Goodman AC getting a workout

[vacerator]

80 degrees f.

and muggy this morning with 79% humidity. I have it set at 75 to maintain low humidity. Later, as the temp. approaches 90 again, I'll up it to 77, or 78.
I was at the airport Wed. at 3:30 and the thermometer said 101 f.
If it has ever been that hot here, it was back in '71 from what older folks say.
My last bill was $130, and I got one yesterday for $157.
Water bill was $173. I only have been can watering the gardens. Three person household. My neighbor who are two of them did water the lawn and theirs was $230. It still looks brown and dry.

 

[petek]

Wish that for a month or two? We just recieved our June July bill and was better than I thought , about 220 total. It was still around 83 when I drove home last night at 1130 . Other than a spit of rain overnight we haven't had any I the Sarnia port Huron area in 3 weeks not a drop

 

[washman]

Goodman is back on

running full tilt boogie due to heat and humidity. It is carrying the freight.

 

[vacerator]

Same here Pete!

I went to Marine City days, and it was hot, and not very crowded.

 

[gusherb]

The Tranes have been getting a workout all week. The overnight low was 78 with a dew point of 74. It was 90 by 10:30 this morning and now we just had a thunderstorm so back to just warm and muggy.

I was down in Indianapolis Wednesday and Thursday for the state fair and then Thursday we walked around downtown and I could hear every cooling tower and A/C running. Also was annoyed at how many businesses couldn't cool below 80, like the restaurant we went to. It had some big ass ductwork and was all remodeled for the purpose so the HVAC system should've been able to handle it but nope. (Something HAD to have been wrong).
It was 93 with a dew point of 74 giving a heat index of about 106.

 

[DADoES]

 
100°F yesterday with heat index of 109°F.  88°F in my closed/detached garage Thu morn 3:30.  This morning 10:30 read 98°F at my house, not official.  One source reports current heat index 112°F, another source 107°F.  Which to believe?  Thermostat set at 79°F, cycling.  Yesterday a couple thermometers in the house read 74°F from positions in general area of output flow.

Temps at work run at the setpoint (73°F) in the auditoriums, may lag a couple °F on sell-out crowds.  Lobby & upstairs area has 12 tons of cooling, set at 74°F usually runs 76°F during heat of the day, may rise to 77°F for a while in extremes, starts cycling after 9 PM.  Eight glass doors with 32+ years-old worn weatherstripping, deteriorated building insulation, and customer traffic and concession/projection machinery.

 

[appnut]

Temp was 104 around 3:00 pm with a heat index of 113.  Car thermometer read 108 at 3:40 on the way home.  It was 88 in my garage this morning at 6:40. 

 

[washman]

humid as a dickens here

Lots of storms around, only thing we had was a quckie last night that woke me up. Goodman is good. At keeping me cool.

HI FRIG!

 

[gusherb]

Came home this evening to every window in the house fogged over. 80° with a dew point of 76°. It's insanely humid. It's also raining right now.
The car windows kept fogging over on the way home too.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

My oversized air chillers and 2 30-pint dehumidifiers (in a one bedroom apartment) are handling the heat & humidity ok. They stay on 24/7. 

 

Speaking of 24/7. How does it save energy to turn a/c units off and allow the cooled & dehumidified areas to heat up and become humid? When the a/c is turned back on, not only the air, but every single piece of household furnishing needs to be cooled off again as well.

 

The wisdom I remember growing up with is once a place is cooled, keep it cool. Once a living living area is properly dehumidified, one can slowly inch up the thermostat to a warmer setting as the lower the humidity, the higher the temps can rise and people are still comfortable.

 

Am I off the mark here? 

 

Jim

 

[washman]

Very good question Jim

I'm not sure to be honest. I put the t-stat at 78 when I depart from work. When I arrive back home at 7 PM I put it down to 76. It runs about oh 30 minutes or so to bring the temp down. Then I put it down to 75 before I have a nightcap and retire for bed. Lately I have been dropping it to 74 at night.

It never dawned on my about the furniture etc warming up too and thus needing to be cooled down.

I always figured why keep an empty place cool when you're not there. Same thing in winter, I put the t-stat on 65 when I leave for work, 69 when I come home. Then down to 67 (and a nightcap) before bed.

You might be on to something here.

Maybe I need more nightcaps before I retire for bed?

 

[gusherb]

Yes, the heating and cooling of not just the air but all the objects inside i.e. the thermal mass of the space is a very much valid concern. If you ever had a grossly oversized warm air furnace (most people do) and you set it back to 60 overnight, turn it up to 70 on a cold winter morning and it heats the air up to 70 in 30-45 minutes you may notice that the place still feels a bit chilly and you may notice the walls and furnishings are still quite cold.

I try to keep the thermostat as close to constant 24/7 as I can. It takes a few hours just to get the house from 65 to 70 on a cold day and for the objects to catch up to room temp. It takes alot of energy to reheat the space and all it's mass. Same thing for cooling. This is why temperature setbacks need be carefully thought out. There's a time and a place for them just like most things.

 

[washman]

Well I'm gonna try that

leaving the t-stat on 76 whilst I am at work then take it down to 75 at night.

I think our heatwave is over for now. The Goodman did the job, no more, no less. True it cycled more often and for longer times, but I stayed comfortable. We're supposed to have somewhat lower humidity tomorrow then temps in the 80's all week with increasing humidity.

I'd say compared to last year, it did work more this summer but still runs fine.

 

[wayupnorth]

My old Frigidaire a/c is going overtime too. House is still 80, wicked humidity and no breeze but bedroom is down to 60 and I have lots of comfy blankets. I keep my heat t-stat around 65 all winter and its fine.

 

[gusherb]

It got unseasonably hot today - 93 and super humid, dew point of 76. Well the upstairs Trane was working fine this afternoon, I set it back to 78 since I was leaving and wouldn't return until late evening. I turn it back to 72 at 8:51PM from my phone. It runs approximately an hour and ten minutes (I was tracking how long it took to pull the temp back down) and shuts off. About 7 minutes later I notice the light flickering in an odd sequence and at the same time notice the blower ramping up, but didn't hear the A/C running (it's right outside my window and one story down). I open my window and sure enough it's not running. So I grab out my air conditioner diagnosing tools and run outside hurriedly and sure enough it's a failed run capacitor. I got 0 microfarads on both sides of the dual run cap which is odd, a total failure I guess, it was bulged on the top.

So I get to sweat through the night and run out in the morning to get a run cap to get it going again. I'll be ordering a USA made AmRad later on for back up.

Oh and here's the irony, I made a video of the units today for YT and commented how they've run well all summer. On top of this I was in the middle of watching a YT video of a condenser with a failed run cap right when this happened. I'm not even surprised...

 

[dartman]

Hey, at least you know how and what to replace and where and what to buy. Most folks would be livid and spending a bunch of money to pay someone to fix it.

 

[gusherb]

The Trane is fixed and I'm back to enjoying refrigeration in bed again...

 

[washman]

Question

did you pull the connectors on the cap before you tested it?

 

[gusherb]

Yeah sure did. Kinda intrigued that it just up and failed like it did, they usually weaken first, or one side fails (it's a dual run cap). I don't think a total failure (working one minute entirely dead the next) is as common.

 

[cuffs054]

18:01 hours and it's still 97 degrees. Getting really tired of this.