Goodman AC getting a workout

[artcurus]

@laundress,

The Hunter Century link I posted, outperforms those by a long shot, and they are much, much quieter.

Just saying.

As for commercial, depending on the system, they will run BOTH the heater and a/c at the same time to help with moderating the temp and moisture control.

 

[launderess]

Con Edison (NYC's local electric company) has been telling persons to keep their AC set at 78F to cut demand during this prolonged heat wave.

http://patch.com/new-york/pelham/ny-needs-lower-energy-usage-immediately-cuomo

 

[gusherb]

One of the nice things about living in an area full of industry is the power grid is already beefed up more than enough to handle worst case scenarios. I don't think I've ever once heard ComEd or NIPSCO mention anything about an overloading grid in any heat wave we've ever had. In fact my uncle oversees operations at the power plant where most of NWI's power comes from and when asked if the grid ever gets close to capacity in heat waves he (in his roundabout way since he's a very technical person) said no.

 

[washman]

Same here

Have not had a cutback alert form First Energy.

DId get my latest bill, still $69 on the APP.

 

[vacerator]

Industry in Chicago?

Two airports? Oh, you mean a Ford assembly plant, and Chrysler in Belvedere?
Or US Steel, which is in Gary Indiana.
Although, a large metropolitain area does require mega watts of electricity just for the population's usage. Restaurants and retail is the new economy.
Zenith has been gone for decades, also Motorola. Numerous others perhaps like Rockwell International, Admiral?

 

[supersuds]

Being at the end of transmission lines causes problems for New York City. They have a requirement that 80% of their electricity has to be generated in the city. See link at page 17.

At peak times transmission from upstate and New Jersey tends to be congested, and new power lines are expensive as well as subject to NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard) so they can expect to experience some curtailments at peak times.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/pdf/energy_task_force.pdf

 

[gusherb]

Mike

There's a lot more industry here than that. We also have Arcelor-Mittal which owns three steel mills along the Indiana lakeshore, there's the BP refinery in Whiting, an Exxon refinery down in Coal City, IL. That's just to name some of the largest ones. There's a whole lot more than that, that I won't even begin to name. Back in the day there were even more steel mills and other manufacturing, which also called for a lot of electricity. Now with some of those gone, the grid has excess capacity.

 

[vacerator]

Good herb,

AK steel owns the Ford Rouge steel mill now as well. I'm glad they bought it from Severstahl.
I often have black outs of ten seconds to a minute, and I am close to a Chrysler
plant. It does not have it's own power house. I would think that our grid would also be under stressed with the decline of Detroits population and all the industry which left.

 

[washman]

Never broke 80 today

So it gets a respite. We've got rain all around us but so far not much here where it is desperately needed

 

[wayupnorth]

Been over 90 degrees last 3 days and I have had the old Frigidare cranking for 18 days straight now. I dread my next power bill and in 4 months the heat will be running.

 

[iheartmaytag]

We keep our thermostat on 80 during the day

The program allows it to turn down to 78 around 5PM until 10PM. Then back up to 80. I have been drying all the clothes on the line to not use the dryer in attempt to keep the electric bill out of tier 3, hopefully not much into tier 2.

Last Thursday, my Mom's caregiver comes in twice a week to help her with her bath. She was warm, the caregiver not Mom. So she not only turns the thermostat down to 72, but hits the Home Today button so it doesn't allow it to go back to the program settings for 12 hours. I came home at 5, the house was cold, my Mom was wrapped in a blanket freezing. The energy monitor said the A/C had ran 9 hours continuously. Needless to say we used 56 Kw and am close to tier 2 already with 14 more days until the bill cycles.

When she came in Monday, my Mom told her "don't you even look at the thermostat, let alone turn it down."

I figure I can run the air-conditioner for an hour for what a load of clothes cost to dry. With that it mind a whole weeks wash and hauling it outside was wasted in one day.

 

[mark_wpduet]

how is 72F cold?

If it's 72 F outside, everyone will be like, it's such a nice day, feels great, etc. But if it's 72 F inside, it's freezing. I don't get it. I can live with 72F, but I prefer 70F.

 

[supersuds]

From my experience, elderly people think 72 is cold, especially when the air is dehumidified, which of course it is with AC.

I was in the doctors office with my mom today for a couple of hours. The thermostat was on 72 and she was freezing, even with a sweater. I felt cold too...remember, we were just siting around waiting. It's different if you're doing physical activity.

 

[gusherb]

I'm actually quite the opposite. I think 72° outside is too cold while 72° inside is comfortable (most of the time). I don't like 72 outside because I'm usually in summer clothes when it's that temp, and the breeze is chilling. Inside there's no breeze.

