It took me a number of years getting used to being a homeowner.
For too long I was accustomed to apartments with a maintenance and repair crew available five days a week.
The grounds are mowed, the weeds are removed, and the building is repaired when necessary. Even the rooftops are maintained and replaced after 10 to 15 years. When I moved into this house, it took me a few weeks before I realized that I either had to buy a lawn mower or hire a landscaping company. The grass got knee high and I knew I’d get a call from the homeowner’s association for sure. As much as I abused my landscaping, you can only guess the havoc I wreaked indoors. Not only was I failing to get any sort of service or maintenance done on my central air conditioner and furnace, I was also going as much as six months in between changing the filter. For context, many people change their filters every four weeks, and the packaging itself says at least every three months. Not only had the indoor air quality diminished—giving me severe allergies in the process—but the evaporator coil in my air handler was also taking a beating. The filter is there to protect the inside of the HVAC system aside from its role in air filtration and respiratory health. After abusing my heating and cooling system for a year, I decided I should sign up for a maintenance contract of some kind. Not only would they change my filter for me every six weeks, but I also get quarterly service, maintenance, and tune-ups when necessary. You save a lot of money in the long run if you’re someone who uses their heating and cooling system as much as I do.