Ok. Help me. I’m…just a caveman, and your ways frighten and confuse me.
I am dumb. To quote Ghostbusters:
“Ray, for a minute, lets pretend I don’t know anything about science, metalurgy or physics, and just tell me what the hell is going on.”
It’s hot in Chicago. It’s been in the 90s (heat index) for a while. So Mr. and Mrs. J bought a window air conditioning unit for the love boudoir and set it to a nice, refreshing 68 degrees in the evenings when we’re trying to sleep. The first night, it was a dream. I was actually chilly, cuddling under blankets, saying “what a great world we live in, with technology such as this”
That was three weeks ago. Since then I’ve been consistently turning the thermostat on the unit down further and further, to the point where I have it set at 61 and I’m still sweating my balls off, laying in bed saying WHY THE F IS IT SO HOT IN HERE?
I understand that eventually you get ‘used to’ the luxury of air conditioning and it will never be as glorious as that first, wonderful night, but please. Temps are temps, aren’t they? The conditions OUTSIDE have remained the same. 68 degrees should be comfortable to a 98.6 being under any conditions, right? Why am I sweating in a 61 degree room?
Are you sure it’s set to cool the air, rather than just on a fan setting? My air conditioner has five settings: two for fan, three for cooling. My wife keeps setting it on fan, then complains when doesn’t cool the room down any…
My guess is that your Air Conditioner is not working. You may have the thermostat on the unit set to 61 but it may not be cooling the room to that temperature. It may not even be blowing out air at that temperature.
Get a thermometer independent of the unit and place it in the room. See what that reads. Next, place the thermometer near the unit and take the temperature of the air blowing out of the unit. If it is higher than what you have it set to, the unit is not functioning properly. Get it repaired.
For really neat temperature taking, you can buy this cool laser directed, hand held (gun-style) thermometer (I guess that is what it is) that you can aim at any point and get a digital temperature reading.
Hang a thermometer in the room and see what the temperature actually is. Chances are the A/C unit blew something, or something else froze over inside the machine (I know little about this obviously, but I remember it happening a couple of times to us here in Texas).
Is it getting especially humid? Get yourself a cheap hygometer to see if the relative humidity has risen into the icky zone (technical term). If it gets just a little too humid, your body’s cooling system doesn’t work as well. Your air conditioner should be de-humidifying as well as cooling, but if it’s just a little baby window air conditioner, an especially warm & humid day might be too much for it.
Are you running the pizza ovens & clothes dryers more than usual lately?
Another thing about humidity: you may have frozen the unit through constant use. Moisture collects on parts of the AC and freezes, which will eventually cause the thing to stop helping with the temperature. I expect that leaving it on after it freezes could eventually cause permanent damage. Turn it off, go out and catch a few flicks at your local behemo-plex. Turn the AC on when you come back and see if you have delicious cool air again.
Clean the filter. There’s a noticeable difference in our big 220V dining room unit when the filter is clogged with dust. It’s usually a flat narrow tray that slides out of the bottom or top. Wash it off under the shower.
Is it possible the thermostat is just broken?
Some units have an “energy saver” switch, which basically means you have a choice between recirculating cool room air, and bringing in hot outside air. The little window unit in Bonzo’s bedroom is noticeably less competent at cooling his room when it’s set on “bring in some more of that good hot outside air, yeah bob.”
(and besides, the Energy Crisis is over, the Chicago Tribune said so this morning…)
I bought a window unit last year during that heat wave. I cooled for a few weeks. Then it quit. I felt much like jarbaby–it was a new unit. How could it not be working? But it wasn’t. Things suck these days. They are made in a bigger hurry than the old days. Cheaper. But shoddy. That is my theory anyway.
It may not be working. If, after doing the thermometer test recommended, take it back, and get a new one.
I waited and waited and waited to give some other Doper a chance…
C’mon, you could melt a glacier you are so hot! Hell, you make me …fidget…after just a few minutes in my room and I’m way the hell up in Rogers Park!!
I have a real for true air conditioner in my back seat of my car that I am too tired to bring upstairs (really! ask magdalene!!) - you want another? It aint pretty but it works. it’s an older smaller one that will fit in your window nicely [sub]I am assuming, based on the exterior of your building, not any detailed analysis of your windows/doors/other means of entry[/sub]
Oh my ATT email addy is not going to be working for more than a day or too and I’m off work tomorrow so if you want it, call me and I’ll drop it by or email to the addy in my profile.
Jess, if you can figure a way out to package it, I will gladly send you ALL the cold air from my apartment here in DC. The wife keeps the thermostats set to 70F and I’m freezing my butt off. She also seems infatuated with the car’s airconditioning. No wonder she has colds and sinus infections half the year. Fresh air, folks-nothing like it.
