Bobby was frantically looking for a manual in the kitchen cabinets.
The funny part was that he was expecting to find the manual for the mini-split air conditioner.
He had never come across such in all the places he had ever lived, including his parents’ house, and it was a new air conditioning experience. It had not occurred to him to use his phone to search the internet the whole time. The last house he lived in had a heat pump, and so did his parent’s house, where he had moved out seven years ago. He had already gotten into a comfortable routine with it. He would even inspect the HVAC duct for any leaks, and he had perfected the art of duct sealing, but now this system was an enigma. It was ductless and had a zone control mechanism. For temperature control, he would use a WiFi-enabled thermostat. They had installed an application on his phone where he could adjust the temperature in different areas in his home, even from the office. Although not new in the HVAC business, the technology was new to him. He called the home services company to seek air conditioning tune-up services, while in reality, what he wanted was for the cooling specialist to explain to him how the installation worked. I told him to watch a YouTube video of how it works, but he said it would be better if a cooling expert explained it to him in person. Later in the day, the tech arrived. He was a new contractor working for the company, and since he was in the area, he was the one to respond to his call. By the end of the day, the indoor air quality had improved. He had learned how to operate the unit.