Before we got the warmer weather I just posted about, we had a little incident last week that taught me a very important lesson: always, always, always remember to replace your air filter in your heater.
Things have been so crazy around here, particularly since Annie was born. I admit that I have let many things go to the wayside. There is just so much to do and I can't seem to keep track of everything and yes, I pick and choose what I will and will not get done (see earlier post on cleaning). Anyway, one of the things completely forgotten in the craziness that exists when having a newborn was changing out our air filter.
You'd think we would've caught on to it way back in January when we noticed that our house was particularly cold in the mornings. Despite the fact that we had the heat cranked to 72 degrees, the thermostat always said something in the low 60s. I couldn't figure it out - this was a BRAND NEW heater we just bought less than a year ago. But I didn't have time to worry about it.
Finally some time last week I was just fed up with waking up to a cold house. This has got to stop! So I called the company that installed the heater and asked them to come by and check it out. Fortunately before they came I decided to take a look at the heater again. That's when it occurred to me that it had been some time since we replaced the filter. I pulled it out. Sure enough, it was completely FULL of junk. I made a quick run to Walmart and bought another filter. Within 20 minutes of putting the new filter in, the temperature in the house went from 62 degrees to 72 degrees. How stupid did I feel. I quickly called the heating company and canceled the appointment.
Lessons learned -
1. Replace your air filter, not only does it actually make your house warmer, your heating bills go down (we'd been wondering why our electricity bill had risen so dramatically - we figured we were just using more power, but actually it was because the heater was working overtime to compensate for the stupid filter!)
2. Hey, I can solve a home problem without calling someone else to do it. Who says I'm not a domestic goddess?
3 comments:
We used to use these filters that came with a sticker you could put on your calendar when it was time to check it. For some reason, we have no stickers on the calendar, and I'm sure we haven't changed ours in a while. What a good reminder! That is pretty remarkable that it could be making a 10 degree difference! But you were still paying for the heater to work overtime!
Good for you. This is why I don't want to ever be left husbandless. I doubt I would think of the filter if left to my own devices.
"Filter? What's a filter?" asked Shelly's husband.
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