Our Stupid Furnace

[exploder3211]

Ok..
The apartment complex repairmen have been here multipul times to fix the stupid a/c unit all to no avail.. If it gets above 85 degrees the thing can not cool our apartment below 75 degrees and thats running 24/7.. How should i approch them about getting it replaced or?? I can not afford paying $100+ a month to run the a/c 24/7... I know about thermal gain and such, do you think a dark sheet over the floor to celing windows wuould help, esp. in our bedroom where its the hottest? Can't tint the windows like i would like... ANy help would be appricated.. ALso thought of a window a/c to help out, esp. scince i nixed the counter top d/w idea...

 

[panthera]

It's all relative

Chad,
It helped me to stop thinking of A/C as cold, instead I think of it as heat removal.
So now I concentrate on preventing heat.
A few ideas, each worth a few degrees.
1) There are removable films to tint the glass. You really may not put them up? They are only held in place with water. I know American landlords can act like spoiled Roman gods, but I can't imagine them saying no to something like that...
cost per window (here in Munich) about 10$. Cuts heat transmission by 28%, supposedly. I figure not quite that much...but makes a "feel-a-ble" difference.
2) The heat in your shower, dishwasher, washer are all much greater than you might think - and they flow right out into your living space. So think about when you use those things. Keep the bathroom door closed when you shower, turn the water off in between latherings. It sounds silly, but something like 17% of the warmth generated in the house is warm water!
3) Keep those drapes closed during the day. If you can't tint the windows, you are required to keep your windows covered in the US. Old biddies might get the shock of their lives! So, if you can't tint the glass, at least get some of that ridiculously cheap emergency-blanket plastic (you know the kind, comes in a little bag for hypothermia emergincies, costs like 1.50$) and line your curtains with it. Nearly as good as tinting the windows.
4) Drink more water. Your own cooling system needs water to be efficient. The nonsense about how tea and coffee don't hydrate has (finally) been laid to rest by science; so drink tea, drink coffee, whatever, but drink. One big water glass/hour at 80° is not too much.
5) Standby electronics pumps a suprising amount of heat into your living space. Mine adds up to over 100watts. And it is a fact: every watt of electrical energy is equal to one watt of heat. So if all those little "wall-warts" add up to 100 watts, that is the same as running a 100 watt incandescent light bulb! That is heat!
6)Speaking of which, CFLs put out almost no heat; the relationship can amount to a difference of 85-90 watts of heat per bulb in extreme cases. Wallmart sells really cheap and good ones. Rule of thumb: You figure about 2,000 watts to heat a normal sized room through a German winter...colder than where you are at. So start looking and adding up. You will be shocked.
7) Air flow. That HVAC unit may run 24/7...but if the air-flow is not right, then it is useless. Any hidden filters that need cleaning? Any return ducts which are blocked? How about carefully placed small fans to move the air into a useful direction?
Just some thoughts.
Keven

 

[Cybrvanr]

It is law to keep windows covered in the U.S.? I've never heard that one! During the wintertime, I remove the curtains and pull up the blinds to get the benefit of solar heat gain on the south side of my house. The amount of heat the sun adds to the house is significant and saves on the heating bill.

This heat however is a hinderance to the air conditioner. During the summertime, the trees get leaves and I keep the windows covered with the blinds closed. I use white metal blinds that reflect the light and heat back outside. That goes a long way towards helping the AC unit.

Another trick you may want to try is to cool the apartment off at nighttime when the air outside is cooler. It's an easier chore when it's not having to fight an uphill battle to remove heat from your apartment. Yes, you may need to put the blankets back on the bed, but during the day it will be more comfortable

 

[volvoguy87]

The furnace.

