When my husband and I retired, we were anxious to move further south.
We’d spent over sixty years of our lives dealing with severe cold and snow.
We’d had enough of being trapped inside and reliant on the furnace due to inclement weather. We moved just far enough south to make sure we’d never experience any snow. We enjoy hot summers and mild winters. We bought an especially tiny house that is easy to care for. However, when we first moved into the house, the former owners had permanently installed a window air conditioner. They removed the glass from a window and put plywood up around the cooling unit. It looked terrible. Plus, the cooling unit was old, noisy and inefficient. It leaked condensate and struggled to keep up with demand on especially hot days. During the winter months, we had an electric baseboard heater that I felt was unsafe. I didn’t like the look of the baseboard heater and during the coldest weather, the house felt chilly. I did some research and eventually contacted a local HVAC prover to install a ductless heat pump. We now have a small outdoor compressor that links to two indoor air handlers. The air handlers are mounted up high on the wall and are very slim and streamlined. Each one features an independent thermostat, allowing us to have zoned heating and cooling. The system is permanently installed and unobtrusive. It operates quietly, works to combat excess humidity and effectively filters contaminants out of the air. We spent a bit more to purchase a heat pump that features inverter technology. Because of this, the system is capable of automatically adjusting speed to only provide the exact amount of heating or cooling at any given time. It not only maintains very even indoor temperature but achieves amazing efficiency ratings.