Heating .... It's becoming that time

Hope you have been enjoying the cooler weather we have had over the last couple of days. Pretty soon it will be the time to switch on your heating systems. Hopefully all of you have had your annual tune-up, and don't forget to put your airconditioner cover on!

I sometimes need to remind myself that it all falls into place sooner or later. This time last year I still owned my other condo. Now a year later, I've settled in here and lately have been thinking about decorating and making additional home improvements. But what to do first? Oh my goodness - there is so much. I made a list the other day outlining each floor. Don't get me wrong, it's looks fine, though I would like to get some color and architectual style into the place.

Then the phone rings - it's my heating contractor and wants to know if I want to have my furnace (a hydro / hot air system ) very inefficient and 22 years old, replaced? No problem, I don't know what I should do, and this really isn't the fun decorating stuff I refered to before. My system isn't the best as it uses the hot water to be the heat source for the heating. So I invite Ugo Digrazia over. Let me tell you about this guy. Off the boat from Italy, he's a hand shake kind of guy with more integrity than I have ever met in a contractor. He's an older fellow, has a great crew - funny thing is that I met his crew when they replaced my old furnace/air conditioner. Last year when this furnace blew up and he fixed it, his crew was still with him.

He looks, pokes around, upstairs and back down stairs, a few times over. We discuss the part about furnace, air conditioner, humidifier, the water heater and that there isn't a shut off and a drain if the heater breaks - no problem he says he'll take care of that too, and hook up the dehumidifer so that I do not have to dump a bucket of water. Then we discuss installing gas logs in the fireplace. As I told him, it's not for a heating source in as much as it is "for the romance". He laughed and winked with that Ugo twinkle in his eye. I would like to sit back and watch the fire for a bit - just relax for an hour or so on a cold winter night. Ok this is truly a luxury - but heck, it might not be as big a deal as most folks think. MOre on this later.

So with a little thinking, and I need to crunch some numbers - then of course there is the cost - a little ouch, yet it costs enough for the furnace to get me the full $1500 tax credit - COOL! For those you that are curious - he's suggesting a Carrier.

Anyway - While it is boring to replace the furnace - I surely don't wish to be out of heat, and I'd rather have efficient heat. PS it would take these items of the to-do-list.