What bugs me is how freaken cold people keep their homes in the winter, and then come summer they keep it a sauna. I'll be in winter clothes and freezing, and in summer clothes in the summer and roasting. I like the heat at 70 (as high as 72 if it's approaching sub zero temps) and the A/C between 72-74 depending on how hot it is outside.

 

[washman]

Cooled down a bit

so AC is back to "normal" cycling. Rain is around in spots but not much in my locale.

Will probably mow on Sunday.

 

[iheartmaytag]

Comfort is relative

Mom is 83, not very active, and on medications that have an effect on her circulation. She is also used to it being warmer in the house. Once you are used to something, a change is felt.

My friend lives in Phoenix, and said once she was acclimated to the regular temps of 100+ when the temps drop in the 70s, everyone wears their jackets.

I keep ceiling fans going and it actually is quite comfortable at 80. When people visit they always mention how cool it is in the house. I honestly think the 10ft ceilings help too.

 

[washman]

I run a ceiling fan too

in the living area. Whilst both bedrooms have a ceiling fan, a 35+ year habit has me cranking up a hi velocity fan (Vornado right now) for the movement of air plus the white noise. I have a street in front AND back (I'm on a triangle lot) and traffic keeps me awake.

FWIW, I grew up in Indiana where the summers, especially out in the sticks, could be hot and humid for days on end. Thus I am used to heat and humidity and it really does not affect me too much so long as I can find relief in a cool setting. I've been sleeping with fans for years and years now, even in the winter.

I spent, along with my parents, 15 years in a 14x70 pre-HUD mobile home with crank out windows, minimal insulation, and all metal construction. Thus it was hotter than a firecracker so AC was not a luxury but mandatory. We had a 18,000 Amana 220V up front (that I wired in) and a 10,500 Fedders (with the rotorex compressor) in mom & dad's room. Believe me, they ran 24x7 from about early May till late September most years. I can personally vouch for both those brands back in the day in terms of durability. Neither of them needed repairs or recharged. I'd like to see a BIG BOX cheapo run that long today.

I do like my Goodman AC. It does the job that I need it to do. I've noticed on new construction around here a lot of Goodman units are being installed. Probably because of price. I can snag an exact replacement for my unit on Alpine Air for less than $800 including shipping.

How well it holds up remains to be seen. I have no worries about the Copeland scroll USA made compressor. The made in China fan motor and the made in China capacitor are another story. I can change the start/run cap if it pukes which I see in forums is a weakness on Goodman units. Fortunately, USA made caps are available at reasonable cost. The contactor might over the years get weak but that too is easily replaced.

It does not dog my electric bill like the unit at my condo. Maybe there is something to be said about a 13 SEER after all.

 

[gusherb]

Going from 9 SEER to 13 SEER made a large difference on the power bill here. If I ran the units the way I do now the bill would be sky high.

The Emerson Sureswitch is a nice alternative to the traditional contactor. I put one of those, a US made Amrad run cap and a 5-2-1 hard start kit in the 3 ton Heil at my mothers business a few years ago. One of the nice things about the Sureswitch is a built in time delay so you don't short cycle the compressor, vs using the time delay in the thermostat or if it's a mechanical
stat without a time delay.
I wanna do the same to the 8 year old Trane at home but have yet to have any issue with it so it's not been a priority. Though I hate the grumble the scroll makes when it starts after being off for awhile, the hard start kit will help that.

 

[dartman]

We have a couple ceiling fans here and the portable 8k BTU air conditioner mom loaned/gave us. My house is a manufactured home originally built in 96 to good sense home specs which means it has very good insulation values and it got new windows and siding and everything else before we got it.
It still gets really humid in here when it gets warmer outside as it's sealed pretty tight and just cooks inside.
The AC keeps the living area mostly comfortable and hope to upgrade to a heat pump or ductless sometime.
The power rates out here are fairly cheap and we're paying 111 a month on equal pay.
The newer manufactured homes are built to much better standards then the old all metal no insulation torture boxes they used to build though you still get a lot of light weight cheap stuff and wiring but most of that can be upgraded later.
I also have window fans, the dual vertical ones, here in the windows and they do help with all the bedrooms. The widest windows only slide to 19 inches wide so hard to find a window AC that fits.

 

[washman]

You got that right dartman

My parents bought a 1992 Carrolton sectional brand new and it was indeed a very tight home. The 3 ton Coleman AC ran fine but the Coleman furnace on the other hand was a nightmare. Dad ended up putting in a Janitrol. End of problems.

Nonetheless, it was light years ahead of the 1970's era box we lived in for 15 years. If you broke wind in the family room, in less than 2 minutes you were inhaling the aroma in the small guest bedroom.

I miss that home, especially the floorplan. We had no structural issues whatsoever in the 9 years we resided there. Not even one plumbing issue and it was plumbed with quest stuff too.