Well, I definitely am thankful to have the new residential HVAC going into the Summer.
Last year, it was so totally touch and go as we tried to get one more Summer season from the old heat pump. It’s sort of hard to measure success on last year’s effort to limp the heat pump through another heat season. If the measure of success is that the heat pump was still running in October, then we were successful. And in fact, by getting through last Summer with the old heat pump, we achieved the overall goal of being able to save money. I think both my wife and I were caught off guard when the HVAC technician told us we needed a new heat pump. We just weren’t prepared for buying new residential HVAC at that point and we should have been. In fact, when the heat pump passed the 20 year mark, we started a savings account specifically for the new HVAC unit. But life happens and that money ended up being earmarked for other pressing priorities. The HVAC maintenance that we’ve gotten year in and year out sort of lulled us into a false sense of security. I mean, we’ve never had a single problem with the HVAC equipment. But last Summer was tough because we were constantly worrying over the heat pump. Every time it came on or went off, I wondered if that was the last time. Plus, we kept the thermostat much, much higher to lessen the cooling load. Now that we have the new heat pump which was installed this past Fall, we’re confident about heading into heat season.