The Heating & AC Blog

I made a list of things that needed to be repaired around the house.

I have been checking them off one by one. I had a kitchen faucet that constantly was dripping and a toilet leaking. I finally called a plumber and got those taken care of. I got an electrician over to fix my bathroom ventilation system. I then was able to repair my door from not latching and my busted porch myself. The last item on the list is fixing the air conditioner. The AC system has been leaking water like crazy. I have decided that I am going to be the one that fixes it. I don’t want to throw in the towel and call in a HVAC professional. I want to handle this cooling repair. I looked online and it basically said something is dirty inside my system. I have been going through the whole machine. I replaced the air filter with a newer one. I cleaned the fan blades and added lubrication to the fan motor belt. That didn’t change the leak issue. When I found mold on the cooling coil I thought I struck gold. I cleaned all that out and that didn’t do one thing. Recently I found that the condensate drain being clogged could cause water to leak. There was a bunch of algae in mine. I mucked that out, dried around my system and cleaned it. So far I haven’t seen any water but it is still early. I don’t feel confident checking it off my list just yet.

heater for sale

Still, I am not totally happy with what I am spending

I am trying to find ways to lower my energy bills. The stock market looks horrible and inflation has me rattled. I am trying to save ways where I can. When I go grocery shopping I don’t get the extra stuff anymore. I no longer buy shrimp, scallops, couscous and flavored oils. I just get the bare essentials and use it all up. For electricity I try to limit how long I have the lights on. I have taken to showering in my pool more often than not. I also ride my bike rather than pay for gas in my car. It is a big help. The HVAC bill is the one that is scaring me quite a bit. I have caulked around the windows and doors to seal the air inside my home. I also got my ductwork inspected to make sure there are no leaks. I then added more insulation around the baseboard, invested in thicker curtains and I am trying to be smarter on how I set the thermostat. That is about all I can do now. I have gotten HVAC service already to ensure the machine is clean, oiled and tightened. I made sure to have a fully operational system that works to the best of its capability. Still, I am not totally happy with what I am spending. I am not willing to invest anymore in the HVAC department though. So I just need to be conscious about cooling this summer and heating when the weather cools down. I don’t want to face a big bill every month.

 

heating technician

Quite interesting right? Once we both pass and prove we have experience, then we can get hired.

I didn’t realize that the HVAC world and teaching world have a few parallels. I am going for my teaching certification the same time my little brother is working towards being a HVAC technician. It is funny that we enter the same stage just with slightly different content. I was doing student teaching for almost a year. I had to handle all the lesson plans, teaching and day to day with the kids. My brother shadowed a HVAC technician for a year. He started as an assistant like I did, and gradually he was handling all the calls on his own. It was his training process. Now that both my brother and I have real world experience, it is time for testing. I need to take teacher certification tests to prove that I know my stuff. My brother needs to take the NATE certification test to prove he knows heating and cooling. He also can get speciality licensing with handling obilers, heat pumps, etc. I am taking tests to show I can teach in middle school and special education. Quite interesting right? Once we both pass and prove we have experience, then we can get hired. My brother is hoping to go to a higher end HVAC dealer and I want to work in a nice school. We will both ideally work about the same hours and start off with a similar pay as well. I can’t imagine dealing with HVAC repairs and service all day. My brother thinks I am nuts for dedicating so much time to children and teaching.

boiler installation

My husband and I bought a small lake house that we do the snow bird thing with.

During the cold season we are down south in our little house.

I love having smaller gardens to care for, a tiny house to clean and not a lot of grass to mow. It is easier and way less stressful. I have tried not to invest too much money into the lake house since it is supposed to be a quick getaway. However, I am thinking about replacing our air conditioning system. My husband and I don’t share a room. He snores and thrashes around at night. I am a light sleeper and need a sound machine. The two bedroom and two bathroom house is perfect for us. Lately I have been noticing the temperature varies quite a bit in the bedrooms. I had complained to my husband for months how hot our home was in the summertime. I felt like the AC was never doing its job. I recently discovered my husband’s bedroom is so much colder. His room is technically not as high up in the air and has brick walls. He does have a room that is at the back of the house too. So it does get some shade. My bedroom gets exposed to more sunshine. It shouldn’t be that much hotter though right? I am wondering if there is an issue with our cooling system. I think perhaps the ductwork might be blocked to my bedroom. I want to have an icy cold AC at night as well!

Air duct cleaning

My husband and I bought a house with the idea that we each would get our own room.

He loves to blast the air conditioner and I love heating.

We set up our own spaces and each got a ductless mini split. It has worked so well for us. Our relationship is stronger without sharing a room. He can hoard and cram a bunch of clothing in his room. He can leave a mess on the floor and I don’t even care. My room hardly has anything in it and is neat as a pin. I believe everyone should have their own space. We have two kids and they each have a bedroom and an indoor air handler that provides AC and heating. They decide their own HVAC settings. Well I recently found out that I am pregnant. We now need to scramble for another bedroom. My husband and I refuse to share. It seems cruel to make the kids bunk up. I also found that my laundry room just isn’t good enough for a child. That means we will be putting an addition onto the house. It is going to cost so much money but it will be worth it. Our third child should get the same perks we all do. I want my baby to have their own bedroom with a window, door that locks, heating, cooling and a separate thermostat. That would make everything fair. Adding an extra bedroom will only add value to the house as well. My husband and I will be paying years for it though.

 

 

air conditioning supplier

It is a fact that when you are pregnant your body temperature is raised.

I have found that I feel warmer, get overheated quickly and need more hydration.

I need to wake up in the middle of the night to drink or else I really suffer. I am quick to vomit if I get too overheated too. I live down south and the temperatures are in the 90s everyday. I am someone that loves being outside. I have given up on sitting in the sunshine. I stick to the shade now. The issue is that I still sometimes flare up with nausea. I try cool drinks and frequently go inside the AC. That helps somewhat. For every hour I sit outside, I go inside the air conditioning for 30 minutes. I usually take the time to mop the floors, scrub the bathroom or do a little work on my computer. It is easy to kill in 30 minutes. The AC feels so good on me and stops me from feeling sick. I used to hate our air conditioning system. I was quick to turn up the thermostat in the summer and not have it blow on me. My husband loves it that I run hotter now. He can blast the AC all day long in the house and I don’t complain at all. I even invested in a HVAC program where the technician comes two times a year. He has already come by to ensure the cooling system is in tip top shape. At this rate I couldn’t go without AC for 2 hours. I would be nauseous, have a headache and be totally miserable.
Local service provider

My husband and I aren’t handy people.

My husband works in SEO and I am a math teacher.

We don’t even own a set of tools. If we get work done on the house, it is through hiring people. Recently the weather got to be in the 80s and our air conditioner just wasn’t working. It was only blowing out hot air. My husband and I were frantic. The house was just getting hotter and hotter. My husband looked at the air conditioner but he was clueless. I did some online hunting and didn’t find anything of note. I even put it out on facebook for AC help. Everyone said the same thing, call a HVAC technician. I had to pay extra for AC emergency service but it was a real emergency. We couldn’t take the heat anymore. The guy started asking us questions that were just embarrassing. He wanted to know if we changed our air filter. What is an air filter? I didn’t know we had one. He wanted to know about our refrigerant levels. I know what a fridge is, I didn’t ever consider my cooling system’s refrigerant. The guy then took care of everything. He taught us to change the air filter and recognize when we need more coolant. Thankfully there was a major repair and it wasn’t just us being idiots. He replaced the fan motor since it wasn’t working properly. It was expensive to replace and we had AC emergency service on top of that. It was worth it to have cold air though.

indoor air quality