The spending spree has ended

I'm working away here in Durham while Kelly and some friends at at the Outer Banks. Kelly gets a month more vacation than I (really) so this kind of thing isn't uncommon. What transpired with the heat pump on the condo is, at least I hope. The heat pump has looked to be in sad shape and we knew that it would give up the ghost in the next 24-36 months. Turns out the heat pump had other ideas, it wanted to die within the next 12 months, and, brother, did it ever.

Turns out our HVAC was slapped together by the previous owner somewhat on the cheap. Normally a heat pump provides both heat and air conditioning but our was rigged up poorly. Heat in our condo was provided only by a few failing heat strips located in the central blower: i.e. cheap to install and very expensive to operate. This didn't phase the previous owner as this unit was a rental and was occupied, generally speaking, only in the summer months. We have noticed, one more than one occasion it gets quite cold in the unit even with the "heat on". Now we know why.

In fact during the depths of winter when the nighttime temperature would dip below freezing we talked about the need for a larger bed (queen at the beach, king at home) specifically so the dogs could sleep with us and keep us warm. Given the small size of the bedroom we opted for a couple electric oil heaters which are very efficient. Truth be told, the electric heaters work great and are very inexpensive to operate. All the same, if we are replacing the heat pump I want the heat strips removed.

In just a few hours all this will be a memory. The heat strips will gone, a new (correct) thermostat will be on the wall, new duct work will replace the patched up nightmare that exists today and a new Trane heat pump will reside on the raised pad below the condo.

Let's hope this thing runs for at least 10 years now that it's all being corrected.