AC not working 100%. Should I call our HVAC foks?

[ShokWaveRider]

AC set to 70! How can anyone stand it? I get cold at 76, which I set it to when we have visitors. We have our home set to 79 during the day with 78 setting for morning (6 - 8am) and evening (5 - 10pm) and it is very comfortable ..... for us. We do have ceiling fans in our bedroom, living room, Florida room and breakfast room. All are turned off at night with the exception of the bedroom and we only use them on the low setting which is adequate.

 

[momoney]

sounds normal, if you want it cooler, consider adding an attic fan, sun awning, and/or more insulation

or one of the new quiet window units.

 

[Midpack]

Update: I don't believe anything is wrong with the AC. I think it was just overwhelmed yesterday. I did raise the setting to 72 as suggested here to reduce the strain on the system. As evening fell and the temp dipped into the lower 90s I was able to lower the setting to 70 again and the system did cool the house to that temp and kept it there all night.

We are taking some steps to reduce the strain today. When I got up, I raised it to 71 and around noon I'll make it 72. We're keeping all of the blinds and curtains closed to reduce radiant heating a bit. It'll make for another uncomfortable day but it's better than burning out the AC unit. I want to be comfortable but not at the expense of having to replace the AC prematurely. So another sweaty day is in store for today and probably tomorrow as well.

Thanks for all of the input.

Did you ever share how old the unit is? If so, I missed it.

 

[disneysteve]

Did you ever share how old the unit is? If so, I missed it.

It's about 9 years old.

 

[disneysteve]

AC set to 70! How can anyone stand it? I get cold at 76, which I set it to when we have visitors.

A friend died last week. Tuesday night we went to shiva (the Jewish mourning period with a nightly service) at their home. Several people were complaining how warm it was in the house. The wife went over and checked the thermostat. It was on 72. No wonder we were all warm. I was just standing there with sweat rolling off my face and that was in the dining room right by the thermostat, not in the living room where most of the people were and where I'm sure it was even warmer thanks to combined body heat.

 

[target2019]

Wondering if the dead guy was comfortable in his setting.

 

[Aerides]

I guess we all have different comfort levels and temperatures, and it probably depends a lot on where we live. I would have be running for to sweat at 72. I put the heat on at 69.

76 in the day, 75 at night because I like to be cozy under the duvet.

That said, thermostats are not all perfect, and 72 in one house doesn't mean that 73 in another is any different. Hotel rooms, for example, always seem too hot and I put them at about 70.

 

[disneysteve]

I guess we all have different comfort levels and temperatures, and it probably depends a lot on where we live. I would have be running for to sweat at 72. I put the heat on at 69.

76 in the day, 75 at night because I like to be cozy under the duvet.

That said, thermostats are not all perfect, and 72 in one house doesn't mean that 73 in another is any different. Hotel rooms, for example, always seem too hot and I put them at about 70.

Humidity is a huge factor too. Summer here is very humid so you need the AC lower to battle that. We also have a dehumidifier running 24/7. 72 degrees and dry would be pretty comfortable but 72 and high humidity is not.

 

[Aerides]

Humidity is a huge factor too. Summer here is very humid so you need the AC lower to battle that. We also have a dehumidifier running 24/7. 72 degrees and dry would be pretty comfortable but 72 and high humidity is not.

I live in s fla so I'm good any time indoors when it's less than about 55 percent.

 

[Winemaker]

We're at 72 year round. If we expect to be eating indoors with guests during the summer months, it goes to 68.

 

[disneysteve]

We are taking some steps to reduce the strain today. When I got up, I raised it to 71 and around noon I'll make it 72. We're keeping all of the blinds and curtains closed to reduce radiant heating a bit.

