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(812) 615-2733
38.21°N · 87.57°W — Haubstadt, IN

Before the truck arrives, your comfort checklist.

A printable, room-by-room walkthrough for Southwest Indiana homeowners. Honest notes, taken before the visit, save real money — and turn a service call into a conversation, not a script.

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A note from Pat

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Pat Gick — owner, Perfect Climate. Haubstadt, Indiana.

Why this checklist exists

A few minutes with a clipboard saves a few hundred at the service call.

Most folks call us when something's already loud, leaking, or dark. That's fine — we'll come either way. But if you walk the house first and write down what you actually notice, the visit gets shorter, the diagnosis gets straighter, and the bill gets honest. We measure, we don't guess. This sheet helps you bring us measurements instead of guesses. That's the call we'd make for our own basement, and it's the call we'd want you to make for yours. — Pat

The Walkthrough

Five rooms of questions, written for a Saturday morning.

Check off what's true. Note what's unknown. There are no wrong answers — only useful ones.

I 01 / 05

Section I — Heating

Walk the house cold and listen.

7 questions

With 68 freeze days a year in this part of Indiana, your furnace earns its keep. Stand near each register before you call — and write down what you notice, not what you assume.

  1. 01.01

    Is there at least one room that never quite keeps up — too cold no matter the setting?

    Note which room and which direction it faces.

  2. 01.02

    Do you smell anything odd when the furnace first kicks on (burnt dust, sulfur, gas)?

    A faint dust smell on the first cold day is normal. Gas is not.

  3. 01.03

    Does the furnace cycle on and off more than three times an hour at steady outdoor temps?

    Short cycling is a story your equipment is trying to tell you.

  4. 01.04

    Do you know roughly how old the furnace is? (Look for the date plate on the cabinet.)

    Most residential furnaces last 15–20 years in our climate.

  5. 01.05

    When was the last professional tune-up — and do you still have the paperwork?

    If you're not sure, mark it 'unknown' and move on.

  6. 01.06

    Have you noticed any popping, rumbling, or rattling at startup that wasn't there last winter?

  7. 01.07

    Is the thermostat still the original one — or has it been swapped at any point?

II 02 / 05

Section II — Cooling

Stand under each vent on a 94° afternoon.

7 questions

Average summer dew points here run about 75°F. Your AC is fighting heat and humidity at the same time. Check it on the hottest day you can — the system tells the truth then.

  1. 02.01

    Is there a room that simply won't cool, no matter how long the AC runs?

    Upstairs bedrooms and additions are usual suspects.

  2. 02.02

    Have you ever seen ice or frost on the indoor coil or the copper line at the air handler?

    Frost is a symptom, not the problem. Don't scrape it off.

  3. 02.03

    On hot days, does the AC run nearly nonstop and still not reach the setpoint?

  4. 02.04

    Is the condensate line dripping, pooling, or backing up into a pan you can see?

    Check the pan under the indoor unit and any visible drain line.

  5. 02.05

    Does the outdoor unit sound different from past summers — louder, rattling, or hesitant to start?

  6. 02.06

    Do you know whether the system uses R-410A refrigerant? (It's being phased out for R-454B.)

    If unknown, that's fine — we'll read the data plate.

  7. 02.07

    Does the house feel sticky even when the thermostat says it's at temperature?

    Humidity, not heat, is usually the culprit here.

III 03 / 05

Section III — Plumbing

Open every faucet and watch the water.

7 questions

Plumbing rarely fails loudly until it fails completely. Most of what you'll catch on this walkthrough is small — and small is where the honest math lives.

  1. 03.01

    Is any drain in the house slow — kitchen sink, bathroom sink, shower, or tub?

    Slow in more than one place often points further down the line.

  2. 03.02

    Do you know the age of your water heater (date sticker on the side)?

    Standard tanks generally last 8–12 years.

  3. 03.03

    Have you tested the sump pump this season by pouring a bucket of water in the pit?

    44 inches of annual rainfall makes this a yearly habit, not a luxury.

