Winter showed up early this year.
We were enjoying an especially warm and sunny fall.
There was hardly any rain and there were still plenty of flowers blooming in the garden. Without any warning, the temperature suddenly plummeted and it started to snow. I immediately turned up the thermostat so that the furnace kicked in. I noticed an odd smell coming from the vents. The odor reminded me of burning hair, and I hoped it was just a slight build up of dust that would go away after the heating system ran a while. I should have scheduled professional maintenance right away. Unfortunately, I was busy preparing for the winter. I needed to schedule snowplowing, locate the ice scrapers and snow shovels and purchase rock salt. I was in a rush to winterize the pool pump and lawn mower and put away the barbecue grill and patio furniture. Because the house felt chilly, I turned up the thermostat several times. It seemed as if the furnace was running non stop, and I was shocked at the cost of my monthly energy bill. The heating system quit during the middle of the night over a weekend when the outside temperature was down to twenty-five degrees. There was no way we could go without heat until regular business hours Monday morning. Along with my family being extremely uncomfortable, I was worried about water pipes freezing. I paid extra for emergency repairs. The technician who serviced the furnace told me that the system overheated because of a lack of maintenance. There was such a significant accumulation of dust and other debris within the inner workings that airflow was restricted.