This past summer, we chose to rent a cabin for a month. The surrounding areas were quite attractive with a huge lake for fishing, there were hunting locations, and the cabin was equipped with a now HVAC system. At least, that’s what was stated on the brochure when we were checking out the place. We were looking forward to having the time of our lives. Well, to be honest, our eldest son gave us a hard time because he only wanted to hang out with his friends. Well, we had a pretty good time for the first week, until the HVAC system quit working. When there was no cooling in the cabin, the place started to feel miserable. We called the rental company to see about getting the cooling equipment repaired, but they claimed that no HVAC professionals could come out to repair the equipment since it was their busy season. I thought that was the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. Of course, the place was in a rural area, so it was true that there were hardly any HVAC professionals serving the area. It wasn’t like back at home where we had numerous HVAC companies to choose from and we could always get the home services we needed. Well, the kids started complaining like crazy and I finally gave up on trying to keep the cabin cool. I had a few running fans, but that wasn’t enough, it was just a bunch of overheated air blowing around. When I told everybody we were going back home, they all seemed happy, especially our son who realized he would spend more time with his buddies that summer.
Now I have a good reason to visit in the winter
For a long time, I never wanted to visit my sister.
It was because the air quality in her home was always bad, and it was never very comfortable either.
I couldn’t understand the reason why, but she used window AC units in the summer for cooling and portable heaters in the cold season. She used her fireplace to help keep the house warm, but I thought it was crazy having to add more logs on the fireplace all the time just to keep from freezing. It wasn’t even easy getting through the night because it would become so cold and you had to suffer your way to the fireplace to keep adding more firewood. I remember asking her why she didn’t just invest in a decent HVAC system, but she kept saying she couldn’t afford it. I told her that she could always put away money into a savings account a bit at a time, or she could even make payments because most HVAC companies offered financing options. Whenever I did visit, I preferred going in the spring or fall seasons, when I didn’t have to worry so much about being miserable in the house, but the air quality still was a huge problem. I ended up getting her a UV air purifier for her birthday one year. She said she probably wouldn’t use it, but happily, she has been using that UV air purifier all the time. She even tells me how happy she is to have better air quality in her home. This has made it easier to visit. Then I was more surprised than ever recently when she insisted on hosting the family holiday party. I thought everybody was going to be freezing, but she had radiant heated floors installed! That made the whole occasion a huge hit, and I definitely will be visiting more often in the winters now.
So we decided to rent a cabin which was great
I thought it was a pretty good idea when a buddy of mine suggested that we rent a cabin for a weekend.
We had this huge holiday weekend coming up and we thought it would be fun to be out there in the wilderness somewhere with a giant bonfire and fireworks going off! So we all looked at different cabins for rent.
A lot of them were expensive because it seemed most of the places were booking up fast. We eventually found this cabin that seemed reasonably priced. There was a river close by which was awesome and the cabin came with an outdoor fireplace in the book. I wished there was a fireplace inside the cabin, but there wasn’t. Instead, there was just a wood burning stove, which was good enough to keep the cabin warm as we figured out. Fortunately, there was plenty of firewood to burn in the stove and also the outdoor fireplace. That’s where we spent most of our time when we went to this cabin, we enjoyed hanging around the fireplace and of course we had a pretty nice show of fireworks! We also admired all the wildlife and the area and thought it might be fun to go hunting in that area sometime in the future. We supposed we could do something similar when hunting, rent another cabin with a fireplace and find us some bucks. We would be roasting meat over the fireplace in no time and having a marvelous time. Everybody said they were definitely down for hunting, so we are already making the plans. We want a nicer cabin this time though, preferably with an oil furnace or something to keep us extra warm.
