Central air conditioning

[8 Ball]

Originally Posted by jwslam

Review what "10 year warranty" means
Some companies require you to annually service WITH THEM to honour that.

Which is reasonable considering the manufacturer doesn’t include labour in the warranty.

[Buff]

Down here in Lethbridge, my friend tried to get ahead of the game and ordered his A/C unit at the beginning of April. It was installed this week. Just in time for the 3rd heat wave we've had down here. And I laughed at how paranoid he was to order it so early...

I'm glad my house came with one already installed. It has been super helpful the past few years. Our picture window faces the afternoon sun and acts like a greenhouse so A/C makes that livable.

[Calgary14]

Originally Posted by Buff

Down here in Lethbridge, my friend tried to get ahead of the game and ordered his A/C unit at the beginning of April. It was installed this week. Just in time for the 3rd heat wave we've had down here. And I laughed at how paranoid he was to order it so early...

I'm glad my house came with one already installed. It has been super helpful the past few years. Our picture window faces the afternoon sun and acts like a greenhouse so A/C makes that livable.

Do most houses in Lethbridge have AC? I would think it would be hotter and drier than Calgary during the summer

[Northendzone]

We mulled over buying central a/c for two summers then pulled the trigger and arranged for an install on Mother’s Day (2005 I think) on the Monday after it was installed the temp went up to +30 - how often does that happen here. I figured it was a sign that we were supposed to have central a/c.

Out unit (luxaire) has worked flawlessly for 15 years. A month ago I pulled out the central fan and hosed out the inside which was not as dirty as I would have thought

[soreshins]

Don’t have A/C so just moved a sofa and TV down from the bonus room to the unfinished basement. It’s glorious. The dog looks so relieved too!

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by soreshins

Don’t have A/C so just moved a sofa and TV down from the bonus room to the unfinished basement. It’s glorious. The dog looks so relieved too!

Unfinished basements are extremely underrated. You can beat them up, they're super refreshing during heat waves (especially with no A/C), and you can get access to the home functions when something needs repairs. I don't think I'm ever going to finish mine - too many benefits.

[MoneyGuy]

Any warmer and I’m sleeping in the basement. One forecast says 39C for two days next week. I’m in central Alberta.

[Acey]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

Do most houses in Lethbridge have AC? I would think it would be hotter and drier than Calgary during the summer

I grew up there, number of people with central AC seems to be about the same. It's about 3-4° higher average daily highs from May to September.

[Hemi-Cuda]

So is there any point in trying to get an estimate for AC right now? I'm guessing every furnace/AC company is booked through till September with the weather we're having

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

So is there any point in trying to get an estimate for AC right now? I'm guessing every furnace/AC company is booked through till September with the weather we're having

Most companies are booking quotes around the last half of July at this point. Unsure when the work is being scheduled after but I've heard that there is some supply issues sourcing A/C units.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

So is there any point in trying to get an estimate for AC right now? I'm guessing every furnace/AC company is booked through till September with the weather we're having

Yes. If we are roasting in June, any respite in time for July and August may be a god send.

If you don't want to fight the masses or are worried about the duration you have to wait, then consider grabbing a portable unit in the meanwhile and sell it once you get the full thing installed.

[Mull]

Also, anyone have any experience with one of these bad boys or a good contractor? I can't seem to get a installer to respond to me for pricing and info. Tried x 2 and both connected me to someone new to the gig and was quoting only AC. It seems like it is the same as a MERV 16 filter (the replacement kit appears to actually have the same MERV filter I use for when the smoke comes in) with the added bonus of "reducing ozone", not sure what else it does.

https://www.lennox.com/products/indo...cation/pureair

Lennox is useless, they keep referring me to installers for questions about specs on their product.

I was looking at random pollutions today, like Ozone (BC has an air quality warning because of it) and was thinking I could make the air in my home cleaner, which I spend a great deal of time in, it could have health benefits to me and the future youngins. Calgary 1 hour ozone levels have come 'close' to hitting the AB health warning trigger, and its odd, when they do cross the trigger, our air quality index jumps to a 7 , high or very high, there is no "in between". I figure there might be health impacts for lower levels not correlated, and while I still go outside as much as I want, still useful to clear out of my home.

Trigger for ozone is 76ppb for the hour and we got to 56 yesterday. I don't know if 56 is "Bad" as the science on this is not really conclusive from my 5min google.



Anyway, ozone links for people who find it interesting

Alberta paper on why we have chosen our Ozone safe level as an hourly rate of 76ppb:
https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/1658...o-feb-2019.pdf

Calgary Ozone levels (click "query and download", select dates, select "by parameters", select the Calgary stations, click "Graph Data"
http://airquality.alberta.ca/map/

Alberta write up on how air quality calc works- basically once ozone (and others) hits a threshold, we jump to a minimum of 7... seems like a sharp quick jump
https://www.alberta.ca/air-quality-h...lculation.aspx

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Yes. If we are roasting in June, any respite in time for July and August may be a god send.

If you don't want to fight the masses or are worried about the duration you have to wait, then consider grabbing a portable unit in the meanwhile and sell it once you get the full thing installed.

I've got a single portable unit that I'm shuffling between the main floor and master bedroom upstairs. I'd love to grab a 2nd but they're harder to find than video cards right now

[Mull]

nm

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

I've got a single portable unit that I'm shuffling between the main floor and master bedroom upstairs. I'd love to grab a 2nd but they're harder to find than video cards right now

Do you have black out curtains? I swapped out my light filtering cellular blinds for black out blinds and while it's still hot upstairs, there was a noticeable difference of the temperatures in the home vs outside by a few degrees. (2-3 degrees range vs 5-6 without).

I also wonder if you could try and hack together a swamp cooler set up to extend the effectiveness of your portable unit.

I'm shopping AC quotes with a friend right now. I won't run it all day, but it would be nice to get the internal house temp below 25C before like 3-5AM (some rooms hotter by a few C). This year alone has been especially bad for temps over 20C at night and also nights with absolutely no breeze.

[Ryan Coke]

I called for an AC quote beginning of June, had some minor delays getting someone out to do the quote. They email it a couple of days later, and I immediately respond that I want to book it. No answer, so I send another email a few days later. Still no answer so I arrange a quote with their competitor in Cochrane, and have now finally booked with them. But there are no lower end units available from the supplier (carrier), so if I want one I have to get a higher end unit, and install isn’t until July 15th. If the first place hadn’t jerked me around I’d probably have it installed by now, and maybe paid less by getting a lower end unit.

Kinda choked.

[opendoor]

I've never been more glad that I have a mini split. 38.6º outside and 22º inside, and it uses surprisingly little electricity. Yesterday was a similar temperature and it was about $1.50 in electricity to keep it at 22-23º all day and night in a 2000 sq ft house.

[GordonBlue]

what do you all keep your houses set to?

I'm arguing with the wife right now as she wants it comfortable, and I just want it tolerable.
I don't think when it's +35 we should be trying to keep our house at 18
when I left for work she was still asleep and I set it to 21.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

what do you all keep your houses set to?

I'm arguing with the wife right now as she wants it comfortable, and I just want it tolerable.
I don't think when it's +35 we should be trying to keep our house at 18
when I left for work she was still asleep and I set it to 21.

If I had one it would probably be set to 23-24. Shorts and t-shirt would be comfortable inside.

[ben voyonsdonc]

I'm a 23 kind of guy. It feels too cold to me at anything less.