OUT WITH THE BAD AIR, IN WITH THE GOOD AIR

Neil and I had our central heating/cooling heat pump installed in August of 1984 (yes, you read that year right), a year and a half after we moved into this house. We roasted through our first summer with only a tiny window AC, and we froze through our first winter because running those baseboard heaters was very expensive and we couldn’t afford high heating bills because, let’s face it, we’d just bought a house and there were church mice who weren’t as poor as we were. Even though we had a wood stove, we had no clue how to really use it and the wood we had to burn was green.  Fast forward 31 years. Our trusty heat pump is still heating and cooling, although inefficiently and probably costing us money each month. And for the past 10 years (at least) we kept thinking, Any day now, this thing is finally going to die. Most likely on the hottest day of the year when you need the AC the most. So we decided now is the time to replace it with a modern, efficient unit. Figured it would be warm today, that the house might be hot and stuffy. Nope! It’s 55 degrees today. Almost June. Who would’ve guessed? The installers arrived at eight a.m. and began tearing out our trusty 31 year old AC system. Front door wide open all day. Needless to say, it’s been a bit chilly and damp in this old house. Wood stove useless. Took out the chimney when we replaced the roof several weeks ago. Who knew we could use a fire at the end of May? Yay for space heaters!

I told Neil I feel like we’re betraying an old friend, casting aside something that still works for us. I can almost hear it screaming, But I gave you people the best years of my life and this is how I’m repaid?! One of the installers said this old AC must feel like part of the family. Aw, that makes me feel even worse. The heating/cooling guy who came the other day to set up the install said he’d never seen one this old and still doing its thing. We’ve been blessed these past three decades. No doubt. Made me feel a little better about it when one of the installers told us it was leaking Freon. Badly. Not to mention the wire that connected it to the switch box was a fire hazard waiting to happen. For the past 31 years. We always wondered what caused those little power surges every time the old unit clicked on. That was a slow motion bullet dodged. Once again, blessed!

Our 21st century model (the AC unit, not Neil) It’s after four o’clock at this point. Installers still working on it to get us plugged in. Looking forward to see if the heating works! Also looking forward to lower electric bills, humidity control and the really exciting part ~ a digital thermostat that is connected to Wi-Fi and can be controlled with our iPads (maybe smart phones are the next thing we’ll upgrade to. Someday. Maybe.) Our old thermostat had a Mercury switch. Don’t see that anymore, either, I guess. It’s so horse and buggy. So farewell trusty old AC. You served us well. I hope we don’t miss you. Sorry. We probably won’t.