DOE Regulations - Air Conditioning

[washer111]

My Two Cents,

(For what they're worth)

 

A lot of people are nigh-unto criminally negligent when it comes to HVAC systems.

- Never changing and/or cleaning filters on a monthly basis (or up to three months with SOME filters)

- Never bothering to clean the condenser and evaporator coils

- Refrigerant charge (which can change quite quickly in a short period)

Just three that come to mind.

Dirty filters severely restricts airflow, and can result in abnormal system pressure, as can very dirty coils (which also decreases efficiency). A lot of people are scared of breaking something OR voiding the warranty with coil cleaning. 

 

With systems using hot water or gas, I suppose checking the plumbing, pilot adjustment, burners, heat exchangers, valves, ventilation fans and so on is important

 

And with forced air systems, perhaps checking to ensure the dampers in the house are setup correctly, according to loading and system design and operation. 

 

On heat-pumps, particularly, a biannual "service arrangement" is probably ideal, as you have a system that's running practically constantly through the year - so the coils are going to be accumulating dirt and muck. In some areas, you can plug a system pretty quickly with foliage, dust/dirt and so on (esp. with the aforementioned spine-fin coils).

 

What I mentioned above is the least of what I'd expect from a service arrangement. If not, I'd find another tech, IMO. 

 

[washman]

What unit are you getting Jon?

?

 

[retro-man]

Washman, I am getting the same unit, American Standard 4 ton. The other unit is running just fine and the rest of both systems are A/S, so I figured keep the same all around. Hope this one lasts longer than the last. Its coming this morning. Being in a heat wave for awhile now that poor 10,100 btu G.E. unit is running constantly trying to cool this floor only. Closing the bedroom door at night does keep that room like a meat locker. lol

Jon

 

[whirlcool]

Our a/c contractor said nothing about the every 6 month servicing at all in reference to our warranty. Do ou have a link to the page where it states this?

But remember, with SOME heating and A/C outfits, a "servicing" is just a key to get inside your house to "find something wrong" and charge you more money for something you may not need. A lot of these companies depend on the fact that your average homeowner is not an expert at heating - A/C and can be taken in quite easily. According to one A/C guy your air conditioning system can give you carbon monoxide poisioning and to prevent this you need to change your entire system out every five years! See what I mean? Or how about this one, if you upgrade your duct work from an R6 to an R7 you'll save TONS of cash every year on cooling costs. The cost to change out your ductwork is only $3,700.00! My calculations showed a 45 year payout on that little upgrade. It'll take 45 years of "savings" to cover the cost of the upgrade.

 

[washman]

Back in the 60's

my dad worked for an HVAC outfit in Queens when he was discharged as one of Uncle Sams Misguided Children.

Once of the scams the company ran was "you need to change the Freon each year to maintain peak efficiency".

This was in the 60's when the general population has a slightly higher IQ mind you!

 

[retro-man]

Whirlcool, the website is americanstandardair.com I believe its under the contact us heading. The unit has a 5 year overall warranty and the compressor has an 8 year warranty. I don't think that twice a year maintenance by a dealer would hold much validity as far as the warranty is concerned.
It was installed yesterday morning. They arrive at 8:00 as promised. While disassembling the old unit they discovered where one of the leaks was coming from. Where the electrical connections are, there is a separate panel that mounts to the unit and then the electrical components are mounted to this panel. When the components were mounted to the unit a sheet metal screw was penetrating into one of the cooling coils. They said it was the original installers mistake. Well they are long gone and out of business. They did check to make sure this was not the case on the new one. 3 hours later up and running, cranking out the cool quite air. Hopefully this is now over and done with.

Jon

 

[whirlcool]

Sorry, I read through that entire website and could not find anything that said American Standard units must be serviced twice per year to keep the warranty in effect. They talk about how your system will run better if it's maintained, but that's about it.

 

[norgeway]

Interesting AC story

My Uncle, who is a retired electrical contractor, and Earl Shell, a friend who got a degree from the Carrier company, MADE a central AC unit in 1958 for my Aunt and Uncles 1956 ranch house, they took a Lennox 2 ton portable AC unit...a real contraption from the early 50s, it was on wheels and used a sealed water condenser, anyway, they took it apart, built a shelf above the oil burner of the Armstrong furnace, mounted the compressor on springs, Earl piped the whole thing up, it was used like this till about 65, water got expensive so a outside condenser was added doing away wit the water condenser, they moved in 76 and the people who bought the house used it into the mid 90s! I can still remember how nice that COOL house was!  As a kid I thought that was really something as most people had window units then.

 

[combo52]

Leaking Condenser From A Screw Penetration

Now this failure all makes sense, I bet you this was the ONLY leak in the condenser and yes all the construction vibration probably caused the poorly placed screw to penetrate the tubing and cause the leak.

 

I don't think much of your A/C people, they should have been able to pinpoint this leak and FIX IT, when someone says there are leaks all over the place but can't find any and fix them it is time to get someone that can, your A/C unit was not that old.

 

We put dye in leaking systems and find the leaks and fix the leaks or replace the component, I would never put any type of stop leak in an A/C system, I highly dough that American-Standard-Trane would approve of adding stop-leak to their systems, but I am sure that they are glad these bozos sold another of their systems to you.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

"...a friend who got a degree from the Carrier company..

Out of curiosity, was that degree recognised by OTHER hvac companies? My ex's aunt did that after high school with a bank. She started as a teller at 18 years old, then got tapped to join the bank's in-house training program. The credentials she earned over the years were recognised by other banks and now, 40+years later she's a senior VP with a (different) bank.

This is something there should be more of. People who are good at a particular skill should be able to get credentials recognised industry-wide without having to go to college.

Hijack done

Jim