One For All Air Conditioning

When I was growing up I got in trouble a lot at school. It seems like the teachers absolutely hated me and they were punishing me all the time for just being a kid. I was never trying to be bad or to get into trouble, but I was often sent to the principal’s office before my mom was called in. My poor mom was always so angry at me for disappointing behavior in the classroom. Honestly, I just hated feeling trapped in a desk all day. I have never been a big fan of sitting still and watching time tick by as I’m completely stagnant. This feeling has not faded over time. When I finally graduated high school I found myself working in a boring desk job and immediately realized it was not for me. That’s when I quit and went back to school for heating, cooling, and ventilation certification. I realized that I could get my HVAC certification to become a licensed air quality control specialist in under two years at the local trade school. After that, I would be able to work for a local air quality control dealership as a specialized heating and cooling technician. When I finally was working as a residential HVAC repairman, I would never have to sit at a desk again. I just needed to get through my HVAC education and the rest of my life would be spent behind the wheel of my HVAC repair vehicle. After that, I would assemble and disassemble air conditioners and furnaces for local residents. I would never be forced to do desk work, answer phones, or generally sit still in the HVAC industry. My teachers hated me, but my HVAC bosses love my work ethic.

 

heat pump

Sometimes the devil is in the details, that’s what they always say anyways.

Recently I found out that this was absolutely the case when it came to finding a sufficient rental on my family vacation.

I really didn’t have high hopes for our living conditions when we were going out of the state. Because I’m traveling with three kids and a dog and a life I knew that the options would be somewhat limited within our budget. I didn’t want to be stuck at an uncomfortable hotel, crammed into one room with the tiny heating and cooling system again. I’ve been burned too many times by broken mini split ductless heating and cooling systems that are often located in the cheap highway hotels that we frequent. Of course, I thought I had learned my lesson and decided to opt for an AirBnB rental to circumvent the option for a broken air handling device. Well, we didn’t wind up with a broken heating and cooling system at our family AirBnB, instead we wound up with absolutely no indoor air handling control devices at all. When we arrived at the rental I thought that the indoor air felt a bit stagnant and humid. However, I figured no one had been staying in the rental and operating the air conditioning system for a few days. I searched around for the thermostat so I could change the indoor air quality control settings and get some indoor comfort for my family. Unfortunately, no matter what I did the thermostat remained elusive. Eventually I contacted the owner of the airbnb and asked about the central HVAC system. That’s when they told me, there was no indoor air handling device. Apparently I should have checked the rental description in better detail.

 

ventilation

Unfortunately, because of my financial difficulties this year I haven’t had the money to get my cooling system inspected in the vehicle.

I will admit that 2020 has not been a good year for anybody, myself included. At the beginning of the year I honestly thought that it was going to be an amazing life changing period of time. Well, 2020 definitely has been life-changing but I can’t say that it has been a positive point in time for most of us. Not only have I been struggling through the economic downfall that has taken over the country but I have been burning under the collar over all of the social injustices. And literally burning under the collar. Since the beginning of the year I haven’t had any indoor air quality when it comes to my vehicle. My troubles started on the day that I realized my car was spitting out hot and cold air no matter what I set the thermostat to. It felt like the indoor air quality was fluctuating wildly from hot to cold despite a steady air quality control setting. My air vents were actually burning me at certain points when I tried to operate the air conditioning system on my way to work. Unfortunately, because of my financial difficulties this year I haven’t had the money to get my cooling system inspected in the vehicle. I knew it would be a large heating and cooling repair cost for the cooling system to be professionally repaired. As such, I’ve had no choice but to drive around in a burning hot vehicle for the entire summer. The only saving grace is being able to stay at home in my AC rather than burning up while commuting to my job everyday… Because my work closed down.

 

air conditioner tune-up

When I was going to head up high school I admittedly had no idea what I was doing.

Everybody else was settling into a four-year degree and I realized that that was not in my future.

I was not going to be able to attend a four-year university because I didn’t have the grades to get admitted to an expensive school. Instead, I started looking into the local trade school where I could learn an actual skill with my hands. I eventually decided on the certified heating, cooling, and ventilation technician program that was offered at the institution. I knew that I could obtain my HVAC certification and under 2 years and be working in the air quality control industry immediately afterwards. Of course, that sounded very attractive as somebody who had no other job prospects. Thank God I wound up going into heating and cooling a technical school because the air quality control industry has been a lifesaver. In fact, my entire life is developed around the HVAC career field. I met my wife when I was out fixing her central heating and cooling system. We have been together ever since the fateful day that her air conditioning unit broke down. I know that my wife appreciates my skills as an air quality control technician and that is part of our marriage success. Not only do I keep our indoor air handling devices in tip-top shape, but I know all of the gossip around town from my residential HVAC appointments. If anybody has gotten a divorce, lost their job, or made a large upgrade to their home I’m going to find out on the HVAC repair circuit. Sometimes I wonder if my wife loves me or just the town gossip.

