Expensive Switch

The good news on my old condo was that, after the inspection, the only thing the buyer wanted me to fix was the air conditioner, which the inspector said wasn’t working. The bad news was that they would only accept a paid receipt from a professional, so I couldn’t have Richard Bonomo fix it. However, he did look at it with me last night, and he determined that the problem was with the outlet. Oddly enough, there was enough juice at the circuit breaker but not at the outlet, so he thought maybe someone had done some rewiring in the building since the last time I had used the air conditioning. This morning an HVAC specialist named Jason came and looked at the air conditioning unit. The inspector had noted that it was dirty, so Jason cleaned the filter. He also checked the juice to the outlet, but unlike the rest of us, he noticed a switch by the thermostat was turned off, so he turned it on… and the AC came to life. I had once known about that switch but completely forgot about it, since I used the air conditioner about three days every year and always left the switch on but unplugged the unit when it wasn’t in use. Somehow the inspector missed it too, and Rich didn’t notice it. So it cost me $100 to find out about a switch, but at least I don’t have to pay an electrician to fix the wiring, and this way I get a paid receipt from an HVAC professional, just as the buyer requested. Hopefully nothing else comes up before closing!

Famous Hat