The Best HEPA Air Purifiers

I have been slowly making updates to my house to make it look modern.

It is quite easy to spruce up a house without breaking the bank.

A fresh coat of paint goes a long way in changing the look of a room. I have painted every room in the house, added new switch plate covers, overhead lights and throw rugs. I even scrapped the popcorn ceilings and painted them white. Little updates like that have really modernized my home. I recently sanded all the doors, painted them white and added silver handles. My hallway was one area I was struggling with. I got my husband to set up recessed lighting and a smart smoke detector on the ceiling. The floor tile was fairly new and I painted the walls. The last touch to making it modern was the thermostat. The beige, plastic toggle thermostat really was bringing the space down. I strictly choose a smart thermostat for the look of it. I liked that it had a silver surround and blue innerface. It looked sleek, clean and modern. I kind of thought I would never use any of the temperature control features. Now that I own a smart thermostat, I would never go back to a traditional method. I love changing the heating and cooling from my phone. I get alerts on air filter changes, energy efficient settings and indoor air quality alerts. It is so helpful and easy to do anything for my HVAC now. I like that I can change the home temperature no matter where I am too. I frequently begin my HVAC when I am driving home from work.
commercial air conditioning system

When my husband and I bought our house we agreed the floors had to go.

• I hated the brown carpet there.

It was old, smelly and not comfortable. We had a few months before moving in so it made sense to redo the floors while nothing was in there. When we first started laying cement boards I tossed around the idea of doing heated flooring. You just add one more step to the process. An electric heated mat goes on top of the cement board and then the finished tile. Tile is the best for heated flooring too. My husband didn’t want to spend the extra money and hated the thought of another step. His point was we lived down south where it doesn’t get that cold. So there was no reason to purchase heated flooring. I agreed with him and we did the whole house. Now that we are moved in and experiencing a winter season, I want heated flooring. The tile feels so cold under my feet. My husband constantly wears socks around the house. I have invested in throw rugs and I am covering up our new floor to make it feel warmer. I really wish we would have added the heated mats. It would have made such a difference. Now that the floors are all laid down, we can’t get them anymore. The only way to do the heating installation is to rip up the floors. So 15 years later I should be able to have them. That will be a very long wait.

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Someday I hope to upgrade my HVAC situation.

• My husband and I rely on a central HVAC plan.

It is forced air that travels through ductwork to make the house one temperature. I am not too happy with the fact that every room is the same temperature. My husband and I don’t share a room because we don’t like the same temperatures. He constantly wants AC and I want heating. At night it is a fight on what the thermostat is set to. Also, we have a spare bedroom, laundry room and bathroom that hardly get used. Why are we paying to heat and cool these rooms? I also don’t like that the indoor air handler takes up so much space in the hallway closet. If I could remove it, I could use that closet to store coats, shoes and hats. I could even expand my bedroom closet into that area if I wanted to. It makes sense for our household to operate on a ductless HVAC system. When our current HVAC dies, we are doing ductless mini splits. We will have wall mounted indoor air handlers and thermostats in each room of the house. That way the house is zone control capable. I can have heating at night while my husband has AC. I can turn on the cooling system when I cook and not worry about cooling unused spaces. It should save us quite a bit of energy. The wall mounted units mean no more large indoor units either. I now have a freed up closet. It will be expensive to upgrade, but I will love it.

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Everyone warned me about the heat down south.

Since I lived in the north for most of my life, I was excited for a little heat.

I also felt I didn’t need to buy an air conditioner. I figured I was made of strong stuff. I moved in the wintertime and was shocked by the weather. There was no snow, windchill or frost anywhere in sight. The temperatures dropped to the 40s and everyone acted like it was a blizzard. I was walking around without a jacket and feeling toasty. By the time spring came around, the weather started looking like a northern summer. I was getting 80 degree weather every single day. I started watching the weather ahead of schedule. I saw that the summer season gets even hotter and lingers forever. It can get into the 100s and stay sweltering all throughout the fall. I didn’t want to pay giant prices and be boxed out of an air conditioner. I called my local HVAC company quickly to schedule an air conditioner installation. I am so glad I got that done and early. Having a functional air conditioning system is totally worth it when you live down south. I really don’t need a heating system most of the time. I would say that 85% of the year I am running my air container though. I never knew an area could get that warm and stay so hot. In the summer it is even hot at 3am. I have never experienced that before.

 

boiler installation

I live in the north.

I am way up north, basically in Canada.

Our temperatures get cold quickly and stay there for months. I remember trick or treating in the snow and also hunting Easter eggs. I had a college year where I was always in a wool coat. I wore it all the way until the end of May. Basically the summer season up north is a warmer spring day. The temperatures may get into the 80s a few days in the summer. There is no high heat or humidity. There Is also no need for an air conditioner. Someone owning an air conditioner in the north would be like owning a pony. It would look cool, be a conversation piece but be totally worthless at the end of the day. Only major businesses spring for AC in the north and they don’t really need to do that. The only times I experienced air conditioning was in businesses. I realized that some climates warranted AC in the homes, but I never experienced it until I started traveling. I have always lived with only heating systems. My parents relied on a boiler for years until it died. They then changed to a gas fireplace. I still live in the north and I get by with a boiler system that has piping hooked to it. The piping extends within my floorboards and hot water flows through it. It becomes hydronic heating all throughout the home. It is a very effective heating method. I think it is safe to say that if I don’t move, I will never need to own an air conditioner in my lifetime.

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So when the air conditioner turned on, there was no coolant in the air.

