For my husband and I, tough winters have been a constant for our entire lives.
We actually grew up together in a part of the country where winter weather lasts nearly 6 months.
That is a lot of HVAC furnace time indoors. The first time I remember seeing him, he was all bundled up because he walked to our elementary school. We were friends and playmates back then. Actually, we didn’t fall in love until I returned to this area after university. I came back with the thought that I would be leaving again once I found a job in my field. Instead, I reconnected with my friend and promptly fell in love with him. We inherited a house which we gutted. The HVAC was the first thing we upgraded because it is so elemental in managing the winter. A home without sound, reliable HVAC is a home that I certainly wouldn’t be comfortable raising a family in. My husband and I raised our kids in that home. It was so great and those kids turned out really good. But now, the house is empty and we are nearing retirement. So, we decided to build our first and probably last home. Our HVAC choice was a long term investment. We chose to go with geothermal HVAC which utilizes the earth’s near constant temperature to extract heating and cooling energy. The upfront costs were higher than conventional HVAC. However, we will be saving a lot of money over the next thirty years. This more than makes up for the upfront commitment.