Is it Time to Turn the Air Conditioning on Yet?

[norgeway]

I keep it about

65 to 68 in the summer, about 68 in winter, we burned less than 250 gallons of oil this winter, but you can bet the power bill will make up for it this Summer!

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 They have been on and off since Easter. All are running since last night, don't see them going off until Saturday. Expected high of 70F by then.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

"forget Spring and Fall, we go from one extreme to the next...."

It feel like November & March weather (45-55F, cloudy, raw, chill clings to your bones) starts earlier and runs later every year. At the same time summer comes earlier and stays longer.

A/c in our building turned on today. Using the a/c at Eric's for the first time this evening.

 

[jmm63]

I'm in Michigan at my mom's Dave and these brick Allen Park houses get hot by the afternoon so  I got their a/c ready for the season for them.  Took off the outside cover, cleaned the condenser, changed the dampers from winter to summer and changed the filter.  We were quite comfortable at about 77 in no time.  I sure wish my house had central air, I'm going to have to bump it up the list of things to do.  

 

[yogitunes]

the A/C system is a PAYNE....

I was able to bump up slightly from a 3 ton to a 3.5.....the inside unit was an "A" frame, now its a "N" shape design, and roughly 6 inches taller, also allows access for opening up and cleaning

this Father and Son team installed it....well, actually I met them last Fall as the son bought a Kitchen Aid washer/dryer off of me......

I gave him a good deal on the set....and he gave me a fantastic deal on this unit and install.....he also offered, if this is not going to work for this house, he would take this back, and offer a deal on a complete heat/AC switch out, bumping upwards to a 4 or 5 ton unit...

they also showed me how to braze copper lines, without the use of cleaning and flux.....that lesson was worth more to me than you know....

all I know so far, its 90 outside, no shade or trees, the sun bakes on this house, and inside its at 74, and it is cycled off at the moment...well, its been three hours so far, and has not come back on.....

the original unit ran 24/7 and barely kept up......we had electric bills close to 1000.00 a month...

but for right now, I am a happy camper...better than I expected

the only thing with central air systems, unlike window units, you can't really shut off rooms or registers, it will throw the unit into havoc, best to keep everything open full blast...no matter what, you have to cool the entire house...

 

[firedome]

91 here at the moment, and the t-storm clouds are brewing...

but we hate a/c, generally, so the box fan is on low next to me. We have 7 of them and use them in every room we inhabit here in central NY throughout summer.

In VT we have a new high-tech Mitsubishi Cold Climate heat pump that heats well down to minus 15F, it'll be interesting to see how well it cools, though we probably won't use it much in summer, if at all; we prefer the breeze off the lake. But no doubt the kids will use a/c when they are there.

 

[washman]

Payne, IIRC, is a division of UTC, aka makers of Carrier and owners of ICP HVAC stuff.

 

So long as it is not microchannel, you should be fine

 

[vacerator]

My 1990 ish

2.5 ton Bryant is doing fine (knock wood).

Since we are talking A/C, what is a microchannel Ben?
I also noticed our neighbor has a second unit installed. it is not brand new looking. The green one in the back was also running today.
At first I thought it was a heat pump. maybe it is, for a grow room in his basement perhaps?
he has the lines going through a basement block window vent.

 

[countryguy]

It was in the high 80s yesterday so I had to turn on the ductless A/C unit in the bedroom when I went to bed. I set the timer for 1 hour as I just wanted to cool the bedroom down but at 2:30 am I had to get up and turn the A/C back on. It was humid here today and we had a downpour this afternoon. It is supposed to go down to about 35 F tonight (a couple hours north of here it was snowing this afternoon) and a high of only about 60 for the next several days. I am having another ductless split A/C unit installed tomorrow in the main living area.

Gary

 

[wayupnorth]

First time in shorts and no shirt this year. Cooling off somewhat after a surprise at 92 today, broke the record. Think the ceiling and window fans will make it sleepable. I really dont want to drag my a/c out and put it in.

 

[washman]

Mike I attached a pic of a microchannel condenser design. Nothing new, really.  It's been used on autos for years now.

 

However in a residential HVAC environment, it has proven to be less than durable, hard to fix, and often the whole condensing unit needs replaced.  While it is lighter in weight and uses less of a charge than a typical copper tube design, it is nowhere near as durable. And York has had their tit in the ringer over this.

 

If you search on  youtube, there is a chap named israel hvac that has his own business in Louisiana.  He is not a fan of microchannel designs.

 

My uncle had a saying back in the day............copper is proper. 

 

[duke]

TRUE--I do like them but they are a thin and easily damaged condenser.Huge fight last month with Trane over this issue on a rooftop unit.I strongly suggest hardware cloth to protect it or a factory hail guard.One good hit from a projected lawn mower pebble and bye bye  thousand bucks.

 

[vacerator]

Thanks Ben,

I saw that photo on line last night.
My sister got a Payne unit 3 years ago in my folks house she now has. My mom never wanted central air.
She used to keep the blinds and drapes drawn on the sunny side of the house so it didn't heat up. They were usually away from home in their healthier days on antique scavaging outings. By the time they got home at night, it had cooled off enough to sleep with a fan.
I tell you, depression kids were very frugal. My dad used to tell us we only earned what we saved. Believe it or not, a Democrat to boot.

 

[launderess]

What A Difference A Day Makes...

Twenty-four little hours.......

Went to sleep with windows open and fan running, overnight felt sort of chilly so reached down for the blankets. This morning greeted with a nice crisp, slightly chilly and windy weather. Just perfect.

Yesterday's high temp in NYC was 91F. Today things will be around 63F.... Cannot be sure but think there was a slight bit of rain overnight as ground looks wet.

 

[panthera]

We got eleven inches of wet snow at our house, in the end.

Lots of trees down around town, lots of patio covers, verandas, etc.

Had a bit of satisfaction - after the hail storm of '08, I had a big fight with the contractor rebuilding the 14x64 polycarbonate veranda cover. Insisted on cutting the spacing between joists in half, never mind what 'code' allowed. Doubling up on the panel overlap and spending an extra $2.00/panel for the slightly thicker but better UV protected ones.

 

So - ours took the load with no problem - let's see this snow was officially 20lbs/cubic foot. So - 16426.666lbs load on the roof when the snow stopped early this morning. That's a bit over 7, 450kg for those of us who think in normal weight.

 

That was enough to bring down not one, not two but eight of the patio roofs he'd done in the past five years. The length of the guarantee to stay up he gives. 

 

There are some advantages to living in a small town. Schadenfreude is one of them.

 

 

 

[askolover]

It was 92 here yesterday and 80 this morning at 7am when I left Vanderbilt.  Thunderstorming right now and temp in the 60's.  I've had the AC on for the last week at least.  My 17 year old Amana (Goodman) so far has done well.  Tony and I are having thermostat wars...he's hormonal now and having hot flashes.