Air Conditioning Question...

[strommsarnac]

Do not spray any water from a hose while the outside compressor fan is running. You can ruin the bearing if you do that. The problem is that a garden hose can put out much more volume at a higher velocity of water then even a heavy downpour. Also, if the outside coils are hot (which happens when you run the A/C), hitting them with water from the garden hose can crack them (think hot glass and pouring cold water in it). Turn off your A/C and wait about 10 minutes, then rinse everything off. It's best that you spray with a nozzle from the inside out, not outside in.

Also, if you have a digital thermostat, set it so the fan is always on. This will circulate the air in your home, even when the compressor is off. Doing this helps to keep a balance and prevent hot zones.

As said by others, replace your air-filter and don't go cheap ass on it. Get a filtrate (by 3M) and replace it anytime it's obviously dirty. Expect to pay $10+us. My house uses a 16x26x4 and it's not cheap at $40 each. The better ones are less restrictive while providing better filtration.

Also as said, you might need to clean the coils inside the HVAC in the house. If you're handy, you can get a book from the library (or on the net) on home maintenance and it'll show/explain how to do this. Never pour water over them. This is a vacuum and rag cleaning job. ALWAYS flip the breaker off too.

Next and something almost everyone doesn't know about is adjusting your duct dampers. Go to the basement and look at the duct pipes. You'll see little levers. Don't mess with the wingnuts on them. The lever lines up with a flap that can close off the duct. Turn the lever so it runs inline with the duct and the damper is open, turn it so it crosses the pipe and it closes the duct off.

Now, all that said, you want to figure out which duct pipes "feed" the upper floors. Open those all the way. you may need to have someone on the upper floor at say the bedroom register and then try each lever until they yell "I'm not getting any air". Maybe use cell phones or walkie-talkies. If the HVAC guy who installed your system was smart he marked the lever for where it blows.

Anyway, open all the ones upstairs and close (or mostly close) all the ones downstairs. Especially the basement. Cold air is heavy, so if you have too much open-flow on the lower levels, you won't get any flow upstairs. Force the air upstairs and it'll cool from the top down. Also, on newer homes (70's and newer) they are designed to NOT have all your interior doors closed. You gotta have that open air flow. So contrary to what has always been said, don't close off rooms you aren't using. Leave the doors open. Unless you have an old house. One exception, your basement door. It should always be closed.

Once the house gets cold upstairs, you can start balancing out the dampers till you're happy with the upstairs/downstairs mix. In colder seasons, reverse so the lower ones are more open than the upper ones.

Next, look on the floors and walls for LARGE vents. Not the small ones your cold/hot air comes from. Those aren't vents, they're return ducts. Clean those puppies off. You should have at least one per floor except the basement (which is why you keep it's door closed). Sometimes you'll even have a few on the upper floor near the ceiling. Those pull hot air from the upper floors directly to the HVAC to be cooled. Clean them. Also, make sure nothing is within twelve inches of their face. No TV stand, bookshelf, etc. They have to be clear. My wife loves to sit boxes and stuff in-front of our family room return and within a few hours the house will warm up.

Also as said, have your system "pressure" checked. It'll only cost you about $50. You didn't mention any freezing pipes so I doubt your system is low on freon. That's the first sign it's low (unless it's almost empty).

I know you think your doors/windows suck, but they have to be pretty bad to leak enough to keep a well-maintained HVAC system from cooling a house. How well does your home heat in the Winter? Can you SEE drafts blowing from your doors and windows? For it to be bad, you would and you would be able to stand outside the window and with a wet finger moving around the frame/seems and feel the cooler air coming out. Hell, my dad's house built in 1903 with the original single-pane doors and windows doesn't leak enough for that. If yours are that bad, caulk them!!! It's cheap and easy.

Next, if your HVAC system is more than 30 years old, I'm likely talking out my ass as your system is beyond it's life expectancy. Heck, some weren't even meant to last 15 years.

Lastly, you didn't mention what temp "impossibly hot" is. Understand that most cooling systems have a thermal limit. The more expensive, the wider the limit. Most MI/Dominion homes come with units having a 30 degree range. That means if it's 100 outside the house, the coldest it'll be inside is 70. Many older homes were rated for 20 degrees difference. No amount of running, caulking, window covering, cleaning, etc. will change this fact. Try to find out what your system is rated for. It may explain why it's not working well.

If you're wondering, I'm not HVAC certified, but I spent three years as an apprentice architect and 4 actually helping to build/remodel homes. Not to mention helping a few family members replace/upgrade their homes systems.

Let us know what you find, I'm curious as to what resolves your problem.

[ThatHaole]

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Summation

[jo_dile]

The hamsters that are turning the wheels are overheating. I suggest you first bathe them in cool water. You have to be very polite to them or they will ignore you. Give them a mint julip and then buy them some ice cream..preferably oreo ice cream. They seem to like that the most. Play with their noses and tell them how much you appreciate them. It works like a charm. Just saying...thats how I get mine to work. Either that or I place ferrrroocious cats along the outside and tell the motherfuckers they asses better get running or its cat food time. Good luck!!!

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That would depend on what kind of unit you have. Hose in the opposite direction of the airflow. You don't want to force all that gunk into your fins. You'll figure it out.

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This.

Damn, first it was termites and now it's the air conditioning? I thought you had roommates... tell them to throw down some money to help you get shit fixed. Get those fags to turn off your WDTV and help a brutha out!

Order one of these from China or Thailand to supplement your current one...

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[Mr Handlebars]

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Does that come complete with the bubblie?

[gallow737]

It's been overcast and rainy the past few days. As a result, our house has been rather cold. It's definitely a hose it down solution, I'm convinced. Next time the heat index gets back up to 105, which shouldn't take too long, I'll be hosing it down.

Wth my dickjustkidding

run the hose up to the roof and set up a sprinkler haha