We had to get adjusted to moving to a new area
I couldn’t believe it, all the issues that we had in the house were taken care of by this professional who came out
After we bought a new home in a different state, it was tough for us at first. We figured it would be hard to find new friends in the area, but we were grateful that the school system seemed to be good enough for our children. The house was great and we loved the location. I realized that we had to get some HVAC maintenance though and the fireplace needed to be cleaned out as well. So we called a local HVAC contractor and the guy who came out did excellent work with our HVAC maintenance. Since we were new to the area, we asked the guy if he knew anybody who could take care of the fireplace. He laughed and said that his company provided chimney sweep services as well. I was surprised because most HVAC professionals I knew in the past never took care of any work like that. I was even more surprised when the guy said his company also covered plumbing and electrical services. He even said they have a website and I could check on there if I wanted to learn more about the company. I couldn’t believe it, all the issues that we had in the house were taken care of by this professional who came out. He took care of our plumbing issues, and we also had a problem with some of the lights in the house. Well, this guy took care of everything, and I made sure he got a nice tip when he finished with the home services. I also recommended the HVAC company to new friends we got to know.
My buddies seemed to be convinced that I could install an HVAC
My buddies told me they were sure that I could install my own HVAC system.
I was very nervous about trying to do such a thing.
I definitely worried a lot about the electrical connections, because I wondered if I could be electrocuted. My buddies told me I was being paranoid because all we had to do was make sure the power was shut off while hooking up the connections. Of course, I was no HVAC professional, so this was why I worried. I also wondered if the warranty would be affected with non-professionals handling the HVAC installation. My one buddy who had done this installation before broke it down to me. He said I was right about the warranty. He explained some models of ductless mini splits would automatically have the warranty voided with the installation of a non-professional. However, he said there were also makes and models that offered a limited warranty that covered half as many years, assuming there was regular maintenance done on the HVAC equipment each year. So I ended up going for a DIY ductless mini split that included the limited warranty, so long as the install was done correctly according to the directions. We made sure to cover everything carefully. I was very nervous during the electric installs and drilling through my walls, but we managed to complete everything. Thankfully, my warranty is intact and the HVAC system works great. I’ll be keeping up with my regular inspections and tune-ups too! Honestly, I don’t want to have any issues with my warranty, in case my HVAC decides to give out on me during the first 5 years of use.
I hope we’re all able to outlast my new HVAC system
That was kind of depressing to think about, but it made us all bet a million bucks! I actually bet that my HVAC would last 30 years exactly
After I had a ductless mini split installed, I wondered how long the system would last. The HVAC experts told me the system would easily last over 20 years, but I wondered if it could go as long as 30 years. When I was talking with some friends about it, they laughed and said we all should make bets on how long my HVAC would last. This became a very interesting bet. I thought it was amusing that we would actually wait for over 20 years just to see who won the bet, and the bets were huge! I said that we all might as well go big for this bet because we all would be retired and probably have a lot of money in the future. We considered inflation as well, and with the way things have been going, we figured that a million bucks in the future would probably be the equivalent of $100,000 currently. That was kind of depressing to think about, but it made us all bet a million bucks! I actually bet that my HVAC would last 30 years exactly. Everybody else made bets of 25 years or less, so I’m thinking I might win this thing. Of course, I’m going to make sure I get regular HVAC maintenance done by the professionals. I want to make sure these guys take care of every single detail with tune-ups and keeping things clean, because hey, there’s a million bucks on the line! Even though it’s possible some of us might not even be alive that far into the future, I’m going to keep going until I can win this bet!
a/c professional
Ended up doing the installation with my buddies
Last spring, I had a few different HVAC contractors come out to give me a quote on a new ductless mini split install.
Some buddies were telling me about these systems and how much money they could save you on the energy bills.
They were telling me about the amazing comfort because there were different zones with customized temperature control settings. When you are able to focus your comfort in one section of the home instead of the whole house, it really saves you a ton of money! Well, I was thinking that the quotes were reasonable, but I also remembered that my buddies told me these systems could be installed by the homeowner too. At first, I thought there was no way I could do something like that, because I’m no HVAC expert. However, I ended up watching some installation videos with my friends and I realized that it seemed like the work wasn’t all that challenging. I figured so long as I could follow each step in the installation video, I would be fine. So I ended up ordering a DIY ductless mini split system. The new HVAC arrived within days and I was eager to get started! Not only was the work easy for me to do, but it was really exciting! I had my buddies helping me out so we were able to finish the installation of 3 zones within a single day. I thought it would take longer since none of us were technically professionals, but a few of my buddies did have some experience. I can’t believe it now, I have this awesome HVAC system that works great. My energy bills are low now and I can’t get over how much I saved taking care of the installation with my friends.
