not need the latest and greatest in heating and air conditioning technology unless I have no choice, like now. But I have to say I am so glad about this! Because the central heating and air conditioning system I just bought is so powerful, this actually saves me on energy use and lowers my electric bill. Because it heats and cools the home faster than the old central heating and air conditioning system unit from 20 years ago! Not to mention on top of all of that, this brand new and completely up to date central heating and air conditioning system that I recently invested my hard earned cash into actually has a very high and wonderful SEER rating!

 

heater technician

I have had the same central heating and air conditioning system for almost 24 years.

• That is way longer than a central heating and air conditioning system unit is supposed to last.

And would believe that there are no signs whatsoever of the heating and cooling unit dying on me? I am totally shocked by this and so is my independent heating and air conditioning contractor that does all the work on the heating and cooling system of mine. Every single time he comes around to do a heating and air conditioning tune up and check up he is very shocked when he thinks about the fact of how old this central heating and cooling unit is. A heat and a/c system this old should either be long dead or at the very least on its last leg needing to be replaced. None of the above applies when it comes to my central heating and air conditioning system unit! The heat and a/c contractor thinks it is because I always kept up on all of my heating and air conditioning maintenance over the years, plus the fact that the HVAC brand of my central heating and cooling system happened to be one of the best around 24 years ago when I first bought it. They just don’t make them like they used to. And this proves it! And hey, who knows, maybe my central heating and air conditioning system will end up in the book of world records as the longest lasting heat and a/c unit in history!
furnace/heater

Waking up in our new bedroom is almost like being on vacation.

We have a coffee pot right in our new space that we set every night.

So I wake to the smell of freshly brewed java and sunshine streaming through the new window of our bedroom. And without getting out of bed, I can adjust the ductless heat pump to give me the exact quality heating and air I need depending on the season. Today, it was warm and beautiful so I was able to take my coffee out on our private deck. That would be the deck that lay just beyond the french doors. Seriously, we really did something great with this new addition. Actually, it was an answer that we had to come up with to keep our boys from killing each other. The two youngest boys had been sharing a room since they were babies. Those two were a year apart and we had hoped they’d be able to continue to share a room inside the central air conditioning of our house. That didn’t turn out so great and it was clear that we had to have more space. There was no way we were buying a bigger house with the prices out there. So the only thing that really made any sense was to add on to our existing home. Thank goodness we made the right call. Not only are the boys now happily in their own bedroom but we have our own space and our own heating and cooling. Since the HVAC equipment couldn’t handle this much more air volume, we went with a ductless heat pump in our new bedroom. It’s simply awesome and I love being able to have our own heating and cooling. It really does feel sort of like a vacation chalet.

 

furnace

Okay, so in truth, I was resistant from the start when it came to selling our house.

I just didn’t want to move and that’s the simple truth.

I’m not much into change. I like to get up in the morning, adjust the thermostat and take a shower. Then, I like to get ready for work and head to the office. I do my thing inside the commercial HVAC of the office all day and then it’s back home for dinner, relax a bit and then hit the sack. I have enjoyed repeating that routine over and over again in the decades that we lived in that house. But I knew my wife was right about selling the house. For one, the chances of their being this big a real estate market again in the next few years was doubtful. And we had always viewed our home as the biggest of our investments. So this was the payoff and we needed to act. I got on board but I was dragging my feet the whole way. Like when the realtor came up with this list of improvements. Replacing the HVAC equipment and putting in new kitchen appliances were going to be cost outlays that I wasn’t prepared to make. I pushed back and we put the house on the market as it was. It sat there and the only offers we received were well below market value and our asking price. So I called the HVAC professionals to have them help me out of this mess I put us in. They were able to install just the best in residential HVAC that came with all sorts of cool HVAC technology. We had an offer above asking price within a week after making those improvements.

