Summer Heat.

This is another post that doesn’t warrant any excitement from the reader’s end. It’s mostly just a “this happened” post.

The summer heat has stayed at bay (until recently). And, we have been so thankful – windows open and ceiling fans.

We have a heat pump. It didn’t work. We had guys out here to service it twice in June. They found a problem and replaced a capacitor.

The second technician warned me that this particular heat pump had a compressor in it that was known to fail. He didn’t think it would last the summer, just by the way it sounded when he installed the capacitor and turned the unit on.

It worked for about 1-2 days. Then it didn’t work anymore. Turns out, he knows what he hears.

Because the compressor actually called it quits. The fan didn’t even run anymore. (At least before we could get outside air circulating, it just wasn’t cooling it?)

So, we had a few options.

Do nothing, for now. Since the heat pump is a critical part of the efficiency of our heating & cooling system, this was kind-of, not really an option … but, technically, it was an option.
Replace the compressor. This option would be free of charge to us, because, like I’ve said before, the previous owners were amazing and bought transferrable warranties on everything (THANKS!). But, it all stays under the same old warranty, and when that’s done, it’s over (so for us, 1 more year). AND, well, they replace them with the same brand of compressors; newer, but still the same brand. The risk is real; but also, this option is free (for now).
Replace the whole heat pump unit. We’ve never had a heat pump before (either of us, at any of our houses or rentals), and *luckily* we’ve never had to replace an air conditioner or furnace before … but this job would be middle-ground comparable in complexity and cost. However, since we’re still under warranty and these units are known to fail … we caught a break on this completely-just-maintenance, not-fun-or-pretty-at-all problem. We pay for the unit; the installation is covered under warranty. Plus, the warranty on parts starts over and we have the option to purchase a new labor warranty.

So, we opted for option #3. We had 2 units to choose from, but went with the unit that is the most similar to our current unit in size and work. It’s not fancy, but it’s solid. We weren’t required to upgrade our current thermostat, and it’ll work just fine with the furnace (and humidifier, dehumidifier, air purifier, laser-beam-anti-fungal device, and other space systems) we have already in the house.

It would have been nice to somewhat re-position the unit at the same time … but we’ve got a lot going on here … so there it stays. (It’s just right under one of the kitchen windows, and sometimes it blows dirt or grass clippings up into & onto the bay window?)

It’s funny to me how satisfying it can be to get these maintenance items fixed too. Like, we tossed around the idea of NOT fixing it for a week or two; and I guess I didn’t realize how much it weighed on me until after it was taken care of and replaced. For me, it goes a long way in helping me feel stable in my house. (I kind of always feel like when’s the *next* thing going to happen and how bad is it going to be??? … which I believe is a neurosis that I’ll never get over after renovating our first house. Literally, we had SO much stuff happened to us in that house!!!)

So, not much to see … but there it was and here it is.