I have a large, older house as well as it tends to be drafty in the winter and then overheated in the summer. Insufficient insulation as well as high ceilings cause the heating/cooling system to struggle to maintain an even temperature throughout. The majority of my budget goes directly to indoor temperature control. The situation is made even worse because the air duct runs through the attic as well as is impacted by the outdoor temperatures. The attic tends to be seriously tepid as well as sticky in the summer, and then it’s considerably cold and frigid in the winter. About a year ago, when an heating and air conditioning professional was handling the respected service of the cooling system, he suggested that I update the attic insulation. His corporation specializes in blown-in insulation which minimizes labor-costs, disruption to the house as well as mess. The blown-in insulation conforms to strange shapes to provide a superior seal. I hired the heating and air conditioning professional to come back in the fall as well as ensure that the attic is properly insulated as well as ventilated, and thankfully the process successfully trimmed thirty percent off my annual utility bills. The oil furnace as well as cooling system no longer run for such extensive cycles and can now more easily manage comfort levels. Because of reducing wear as well as tear, I expect the heating and cooling equipment to operate more reliability as well as last longer. The update in insulation has also eliminated drafts, tepid as well as frigid spots as well as minimized temperature stratification. I’ve observed less complications with excess humidity in the summer, and I think the home even smells better. I don’t need to clean as often, because there’s far less dust floating around in the air at any given moment. I am also looking for other strategies I can take to improve the energy efficiency, comfort as well as air quality of my home.
Programming my HVAC unit
Over the past couple of weeks, my flatmates and I have been getting increasingly perplexed and concerned over our lighting bill! Every month since July, we’ve noticed the light bill continues to go up. Yet I should preface with a few things. The four of us have been living in this lake house for over a year; we’re aware of how the bills fluctuate with the seasons! For the most part, the bill only really spikes in the winter. Then the sun goes down at 3:30, meaning we need the lights on more just to live… But now the utility bill has gone up almost a hundred dollars. We’ve checked all throughout the lake house to make sure none of our lights are being left on. No one has bought an immense appliance like an air conditioner, so there’s no logical reason we can find for the light bill to being going up so much week after week. By the end of September, I had to go down to the basement to get our fall decorations. While I was down there, I wanted to deliver the gas boiler a glance over. Not only is the boiler 36 years old, but it also hasn’t been checked in more than four years, according to the card on the side. While we obviously haven’t been using the heat lately, we do use the boiler to heat the hot water. Is this a clue that our gas boiler is so old that it’s running up the electricity bill to heat our water? The only way to find out is to get our property owner to inspect the boiler.
What a long week
My husband and I are first time homeowners… While we expected a lot of tasks we’ve never dealt with before, the last thing we were thinking of when we signed the mortgage for our lake house was the amount of paperwork the whole process would entail… Paperwork from the bank, paperwork from the real estate office, paperwork from the insurance company–even paperwork from the town! Our pile grows plus grows. The top item on our Home Goods Shopping List is a filing cabinet. “And here we thought we were going to want a new wardrobe or a closet organizers” my husband joked. Then our main point of concern is our central heater… My husband and I moved in autumn. This way, we wouldn’t to have to lift all of this heavy furniture in middle of a heat wave. While the move was really easy, now we’re rushing to get our oil furnace tanks filled before Winter time is upon us… In the meantime, I am doing all I can to make sure we don’t miss anything important in this mountain of paperwork. Just last week, I was reviewing homeowner’s insurance, making a to do list of all that was expected of us before we filed it away plus forgot about it entirely. Well, our real estate agent didn’t bring up at the signing that we would be required to get the heating and A/C system checked biannually, plus through the company our insurance firm uses! I had to quickly cancel our oil furnace tune-up for next week, only to call this other HVAC company to get it done through them. If we don’t care for our oil heater to the letter of this agreement, we won’t be insured should it one day fail on us.
