All in Heating and Cooling

We were hit pretty hard so far this winter.

The most recent storm we faced gave us about two feet of snow which isn’t terrible.

It was a lot of snow blowing and shoveling though, that’s for sure. The good news is that they have been keeping the roads pretty clear. The schools ended up shutting down for a few days because it was difficult to keep up with all the snow and icy conditions, so the kids were able to go out and play in the snow a little bit. They wanted to go sledding and we have a few pretty good hills on our property. So they were out there playing having a good time. I was looking at them through some of the windows in the house. I easily recalled how fun I had when I was a youngster going sledding sometimes like that. We had some pretty wild snowstorms over the years. While I was thinking about sledding, I realized the kids would be chilly when they got back inside regardless of all the adrenaline they were feeling. So I adjusted the temperature control settings to get the heating system cranked up. I also started a fire in the fireplace to make sure the house was extra toasty and warm. Then I started brewing some hot cocoa that would be ready just in time when the kids started coming back inside. I even made them some sandwiches for lunch and they were so happy when they got back inside. They told me about all the crazy stunts they did on their sleds while they sipped their hot cocoa in front of the fireplace.

Heating and cooling equipment

Sometimes the public schools have remote learning for the children. This has been a development from the pandemic crisis we have been facing. It actually is a smart thing because whenever people get sick, the kids can still learn from home with their computers. The schools even provide the children with chromebooks which is a good thing. So recently when the kids had remote learning, they were all saying how happy they were because the heating system felt so nice at home. I think a big part of that is because we love to use our fireplace in the winter. When we have the fireplace going all the time, it makes it so the heating system doesn’t have to work as hard. That saves us a huge amount of money on the energy bills and I am thankful for that. That was one major appeal of having a fireplace, saving big money and chopping firewood. Even my kids were telling their teachers about the fireplace and how they felt nice and warm all of the time. I do think that some of the other students were jealous because they didn’t have fireplaces at their homes. It would be great if more people had fireplaces at home because they would save so much money with their oil or gas bills. My kids were telling me that they enjoyed remote learning so much and they wished they could study like that on a regular basis. I’m sure they are going to get a lot more remote learning with this ongoing pandemic, but I think eventually the kids will be in school more often.

Electric fireplace

We have a ductless mini split system and we are honestly proud of it.

• It has saved us a great deal of money on the energy bills and it keeps us comfortable through the seasons.

It’s highly energy efficient because it doesn’t need to depend on the traditional ductwork system of the household. It also has HVAC zone control allowing us to keep customized temperature control settings in any given zone. Well, recently we were surprised when the heating was no longer working in the winter. I didn’t know exactly what was going on but I did suspect it might have something to do with the weather. We experienced a pretty bad ice storm and we were actually lucky that the power was still on. The house was getting suddenly cold though so I had to set up a bunch of portable heating units. They kept us from freezing which was a good thing. When the HVAC professionals arrived at our house, we were happy with the timing. We have an HVAC service plan with this company so we get priority scheduling which is nice to have in these emergency situations. We don’t even have to pay for the emergency prices which is a huge plus. So they figured out that our outdoor heat pump was iced up and it had to be thawed. They worked their magic and before I knew it, the heat pump was working great again and we had perfect heating in our home once again. I thanked the HVAC professionals and gave them each a tip for their hard work.
Cooling system

She learned about HVAC zone control, and how energy efficient the system is with customized temperature control settings in different areas of the house.

My father in law happens to be a retired HVAC technician. It wasn’t long ago when he offered to install a ductless mini split into our household. He said those ductless HVAC systems are highly energy efficient and we would save a huge amount of cash on the energy bills. I decided to go for it as he was offering a really great deal that couldn’t be matched. He just wanted to be able to help us out and allow us to save money because he has always been supportive when it comes to family. So we had the ductless mini split delivered to the house and he got to work hooking everything up. It was funny because the mail lady came by delivering a few packages. She noticed my father in law hooking up the ductless mini split and she asked about it while handing him the packages. He told her a thing or two about ductless mini splits. She learned about HVAC zone control, and how energy efficient the system is with customized temperature control settings in different areas of the house. She was so impressed that she asked for my father in law’s number so she could discuss having a ductless mini split installed in her place. She said her HVAC system was actually on its last legs and she had been saving up some money for something new and reliable. My father in law is planning on helping her out, but I think he’s also planning on asking her out too. That would be something to see.