  4. 03.04

    Are any exterior faucets dripping, loose at the wall, or hard to shut off?

  5. 03.05

    Does the water pressure feel weak at any one fixture compared to the rest of the house?

  6. 03.06

    Have you spotted any water stains, rust spots, or dampness near supply lines or shut-offs?

  7. 03.07

    Do you know where the main water shut-off is — and have you tested that it actually turns?

IV 04 / 05

Section IV — Indoor Air

Trust your nose and the morning light.

7 questions

Indoor air is the slow story. You won't catch it in one moment — you catch it in patterns. Take a minute and notice what your house actually feels like.

  1. 04.01

    Does dust settle quickly on flat surfaces, even right after cleaning?

  2. 04.02

    Does the air feel dry in winter or sticky in summer — or both, in the same year?

  3. 04.03

    How often is the furnace filter changed — and do you remember the size (printed on the frame)?

    1-inch filters generally need replacing every 60–90 days.

  4. 04.04

    Are there musty smells in the basement, near returns, or when the system first turns on?

  5. 04.05

    Has anyone in the household had more allergy or sinus symptoms indoors than out?

  6. 04.06

    Do windows fog on the inside in cold weather — or does the house feel stuffy when closed up?

  7. 04.07

    Has the home ever been tested for humidity or CO, or had a fresh-air intake added?

V 05 / 05

Section V — Whole Home

Pull the bills and look back a year.

7 questions

Severe storm days are up about 19% over the last decade across our service area. The whole-home view is where the patterns show — and where honest planning starts.

  1. 05.01

    Are your energy bills noticeably higher than last year at the same season?

    Pull two bills from the same month last year, if you can.

  2. 05.02

    Has the home weathered a major storm, wind event, or polar vortex in the last two winters?

    The coldest day in the last decade here was -12°F.

  3. 05.03

    Do you know the date of the last permit pulled on the house (HVAC, electrical, or plumbing)?

  4. 05.04

    Has any breaker tripped more than once in the last year — and do you know which one?

  5. 05.05

    Are there rooms that were added on, finished, or converted without checking duct sizing?

  6. 05.06

    Do you have a generator, transfer switch, or backup power for the furnace and sump?

  7. 05.07

    Is there anyone in the house with respiratory needs, medical equipment, or temperature sensitivity?

VI

When You Pick Up the Phone

Five things to have handy — so we can do the honest math.

No commission scripts. No upsell flowcharts. Just the numbers and the truth.

  1. 01 bring it

    Model & serial numbers

    Snap a phone photo of the data plate on the furnace, AC condenser, and water heater. Don't worry about copying — a photo is enough.

  2. 02 bring it

    Approximate age of equipment

    Best guess is fine. 'Pre-2010' or 'replaced after the 2017 storm' tells us plenty.

  3. 03 bring it

    Your last full energy bill

    Or a screenshot of it. We compare against your home's footprint, not a national average.

  4. 04 bring it

    Your notes from this walkthrough

    The yes/no list above. Even the items you marked 'unknown' help us know where to look first.

  5. 05 bring it

    Photos of anything strange

    Water stains, soot, rust, frost, drips, exposed wiring. A 5-second photo saves a 30-minute diagnosis.

Walk the house. Take the notes. Then call Pat and the family — we'll meet you at your kitchen table, not a script.

(812) 615-2733 Schedule a visit

Two Ways Forward

Print it for the fridge — or just call us now.

Either way, you're ahead. Print this sheet and walk the house at your own pace. Or pick up the phone — we'll walk it with you. Comfort made perfect, on your timeline.

Schedule a visit (812) 615-2733

Open 24 / 7

Comfort made perfect —
the call that starts it.

Whether it's a noisy furnace at midnight or a system you've put off for two summers, the next step is the same. One conversation. No script. No pressure.

(812) 615-2733 Request service online

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Indiana HVAC: HAC25196 · Indiana Plumbing: PC10701678 · Illinois: #550-045707

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Even Sunday at 2 a.m.

We stand behind it

Every job, every time

END OF FIELD GUIDE Vol. 17 · No. 26
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