Before I call my landlord, I wanted to ask you Dopers if my AC is normal. The thermostat is set to 78 during the day, 75 starting at 4:30.
It is now 10:10PM. The AC has been running solid without shutting off for hours. The thermostat reads 76.
But, my house is horribly insulated. If I turn the AC up to force it to shut off, it gets stuffy and warm in here within a very short amount of time. (On the other hand, it is fucking freezing in here with the AC on.)
If this is an AC problem that should be looked at, I’ll call my landlord. But I hate dealing with him and don’t want to call him unless I have to.
Are you asking if it’s normal for your AC not to provide cold air? No that’s not normal. Regardless of where the thermostat is set it should provide cold air while it’s running.
Well, IIRC from your furnace issues, the problem lies with your poorly insulated house. If it’s really humid outside and the humidity is getting in, it’s going to make it feel hotter then it really is.
Also, I kinda wonder if the AC is over sized. Not that there’s anything you can do about that, but it will cause humidity problems due to the short run times.
Possible suggestions:
1)Flip the fan switch to ON to keep the house air circulating or use some box fans. This may help to keep the temperature even around the house and keep the humidity moving back down the AC coils.
2)See if your landlord can slow the motor down a notch on the furnace fan from high to medium. This will give the air more of a chance to dehumidify as it passes over the coils, but it has some cons as well, I would hold back on this until we try some other things (I’m going in the order I think of these, I would try this, but I would keep an eye on the coils to make sure they don’t ice over)
3)Make sure the coils are clean as well as the furnace filter and that you have a good amount of air coming from the registers.
4)A bit of an expense on your part, but get a dehumidifier. Like I said, drier air will feel cooler, so it’ll give you the ability to leave the t-stat set a bit higher without it feeling stuffy.
5)Insulate anywhere you see obvious holes…if that’s something you can do. No one (obviously) is expecting you to fill the walls or spend thousands spraying the crawlspaces
6)Something else I would do is check the Evap coils (the ones in the basement above the furnace, behind a sheet metal access panel) and make sure they aren’t iced over. Actually, just take a look at the bigger of the two copper lines that run from the furnace to the AC unit outside, especially any part of it lacking any insulation. If it’s got a ton of ice on it, the may indicate a problem. If you look at the coils and one part of it is covered in ice, but the rest isn’t that can indicate that you are low on freon.
She had a ton of problems with the furnace in winter as well, mostly due to bad insulation (and a register blowing on the t-stat, but I think we took care of that).
How hot was it outside? If your house is poorly insulated and it was an especially warm day (as many have had on the East coast) then it would not be surprising if the AC had trouble maintaining temperature much less bumping it down a few degrees. Was it acutally able to maintain 78 during the day?
Is this central AC in the entire house, or a unit that goes in the window or a hole in the wall?
Window and wall units pretty much always have a filter, and I would imagine that a central system would have some kind of filter at/near the evaporator (that’s the main part that gets cold, where the fan blows air past it to cool the space).
Regardless, a good first step will be to find the filter and make sure it is clean. A dirty filter will impede airflow.
Yeah, Joey P, I was really hoping there was something wrong with it and not an insulation issue. I know, pipe dream. On the other hand, I should send you a check for being my personal HVAC guy. I’ll turn the fan to ON and see if that helps. I’ll check the things you listed.
To answer the questions from the thread:
This is a central AC unit
Oh, it blows cold, alright. Fucking cold. For a really long time. I get to be either frrrrrreezing or stuffy too warm uncomfortable yuck crap I guess I have to turn the AC back down.
Sufficient air coming from the registers. So much from the register by the thermostat that I have to close it because I’m getting a jet blast of cold air into my living room. (Which makes me wonder why the stat picks up on the hot air and shuts off the furnance but not the cold air and shutting off the AC?)
The filter is clean.
There are major insulation issues which I cannot fix (like the fact that the seals are broken on three of my windows). I didn’t realize what it meant when I moved in to have mist between the window panes. The closet in my bedroom is either uninsulated or poorly insulated (and is on the outside wall on two sides). There is a vent in my bathroom (which is not electric) which I believe leads directly outside (!!) as a means to rid the bathroom of moisture since there is no electric vent.
Sigh. I learned a lot from this house in the year I’ve lived there (and what to look for next time). The good thing is that I realized today that my landlord didn’t renew my lease (and it was up at the end of May). I’m not generally that unaware of my lease dates… I honestly thought it was up in July. AIUI, that means that I am in a month-to-month situation and I am going to start looking for a new place.
This is good, very good. It means it’s more then likely not an issue with the AC. I mean, it could be oversized, but no one’s going to do anything about that, so we’ll just ignore that possibility.
So, what you have is a problem with insulation and REALLY cold air and if it’s really humid out it’s going to get clammy. Assuming you don’t want to get a dehumidifier to help the AC out. My suggestion is to keep the fan running as well as any ceiling fans and/or box or oscillating fans. This will keep the cool air moving around. Part of the problem is likely that the cool air is coming in from the AC and going right to the outdoors. If you keep it circulating you may have a chance to A)actually feel it and B)get some of the humidity back down to the coils to be drawn out of the air.
Another thing. If your house has return airs (the ones that suck air in) at high and low spots on the wall, in summer you want to close the bottom ones. This will force the AC to pull the hot air off the ceiling to be cooled.
I’m not sure what else to say at the moment. But as long as you’re getting really cold air, you probably don’t need to go and check out the equipment, it sounds like it’s strictly and insulation issue. Are there any unused rooms you can close off? Can you close any curtains to block the sunlight?
Yeah, having the fans on and the AC fan on makes a nice difference. I don’t have any unused rooms I can close off, unfortunately (1 BR duplex). I’ll have to invest in a de-humidifier and curtains if I stay here. My duplex was built in 1928, so the living and dining rooms have those big double windows like you have in a 20’s Midwestern bungalow, and they are the biggest offenders since they are the ones with the broken seals.
If those big windows are facing the sun all day, you might want to, just for kicks, find a way to block out the sun for a day and see how big of a difference it makes to see if it’s worth it to invest in curtains or miniblinds. If it’s just for a day, some cardboard or thumb tacked towels/dark sheets. It might be nothing compared to the humidity or it might make a huge difference.
Glad the fans are helping. Like I said, I think just keeping the air moving will help. If nothing else, just having a breeze will at least help you feel cooler. But if all it does is make you feel cooler but the AC still runs just as often and temp still doesn’t go down, turn the fan back to auto when you leave the house, no point in running it all the time and it will, technically, add heat to the house.
When we moved into our house it had a south facing window. 6 ft by 8 feet and a glass slidding patio door anothe 8 feet of glass all single pain. We got some thermal drapes drop the room temp by 10 to 15 degrees. 12 years later when we remoddled the drapes fell apart when I took them down.
Because hot air rises and cold air stays down near the floor.
Your thermostat is probably located about eye level – about 2/3rds of the way up to the ceiling – so hot air rises to that level, while most of the cold air stays below it.
Heavy duty garbage bags or aluminum foil and duct tape will work as “insulation” if you’re strapped for cash (and won’t leave behind damage like tacks or nails will). I put up a couple trash bags on my sunward-facing bedroom window, and it really helps to keep the room cooler during the daytime.
