Patman
Staff member
I'm definitely not low on refridgerant, as I had a leak a couple of years ago on one of the valves connected to the unit outside, so they replaced that and refilled the refridgerant again.
Why is my house so hot??
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Originally Posted By: dkryan
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Are you letting the hot air out?
That is, do you have adequate ventilation in the roof to evacutate hot air from the loft space?
We had a new roof put on last year, and I decided to have ridge vents put in.
It has made an enormous difference.
It is ninety something here today, and the house is pretty comfortable.
If you don't have sufficient ventilation for really hot weather, add some.
It will really help.
I totally agree with fdcg27. A continous ridge vent is a major first start. Being in a condo-townhouse, however, I question whether one is installed? Do you at least have box vents installed on the backside of your roof? You want one or the other, i.e., box vents or the ridge vent, not both.
I have the same issue in my two-story, 2300 square foot home. It has a ridge vent and a Carrier Infinity system that is only four years old. Yet the upstairs rooms are at least six+ degrees warmer than the first floor, and nowhere near as cool as the walkout basement area.
I've researched this issue in-depth the past month. I've learned that it is quite normal for two-story homes to have a temperature variance of five to seven degrees between the first and second floors. Piling on more insulation in the attic beyond "normal" insulating recommendations will do little good.
I've settled on 38" tower fans in the upstairs area and ensuring the HVAC system has been checked and is performing at a peak level.
Friends in the "hotter" regions of the U.S. have multi-zoned areas for HVAC and the requisite thermostats to match. It's almost a mandatory requirement for survival in Memphis and much further southwest.
I'd recommend the model "2-120" air conditioner. That's 2 windows down on your 'Vette at 130 kph! Cool!
After reading through this thread again it seems that your hot air is rising but staying in the attic. Do you have soffit and roof vents? If so does your insulation cover the soffit? To get the hot air out of the attic the air comes in the soffit and out the ridge or other vents.I have full length soffit vents and full length ridge vents on my house. Around here a lot of people are adding the solar powered vents to help on the really hot days. I imagine in Canada the main concern is keeping winter heated air in the house.
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Are you letting the hot air out?
That is, do you have adequate ventilation in the roof to evacutate hot air from the loft space?
We had a new roof put on last year, and I decided to have ridge vents put in.
It has made an enormous difference.
It is ninety something here today, and the house is pretty comfortable.
If you don't have sufficient ventilation for really hot weather, add some.
It will really help.
I totally agree with fdcg27. A continous ridge vent is a major first start. Being in a condo-townhouse, however, I question whether one is installed? Do you at least have box vents installed on the backside of your roof? You want one or the other, i.e., box vents or the ridge vent, not both.
I have the same issue in my two-story, 2300 square foot home. It has a ridge vent and a Carrier Infinity system that is only four years old. Yet the upstairs rooms are at least six+ degrees warmer than the first floor, and nowhere near as cool as the walkout basement area.
I've researched this issue in-depth the past month. I've learned that it is quite normal for two-story homes to have a temperature variance of five to seven degrees between the first and second floors. Piling on more insulation in the attic beyond "normal" insulating recommendations will do little good.
I've settled on 38" tower fans in the upstairs area and ensuring the HVAC system has been checked and is performing at a peak level.
Friends in the "hotter" regions of the U.S. have multi-zoned areas for HVAC and the requisite thermostats to match. It's almost a mandatory requirement for survival in Memphis and much further southwest.
I'd recommend the model "2-120" air conditioner. That's 2 windows down on your 'Vette at 130 kph! Cool!
After reading through this thread again it seems that your hot air is rising but staying in the attic. Do you have soffit and roof vents? If so does your insulation cover the soffit? To get the hot air out of the attic the air comes in the soffit and out the ridge or other vents.I have full length soffit vents and full length ridge vents on my house. Around here a lot of people are adding the solar powered vents to help on the really hot days. I imagine in Canada the main concern is keeping winter heated air in the house.
Originally Posted By: Patman
Originally Posted By: StevieC
I can't wait for the FREE A/C weather to come back... WINTER!
I love it to death...
Not me, I'll take this heat over winter any day of the week! My dream is to eventually own a winter home in Florida so that I never have to see a single snow flake or see temps below 40F ever again!
Really? My folks are the same way...
Originally Posted By: StevieC
I can't wait for the FREE A/C weather to come back... WINTER!
I love it to death...
Not me, I'll take this heat over winter any day of the week! My dream is to eventually own a winter home in Florida so that I never have to see a single snow flake or see temps below 40F ever again!
Really? My folks are the same way...
65 degrees at the register is not that cold. Sounds like you may be low on refrigerant.
