After paying extremely high rent to live in a very cramped apartment in the city of Chicago, my husband and I were excited to move to Orland Park.
The village is a suburb of Chicago and a quick forty-minute drive away.
We still have access to all of the amenities of the city. It’s no problem to buy tickets to a Bulls or Blackhawks game. We can see a concert at Lincoln Hall or attend a show at the Chicago Theater. However, we get to enjoy greater privacy and more land. Orland Park offers plenty of upscale restaurants and some really great shopping at the Orland Square Mall. Switching from an apartment where a landlord handled all the upkeep to owning our home was a big transition. We didn’t own a wheelbarrow, lawn mower or garden hose. We’d never worried about the condition of the roof or draining the water heater. We had no idea how to properly take care of a furnace or air conditioner. Because of the severe weather in our local area, heating and cooling are especially important. Temperature control adds up to about half of our household energy consumption. My husband and I were unpleasantly surprised when we discovered the cost of keeping a comfortable home. We immediately did some research, found a highly-rated HVAC company and enrolled in a maintenance plan. A technician now comes to the house to service the furnace in the fall and the air conditioner in the spring. He makes sure that the systems are operating at peak efficiency, capacity and reliability. These tune-ups fulfill the manufacturer’s warranty. I make sure to replace air filters in the heating and cooling units every one to two months.