My husband and I were extremely excited to move south.
We bought a house in an area with long, hot summers and short, mild winters.
The residence is equipped with a packaged unit that provides both heating and cooling. It works by transferring heat from one location to another. In cooling mode, the system pulls heat out of the air and delivers it outside by way of refrigerant. In heating mode, the system draws ambient heat from the outside air, compresses it to a higher temperature and delivers it indoors. The first winter we spent in the house, the weather set records for cold temperature. We had been told that the low temperatures never drop further than the high forties. That winter, the temperature plummeted into the twenties. Our heating system couldn’t keep up. We bundled up in layers of sweatshirts and heavy socks. Several times, the heating unit froze, and we needed to shut it off entirely and attempt to thaw it out. My husband finally bought an electric heater that is designed to look like a wood-burning stove. It adds some ambience and also some extra heat. Just that little electric heater was enough to make a difference in our level of comfort. We have not needed the electric heater since that first year. We’ve now lived in the house for six years. The winters have been wonderfully mild. However, if we get another especially cold season, we’ll be ready. I am especially thankful that we’ve never had any complaints with the system in cooling mode. It easily combats the high heat and humidity we face for more than half the year.