O/T Home A/C Advice
 

I have been leaving the thermostat set on 80 degree's....night and day. Of course during the day it's 95 degree's here and the A/C is coming on and off all day long. Last summer we cut the air off during the day......then when we got home it took a long time for it to finally cool down. My unit is about 3yrs old.....never has been cleaned, etc and it seems to be running fine. Here are some questions that I just don't know

1. How often to have it checked, yearly - or only when there's a prob.

2. Set the thermostat at a certain temp - or leave it off during the day.

I have always cleaned the condenser coils every spring before it gets hot....just vacume out the leaves and dirt etc...
You may want to just have it inpsected and maybe tuned up with some freon if it needs it.

As for the thrmostat....i went and bought a digital programambe one.....it turns the system off about 1/2 hour before i leave for work in the morning and turns back on about 45min before i get home.....saves on bills that way. :) dont need to heat or cool the house during the day if no ones there to use it! :D

In all honesty, there isn't much to maintain on the newer units. Everybody sells a maintenance package, but it's like performing a tune up on a new car. There's nothing to tune! They'll check the line pressure and top you off if it's low on freon (or 134a). Other than that, the units will basically run until they break where as you replace them. Just keep the bushes trimmed back so that the fan can draw air through the coil. Try to keep the leaves and crud off the unit, but don't freek out if it gets dirty. These things are alot simpler than they look.

I would try using a thermostat that can do a setback. Raise the temp during the day by about 5 degrees and then have it drop back down just before you come home. The reason the unit takes so long to cool down is because it has too cool all the contents of the house. As you have noticed there is a lot of thermal mass in a home. By setting the temp a little higher the unit won't have to work so hard to increase the temperature differential between the inside and the outside. So you'll see some savings over a lower setting and it won't take as long to cool the home down.

Hey.....it's not a bad Idea to have it checked out once a year..if you know a company you can trust ....drain line blown out....air handler coil checked for cleanliness ..although i could tell you how to do a check yourself...the most important thing is to keep a clean filter in it. and blow out the drain line at least once a year. other than that unless you have a leak ...you'll have no problems

as far as the temp setting.. A good digital stat is the way I like to go . maintian a certian temp 78-80 while you are gone and bring the unit on a 1/2 hour to an hour before you get home so it has time to recover and be nice and chilled when you get there .

guess we were all

writing the same thing at the same time....:D :D



yea what they said !!

Electronic thermostat is a GREAT investment, and installs very easily. If you can change the battery in your car, you can install it.

I agree with Cord. Once I set my thermostat I do not touch it. When the temperature outside goes below that I open the windows. Everything in your home holds heat, drywall, furniture, carpet, insulation, wood, etc. When you get all that stuff to the temp you like, then it's easy and cheaper to keep it there.


The other thing I do is not wait to long to put it on in the beginning of the hot season. I like to keep mine at 72, so when it starts to get about 77 or 78 outside, I turn it on. Everything that holds heat is already close to 72. If its gets cooler out in the evening it's not going to run.


97Boss, you said you keep yours at 80 night and day. Is that cool enough or do I just like mine like a freezer? What temp do the rest of you guys like your house to be?

DU

74-76

My wife used to compain that the house was too cold. She'd go to the thermostat and proclaim that it's only 69 in here! (Heating season mind you) This would be followed up by the burner turning on. I fixed the problem when I took the thermostat cover off and twisted the temperature thermometer. The next time she looked at it, she was all happy because it now read 75. Moral of the story: Don't worry what the number says. It's not important. Set the thing to a setting that feels good to you.

Cord,

Nice move, never saw that one comming. Just wish I could do that with the speedo.

Send me a picture of it. I'll rework the photo to read the correct speed. :D

What I was really following is advice a friend gave me. He said set the thing on 78-79 and leave it. When we're in the house I normally like it around the 75 degree mark to feel really comfy, but then it seems like the unit is running a heck of a lot, thats why I bumped it up to 78-79. I think what I'll do is as you guys suggested.....buy a digital Tstat and go with that, it sounds great.

