For general questions regarding cooling your home.
3
votes
2answers
890 views
Is there a through-the-wall A/C that works with external thermostats?
Our two-story A-frame house only has duct-work downstairs in the crawl-space, with vents in the floor. It gets quite hot upstairs during the summer, but because the square footage of the upper floor ...
3
votes
3answers
7k views
How do I install an air conditioner on a horizontal sliding window?
There isn't a great amount of literature on this subject it seems. I have an air conditioner, the manual assumes that you have a vertical sliding window, but I have one that slides horizontal, so how ...
3
votes
1answer
387 views
How do I replace an A/C diffuser attached to flex duct?
Our house has central air, with the air distributed via flex ducts around the house. On the second floor, the diffusers have baffles behind them that can be closed when the system is not in use, but ...
3
votes
2answers
1k views
Should my evaporator be hissing? Should cold air be blowing from it?
My A/C hasn't been able to keep up with the heat lately (it's been in the high 90's with high humidity, and today the house was up to about 82 inside even though it's set on 70). I went up into the ...
3
votes
1answer
248 views
What is the life expectancy of an air conditioning unit with a booster?
Over the weekend my wife and I lost our air conditioning. I called a technician out to the house and he replaced both the fan motor and the capacitor. He also had to install a booster to help get my ...
3
votes
1answer
258 views
How can I protect A/C condenser wires?
I bought a replacement condenser fan motor for my outdoor A/C unit. The old unit was CW direction only. This one is CW/CCW and has 4 wires stick out of the side that change direction depending on how ...
3
votes
1answer
122 views
How can I determine which MERV filters would be best for my air handler?
I have a Carrier 3.5 ton, 1/2HP air handler (Model Number:fc4bnf042). I have been using MERV 13 a/c filters for a few years now because my son has allergies. I recently discovered that the higher ...
2
votes
4answers
574 views
Can a portable air conditioner be used to reduce moisture in a room?
I live in a flat in an older house and I have the disadvantage of living next to an outer wall. In autums/springs there is a period when the central heating isn't turned on yet, but it's already ...
2
votes
3answers
319 views
Is there any alternate of conventional Air Conditioner?
Is there any alternate of conventional Air Conditioner, which are costly and increasing green house effect?
2
votes
2answers
825 views
How long does it take to make money back on a new air conditioner?
I have a townhouse built in 1975 with an air conditioner on the roof. I have no idea how old it is but I can imagine it is on it's last legs. What's more, this last month's energy bill was one of our ...
2
votes
2answers
368 views
Does turning the air conditioning on and skipping its “fan” setting damage the air conditioner?
Air conditioning units nowadays allow you to switch it from "off" to various levels of "cool" without requiring you to "fan" setting first.
Is there any reason to use "fan" setting (such as for ...
2
votes
2answers
1k views
Home A/C Repair/Replacement quotes are very different. Which one to go with?
I recently have been having issues with my A/C unit on my Condo which was built in 1986. This unit might very well be the original A/C unit. It has two components, the fan outside and the air handler ...
2
votes
1answer
1k views
Air deflectors on floor registers and cooling efficiency
I was once told by an HVAC technician to avoid using air deflectors on floor registers during the summer. The reason was that the last thing you want to do is to direct the heavier, colder air ...
2
votes
1answer
102 views
AC comes on randomly
Even though my thermostat was set to "Off" or "Heat", my air conditioner is coming on randomly and blowing cold air out of the vents. I figured that the thermostat was bad so I disconnected all of ...
2
votes
1answer
403 views
Why isn't my heat pump system kicking out cool air this year?
I have a Carrier heat pump/air handler system (looks pretty old) with a honeywell T-stat (looks pretty new) and I am not getting cool air. Heat worked all winter, but I have used it in at least a ...
2
votes
1answer
552 views
How can I reduce heat transfer around my window unit air conditioners?
I have three old window units in my house and they function as my A/C. I am concerned about the amount of heat seeping into the house and cool air leaking out around the A/C units themselves. They're ...
2
votes
1answer
2k views
Why is there water dripping from my ceiling AC vents?
I have a one story house with hot water heat. The house also has forced air AC ducts running from the attached garage, in the attic, down into the living room, bedrooms, and kitchen. At certain times ...
