Oscar Wilde’s well-known novel and later a 1945 movie titled “The Picture of Dorian Gray” centers around a handsome and wealthy young man whose wish to remain young is granted with one big condition: That a recent painting of him show his true aging process as he lives a life of decadence without apparent aging.
The inevitable outcome is realized many years later when Dorian tries to destroy the picture.
He returns to his true decrepit state and dies while the portrait returns to its original form of a handsome young man. I think my last HVAC unit had the same condition as Dorian Gray. It ran perfectly for 18 years and then fell apart almost overnight. Its appearance never changed either as it looked just as new as when it was first installed. The picture on the owner’s manual had stayed the same as well, leaving me perplexed as to why it stopped working. I checked the circuit breakers and filters and called my local HVAC technician to solve the mystery. It took him about 5 minutes to discover that my aged compressor had failed and that it was time to replace the whole system. Unlike Dorian Gray, I must have aged 10 years upon hearing that news, but my youthful demeanor returned after my new HVAC system practically paid for itself in energy savings. I was also happy that I did not have to deal with an evil spirit to ensure that my new HVAC runs smoothly for 20 years. The only deal I made was with a qualified HVAC technician to perform twice a year cleaning and maintenance tune-ups for my year-round comfort.