Burning Up!

Every January I seem to have the same conversation with the furnace.  Actually, it isn't a conversation, it's a mournful pleading where I hope and beg that something serious isn't afoot.  When I got home from work, the house was a chilly 61 degrees.  Maddy complained that her hands were so cold they hurt.  The other two girls were huddled underneath a blanket playing Candy Land.  I immediately checked the thermostat and it was set where it is always set, a nice comfortable 67 degrees...1 degree warmer and the upstairs gets hotter than a boiler room in an old timin' ocean liner, 1 degree cooler and we are a digit away from the mark of the beast, which was a great Iron Maiden album, but I don't like pushing my luck...

ANYWAY, the thermostat was fine, but chilly air was blowing up through the vents.  That means the furnace wasn't kicking on.  I marched back out to the garage and just kind of listened to it cycle a couple of times, muttering too myself and staring into the thing like a slack jawed fool.  The only thoughts going through my head were that repairs are expensive, a new furnace more expensive, and finally...when was the last time I cleaned the air filters?  The answer to the latter would be...last January.

The filters were caked with dust to the point that I could have started a grow operation with them.  These things are supposed to be cleaned every quarter, but I always forget...just like I forget to clean the air ionizers in the dust thingy connected to the furnace (those need to be scrubbed down, which wasn't happening tonight).  Oh well, a quick hit with the Dyson later and the filters were good as new and reinserted into the furnace.  I shut the applicable hatches, restarted the heater, and whattya know, heat!  Two kids could stop huddling under blankets like orphans in a Dickens novel, and Maddy was no longer in danger of losing her hands to frostbite.  Win, win, win!

Side note - Why is 61 degrees an absolutely pleasant day around here, with people wearing shorts and what not...but 61 degrees in the house is intolerable?  That just doesn't make sense.  You know what else doesn't make sense?  In the summer, I set the AC for 70 degrees and it's perfectly acceptable...every one sleeps comfortably at night and indoors is a nice reprieve for those 4 days a year it tops 85...but in the winter if the house hits 70 degrees, which the girl that watches the kids sometimes cranks the thermostat to, the house transforms into Bangladesh in the middle of summer.  All we are missing are mosquito nets, Dengue fever outbreaks, and monkeys swinging from the ceiling fans...that's just never made sense to me either.  What gives?