2
votes
3answers
2k views
If my air conditioner return line iced over and the fan stopped, is it broken?
We've lived in our house for three summers and have never had any problems with the air conditioner. Today I noticed that there was ice on the coolant return line outside the house. I didn't think ...
2
votes
2answers
685 views
How do I clean an AC condensate pan?
I have a Ducane HVAC system that started leaking out of the evaporator coil housing. Mine looks like the EU1P. I read that i need to clean out the drip pan.
II tried cleaning it by sucking out the ...
2
votes
2answers
804 views
Why is my A/C unit running when the heater runs?
So it finally got cold here in AZ. We switched our thermostat from A/C to Heat. Now for some reason when the electric heater runs, the A/C condenser unit outside kicks on too. This is our first winter ...
2
votes
3answers
1k views
How can I improve hvac air flow to my attic?
Two years ago I converted the attic of my 1.5 story house into a livable space. It had no HVAC ducts going up, so I ran some coming from the basement where the furnace is.
Air flow to the attic via ...
2
votes
1answer
311 views
How can I extend this concrete pad?
So the wedge shaped concrete pad thats right up against the house; April 17th, we're having air conditioning installed before it gets to hot out. According to the installer, the unit will fit on the ...
2
votes
1answer
135 views
When I set the thermostat to X degrees, is that the temperature at which air is pushed out through the vents?
My hunch is that most ac units aren't that sophisticated, and they just pump air that is "cold enough" or "hot enough" and pump it until temperature rises to the specified value. Is that right?
2
votes
1answer
426 views
Is it normal for A/C performance to improve when vent covers are removed?
I recently moved my office to the second floor of our home and I haven't been able to get the temperature below about 78 even though the thermostat is on 72. My son's bedroom had been the same way ...
2
votes
2answers
223 views
What is a safe maximum temperature for an unused part of the house?
We barely use our upstairs so I don't really care how hot it gets. Except, I don't want to cause damage to the house. Considering Texas summers are easily in the 110s °F nowadays, how high can I ...
2
votes
1answer
166 views
What is involved in sizing and designing ducts and ductwork?
I have a one-story house, and it looks like it would be easy to run new ducts myself in the attic. What should I know before trying to design a duct system myself?
I have seen ductwork that's metal ...
2
votes
1answer
602 views
How do I install an air conditioner in a larger window?
I have a brand new AC in the box which was meant for another room, but recently had a baby and her room is too hot.
I want to use the AC I already purchased, but the max window width is 36" and the ...
2
votes
1answer
119 views
How do I properly size an air conditioner for a very sunny room?
I'm trying to size a window air conditioner for a room, but having trouble deciding if the usual guidelines are a good fit.
The room in question is about 230 sq. feet, and does not have full 8 foot ...
2
votes
1answer
506 views
How can I prevent heat loss through heater/air conditioner wall units?
HVAC experts out there...
I live in Wisconsin and it gets mighty cold here! I have a condo with 2 wall units that are used for both air conditioning and heat. My heat bill in the cold winter months ...
2
votes
2answers
462 views
Vented vs unvented crawl space
I've asked this question before:
Vented vs unvented crawl space
However, now that I'm going to get air conditioning the question comes back again and again people seem to have different opinions.
...
2
votes
0answers
39 views
Why is my air conditioner tripping the circuit breaker?
Our air conditioner recently stopped blowing out cold air. When I went to check on it, I noticed that the outside unit wasn't coming on. We had had problems with ants in the contacter in the past, ...
1
vote
2answers
355 views
Is there a filter-reminder thermostat that uses run-time instead of total time?
My HVAC filter is in my crawlspace and is a hassle to change. I don't want to change it more than needed. "Change it every month" is bogus advice because in some months (like May) we don't have to run ...
1
vote
2answers
489 views
Is my window air conditioner cooling properly?
I am renting a place where the only air conditioner is a window unit mounted in the wall in the main living area. The space in that main room is about 325 sq ft, and it has a 9 ft ceiling on average. ...
1
vote
1answer
576 views
AC Unit Blow Warm Air Indoor But Colder Air Outdoor
I have two AC Units. One for upstairs and one for downstairs. The upstairs one works just fine but not the downstairs. So, i did a test by turning both units on and went outside to compare the two ...