The posts, thus far, have focused on ways to inprove the performance of an HVAC system. The problems you are describing, exploder3211, seem to indicate a malfunctioning HVAC system. All the aforementioned improvements would be of some benefit, but they would not fix a broken furnace. Let it run for awhile and check if the coils ice up. If they do ice up, it may indicate that the system is low on refrigerant. That is easy to fix, unless there is a leak. Whatever the problem may be, it is the responsibility of the maintainance crew to address it, after you alert them to the problem. Also, maybe there is a damper somewhere in the ductwork that is closed too.
Keep on the maintainance department until they fix it. Or, you can do what I do and start restoring old fans.

Keep cool,
Dave

 

[toggleswitch]

When oversized an A/C unit will not dehumdify properly. When undersized it won't chill a room adequately.

Perhaps window-rattlers will help. If nothing else a small one will dehumdify and make 75*f FEEL more comfortable.

I have noticed that as I have matured (read: aged) I am less tolerant of temperture extremes. Of course the "few excess" pounds of fat padding me ain't helping neitha.

 

[nurdlinger]

The thing to concentrate on vis-a-vis the maintenance staff is objective data not subject to personal preference. There is a standard for the temperature of the air at the register outlet. I don't know what the number (or range of numbers) might be but if your unit cannot cool down to the standard, failure of some sort is indicated.

 

[whirlcool]

I think the air coming out of the vent should be somewhere in the low 50's F.
I would press the landlord for this repair. Periodically, the coils should be cleaned and the system checked for the proper level of Freon. If it is only 85F outside, just think what it'll do when it's 95F outside!
Make sure you're the squeaky wheel, so it'll get lubed in this case!

 

[exploder3211]

Thanks.. I thought of dark blue bed sheets over the bedroom window... We can't put anything up on the windows as one faces the front door and they don't want stuff plastered on there..
I do try to keep the lights off during the day and everything i can off to reduce heat. We don't use the dryer until after 11 pm, same with the dishwasher..We do take showers in the middle of the day, but usualy thats one shower for both of us (yeah we are close)
I think this too may have in part caused my partners small seziure last night as it was soo damn hot..

I a, still hinking about a small window a/c and it can be well hidden as no one can see our bedroom window unless they are doing work on the a/c handlers out side (btw ours it the size of a 35 gal. trash can and its for an 800 sq 1 bedroom apt)

I am going to yank the furnace panel off and check it out today... Thanks

 

[DADoES]

Chad, the cooled air coming out of the registers is not to be at a specific temperature. Remember that air conditioning doesn't make cold so much as it removes heat. The BTU rating of a system determines how much heat it can remove within a given time-frame. For example, a 36,000 BTU unit can remove 36,000 BTUs of heat in one hour. One BTU is the amount of heat needed to change the temperature (either increase or decrease) of one pound of water (when at its heaviest) by 1°F. If the air temperature going into the return-air is 95°F, the output won't be as low as if the intake air is 70°F.

It is my understanding that there should be a 12°F to 15°F drop between the intake and outflow. Or maybe it's 15°F to 18°F drop. Anyway, check at the intake grill, and check the temperature of an air register close as possible to the evaporator's location (to minimize "loss" through the ductwork). If the difference is within that range the system *may* be working OK in terms of cooling capacity. Note that if the difference is somewhat *lower*, it may be a case of restricted airflow from a clogged filter or evaporator coil, which would slow down the airflow rate and effectively keep the air in the coils a little longer, thus reducing the temperature more. That sounds good, but slower airflow won't cool the rooms properly.

My sister had a situation at one of the houses in which she lived over the years. The air coming out was cold but the unit couldn't keep up. There was an extra filter further inside the unit (not just the one filter at the return wall-grill), which she finally found after some investigation. It apparently had NEVER been changed.

 

[launderess]

Yes, as Dadoes states, there isn't a set number for how AC's give off "cold" air, as it reflects upon several factors including the incoming air temp. My reading pretty much backs up the 10-15 degree difference between air coming out of the unit versus what is being taken in. You can test this easily with any good household thermometer(I use a digital kitchen thermometer used for testing roasts/baked goods). Hold the thermometer over the air intake until it settles at a final temp, then move it up to where air leaves the unit and do the same. You should see about a 10 to 15 degree change in temp. If not, then your unit may not be functioning correctly.

