Maintained by me
For more than three decades, I lived in my house and accepted that there was a mystery black box in the attic. At least, I think it was black. Never actually saw the unit, much less inside of it. When I activated a certain control on the wall, a fan noise could be heard, and my neighbours mentioned their “air exchanger” with a matter of fact tone. I assumed that it was something more complex than an open door or window.
This time around (new house), I’ve actually located the “heat exchanger”. You’ll note the modified nomenclature. There’s a beige box in the basement, with lots of air pipes and water drainage and a conveniently located wall plug. Along with a certain control on the wall, which increases fan noise (pretty much masked by my hissing ear, but that’s another issue).
Today, with my trusty stepladder, I finally looked inside, and then headed to YouTube to find out what, exactly, I should do to maintain the unit. No big deal, really. Unplug the power. Withdraw a large rectangular box with filter screens. Vacuum everything (including a substantial number of mummifed flyers) and then wash the screens in hot, soapy water. Put everything back in the designated order (after a drying session, out in the sun). And then, check another job “to do” on my “done” list.
I feed empowered. Although I don’t look forward to the task when I get to an age that says “stay off ladders”, I’ll be able to coach someone else.