1
vote
5answers
2k views
What are my options to level out my air conditioner?
The air conditioner on the side of my house is on a small slab of concrete. Over time, it has started to tilt as the land has settled. We just recently moved in and a few of the neighbors have ...
1
vote
2answers
146 views
Is a Heat pump / AC unit considered more or less effecient in hot states?
Just learned a house we purchased has a heat pump vs a traditional heater. The heat pump / AC unit configuration outside, blower inside.
We live in the phoenix AZ area, and an efficient AC unit is ...
1
vote
1answer
345 views
What to do about a gas leak on my air conditioner?
I have an air conditioner that displays an error of gas leakage on the board.
What should I do? Shall I turn it off? It is dangerous?
1
vote
2answers
177 views
How can I add ventilation to my room?
My room is 3×5 meters, it doesn't have a ventilation pipe connected to it, so the air becomes close very fast, and to freshen up the room I have to open the window, and it makes my room very cold. ...
1
vote
2answers
2k views
How do I replace a condenser fan motor in a central air unit?
The condenser fan motor on my central air unit has seized up (tried like crazy to turn it it, but no go). I'm not sure how old the motor is but I'm guessing it's original, so about 12 years old. I ...
1
vote
1answer
107 views
What could be causing my air conditioner to make a humming sound?
I have an air conditioner that has an in-floor intake. When the heat pump turns on, there is a fairly loud humming that comes from the intake. If I step in certain places around the intake the ...
1
vote
1answer
4k views
How can I install a window air conditioner in a metal window frame?
I'm trying to install a window unit air conditioner, but most of the installation instructions don't seem to work with this window configuration.
A little bit about the setup: The apartment is the ...
1
vote
2answers
571 views
What should be cleaned or examined after an air conditioner drain pipe leak?
The other day, we found some water on the floor in our utility room. After some research and investigation, we discovered that the drain pipe from the central air unit was blocked. We were able to use ...
1
vote
1answer
281 views
Furnace Airflow
I have central air. When the furnace comes on, we can feel air coming out of the registers for a few minutes, then the airflow stops. If we turn it off for a few hours, we can turn it on again and get ...
1
vote
1answer
64 views
Is a single ductless HVAC system more efficient than two smaller ductless systems?
I have an 809 sq ft stand-alone room with concrete slab and block walls that needs to have AC and heat. We have windows on all sides, 8' ceilings, and live in Florida. The room will be used as a dog ...
1
vote
1answer
589 views
What could be causing an A/C blower motor to turn off randomly?
The Blower motor on my AC unit turns off at random times while the outside unit continues to run which is causing the coil to freeze up. The blower won't come on for 30-45 minutes after the AC has ...
1
vote
1answer
647 views
Why is my outdoor air conditioner unit making a screeching/squeeling sound?
During the winter time when I have my heat on, my outdoor air conditioner unit randomly makes this awful-sounding squealing/screeching sound. It lasts for about 15-30 seconds at a time, stops, and ...
1
vote
2answers
104 views
Is a combined AC/Dehumidifer unit more efficient than separate units?
I've just moved into a "basement-ish" apartment; the actual ground level is about at my waist. It's a bit mustier than I'd hoped, and not as cool as I'd like during these closing days of Summer. I'm ...
1
vote
0answers
104 views
What type of air conditioner to look for
I'm looking for a portable air conditioner that can be moved from room to room. But the key thing I want is one that does not use a condensation tank. I know they exist because I have seen one. It ...
1
vote
1answer
395 views
What can I use to repair a crack in a plastic AC Condenser Drip pan?
I've currently got an oldish furnace (early '90s Lennox), with an A/C system. The blower motor burnt up on me last week, and I just had it replaced. It turns out that the reason for the motor going, ...
1
vote
0answers
171 views
Why does power loss leave my split/ductless AC unit inoperable for hours or days? [closed]
I've got an LG Ductless 12000 BTU unit that does the most annoying thing..
It is wired into a semi-standard (one of the prongs is sideways) 15A or 20A (can't recall) GFCI outlet inside - and if the ...