Heating and cooling equipment

It was interesting to hear about my wife’s painting night with her girlfriends. They tend to have these girl nights from time to time and this is what they came up with. When I asked my wife if she had a good time, she said it was an experience. She said they ended up painting this young guy who was only in his boxers and she felt bad for the kid. Fortunately, she said they had a type of HVAC zone control in the building, so when somebody said something they were able to turn up the heating system a little bit in the area where the guy was being observed by the class. Then she showed me the painting that she did and I was amazed by the detail. It was like a picture of the moment and suddenly I could see exactly what my wife was talking about. She even drew a picture of the HVAC unit that was providing the heating to this guy and the picture showed a sort of relief on his face as he no longer had to carry on with shivering. Of course, I wouldn’t want to stand up there in my boxer shorts while freezing with not enough heating. It would be worse if everybody in there were wearing coats and then I know I would be in for it. But it sounded like some type of fun experience I guess, not something that I would be into. I’m glad that my wife has her friends to do things like this with because I don’t think she would be able to get me to do anything quite like that.

Heating equipment

I love Mexican food; like, eat-Mexican-five-times-a-week love it. Like, have-Chipotle-cater-my-wedding love it. I could completely happily eat only Mexican cuisine for the rest of my life; fresh corn tortillas and refried beans hold a special place in my heart. (And sure, that special place may largely be composed of cholesterol buildups, but my point remains.) The point is, Mexican cuisine, and Mexican restaurants are near and dear to me; and the majority of the time, my adoration for such a widely-beloved genre of cuisine has never caused me harm. However, one of the few times it has, was truly detrimental to my well-being; both physically, and spiritually. Taking place in an amazing madre y padre Mexican restaurant in my hometown, I was eating lunch with my uncle one day. I placed a typical order of taquitos, and happily munched on the chips and salsa they gave us until our food came; and when it did, steaming and smelling muy delicioso, I dug in. However, I quickly ran into an issue- this was the spiciest taquito I had ever eaten. I immediately began sweating, fanning off my face. We were eating outside, and, still burning up, rushed inside the restaurant to ask for a glass of water. However, Iwas met with a wall of stale, hot air. The entire restaurant wsa sweltering, which was doing nothing to help my own heat-based dilemma. One of the waiters told me that their air conditioner had been on the fritz, and the air conditioner repairman as well as their usual HVAC technician were both unable to come until tomorrow. It was so hot in that restaurant- emboldened by the spiciness of my food, my body felt like it was melting from heat. It was absolutely sweltering in there. Their HVAC technician needed to highstep it over to this place, because I was going to be a puddle to mop up from the floor soon if their air conditioner wasn’t repaired ASAP.

Air conditioning repair service

Sticky.

Hot. Sweltering. All words that one could apply to hell; or the back seat of my grandmother’s 2007 Lexus- really, though, that’s the same difference. I love my grandmother so much, but that adoration in no way extends to her cracked-leather-seated jalopy of a car. When she would come and pick me up from school in that thing, I dreaded it. The seats were so hot, my thighs melted to them; or, at the very least, it certainly felt like it. I had to peel myself off of that backseat every day. The seatbelt was so hot, and the metal bit burned your hand if you touched it by accident- it was unforgiving. As soon as you stepped into that sauna-on-wheels, there was sweat at the back of your neck. Your thighs started sticking to the seat, the heated leather bonding to your sweaty skin. You already started to feel the temperature rise, the blood rush that gave off the pink-tinged smile of a third-grader going through preliminary heat stroke symptoms. Those car rides were nothing short of sweltering suffocation; but there was one saving grace. At the end of that drive, there was the sweet, sweet relief of my grandmother’s house, which was equipped with the best invention of all- air conditioning. When the car finally pulled to a stop, my sister and I were racing towards the front door before the hula-dancer on the dashboard stopped dancing. We would sit in front of the ac vent for an hour at least, enjoying the cold air over our sweaty skin. That air conditioner was truly a life saver- and though I hated the heat of those car rides, the euphoric sensation of a burst of cold air blowing over you when you’re overheated is almost unmatched.