Wow! I am shocked by how much of a difference doing this has made today. As I said, we normally keep the AC on 70. Even with that, the upstairs is always much warmer than the downstairs. Today, even set on 71 and now 72, the house is much more comfortable and as I go upstairs, I'm not immediately hit by the temperature change. It's slightly warmer but not dramatically like it normally is. I think we're going to be doing this all the time from now on. Not only will we all be more comfortable, we should see the electric bill drop a bit if we can keep the thermostat 1 or 2 degrees higher most of the time.

 

[REWahoo]

I don’t know how people manage at 76 or 78. I’d be a sweaty mess and no way I could sleep with it that hot.

We all have our own internal thermostat set at whatever temp matches our individual comfort level. We keep our AC at 77 or 78, with ceiling fans on low. When we have visitors we drop it to 74 - and I opt for a shirt with long sleeves.

 

[Texas Proud]

Just and FYI.... you can replace with a unit that is a bit larger than you actually need if you go two stage or variable stage...

I bought variable stage and there are many times where my unit is only running at 25% or so... there are times it seems to run just to get rid of humidity.... right now it is 99% outside (per the AC unit) and 50% inside...

 

[Mark2024]

I would measure the temperature at different spots of the house. Ours is a medium size house with about 3500 sq Ft. the downstairs is always good. There is one area the far away from the A/C blower upstairs will be 4 degrees higher than the set point. the rest of upstairs are fine.

 

[Winemaker]

Again, keep your upstairs doors closed during the cooling period. That way it "fills the room" up with cool air, and doesn't flow down the steps. Cool air sinks, hot air rises. If you have an upper and lower cold air returns in each room, choke/close the bottom return, so the warm air on the second floor get pulled back to your AC unit first.

 

[EarlyandLate]

Once when my AC could not keep up in a heat wave, it was the over-temp limiter on my outdoor unit. That is a thermostat switch on the compressor that turns it off if the motor is overheating to prevent damage to the unit. As soon as the motor cools a bit, it starts back up. My outdoor unit was 16 years old and this happened in the afternoon on very hot days when the sun was directly on the unit. The repair guy said that since my unit was so old, that part was probably beginning to fail. I decided to replace my old system and am so glad I did!
Also, do you close blinds and take other measures to keep the sun and heat out of your house?

 

[Kings over Queens]

AC set to 70! How can anyone stand it? I get cold at 76, which I set it to when we have visitors. We have our home set to 79 during the day with 78 setting for morning (6 - 8am) and evening (5 - 10pm) and it is very comfortable ..... for us. We do have ceiling fans in our bedroom, living room, Florida room and breakfast room. All are turned off at night with the exception of the bedroom and we only use them on the low setting which is adequate.

Ours are set at 68, both zones, 24/7.

Same with heat in the winter. I've got under floor hydronic radiant heat. The entire house is set at 68.

Menopause is a serious thing.

 

[Kings over Queens]

25 degree reduction is abotu all your gonna get with a coolant based system. You can gain a little with clean fins on the condensing units, keeping sunlight out of the house, and keeping shade over the condensing units as well as some mist so help cool the fins. If you decide to shade the unit, make sure not to impede air movement.

 

[Sunrise_Ray]

Almost all ACs can and should be repaired unless it is the Compressor itself. Call 3 techs to check on it, and you might be getting different answers. Yes, have to pay each of them.

MOST techs in our region recommend new AC and Heater. It is easy for them to make a $10K to $25K sale, and most times they OVER size it to make the bill bigger.

Ken

 

[Texas Proud]

I would measure the temperature at different spots of the house. Ours is a medium size house with about 3500 sq Ft. the downstairs is always good. There is one area the far away from the A/C blower upstairs will be 4 degrees higher than the set point. the rest of upstairs are fine.

Just an FYI, 3500 sf is not a medium sized house....

According to U.S. Census data, the average newly built single-family home in 2022 measured 2,299 square feet

 

[disneysteve]

Just an FYI, 3500 sf is not a medium sized house....

According to U.S. Census data, the average newly built single-family home in 2022 measured 2,299 square feet

And our house was built in 1964 when homes were smaller. According to Zillow it’s 1,797 sq ft.