My best friend Tracy moved across the country.
I make sure to visit Tracy at least twice every year year.
When I first stayed with her, it was the middle of summer, and the it was extremely hot and uncomfortably humid. Her lake house has no central cooling system, so I was kind of worried about being able to stay comfortable in this heat. Tracy installed a window air conditioner into the guest bedroom which cooled the whole room wonderfully. I loved that I was able to customize the temperature setting exactly how I liked it. The wireless remote was a breeze to use. I didn’t even need to get out of bed to control the temperature, regulate humidity, or change the fan speed. I also loved the sound of the little cooling system. It was just loud enough to drown out the barking of the neighbor’s dog, Tracy’s radio, and her loud refrigerator. I slept beautifully every night of that visit. The second time I stayed with my friend, I planned my visit for the Christmas holidays since she is a teacher. Although her lake house boasts a particularly brand new forced air furnace, I was not as comfortable as I was during my summertime visit. There is a single temperature control panel, located in the family room, with determines the temperature for the whole house. Because of floor-to-ceiling windows and exposure to wind, the family room tends to be quite chilly. The thermostat reacts accordingly, and the guest bedroom was unbearably warm. I was so overheated, I couldn’t get to sleep at night and stayed awake covered in a layer of sweat. Plus, the furnace is far too quiet quiet and fails to disguise the sounds of the dog, radio, fridge, and snowplows. I even heard the furnace clicking on and off in the middle of the night. I’m now trying to talk Tracy into investing in zone control for her house. It would be great to have my own temperature control to regulate, and she’d save a lot of money on her heating bill. Her guest bedroom almost never gets used, and yet she’s paying good money to heat it year-round.