Whole home air purification

I had never stayed somewhere with a window-unit before, and the HVAC was a transformer-like dream for two kids

Growing up, my family and I didn’t have the opportunity to go on a lot of big vacations. However, one time, when I was about 10 and my younger sister 6, we took a cross-state road trip, stopping in different towns along the way to see all that America had to offer. One of the towns we stopped in, my mother and grandmother who had taken my sister and I on this trip decided to splurge, and booked us a room in the fanciest hotel my sister and I had ever seen- the Marriott. It was like the Disney show where the kids lived in the hotel- there were bellboys, and a front desk, and this building had the single coolest architectural feature my decade-old eyes had ever seen- a spinning door. My sister and I spun around in that thing for the half-hour it took to sign in, and spinning in 360 degrees for that long is something I might’ve cherished then, but thinking back on now makes me nauseous even thinking of it. When we finally got to our room, having gotten lost on the wrong floor along the way, my sister and I were once again astonished at the luxury surrounding us. There was a little kitchenette area, with a sink and its own miniature appliances. A whole living room section with a big tv, the two huge beds, and possibly the coolest thing of all- a gigantic HVAC window unit. I had never stayed somewhere with a window-unit before, and the HVAC was a transformer-like dream for two kids. We sat in front of it for hours, taking turns switching the heating settings to air conditioning, sliding the temperature gauge up and down, placing our hands on the side to feel them get warm as it heated up; I think if my mom had known how silent we would be in the face of an HVAC unit, she would have gotten us one ages ago. It wasn’t even the fanciest of all air conditioners in the world- but the different settings, dials, switches- it was so entertaining to young eyes. I remember tracing the little sticker with the HVAC business’ name and technician on it, admiring the little machine.

boiler installation

So, my sophomore year of college, I lived in a dorm-style building with my best friend.

We definitely weren’t in love with the Alcatraz-styled living experience, but our 10×10 concrete square was worlds better than having to live at home, so we dealt with it.

And though that dorm saw many an emotional breakdown over grades, or boys, or internships, it served us well. For the most part. Emphasis on ‘most’ there. Because that room definitely had its…drawbacks. Even aside from the prison-cell-like cement walls, or the bolted-to-the-floor furniture that severely limited our interior design potential, there were some foundational issues. One of the days in fall semester, late October, my roommate and I had come home after a day of classes to find our room absolutely sweltering. It was so hot- it was like walking into a hot yoga class, thoroughly unprepared. When we eventually got to the thermostat, shedding extra layers along the way, it read out an illogical temperature of 72. There was no way that was the case; we immediately put a work order in to have the school HVAC technician come in the next day and try to service the heater; until then, though, we tried (and failed) to fix the heater ourselves. We tried the obvious solutions of turning the thermostat on and off. We tried looking up tutorials on various HVAC business websites, scouring the web for tutorials on heater repairs, or even an off-hand suggestion from an HVAC provider or heater technician for an idea we could try. We ended up sleeping with our windows open that night, as well as baking a tray of cookies to take to the HVAC technician that ended up fixing the issue.
Cooling specialist

I think every kid has a stark memory of their father loudly proclaiming he was the sole manipulator of the thermostat; a firmly-cemented recollection of a dictator-esque rule over the air conditioner. “Nobody changes the temperature except me!” was the law of our kingdom- kingdom meaning house, that is. Maybe such a memory isn’t par for the course for everybody, but it certainly was a formative moment in my adolescence. My father was someone who constantly needed to be cool- and living in a humid and sticky environment like we did wasn’t the biggest contributor to that goal. He loved our air conditioner- he had the HVAC technicians service our air conditioner religiously, never missing a check-in date or service appointment. He was devout in its upkeep; and to be honest, the rest of us were pretty committed to the longevity and health of our air conditioner, too. A happy, air-conditioned, and cooled-off father typically led to a better outcome when it came to our nightly dessert negotiations. I do remember there was one time our air conditioner unit had an issue, and my dad had called our HVAC technician so fast I swear he had our HVAC provider on his speed-dial! Thankfully, it wasn’t a huge repair needed, and the air conditioner was operating at full capacity shortly thereafter due to our fantastic HVAC technician and HVAC provider. Their air conditioning services never failed us, and as a soft-sweaty kid, I sure did appreciate the moment of coming in from the hot and humid outside to the cool and pristine air-conditioned oasis that was indoors.

air purification system