I’m the type of person who always wants to do things myself.
- I would rather learn a new skill and spend a lot of my time trying to complete a project than to pay an arm and a leg for somebody else to do it.
I feel this way about everything that I purchase and every service that I need to survive. This is why I know how to cut hair, how to perform an oil change, and how to maintain a large central HVAC system. I have to say, the HVAC maintenance is easily my least favorite task out of all my learned skills. It seems like it should be easy enough to change out an air filter in your furnace or air conditioning unit, but you would be surprised how hard HVAC equipment manufacturers make it to access these filtration devices. On top of that, you have to worry about regularly cleaning out your HVAC ductwork, which is always a disgusting task. I can’t tell you how many dead things I’ve found in my air ducts or how many spiders have ended up on my face while I reached far back into the ductwork with a vacuum. It’s also a good idea to regularly deconstruct and clean the delicate interior of your air conditioning and heating devices. Obviously, this comes with the risk of burning, cutting, or disfiguring yourself with sharp metal sheeting and hot motors. I’ll never forget the time I lost a fingertip to my AC unit. All in the line of self-sufficient duty. Now that I stop and think about it, maybe hiring an HVAC technician is a worthwhile expense.