Central Heat and Air!

So, the same weekend that the pergola and deck were installed I used up the remainder of my new home buyer credit to have central heat and air installed in my 1941 home. On the left is the brand new return in my hallway ceiling.

Originally I had a cute little company,complete with glossy brochures and magnets, come in and meet with me to discuss the cost of putting in all the duct work and cutting the vents in the ceiling plus installing the unit. While all the goodies and matching tshirts were nice the price was not. The price was going to end up being more than my entire refund leaving me to ask SMUD for financing. booooo. Plus the guy was trying to sell me a top, top, top of the line unit which was completely unnecessary for the square footage, price, and location of my home but he works on commission. . .

That's when I called my old landlord who happens to be a construction manager for a home builder. He pointed me in the direction of the amazing KVACH heating and air guys. No glossy brochures or magnets, but great service and price!! The guys are brothers who immigrated from Uzbekistan, but usually tell people they're Russian to avoid confusion. They got me a middle of the line factory priced unit from Day and Night.

The guys warned me that it would be "very dusty" but for some reason that just didn't sink into my brain. Here is the inch layer of plaster and insulation that landed on my stove top after Steve cut the vents pictured below in my kitchen.

Since I had central heat and air put in the guys were nice enough to remove the existing wall furnace from my place. Unfortunately it has left a gaping hole in between my living room and hallway. Easy enough to patch up right? WRONG! My walls are lathe and plaster not drywall. And according to my father the 2 x 4 in the wall is original from 1941 so it measures 2 x 4 instead of the 1.8 x 3.5 (or something like that) that 2 x 4s now measure. I'll update you on how that patching up goes after my dad comes up to help this weekend. For now you can watch tv from the toilet, something I'm sure would be very useful if men lived in my house.

The old ac unit in the dining room window will soon be on it's way out as well and I will let you know how that goes. For now my roomate and I are just enjoying the fruits of Kvach's labor, you know vents in every room, a programmable thermostat. . .ahh the good life.