I really lucked out because my husband is handy. I have found that he can basically fix anything in the house that goes wrong. When we first moved in it was like everything was going to shambles. My husband had to fix the dryer multiple times before he replaced the correct part to keep it going. He stopped my dishwasher from leaking and got the ice maker up and running. There were outdoor lights that he got working again and my stove was a little messed up for a while. He can handle plumbing, electrical and I found out recently, HVAC. Our air conditioner was a mess for a long time. It just wasn’t the priority. When you turned on the AC, it was a little hot. It felt like warm air coming out of the vents. The AC did a decent job despite this. When summer hit it got to be really bad. My husband messed around inside for a day before he determined it must be the outdoor unit. He saw the issue immediately. Our outdoor air compressor was at an angle. Due to this, the coolant was all pulled to one side. So when the air conditioner turned on, there was no coolant in the air. That was why we had warm air. After my husband righted the unit with blocks, we had an icy cold AC again. It was such a relief that we didn’t have to battle the humidity and heat indoors. I was so thankful I didn’t need to call an air conditioning business either.

 

furnace filter

When you work from home everyone assumes you don’t really have a job.

My husband is very quick to have me meet delivery men, sign for things, babysit contractors and run errands.

He acts like I am a stay at home wife. I work just like he does, I am just not in an office outside of my home. I have my own office space and I don’t like to disrupt my day. Anything outside of it does. My husband will frequently schedule things and tell me at the last minute. The other day I was so upset with him. He scheduled a HVAC installation in the middle of the day on Tuesday. I had to sit outside with my computer while the HVAC company went to work. Thankfully the HVAC professionals didn’t require a lot of my input. I still had to let them in the house, greet them and show them where I wanted the equipment. I needed to confirm I did want the HVAC on a cement pad and that I was okay with the amount on the bill. I also needed to be on hand in case anything went wrong. Right when I got back into my work day, they finished and needed to be paid. So again, I was supported. It wasn’t the HVAC companies fault at all. The HVAC workers actually were very pleasant and did a good job. I was just unhappy that I was the one inconvenienced during my work day. I told my husband I am not doing this again.

 

hybrid heating

I hate scheduling any type of appointment. I have to take the day off from work and babysit the guy for hours. Why do companies always give a time window too? It isn’t really a window, it is more like an open garage door of time. I get windows like 8am-8pm. I get to wait all day for a guy to tinker around for an hour. Whenever possible, I skip service dates. I don’t get my oil changed, hire contractors, plumbers or electricians. I try to avoid the dentist whenever possible. Unfortunately I needed an air conditioner repair stat. I knew it was only going to get worse. My air conditioner had been leaking water for quite some time. Then it started developing mold. Then rust formed on the outside of the machine. I called the local HVAC company and told them I didn’t want to wait all day. I ended up getting an appointment before 9 am. She said the HVAC contactor could probably get the job done before I even had to go into work. I wasn’t optimistic. The guy actually showed up on time and prepared to do the job! I didn’t even need to stand around either. The HVAC professional got right to work and mucked out my condensate drain, added coolant and cleaned my machine. It worked perfectly after 45 minutes of work. I had my bill paid and was on my way to work. I didn’t even have to let my boss know I would be late. That experience with the HVAC company was a good one.

heating repair

Removing the gas furnace from home was a smart idea.

The gas furnace was centrally located in the living room.

It made it impossible to navigate my furniture. You couldn’t put the TV in any decent location. It felt like my living room was cut in half. I wasn’t all that keen on the idea the furnace uses ductwork. I didn’t want my entire home to be one central zied temperature. I also feel the ductwork is dirty. The dust gets sucked up into the system and spread throughout the HVAC ducts. You only clean them every seven years. I don’t even trust that they get that clean in the process either. A gas furnace isn’t a safe heater either. It can leak carbon monoxide or catch on fire. It also requires tons of heating service and repairs due to dust and rust. I was excited to remove it from my home. Not only was it heavy, but the gas hookups and flue system needed to be removed too. Having that open space in the living room is just amazing now. I love that I can have the space and freedom to do what I want. I ended up replacing my flooring in the process and getting a radiant heater installed. Now the heater is underneath my feet and out of the way. It takes up no space, makes no noise and isn’t forced air. That means I am not dealing with dirty ductwork anymore. I just get even, gentle electric heat. It was a much smarter move for me, heating equipment wise.

 

 

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Replacing a HVAC system is always daunting.

First, deciding what kind of HVAC system you want stinks. There are so many options out there in the heating and cooling world. Do you want a furnace? Well there are three different types of them? Do you want forced air or electric heating? How about AC with or without ductwork? Second, deciding which HVAC company to hire to install the HVAC system you choose is rough. There is a lot of competition out there. Finding the right HVAC company is important. Reading reviews and skimming the website isn’t enough. You need to determine if the company is licensed, bonded and insured. You need technicians that are NATE certified with Carrier products. It is important to get a good quality company. Third, you need to remember that size matters for HVAC. Too small of a unit and you have super high bills since the device never turns off. It will have more repairs and breakdowns though. Too large of a HVAC device means that you always have a machine stopping and starting. That is rough on it too. Lastly, where is this HVAC system going in your home? Some people want to avoid having a giant indoor air handler sitting in a hallway closet. There are other placement options. Radiant heating puts the electric mats under the floors. Ductless HVAC are wall mounted air handlers out of the way. The best thing to do when replacing your HVAC unit is to research. It takes time, energy and effort but is worth it in the end.

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