We really lucked out to have gotten through the pandemic year without having a major HVAC equipment breakdown. This good fortune did not go unnoticed. Just prior to the pandemic happening, the HVAC technician warned us that our heat pump was at the end of its service. The HVAC professional told us to watch for heating and cooling cost spikes which would indicate the end was near. Well, that was sort of the worst news as we would find out weeks later. My wife lost her job and I was forced to take a pay cut while working from the air conditioning of home. The last thing we could afford was new heating and cooling equipment. So we did our best to just lighten the load as much as possible on the heat pump. We also really made sure that we were doing all we could to help the HVAC equipment maximize effort and efficiency. No more cranking down the air conditioning to cool the house off quickly. Instead, we got accustomed to the house being warmer. Our region see air conditioning for at least 8 months of the year. So the warmer we could stand the house the better. And the heat pump virtually takes the winter off where we live. Believe it or not, we got through. My wife found a new job and I’m back to my full salary plus bonus. The first thing we did was to call the HVAC company in order to get the installation of the new, quality heating and air stuff going. We are now in our first week with the new HVAC unit and we are both amazed by the new HVAC technology and supremely thankful to be able to afford it.