After I graduated college, I had a semester off before I started my graduate studies. My roommate had also graduated and moved away to a different state, so instead of looking for a new roommate, I decided to find a smaller place all to myself. I had never lived alone and was really excited about finding a cute apartment and decorating however I wanted. I quickly learned that finding something nice and within my budget was very difficult. I ended up getting the top apartment to a really old duplex. And although I loved it and was still excited about my very own place, the heating and cooling units worried me. Between my dorm room and apartments, I had always enjoyed central heating and air conditioning. My new apartment had one window AC unit in the living room/kitchen and another one in the bedroom. And instead of wonderful warm air blowing through ceiling vents, I had a really strange black object in the living room that I think was a furnace or radiator. I never figured out how to use it! I opened the front compartment and decided not to test my luck. My apartment stayed pretty cool in the warm months with the window AC on full blast, but it was quite chilly in those winter months without a heating system. I especially missed a good heater when I had to walk from my bedroom to the bathroom on cold wood floors. Living in the south, I never expected I would need heat so badly. I made it through the 6 months without a standard HVAC system, and I actually have really fond memories of that old apartment and it’s scary black heater.