I didn’t want my family to sweat again through another summer
Last summer, my whole family was sweating like crazy through the summer in our house! The thing is, we had the central AC system break down.
I thought the central air conditioning system could be repaired, but the HVAC professionals told us it was shot.
We didn’t only call one local contractor either, we called a bunch of different experts to get other opinions, and everybody basically agreed that the central AC system wasn’t worth repairing. I finally had to admit that even if we did have the air conditioner fixed, it was only going to break down again for another costly repair. It was depressing because we didn’t have nearly enough money to invest in a new air conditioner. Of course, we could afford some window AC units, and that’s what we ended up doing to find a little bit of cooling relief. It was more expensive to use the window AC units though, so we only used them when everybody was home, and we let the children use their window AC units through the nights so they could actually get some sleep. I worked hard through the winter time and picked up as much overtime as I could manage. My wife worked equally hard to make a lot more money, and finally we saved up enough cash to afford some kind of central cooling system. The HVAC professional we consulted with told us we should consider going for a ductless mini split. This system actually provides both heating and cooling, and has separate zones for customized comfort. We ended up going for a system with 5 zones. The install was affordable for us, and the comfort is amazing! The most beautiful thing of all is that our energy bills are lower than they have ever been now!
I didn’t really enjoy my job working as a courier
There was a time when I was a courier for a living, and that job honestly was a pain.
Oftentimes, my air conditioning system would quit working in my car. I can’t tell you how frustrating this was for me because I would always be sweating on the job, especially on very hot days. I would usually roll down my windows to get a nice breeze, but when I was stuck in traffic, I was feeling so miserable. While living in such a populated area was great for having plenty of work to, the traffic was always a nightmare and had only become worse over the years. I’m not the type of person to think that the world is just too populated, but with how the city has become so congested, sometimes it feels like it is. When I eventually ended up getting in a bad car accident, I had to stay in the hospital for weeks to recover. That was probably the worst time of my life when my broken foot was mending and the AC system was cranked up way too high. I told those nurses and doctors to adjust the temperature control settings, but they never listened to me. I felt nothing but relief when I left the hospital. I was also thankful because a buddy of mine helped me find a work-from-home gig. This is a writing position that involves some editing work as well. I’ve always considered myself a writer with reasonable talent, so I felt this was the perfect job for me. I now work from home with the ideal temperature control settings, and I never have to sweat anymore while I’m working, it’s fantastic!
We had a great time on the cruise ship
Not too long ago, my wife and I decided that we needed to get away for a little while. So we ended up booking a cruise for a whole week! Upon getting on the boat and finding our cabin, we were delighted with the ideal temperature control settings and how nice the room was overall. The only thing that was disappointing at first, was the fact that we had two twin beds instead of the king bed that we wanted. We immediately called our stateroom attendant, and she apologized to us for the inconvenience. She then told us that the twin beds actually fit together to make a king bed and the workers must’ve missed the fact that we requested a king. We ended up having a worker come to our room and he easily put the bed together, and suddenly, we had plenty of space in the bed together. Fortunately, we followed a few tips from some friends who loved to go on cruises. They said because your cabin is like a home away from home, you should bring personal items that make life easier. They said to bring our own body wash for the shower, because the cabins only supplied bar soap. They recommended that we install the smart app on our phones because the cabins usually came with smart thermostats. We did that and linked up with the smart thermostat in our cabin. This made it so much easier to adjust the temperature control settings whenever we needed. We didn’t want to crank the cooling system while enjoying the rest of the boat, so we would change it to minimal settings. When heading back, we’d adjust the temperature control perfectly so we could relax easily through the nights. We had such a good time.