Central A.C. Heck yeah.

So I wrote forever ago about how hard it was to decide how to go about getting our HVAC overhauled. We finally made a decision and scheduled a date to get our new system installed.

Tah dah!


OK, I know that doesn't look exciting. But this is what we had done:
- One furnace from 1973 removed.
- One small, lower end furnace from 2003 removed.
- Piles of old ductwork removed.
- Lots of new ductwork added throughout the house.
- One brand new 95% efficient furnace added.
- One brand new central A.C. system added (we were using window units before).
- One brand new full-house humidifier added.
- One brand new full-house air cleaner added.
- One super high tech zoning system added, allowing us to independently program and set the temperatures of the first floor and combined 2nd/3rd floors.
- One large dent in checkbook.

But it was totally worth it for the air alone. We are all much more comfortable. I'm also hoping for some improved comfort this winter since the furnace is so much more efficient. Maybe the thermostat can be set to "frugally chilly" instead of "cheapskate frigid".

HVAC stands for

Holy variable annoying choices!

We decided that it's time to get rid of the Temp-O-Matic and the furnace that sometimes doesn't work and get an all new furnace instead of two crappy ones. We are going to install central air at the same time. Sounds easy, but expensive, right?

If only. Multiple bids, multiple ideas for rerunning the ductwork, and multiple days of the two of us staring at each other and saying, "We really need to make a decision."

In the meantime, we now have two steps for our new walkway, about a thousand nails pulled from the second floor studs, and other odds and ends wrapped up.

I discovered this amazing program - Room Arranger - that allows you to draw in walls and arrange your house. Yeah, that's taken up pretty much all of my free time in the last two weeks. Once I finish a floor plan, I'll share it with y'all. I'm working on before and after plans for the whole house. Sad discovery - we only have room for a pool table on the front porch or in the garage. Happy discovery - we have room for a hot tub in the back yard.

Just sayin'. A girl can dream.

Ahh, the joys of homeownership!

Look at that - it's been a month since the last update. We've moved in and mostly unpacked. As it is, we're currently living on the first and third floors, and storing all of our belongings in the basement.

We have new windows - pictures will come hopefully tomorrow. They are fabulous and beautiful.

We have some bids for a new front porch.

We have a broken furnace. Or rather, a bass-ackward ventilation system that causes one of our two furnaces (of course the one for the first floor, where we eat, sleep, and shower) to only work when it's warm. When it gets cold, it stops working. Tonight it is cold. Tonight, Mike is downstairs and there's an ominous banging sound coming through the vents. I fear that it is his head.

We are having a side wall vent installed tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on part availability. That should correct the problem and give us heat on cold nights. We're crossing our fingers. And those fingers are probably wearing gloves to bed tonight just in case.