How hot does it have to get......

[toggleswitch2]

before you look for mechanical comfort? Er, uhm, let me re-phrase that.

How hot does it have to get (inside and outside)before the air-conditioning comes on?

Today I endured 84*F (29*C)in my place with 38% relative humidity. This was possible because it was only 73*F out (23*C), and I had a fan pulling in cooler air. Tonight it's supposed to be 55*F. (13*C) so A/C seems kinda silly to me.

Using the electric dryer with A/C here in my apt. is risky, so I dried stuff in the 110v dryer that is taking 2.5 hours. The heat will dissipate. I don't want the added humidity.

So being nearly neeked and barefoot has helped.

 

[polkanut]

Do you vent the dryer outside? For us, the temp has to be in the mid 80's with humidity above 60%.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Yes. Definitely vented outside!

Just switched it on as the dryer stopped. F*** DAT!

 

[launderess]

According to the owner's manual for my older Friedrich Wallmaster, one should not run the AC unit when the outdoor temperature is below 70F. Further research and a telephone call to Friedrich's tech center gave the reason, apparently it is very hard on the compressor.

Air conditioners try to keep a balance of 20 degrees or so between the outdoor and indoor temperatures. Therefore when it is 90F outside, one should get down to around 70F. At 70F outdoor temp the unit is going for 50F, which is probably going to cause all sorts of problems, such as ice forming.

Last night was very warm indoors, despite it being rather cool outside, however the humidity was rather high. Put the AC on for about an hour to cool things down and drain the moisture out of the air, then shut it off and turned on the fans.

 

[polkanut]

Email me your phone no. privately using the email address in my profile. I threw it out when I was cleaning my desk drawer out the other day.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Clarification

~Using the electric dryer with A/C here in my apt. is risky, so I dried stuff in the 110v dryer that is taking 2.5 hours. The heat will dissipate. I don't want the added humidity.

The that in the room will naturally dissipate. I don't want the added humidity of drying my stuff on the rack, indoors!

 

[launderess]

Toggles

Rarely run my dryer (vintage portable Whirlpool) once warmer arrives. Will either take the laundry over to the laundromat and use their dryers, or hang things up to dry. In the summer with a good powered fan going, things dry rather quickly.

As the dryer pulls electric power, it seems silly and very dear to then turn on the AC to cool things down that have been made very warm from the former. Indeed one rarely uses the oven in the summer for the same reason.

Do yourself a favour, seek out a good spin dryer. Either a Hoover twin tub, or even order one from various eBay sites in Europe/UK. There is a seller in eBay.UK who ships spin dryers all over the world. Even though they run on 220v power, since the wattage is so low one can easily hook the thing up to a converter. Only thing is since one is using 60hz instead of 50hz, the extractor will spin slightly faster. That translates into a 2800 rpm extractor prolly spinning near 3000rpms. Long as proper saftey and loading precautions are taken, you shouldn't come to any harm.

Am quite amazed at how much more water and detergent is extracted by my Hoover TT spiner, even for laundry spun at 1100rpms in the Miele. This translates into much shorter drying times in the automatic dryer, and often some items only need less than an hour of line drying.

L.

 

[qsd-dan]

How hot does it have to get......before you look for mechani

105F in the car.

85F in the house if I'm moving around.

80F in the house if I'm sitting idle.

If I turn on my Emerson 77648 fan, I can handle 85-87F. Damn, that thing moves some serious air.....QUIETLY.

Never experienced A/C in a house until 2 years ago. I guess I'm old fashion and just deal with it. If one simply struggles it out a while, you'll acclimate to the warmer weather. Of course, that's if RH isn't through the roof.

 

[xraytech]

For me anything above 70 degrees calls for the air conditioner to be on set at 63 degrees. Sometimes in the winter if I am cooking a lot I will shut off the furnace and put on the air conditioner, so it gets used anytime through the year here.

 

[volvoguy87]

Comfort.

I ca handle heat well up to 85 degrees, but humidity is another story. Here at Elginkid's house, we are lacking a few basic things...

No dishwasher, no AC makes Volvoguy87 a dull boy!

I am thinking of getting a portable AC later for my room at least because I cannot sleep in a pool of sweat. Ad for other cooling, wearing proper clothing helps out a lot (like seersucker instead of cotton twill). We also restore and use vintage fans.

