Air Conditioning Help

[ageecee]

Heres the Story:




Wifey decided to get a New AC Unit 3 years ago. Guy told her this is what you need. It was a smaller unit than the one we previously had in our house and he said it would do the same thing as our older unit. Plunked down 3K to get the new one in. One problem. Every summer when it gets hot as hell and the humidity is 200% in Louisiana the unit cant keep up. Yesterday afternoon the unit ran all afternoon without shutting off and it was 80 degrees in the house. Today it hasnt shut off since noon and its 75 degrees in the house. I have all the doors closed and all the windows closed to keep the house as cool as possible. Any solutions?



Do i go get another bigger unit and sell or trade in the unit i have? This only happens in the summer time but im getting tired of this crap. What to do?

 

[Another Steve]

I had the same problem and got a bigger Unit, still struggeling with this Heat.

Water down the Uniit, just did that while watering the Garden and Plants.

 

[The Boys]

I tinted all my windows, using a darker tint facing south, man did that work............blocked most of the hot sun from east to west.

 

[bsucards]

you also might need to have the coil cleaned out and change the filter more often when it is running all the time like this.

But then again window tint and a bigger unit might be the trick

 

[ageecee]

I have the darkend tinted screens on my windows i think is what they call them. My house is not very big so i cant understand why this unit cant keep up.


I watered down the unit yesterday but that didnt help either. Also watered the roof down and that didnt help neither.

Might call another AC man and see what he says

 

[sportsnut13]

sounds to me like your unit is under sized units should shutoff. With the hot weather make sure the condenser coil is clean. you can use 409 cleaner and hose it off. Also if your not let the unit run at night if it is under sized and you turn it on at noon it will never make it. unit size should be about 700 sq ft per ton. My house is a cool 72 good luck

 

[ageecee]

Sportsnut13,

Ok here is a stupid question-Where is the condenser coil at? Im not good with Ac units. Do i spray on the 409 on the coils and let them sit for awhile and then hose them off?

My problem is on hot afternoons from 12-7. Today wasnt bad but my unit never shut off this afternoon but the temp was 75 which wasnt bad but yesterday it never shut off and the temp stayed at 80 degrees.


I dont have a clue how big or small this unit is-Do i call a AC man tomorrow and tell him to come service the unit and ask him if he thinks its big enough? How much do they charge to come service an AC unit?

 

[BahamaMama]

we just had central air put in my dad's house a month ago (and extremely thankful for that in this heat....LOL) i remarked to the kid that installed it that i couldn't wait till the dog days of August when it was 100 outside and i could walk into 65 degrees for a change.... He told me i was living in a dream world, that there wasn't a unit made that would bring the temp down much more than 20 degrees from the outside temp.... sounds as if it is getting down to 80 in the afternoon inside your house and the temp is hovering around 100, it's doing just what he said.... working the same here also.... was only 78 in the house this afternoon with the thermostat set to 74......... BUT, it does a great job of getting the humidity out, and the house still feels nice and cool to walk into from the sweat box outdoors.

 

[vinnie]

We have central air it got up to 106 today and the house was never above 74

 

[blgstocks]

you could add a window ac unit to a room you frequent quite a bit, they can be an inexpensive boost to cool down a room. A small one capable of cooling down a 1000 sqft room should be found around 150, plus the new ones arent all that expensive to run.

I know right in front of my window ac unit it feels very cool. Probably cheaper than buying a big central air unit.

 

[DeadPrez]

We have central air it got up to 106 today and the house was never above 74

not quite 106 here but close and I keep the central AC @ 77 degrees.

if you got the coin the central AC is the way to go.

CRUCIAL to the south man I don't know how you can live w/out it down there

 

[sportsnut13]

If you want get my email address from jack. the condenser is the outside unit. turn the unit off and spray the coil with 409 or fantastic then hose it from top to bottom. when the water is clear then you should be done. my guess is there is something else wrong. it could be low on charge or something.
If you get me the model # I should be able to tell the size a ton of a/c is 1200 btu's so the model # that has 2400 is 2 ton 3600 is 3 ton and so on. hope that helps

 

[ageecee]

AC man is coming today-will kep u updated..

 

[Franky Wright]

It needs refrigerant :SIB

$60-90 for the call, labor/materials for 50-75= $110-265 :scared

GL Agee


Franky

 

[okolepuka]

I think you don't have enough BTU's. To find the right BTUs, you need to find the area space of your room. You know, WxL. After that you need to X's that by 50, I believe. I may be wrong. If I am, will someone correct me. Anyway, for instance. 10x10=100, Xs that by 50, and you get 5,000 BTUs. Now that's the AC size you need to buy. Check yours now. I hope that works. GL

 

[Dr. Fade]

Get a window unit

 

[Franky Wright]

So, what happened? :shrug:

 

[ageecee]

Here is what happened:



AC man came and looked at the unit. He looked at the coils and they were dirty. He told me to lok at the coild with the flashlight and sure enough they were dirty. he said make sure you change your air filter once a month, i told him its done once a month. Then we went outside and he checked to see if i had any freon leaks. NO LEAKS. But he did say the unit was dirty and needed some cleaning.

I then asked him is my unit too small. He called in the type of unit and they told him it was a 3-ton unit. he told me you need at least a 1-ton for every 500 square feet in your house. Does that seem right? My house is about 1300 square feet so he said its big enough. Hes coming next monday to clean both the inside and outside and said that should do the trick.


Any comments??

 

[Axle]

:shrug: Sorry...but sounds like you are sol...

 

[Franky Wright]

I was real curious to see what they would say! :SIB

Get someone else :com:

I certianley (sp?) could be wrong, but his comment about a 3 ton for 1500 sq.ft. is way off :shrug:

Get prices b/4 you go any further, and call some other contractors!

Let me know...........


Franky

"He called in the type of unit and they told him"
This should be a first clue! :scared

I just put in a 2 ton for a 1900 sq.ft. side of a duplex that works fine. I did the heat calc's myself....