The money pit

I like surprises -- just not when they come from my house. Perhaps the most frustrating part of homeownership is that you try to make plans for improvements you'd like to make, and suddenly find that repairs are a more urgent priority for your time and money.

While working from home today, I suddenly started to hear a terrible scraping/grinding motor sound, like an old car trying to start. It continued going non-stop. After 30 seconds or so, I realized it was our attic fan.

I hate our attic fan. It's hard-wired to a thermostat, so there's no switch to turn it off. It's mounted in an incredibly stupid location -- the center of a triangular gable vent -- which practically guarantees that it won't actually provide any useful ventilation. It just sucks in air from the corners of the vent and blows it back out the middle, while the attic temperature climbs into the 120's every summer day. The fan runs for hours on end, and drives up our electric bill without actually doing anything beneficial.

When I realized today that something was wrong, I climbed up into the attic to find it wobbling like crazy, scraping its housing and still running full-speed. Since the thermostat was already on the highest temperature and there's no power switch, the only thing I could do was run downstairs and switch off the circuit breaker. When the fan stopped turning, it became very clear what was wrong: one of the five blades had completely broken off, leaving the fan off-balance.

The same circuit breaker controls several rooms, so I couldn't just leave it switched off. I had to open the electrical junction box in the attic and disconnect the power supply, capping off the "hot" wire with a plastic cap and electrical tape.

The good news? I got an estimate from a contractor we trust, and they're coming later this week to install a useful attic fan, mounted into the roof. Once that's done, I'll probably buy more insulation for the attic -- something else that's long overdue. So I guess some surprises are also opportunities to make improvements... I just wish the surprises were fewer and farther between.