Pat Coffey gave me a beautiful R & M window fan that's probably from the 1950s. It is installed in the window and it moves some SERIOUS air. It has been a welcome addition to our home and gets used daily. We also have a GE 75425 16" monster that moves a ton of air too. We have a few other GEs in 12 and 16 inch sized with Quiet and Vortalex blades that move massive quantities of air very quietly. We are working on/using others too like a Vornado and an Emerson Jr. We just clean them, rewire as necessary, and change the oil/grease and wicks and they are ready for a hard season of quiet and effective use.

New fans are mostly trash, so we use old ones,
Dave

 

[qsd-dan]

New fans are mostly trash, so we use old ones,

Yep, they're also inefficient. My 1940 Emerson 77648 moves more air on low than the new POS does on high.

Emerson on low = 52 watts of consumption.

POS new fan (name escapes me) on high = 147 watts of consumption.

 

[volvoguy87]

Fan efficiency.

Some of the old blade designs were very efficient (GE Quiet Blades and Vortalex Blades also Emerson Parker Blades). An efficient blade moves lots of air but makes little noise. Noise is energy that could be moving air to cool you, but instead makes sound. I also find that new fans have poor bearings. While in college 2000-2004, I lived in dorms without AC and a cheap fan's bearings would usually last 1-1.5 years of use.

We do have tricks to keep our non AC Queen Anne Victorian cooler. We open windows at night and have our HUGE window fan on high speed exhaust. By about 10:30 in the morning we close the windows and keep the cool in the house. We usually leave the third (top) floor windows open in the day too because that level bakes under the slate roof and we rarely go up there. In the evening, we open windows once the outside is the same temp or cooler as the inside. We keep fans around for cooling during the daytime.

Our power bills are low, but I still want AC,
Dave

 

[yogitunes]

We installed a POWER FAN in the hallway ceiling...2 speeds with an automatic vent. Belt drive with minimal noise...low gives a nice breeze, you have to adjust windows thru out the house to get each room even air flow....but when you put it on hi, look out, it's a WIND TUNNEL in here, cools down the house big time fast...I would like to put a thermostat on it, because in the middle of the night it gets cold, and you either pull on more blankets or drag yourself out of bed to turn it off...

this was easy to install...just cut sheetrock for the vent louvers, unit had a box that slid over top of rafters to form the air shaft, add a few screws to secure, wiring was simple, wall switch came with it...two hours later your up and running...

About $200.00 from Lowes....direct drive a little cheaper...belt drive quieter, and massive blades!

 

[soberleaf]

don't use air conditioning

had one, got rid of it. i'm also old fashioned! house stays pretty cool on it's own.

 

[spankomatic]

How hot does it have to get......before you look for mechani

The moment I feel hot,sweaty,stuffy the A/C comes on no mater what the temp is inside or out. It's how I FEEL that determins when it comes on or not. Sometimes I will run it when it is raining to bring down the humidity. It's also good to run the A/C once in a while during the winter. It helps lubricate the seals. I do use fans when reasonable. If your hot and uncomfortable turn it ON. That is what it is for.

Jim

 

[SactoTeddyBear]

Hey! "Toggles"

Which Washer are you using? I was wondering, because my LG Compact Combo has a 1400-RPM Spin and even with a fairly large load of Laundry {for my kenmore 110-volt dryer} the load dries within 1-hour, possibly 1-1/4 hour.

What I do is have the Washer set for Wash only, then I re-set to do just a Spin at the 1400-RPM Speed. I usually use the Perm Press Cycle which has a top spin of 1000-RPM, because it uses more Water especially in the Wash and almost as much Water for the Rinses.

If I've got laundry that I don't mind getting a little wrinkled, I then use my Combo Dryer as well, but most of the time, I just use my 110-volt Kenmore that I have Stacked on top of my LG Compact Combo. I also have the LG Compact Combo and the Kenmore Compact Dryer plugged into separate Circuits, so I can use both at the same time, since they are both 110-volt.

Peace, Great Laundry Cleaning and Fun Times, Steve
SactoTeddyBear...

 

[toggleswitch2]

Left to right:

Parade fo appliances

Dryer- Hotpoint, electric. (converted to 110v)
Washer- Frigidaire F/L with backsplash
Dishwasher (portable) Maytag tall-tub.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Jeez that camera picks-up details!

Dryer vent.

Plywood sheathed in contact paper (self-adhering vinyl) fitted with dryer vent,

 

[toggleswitch2]

Drying rack