Like modern fridges, ACs have sealed cooling systems, thus do not need topping up of coolant. The only time coolant leaves the system is if there is a leak, in which case one must have the leak repaired before adding more coolant otherwise coolant.

Am assuming you have done simple routine maintainence, such as cleaning the air filters. It may also be time for your units condenser coils, blower wheel, fans, etc to have a good cleaning. If the unit is really dirty it many need to be steam cleaned by a professional. Cleaning the condenser coils is pretty easy, and it can be a DIY job, just go about it carefully.

As for keeping cooling bills down, best advice can give is not to allow heat to build-up in the first place. I keep the dark drapes closed during the hottest part of the day, which keeps out heat and humidy. Usually only run the AC from about an hour before bed time until the next morning. Keeping the drapes closed keeps the cool air in and prevents the place from getting hot. You may also wish to try using a fan along with your AC to move cool air around. Even on high fan/cooling settings, most ACs cannot move as much air as a good fan, and that air movement will help you feel cooler.

 

[exploder3211]

Thanks.. I have passed all of this info to the mantince guys here. I also did some investigation and did find the evaporater coil was quite nasty on the bottom and there is actually a missing filter as well.. But our solution is this:
Cut the old beast up to 75-78, which will keep the other part of the apartment tolorable and then we will use our window a/c and keep the bedroom at 68 degrees where we want it, as this is where my office set up is an such..
Also the light bulb idea has helped and some darker blinds as well will help..

Thanks again... Attached is my $89 A/C unit from Lowes, a Fridgidare 5050 BTU unit for a 180 sq ft room

 

[launderess]

It is vitally important never to operate any AC unit without all proper filters in place. Doing so will not only hurt performance, but will drastically shorten the lifespan of any HVAC unit/system. I'd have the unit cleaned and most certianly get down to the shops for some filters.

L.

 

[selectomatic]

Um,

Exploder, your knob is showing.

 

[brettsomers]

...tune in tomorrow, when low-sudsing DASH brings us another installment of "Our Stupid Furnace". Stay tuned for "Tonight I Am Heartbroken" coming up next over most of these CBS stations...

 

[exploder3211]

Thanks for the info, i am trying to figure out what kinda filter it takes as it says it was a semi permanent thing and its a 22 year old furnace according to carrier. I have asked mantince for this filter as its in the furnace but they said they took them out and they don't clean the units.. Should i send an email to coperate in regardsto this???

BTW Not sure i understand the last post?

 

[oxydolfan1]

You might want to pick up one of those Honeywell "Twindow" fans (they cost about 39 bucks at our local CVS/Walgreens stores)...

They are light white plastic small double window fans that either expand or contract to fit a window (I like the kitchen window)..

Each fan is controlled individually-and they reverse on exhaust.

On a cooler night, you can crank 'em up on exhaust, get the hot kitchen air out, and if you leave the doors and any other windows open, you'll feel a slight breeze coming in....also, you can set them on "intake" and at least the kitchen and adjacent rooms will cool down somewhat. That might help ease the load on your existing air conditioner and help to keep costs down.

If you have tiled or resilient flooring, you might want to mop them down with cold water and some pleasant-smelling cleaner in it....I'm not sure if it is psychological, but it seems to help.

Good luck and stay cool!

 

[nurdlinger]

Your Life as a Soap Opera

...brought to you by Dash. You have to imagine the cheesy 1950's voice-over announcer delivering the line. (and to be sure, accompanied by organ music)

 

[geoff]

OMG!!!!!

$100+ electric bill for running the A/C 24/7?? I would KILL for that electric bill LOL.. Mine is almost $600

 

[~sudsshane]

trade power bills Chad?

Our power/water bill averages between $400 a month in the off season and up to $600 in the summer with AC/Pool/Sprinklers etc etc

=)