cooling install

If the pandemic taught me anything it’s that I can adapt and that working from home inside the central air conditioning of my house is okay. Actually, it’s better than okay as that’s where I’m working now. Each morning, I rise well before dawn to start my day here inside my home office. I can get an early start while the only thing I can hear is the heat pump kicking on. Once the kids are up, I get them ready, feed them and hurry them off for the school day. At that point, I’m able to have another cup of coffee and start making the calls and doing the online meetings that I have scheduled for the day. These days, I’ve taken the skills I honed from all those years inside the commercial HVAC of a corporate office and am doing work for myself. That’s the other thing that the pandemic did for me. It helped me be confident enough to finally take a chance on myself. The guest room pretty much sat perpetually empty so I took it over and cleared it out. Now, it’s the office that I’ve always wanted with everything that I need to do my job. The HVAC professionals helped me out as well when it came to making my new home office just perfect. They were able to add zone controlled HVAC to my house so I now have a thermostat right inside my home office. This is great because it allows me to work in the sort of air conditioning I want without making the whole house have to adjust to me. The zone controlled HVAC really was the cherry on top when it came to launching my own business and working from my own air conditioning.

hvac tune-up

The answer was sort of right in front of us the whole time.

It’s just that we couldn’t see it.

But when we did, it was a sweet relief. Like a lot of other families across the globe, we went through our fair share of adjustments when the pandemic was raging. I got sent home from the zone controlled HVAC of the office to work from home. And that came with no bonuses and a pay cut for like 18 months. Yet, I was still able to work inside the air conditioning of our home that first Summer. My wife was as lucky as she lost her job completely. That’s when the panic nearly got the best of us. Her paycheck was just about half of our income and it was now suddenly gone. The home we own together comes with a mortgage that was right at the edge of our finances. And now the unthinkable had happened. It’s not like she could just apply and find work because nobody was hiring. My wife was able to get some gig work online and work alongside me inside the central air conditioning. But that didn’t come close to helping us make ends meet. We thought we were going to have to sell the house. When the answer came, it was like a bolt of the blue for both of us. The basement was finished and had its own entrance and a bathroom with a shower. All we had to do was have the HVAC company come out and install a ductless heat pump down there and we could rent it out. That ductless heat pump might have saved our home.
Quality HVAC

It’s just so different for me being a homeowner and living in a neighborhood. It’s so much more than the Brady Bunch image I’ve had in my head much of my adult life. I grew up inside apartment highrises inside the city. We’re talking big buildings with boilers in the basement the size of a couple of battle tanks. I can still remember the radiant heating from the radiators in our apartment. That may have been the best heating method I’ve ever experienced. These days I live further south where the heat pump takes care of both my heating and cooling needs. I’m 50 and this is my first time ever being a neighbor where there was a fence and a yard involved. I prefer this much more than sharing walls with my neighbors. It makes it a lot easier to want to help out when you can. The neighbor next door to us is a young guy who is just starting out. He’s a great guy and eager to learn the finer parts about being a productive adult. I admire that in a person because I’m still doing the same thing. So when you have a few years on you, there are things you know. When my neighbor texted me about an HVAC problem he was having, I went over to see if I could lend a hand. We checked the fuse and the breaker. The thermostat was responding to commands but nothing from the heating and cooling equipment. At that point, I gave him the number of our HVAC professionals. I told him that any further messing with the heat pump should only be done by an HVAC technician. You don’t want to void an HVAC warranty. That’s one of those things I’ve learned along the way.

furnace/heater service

I was working hard in the garden when I decided to inspect the air conditioner.

It lost its luster and was dented where branches had fallen over the winter.

I felt the same way about it as I do about my garden, it needed some TLC. After finishing up in the garden, I came inside to get my paints out. I drew a line of flowers across the bottom and some clouds across the top. The outdoor air conditioner was a pretty representation of a country sky with clouds and blooming flowers in a sunny yellow color scheme. The president of the homeowners association didn’t share my opinion of how well I did. He threatened me with a fine unless I removed the paint from the air conditioner. I told him to have fun with me. Many of my neighbors were impressed by my work, and one of them even asked if I would paint their air conditioner for them. When he made the request, the president knelt down nearby. In less than ten minutes, I had six requests to decorate AC units. A man reportedly asked if we were all going to be enjoyable to him. He promised everyone in the neighborhood a good time if they’d just let me paint their air conditioners. The vast majority of them had a good time as they stood and told me how they wanted their air conditioners painted while laughing. Over the course of the next week, I painted twelve AC units, and one of the owners paid our fines. He had been HOA president for two years, and he told me they had stupid rules. He forked over the cash for the tickets but donated it to a cause that worked for everyone.

hvac unit