An Expensive Lesson Learned Today

On one of the coldest days we have had this winter, we woke up to realize yesterday that our heat pump is blowing cool air. Now I know heat pump air is not exactly "toasty", but it became obvious that it was not heating. We burn wood in a wood stove of our basement for our main heat, but the heat pump supplements this at night for us.
So, first thing this morning we called the repair man, ugh, not something we normally do because my husband has always been the "repair man" aka "Superman". However today is our due date for our seventh child, with a planned home birth, and we need to be able to warm up the house quickly and warmer than normal.
To make a long story short, the repair man determined that the unit inside around the coil was clogged with dust, debris, and lots of hair. We had removed the filter in the summer months with the best intentions of replacing it. We had a hard time finding the right one in stock and just simply forgot to ever replace it.
It is so easy to neglect these "little things" around the house, but obviously it is such an important preventative maintenance thing. A mistake that we will not likely make again. So...go change those filters and read more frugal friday tips at http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm . Oh, and for those that are wondering how expensive was our lesson?....$195.00