After the lockdowns were lifted, we decided to go and catch a break with our family and friends at our holiday home.
We forgot that no one had remembered to check on any of the amenities, including the cooling units. We had installed an electric heat pump two years earlier after the older HVAC installation suffered HVAC failure and several other problems that called for a replacement. In previous years, we always arranged for a cooling technician from the local cooling corporation to handle maintenance that would ensure climate control was undisrupted when we visited. Our visit would have more people than other times, and we needed as much help with indoor comfort as possible. When things decide to go wrong, they do so at the most inconvenient of times. We powered up our previously reliable cooling technology once we settled in and anticipated that all the play and cooking would make the house unbearably hot and stuffy. My husband was excited to show his friends how the cooling equipment works since they were interested in upgrading to a similar unit, but there wasn’t any change in the home’s climate. It powered for a while, then started going on and off. The men decided to act like they were equipped with cooling specialist skills, tinkering with the thermostat, and other work, but nothing had changed by midnight. All the women wished we’d been more skeptical about their skills and called the local service provider before it got too late. It took two hours to reach an HVAC business offering emergency services because our previous quality AC service provider had relocated. Now I know better, and the HVAC contractor is scheduled to visit once a year.