Your HVAC Troubleshooting Guys

I remembered my dad buying hand warmers for his gloves when he was working outside during the winter.

Dad was an HVAC technician, and he often helped install new HVAC system during early spring when it was still cold, or late fall when it was getting cold.

He called the hand warmers his portable heaters. Mom liked that little portable heaters, and she started putting them inside my gloves when I was outside playing. I hated wearing those gloves, and I would take the hand warmers out and give them to someone else to use. The portable heaters would warm my hands and gloves so well that I couldn’t make a snowball. I was the only one who was getting bombarded with snowballs because mine melted before I could throw them. My friend Bobby liked the portable heaters and he would stay hidden behind our barricade and let me throw all the snowballs. He was happy to have warm hands and stay safe. The only reason he came outside to play was because his mom and dad made him. He would rather stay in his room and read a book or play video games. I like that too,, but I also enjoyed playing outside, but I didn’t want to make snowballs when those portable heaters caused them to melt, until I realized the snow was turning to ice before they totally melted. I begged mom for a second pair of hand warmers. I gave one to Bobby and kept the other set so I could get the snow to pack more quickly and get a tighter snowball.
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I was doing the Halloween path with my kids last year, when a young girl came to one door.

She told me she would give me a treat for a trick.

I thought she was joking until she asked if I was the HVAC technician who lived down the street? I told her I was, and she said her furnace quit working. She would not just pay me but give me a special treat if I gave her a trick and got her furnace running. I was laughing at the way she said it, but I knew she was serious. She said her kids would be home from trick or treating soon, and she didn’t want them coming into a cold house. My wife said she would take the Halloween path without me and herded the kids out the door with their treats so I could repair the furnace. There wasn’t much wrong with the furnace, so it took less than an hour to get it running again. Without fifteen minutes of repairing the furnace, her home was warm again. I was glad I could repair her furnace so quickly, but she still insisted she had to give me a treat. Along with giving me money, she handed me an entire bag of candy she had left over from the trick or treating, and told me to share it with my kids. I thought i was going to be trick or treating with my kids, but I ended up working instead. I was glad that I could help someone in need when it was needed.

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While waiting for our new furnace to arrive and be installed, we were using the fireplace for heat.

For several days, the fireplace was working well and keeping most of the house quite comfortable.

We went out for groceries one afternoon and the smell of smoke was overwhelming when we got home. My husband thought he may have left the flue open, and the smoke was coming back into the house instead of up the chimney. I didn’t care what the reason was for the smoke, but we had to get it out of the house. We had the exhaust fan on in the bathroom and the kitchen. The windows were open, and we had fans in place to pull the smoke out. Unfortunately, along with the smoke, the heat was also being pulled out. It was getting so cold that I was shivering, even with my jacket on. I had gloves on as I tried to put the groceries, which was next to impossible. I was shivering so uncontrollably that I went upstairs to get a hot shower and throw on some warmer clothing. My husband had the smoke out of the house, and the windows closed by the time I was done, and it was once again warming up in the house. I knew the furnace was to be delivered and installed within the next 48 hours, but it wasn’t soon enough as far as I was concerned. I was ready for the furnace to be installed when I first found out we needed a new one, and I was tired of waiting.

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I remember when we were little and dad always took us camping. Mom would say something about needing to stay home so she could get some work done, and dad would smile. I never believe she really worked while we were gone, but she enjoyed the alone time. We had to come home early one weekend, and mom was in the garden tub relaxing. She had a glass of wine on the side of the tub and a book in her hand. We could feel the heat flowing around us when we walked in the door. She yelled out to see who was home, and dad walked in on her. I heard her laugh when he said we should join her, and maybe we could all get warm and she kicked him out of the bathroom. It hadn’t gotten so cold at the campground that we were all sleeping on a mattress together. Poor dad got shoved onto the cold ground and spent most of the night shivering. When we woke up in the morning, the firepit was already lit and we huddled there for some warmth, while dad was still asleep in the car. I suddenly realized why mom didn’t go camping with us. It was cold in the mountains and there was no comfort. I liked mom’s take on camping better. Now that I am older, I stay home where there is heating and air conditioning. I have a garden tub and a pool in the backyard, but I am never far away from my HVAC system, and I never smell of smoke.

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