This summer I will cross a milestone in my life. As the day approaches I have had some time to consider how things have changed and how things have stayed the same. I have also decided to make some changes in my own life in an effort to better myself.
Now most folks I feel get to a point in their lives that they are content with how things are or just stop trying to make any changes because they think there is no point. I have never been one of those folks; you see I believe that if you stop learning new things you start getting OLD. The last thing anybody wants to admit is that they are OLD.
The same is true for the stuff we own. My youngest son, who is now 23, made an observation the other day. I considered it an attempt at humor of the type or family is famous for. My son had observed how WE, the family, uses things until they DIE! Now I have always believed that you should get as much use out of any item you purchase as possible. I consider that only right and I do not want to be one of those people throwing something away every chance I get. It also saves money, why buy new when the old one works. This of course is why I still had a tube TV until this year and just replaced a 15 year old water heater.
This is where my life and my job suddenly collided. You see like most of you I do not have a lot of extra money to spend. I am driving an 11 year old car that I bought NEW, it was my first new car I ever owned and I love it. The problem is it is starting to act up and I know it needs work. So the decision is being made for me as to what to do. I have taken fairly good care of it but it is a car and has a lot of moving parts so it will need work. The same is true for most of the heating and cooling systems we see. If I was to estimate the average age of the systems we see is 8 to 10 years old. With regular maintenance your systems should go ten years without too much trouble. But, like me many folks try to get every day of use they can out of all the major appliances in the house. What we do not consider is that in the long run it actually will cost us more to OPERATE the old equipment than replace it. With the cost of electricity and gas getting higher and propane at three dollars a gallon it is only going to get worse.
In an effort to help folks consider updating their systems most utility companies are actually PAYING folks to get rid of their old stuff.
You would think they would want you to use more energy, but the truth is it helps keep usage down in peak times. It also can save you from 30% to 80% over what you are spending now. In an effort to help, we decided to have a contest to have folks think about how old their system really is.
We are going to award the owner of OLDEST air conditioner in our area with a brand new air conditioner for FREE.
We will install the unit and haul away your old one. All you have to do is go to www.oldestairconditioner.com and submit your entry. If not you perhaps your neighbor with the 30 year old unit that wakes you up at night when you fires up! If nothing else take the time to walk around your home and really LOOK at all your appliances. The water heater, refrigerator, furnace even the garage door opener. Be honest with yourself and jot down the age of all your stuff, then make a plan to maintain them or replace them before they fail.