I love the way this works
The country is pretty divided now over a lot of problems, but I wanted to share a story about how America is easily the greatest country in the world. It is a land that still offers dreams and hope to those who previously had none. Every one of us may get all wrapped up in political drama and fight over odd issues our society faces, but I like to know at the end of the day, people can realize this is an amazing place to live. I am an immigrant, and I moved here several years ago to provide a better life for our family. I started teaching myself HVAC service when I was back in the old country, using the internet and any heating & cooling service textbooks I could find. I had only ever touched a simple heating system before, never with a central gas furnace. But I learned so much about heating & cooling systems, it was really easy to find an apprenticeship when I legally moved to the US. For several years I worked for a really kind woman who owned an HVAC service company, and I made no secret that one day I wanted to open up by own A/C & heating system business. She was really supportive of my dreams, and when she was ready to retire she offered to sell me the business, which had an established clientele of HVAC equipment customers. Now I am a legal citizen with my own HVAC service business, and it couldn’t happen anywhere except in the USA.
I had so much more to do
When I bought my first house, I was a novice when it came to house maintenance! I could barely change my own tire back then but during the first year, I learned how to change plumbing fixtures, install new carpeting and how to repair a leaky faucet. It was a lot of work and I think that I managed well enough. The internet has plenty of useful videos online. I found hundreds of DIY videos to help me with the minor repairs I was experiencing. When I had problems with the heating and cooling system, the internet suggested a few easy troubleshooting tips. I cleaned the debris from our outdoor compressor. I made sure the evaporator drain was clear. Nothing I did would repair the heating and cooling system. My parents told me to call a professional. The HVAC company I called wanted $89.00 for a consultation and diagnosis. That’s a lot of money to spend for an evaluation but I was left with few choices. I called the HVAC company and scheduled the appointment. The next afternoon, they came out to diagnose my system. Initially, they performed some of the same troubleshooting things I did. The HVAC technician said that I needed to replace the kick switch. I didn’t know what that was however it was area of the outdoor HVAC components. It took an hour to complete the heating and cooling system repair and I was so happy it worked! By the time the HVAC serviceman left, the A/C was working again. I wouldn’t have been able to repair the issue, so I’m happy I decided to contact a professional.
This doesn’t bother me
My husband and I bought our first house this month. It’s a beautiful but very old house in a beautifully established neighborhood. The only way we could afford a house was to buy an old house that needed repairs but it feels new to us! Luckily, my husband has always been great with tools. Before getting his general contractor’s license, he worked for 20 years in the construction industry. Although the previous couple lived in the house for 50 years, they left it in a terrible state of repairs. Each room had a terrible smell so we spent the first week of homeownership was spent deep cleaning the house. Some rooms of the house smelled like cats and dogs while other rooms of the house smelled like stale tobacco smoke so the odors were not pleasant. We finally sealed the walls and floors to get rid of the disgusting smells in the house. Even the ventilation system was left in a state of disrepair. From the attic down, the ventilations system needed something to be repaired. Before we realized it, whenever we turned on the HVAC system, the house was full of those odors again. We finally decided to install a ductless HVAC system. The ductless heating ventilation and a/c system does not require any ductwork at all. The ductless HVAC is an all-in-one machine that is very effective. There are only two heating ventilation air conditioning units in our house, in the master bedroom and living room. Together, they create plenty of cool air for the entire house.
This process is okay with me
I currently live in a studio apartment, and I really like it. I don’t need much space to be comfortable, and living in a studio keeps me from having to do a lot of cleaning. It’s the perfect fit for me, but my only complaint is that I don’t have an HVAC system in my apartment. I live in a location where cooling systems are not standard, so I have to use ceiling fans and open my windows when it gets warm. I am seriously considering purchasing a ductless mini split air conditioner. These are pretty and reasonably priced, and they can be installed in just about any space. I guess that this would be a nice option for me because I would much rather sleep with an air conditioner running. This would allow me much more control over how to adjust the temperature in my living space. If I ever get married or decide to have children, I am sure that I will move into a larger home. but, for now, I enjoy being in a studio apartment. I don’t see the sense in having more space than I need, and getting the mini split air conditioner would rid me of any hang-ups that I have. For now, my main goal is to keep my expenses and low as possible so that I can save money and live comfortably, and so far, I guess that I am doing a pretty good job of meeting this goal. With the right cooling system, I won’t have any complaints about my living arrangements.