 

electric heat pump

Well, I’m happy and sad to report that the pandemic has continued and I am still at home with my central cooling system

Well, a few months ago when I decided to upgrade my central cooling system I guess that I made the right move. I wasn’t sure at the time if it was worth investing my money and a brand new central air conditioning unit, but it’s turning out to be a wise move. Whenever I noticed that my indoor air quality was suffering it was when I had to utilize the central cooling system. After a long and difficult winter my furnace needed a break and the outdoor air temperature was certainly heating up quickly. I began utilizing the central air conditioning units on a regular basis as the heat and humidity flooded into our area. The problem was, I was suffering from uneven air temperatures on a regular basis and I knew that my air conditioning system required some professional work. When I called out the heating and cooling technician he quickly inspected the air handling device and recommended that I upgrade to a newer AC model. At the time, I couldn’t foresee whether or not this global pandemic was going to be continuing. That meant, I didn’t know how many funds I had available for this air conditioning project. I also didn’t know how much time I would be spending at my house for the foreseeable future. It seemed semi-likely that my office would reopen and I could utilize the central HVAC plan at my office building rather than relying on my own air conditioning system. Well, I’m happy and sad to report that the pandemic has continued and I am still at home with my central cooling system. I never could have guessed that it would be months of working from home in the comfort of my air conditioning system. However, now I’m glad that I pulled the trigger and purchased an all-new, energy-efficient air handling device.

central heater

Sometimes my job can be really difficult. Most of the time, I enjoy my position as a professional heating and cooling technician for a sizable air quality control corporation in my city. However, things have definitely gotten a lot more complicated with the coronavirus outbreak. Whereas I used to only worry about grumpy homeowners and aggressive dogs when I went into the residential HVAC industry, these days I have to worry about airborne contaminants that could effectively hurt my family and myself. Now, it would be a lot easier for me to manage my fears of the virus if homeowners were as sensitive about their indoor air quality as I am. Specifically, if people actually believe that face masks made a difference and weren’t trying to make a political statement with their refusal to put them on. Recently, things have gotten very nerve-wracking because many of my heating and cooling clients refused to wear a face mask in their own home. This is very concerning to me, but at least I feel like I have some protection by wearing my own PPE. The bigger problem has become clients who actually insist I need to remove my own face mask before I can inspect their HVAC equipment. I’ve had a string of radical right-wing clients telling you that I won’t be able to access their air conditioner or furnace until they can see my entire face. My day-to-day job trying to repair broken air conditioning systems and clean out air ducts has certainly gotten a lot more serious since people started denying the pandemic was the problem.

multi split air conditioning

I swear to God, I have somehow become a recruiter at my company. This is not the job that I ever signed up for and I don’t feel as though I’m qualified in any way to continually provide young labor workers to our warehouse. However, it seems like we simply can’t keep anyone employed out in the production space. Therefore, we keep hiring new people to take on the job so that we can keep business chugging along. I tried talking to my boss about this unfortunate employment problem, but he doesn’t want to deal with it. I’m quite sure that the issue is our central cooling system and nobody wants to hear that we have a large HVAC expense lying ahead of us. You see, when I was first hired here the warehouse had a massive commercial air conditioning unit that effectively kept the production floor at a tolerable temperature. I wouldn’t say it if the indoor air was crisp and cool, but it felt much better than standing in the sun outside. These days, we don’t have an operable heating and cooling system stationed out in the warehouse. When the massive commercial AC unit broke down last year, my boss said that he would worry about the cooling system destruction before summer rolled around again. Well, our summer season came and the professional HVAC repairman never did. For the past several months there has been absolutely no air quality control out in the warehouse space and I think that it’s creating employee burnout at an increasing rate as the summer heat and humidity kicks into gear. Our new hires are only lasting a week or two before they quit the sweltering environment and we have to find replacements. I know it’s not what my boss wants to hear, but we really need to get a new AC unit rather than new workers every week.

thermostat