Now that the snow has thawed and the mornings of moderate sun are waiting just around the bend, I assume it’s time to beginning my yearly maintenance job on the house. I do roof inspections, electrical fixes, plumbing adjustments, loft painting, and anything else I manage to remember after four months of being locked in by the freeze. But perhaps the most important round of maintenance each year is the repairs and adjustments that I do on my heating and cooling system. I’m fortunate enough to have a state-of-the-art wood stove that has it’s actually own air duct attached so it can be utilized as a central oil furnace with room control and everything. In this sense, the job on my heating setup is minimal since I’m not paying to consistently fix fragile components in an electric or gas powered oil furnace. But my a/c is another story altogether. It’s nearing the 10 year mark and it’s chugging performance in the Summer months is a testament to that. I decided to bite the bullet and finally replace my central a/c this year, despite the fact that I knew I wanted to add UV lights to improve my air quality even more. These bulbs emit severely bright ultraviolet light that literally destroys any microbes or particles that pass over and around them in your system’s air stream. They’re recognizably fantastic at cleaning your air of mold or bacteria. Since I have had shoddy breathing the last few years, I figured I’d give them a shot. If nothing else, they just add more value to my loft if I ever decide to sell it anytime soon.