A home with a new addition
After an extensive search, my partner and I finally came across the perfect lake lake house for our family. We’d been lake house hunting in a certain section for nearly eight months. While the people I was with and I were tired of renting, the people I was with and I were unwilling to settle for a lake house that failed to meet our wants and needs. A large amount of property and privacy were a major priority. I was looking for a fantastic sized kitchen, plenty of closets, and lots of windows. My partner wanted an attached garage, a full-sized basement, and a porch where he could relax. When the people I was with and I toured the house, our only concern was the boiler furnace. Having no experience with boiler heating, the people I was with and I uneasy that the equipment would cost a lot to operate, make a ton of noise, and fail to keep the lake lake house comfortable on especially chilly evenings. All of us couldn’t have been more wrong. The boiler is absolutely the best feature of the house. As a hydronic furnace, it uses water to tranathletic activity heat energy. Water heats up legitimately hastily and retains heat better than air, making a boiler wonderfully energy efficient. The boiler infuses heat into the air, rather than blowing sizzling air, and avoids the introduction of contaminants. The system is clean, perfectly silent, and powerful enough to handle the most extreme weather. A boiler actually accommodates zone control, allowing us to customize temperature room by room. All of us avoid the expense of heating unoccupied rooms and cater to personalize preferences. Plus, the boiler supplements our water heating needs, which saves even more money. With only annual repair, the boiler continues to operate dependably year after year.
I knew that was smart
When my dad passed away, my mom started to look for something to keep her time busy. My mom had honestly spent more than one decade of her life working in the school district. Every one of my friends in addition to myself can’t honestly remember when our mom was the school librarian for six years. My mom was retired for a long time, but she honestly wanted to get back into working once dad passed away. The very first thing my mom did was start placing applications in at all few of the local libraries in addition to book stores. It wasn’t long before my mom found the Books-A-Million was hiring. They hired my mom right away, after seeing how much experience she had in libraries. One thing that certainly was different, was working in the library these days. When my mom was a school librarian, nothing was automated at all. Most of the bookstore is fully automated with computers in addition to a specific software tracking program. Everyone of my friends in addition to myself are surprised to see Mom doing so well. She’s really gotten the hang of the automated program, despite the fact that all of these things are so new. Everyone of us believe that Mom will quickly learn this computer automation program, so that she can help out the Books-A-Million even more in the process. My mom is honestly a fast learner in addition to the fact that all of us are here to help her learn anything she needs to about the internet, technology, in addition to automated programs.
This building is what I wanted
After an extensive search, our hubby plus I finally came across the perfect home for our family. We’d been condo hunting in a particular section for nearly several months. While every one of us were fatigued of renting, every one of us were unwilling to settle for a condo that failed to meet our wants plus needs. A sizable amount of property plus privacy were a major priority. I was looking for a wonderful sized living room, plenty of closets, plus lots of windows. My hubby wanted an attached garage, a full-sized basement, plus a porch where he could relax. When every one of us toured the house, our only problem was the boiler heating system. Having no experience with boiler heating, every one of us upset that the unit would cost a lot to operate, make a ton of noise, plus fail to keep the home comfortable on especially frigid nights. We couldn’t have been more wrong. The boiler is honestly the best feature of the house. As a hydronic heating system, it uses water to move heat energy. Water heats up honestly abruptly plus retains heat better than air, making a boiler beautifully energy efficient. The boiler infuses heat into the air, rather than blowing hot air, plus avoids the introduction of contaminants. The method is clean, perfectly silent, plus powerful enough to handle the most extreme weather. A boiler certainly accommodates zone control, allowing us to customize temperature room by room. We avoid the expense of heating unoccupied rooms plus cater to personalize preferences. Plus, the boiler supplements our water heating needs, which saves even more money. With only annual service, the boiler continues to operate dependably year after year.