Central air conditioning

[jwslam]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

I wish it wasn't so damn expensive to retrofit mini splits. If we had a mini split for each bedroom that's all we'd need. And they can actually be left off and just turn them on to blow on you at bedtime and use a fraction of the energy used by whole house AC.

Well you could DIY like LinusTechTips

[Vinny01]

Have AC on the upstairs furnace only and keep it at 19. It is so nice and cool when we sleep and it cools down the rest of the house.

19-20 in the summer heat set at 20-22 in the winter

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Weitz

21, which makes the bedroom about 22-23, which is barely livable IMO.

21 here too. Will drop it to 19, once the sun goes down, aka right now until I go to bed around 11 then turn it off.

I leave the furnace fan on when it's above 25 which pulls air from the basement. Really only need the AC if it's above 30.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Ours is at 24 right now and it feels pretty nice, even a bit chilly. Can't imagine having ours set into the teens, I'd be freezing. We have a lot of hardwood floors so maybe 24 feels colder than it actually is.

[the-rasta-masta]

Came home this evening and found the house at 28 main level and 31 upstairs. Went outside to check the condenser and it was frozen, which surprised me given the heat. Turned it off and it defrosted in a half hour, but I think the evaporator had frozen too above the furnace since water is slowly melting around the furnace so I'll leave it off until I can get somebody out. I just had a tech last week to service the AC in advance of the heat wave, so everything should have been tip top. Just working too hard maybe?

[opendoor]

Yeah, usually what happens is the indoor coil freezes and if the unit isn't stopped, eventually the freezing works its way along the refrigerant line to the outdoor unit.

The causes are usually either low airflow (dirty filter, dirty coils, or restricted supply/returns) or low refrigerant. But if you just had it serviced, it might be something else.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta

. Just working too hard maybe?

If you have a humidifier, make sure it's off. That's the number one culprit for freezing up.

You can also take your furnace filter out, or put a less restrictive one in to increase the airflow while it's super hot.

[I_H8_Crawford]

Is Trane a good model? Online seems like it's a bit higher end

[MacDaddy77]

Can I buy and install myself from anywhere in the city? I have an electrician for the 240 power hookup but I don't need to pay to have the install done by anyone. I've put these in furnaces in my past.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by MacDaddy77

Can I buy and install myself from anywhere in the city? I have an electrician for the 240 power hookup but I don't need to pay to have the install done by anyone. I've put these in furnaces in my past.

As long as you get the permits and inspections done, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to install it yourself. . .

[Nufy]

Originally Posted by MacDaddy77

Can I buy and install myself from anywhere in the city? I have an electrician for the 240 power hookup but I don't need to pay to have the install done by anyone. I've put these in furnaces in my past.

AC ?? Who will fill and pressure test the system ?

Electrical is the easy part of that install.

[MacDaddy77]

I know people in the industry that will do that, just wondering how much I can save on install price. Called Arpis and they quoted $3000-$3500 for everything including 25' of line set but they have all the units spoken for.

So looks like in the fall I can save $1000 by installing the condenser, evaporator coil braze in the lineset and run 240 to panel.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by I_H8_Crawford

Is Trane a good model? Online seems like it's a bit higher end

Trane is a good, higher end manufacturer.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

I wish it wasn't so damn expensive to retrofit mini splits. If we had a mini split for each bedroom that's all we'd need. And they can actually be left off and just turn them on to blow on you at bedtime and use a fraction of the energy used by whole house AC.

Yeah, they have a ridiculous markup in North America for some reason. In other parts of the world minisplits are cheaper than traditional systems. In Mexico, you can even buy lower end (but still decent) ones from WalMart for about $5-600 CAD. Even the higher end ones that we can get here are about half the price in most non-Western countries. I think they're still a niche thing here and they're marked up accordingly.

But of course, the install costs here are insane too, no matter how cheap you get the equipment. I'm fortunate enough to be good friends with an HVAC/R Technician so I was able to get the equipment (2 ducted units) at his company's cost, which is about half of retail. Other than the ducting (which I did), it took him about 4-5 hours with me helping to install 2 systems. But if I was paying retail, that probably would have been a $3K install on top of paying retail (about $12-13K) for the units. They'd be pretty hard to justify at full price, even if they are insanely efficient in coastal BC's climate.

[Raekwon]

I wish homes were built with zoned heating/cooling at least by floor. Would be nice to only get A/C upstairs when its already cold enough on the main floor or vice versa in winter. I have to keep a window open in winter upstairs because my wife is cold on the main floor, seems like one of those cheap designs that just never change.

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by ben voyonsdonc

Do you generally put a cover on your AC unit during the winter? A Google search seems to indicate it could actually be bad for the unit (humidity, animals seeking shelter) so I just want to make sure that I’m protecting it.

Use a covering method that allows you to keep the leaves and crap out, but doesn't allow it to be a shelter from cold for the critters. I've seen people leave the cover off the ground just enough to let cold air flow in, or you could perforate it in places to get the same effect...

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by Raekwon

I wish homes were built with zoned heating/cooling at least by floor. Would be nice to only get A/C upstairs when its already cold enough on the main floor or vice versa in winter. I have to keep a window open in winter upstairs because my wife is cold on the main floor, seems like one of those cheap designs that just never change.

They are now. When my main floor thermostat reaches below the setpoint and upstairs is still above it, the furnace kicks in and the upstairs ducts close.

[RichieRich]

OK not AC question... but kinda related. My wife has now turned on the home furnace recirculation fan. I think it's bringing in the hot hot outside air plus circulating inside and warming up the basement and soon the rest of the house. She thinks there's no outside air being added and helping to cool the house. Where does the truth lie?

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by RichieRich

OK not AC question... but kinda related. My wife has now turned on the home furnace recirculation fan. I think it's bringing in the hot hot outside air plus circulating inside and warming up the basement and soon the rest of the house. She thinks there's no outside air being added and helping to cool the house. Where does the truth lie?

The truth is whatever likely ends up with you sleeping on the couch?

[Mull]

Originally Posted by RichieRich

OK not AC question... but kinda related. My wife has now turned on the home furnace recirculation fan. I think it's bringing in the hot hot outside air plus circulating inside and warming up the basement and soon the rest of the house. She thinks there's no outside air being added and helping to cool the house. Where does the truth lie?

Unless you have a damper you can switch on the fresh air intake (and I don't know if that is even legal) the fan is bringing in outside air 100% for sure. Follow the ducts in the basement. I can't remember my classes, but it isn't 100% fresh air, something like 35% fresh air rest re-circulated air?

It won't really warm the basement up too much, unless your ducting is leaking. Beyond the downstairs vents (which share the flow with all vents in the house, they just get the advantage of more flow since closer to the source), it can only really heat up downstairs via convection to the metal duct, then conduction through the metal ducting and then convection to the downstairs... that seems like a very minimal impact given the small delta T.

But it is also circulating your air around the house, potentially mixing the air and helping.

My guess is at peak hot hours you may want it off as it the air circulation vs hot outdoor air isn't balancing in your favor. If your house indoor temp is close to outdoor temp then less worry.

But, turning on bathroom fans may help, they indirectly suck air from outside via the ducts (likely so little it doesn't matter), but will also pull cold air upwards from the basement. How much, who knows.