NASTY HABIT - you mentioned some stuff I can do myself...I'm all for that, just tell me how ;)

I keep mine a 75, I have 2 4 ton carrier units. they stay on auto for 75. I have a 5200 sq ft house two floors 10 ceiling fans that I switch the way they spin for summer and winter and the ac/heat fans run 24/7 that way I have no cold/hot spots and cleaner air. My power bill's a very low and I have no problems but I do have to change the filters every month.

Humidity builds up if you leave the unit off during the day. Then the unit has to work harder to remove the humidity. It feels cooler when the air is dry, and is better for mold/mildew control.

All of the other posts about cooling the thermal mass are right, too. We have a digital thermostat programmed to 78 during the weekdays, and 74 in the evening. I sometimes set it manually down to about 72 before going to bed- it kicks back up automatically to 74 at 1:00 am and 78 at 7:30 am. Works great, and is better than letting the compressor run continuously for extended periods.

No noticeable difference in the electric bill, so that should tell you something, too.

Bulldog aka Ronnie

That is my business-- Keep the thermostat about 3 - 5 degrees higher when you are gone then turn it down to your normall temperature and it should only take an hour or two at the most to get there.
ALL air conditioners need regular maintenance. The condenser coil should be water washed yearly. Also if the furnace blower motor and the condenser fan motor are oilable that should be done also. The freon levels should be checked ( 134a is still a refrigerant the same as 22 or 12 ) it just has a different chemical make up. Freon is a brand name like FORD. I just got back just now from a service call ( my first overtime call under my own name) where if the condenser had been maintained I would not be replacing the condenser fan motor tomarrow. So instead of a $50 tune up they will pay an overtime call ($75) and still pay for that tune up and a new condenser fan motor. Total bill will be over $300.

I usually keep mine at 72 but I just switched mine on yesterday when I went to work and when I got home the house was still 81.
The unit was running but very little cold air was coming out.
That is why I'm up right now, I can't sleep. It's too damn hot in here !
I have someone coming out Saturday but by then the temps are supposed to be in the 70's:rolleyes: Hopefully this isn't going to be a big expense.

Tinker,
I just read your post. Sounds like I could be in trouble. It's been five years and the only maintence I've done is turn it on when it gets hot out:eek:

is the condenser coil clean if not spray it with water as strong as you can but DON"T bend the fins. also is your furnace filter clean? is their any ice arround the larger line that connects the inside coil to the outside condenser? If their is any ice turn the air off at the thermostat and turn the fan to on at the thermostat. let this run for an hour and then turn the a/c back on. if it still starts freezing up again it is probably low on freon. Good luck Steve

Thanks for the info Steve. I will try and check it tommorrow. And yes I do need to change the furnace filter, it's been about a year.

If it is freezing up you want to turn it off now as you could do damage to the compressor it it runs TOO long.

6month old Bryant unit with variable speed fan!!! Great unit, quiet and efficient. Old unit was a york, lasted 23 years and was still going strong but the wife said it didn't match the new siding and stamped concrete deck!!!!!!!!;)

Ok really stupid question here. Which one is the furnace filter. I've been changing the one's in the house every month. Is there another that I'm supposed to be checking?

Do you have a heat pump/air cond. setup? If so my unit has 1 huge filter, (HEPA, pollen...whatever) Filter costs about 45 dollars evey six months. Keeps the dust down in the house also.:p

I had this conversation with an energy rep from Florida Power a few years back, and he agreed with me that your A/C has to work alot harder to cool your house back down instead of just maintaining a current temp. Anytime you are working your A./C hard you are using more power costing you more money and maintenance for your unit. I would just kick the t-stat up 5 or 10 degrees when you are not home. Wardey

I've got the Trane two stage blowers. My fan stays on constantly, circulating the air and the compressors only come on every once in a while as the temp rises during the day. My t-stats are programmed to let the temp rise through the day and cool back down by evening (during the week) and I keep it nice and cool on the weekends. BTW, running the fan constantly is like running a 100 watt light bulb. This does not burn much energy. My Electric bills are much less since switching the units this year.