Originally Posted By: duaneb9729
Start with replacing the filter, every three months is a 3m filter idea that isnt good for your equipment or your comfort.
check the condenser for a build up of cotton wood or other stuff, if it has that just hose it off starting at the top of directing the water flow toward the bottom of the unit instead of trying to push it though.
have a qualified service tech check the charge.
rules of thumb for a/c sizing are barely rough guides, the earlier stated "guides" are for ramblers all those "guides" go out the window for town houses and multiple story tall homes.
Attic vents do plug up like your a/c condenser does.
attic ventilation is just as important as anything above.
these are my opinions based 32 + years in the hvac business
I clearly stated that this a "rough" estimate. If using 600 ft sq p/ ton means I'm a rambler, then I guess I know a lot of "ramblers" in the business around here that are very successful. Of course the best way to determine how much cooling capacity he needs is to do a heat load calc. But this is the internet(where everyone seems to be a know-it-all), and the guy wants suggestions based on limited info.
So based on your 30+ years experience, and the info he's provided, do you think it's more likely he's short on capacity, or is it that nasty 3M filter doing him in? FWIW, 3M makes a quality filter that can easily be in service for 3 mo in a normal residential setting.
The day I put a 1 1/2ton system in a 1800 ft sq house will be when I run across one built half way into a hill/ mountain/ below grade, lol...
Start with replacing the filter, every three months is a 3m filter idea that isnt good for your equipment or your comfort.
check the condenser for a build up of cotton wood or other stuff, if it has that just hose it off starting at the top of directing the water flow toward the bottom of the unit instead of trying to push it though.
have a qualified service tech check the charge.
rules of thumb for a/c sizing are barely rough guides, the earlier stated "guides" are for ramblers all those "guides" go out the window for town houses and multiple story tall homes.
Attic vents do plug up like your a/c condenser does.
attic ventilation is just as important as anything above.
these are my opinions based 32 + years in the hvac business
I clearly stated that this a "rough" estimate. If using 600 ft sq p/ ton means I'm a rambler, then I guess I know a lot of "ramblers" in the business around here that are very successful. Of course the best way to determine how much cooling capacity he needs is to do a heat load calc. But this is the internet(where everyone seems to be a know-it-all), and the guy wants suggestions based on limited info.
So based on your 30+ years experience, and the info he's provided, do you think it's more likely he's short on capacity, or is it that nasty 3M filter doing him in? FWIW, 3M makes a quality filter that can easily be in service for 3 mo in a normal residential setting.
The day I put a 1 1/2ton system in a 1800 ft sq house will be when I run across one built half way into a hill/ mountain/ below grade, lol...
rambler is a type of house, not a type of person. In this discussion, anyhow.
The HVAC professional that did the installation in my three-story townhouse really screwed it up. They put the furnace in the basement, and then ran the ducts all the way up to the attic so by the time it hits the vent on the ceiling on the top floor, the air has gone through some 45' of duct, about 15 feet of that being flexible duct in the attic (which probably leaks like a sieve).
The HVAC professional that did the installation in my three-story townhouse really screwed it up. They put the furnace in the basement, and then ran the ducts all the way up to the attic so by the time it hits the vent on the ceiling on the top floor, the air has gone through some 45' of duct, about 15 feet of that being flexible duct in the attic (which probably leaks like a sieve).
Check your refrigerant pressures.
They run higher than a car, but you may be low on sauce. Home units don't leak like cars, but who knows what you have?
Often the evaporator is too small and inefficient in home systems, even though the outside unit is OK. Small 'A' frame evaporators don't work well.
BTW, make sure you outside AC unit is NOT in full sun. Shade it and it will work a lot better.
They run higher than a car, but you may be low on sauce. Home units don't leak like cars, but who knows what you have?
Often the evaporator is too small and inefficient in home systems, even though the outside unit is OK. Small 'A' frame evaporators don't work well.
BTW, make sure you outside AC unit is NOT in full sun. Shade it and it will work a lot better.
JHZR2
Staff member
We are cooling our home today (somewhere around 1500SF, IIRC) with a 24000BTU wall unit and 5500BTU window unit pair. It is working well enough and it is topping 100F.
That said, we keep it at 83 during the day, 77 in the br at night. Very comfortable.
We keep a fan in the attic window blowing out, and keep the door to our walk-up attic open. This lets the hot air that is rising escape, meanwhile keeping the attic cooler than if it was stagnant up there.
That said, we keep it at 83 during the day, 77 in the br at night. Very comfortable.
We keep a fan in the attic window blowing out, and keep the door to our walk-up attic open. This lets the hot air that is rising escape, meanwhile keeping the attic cooler than if it was stagnant up there.
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Check your refrigerant pressures.
They run higher than a car, but you may be low on sauce. Home units don't leak like cars, but who knows what you have?
Often the evaporator is too small and inefficient in home systems, even though the outside unit is OK. Small 'A' frame evaporators don't work well.
BTW, make sure you outside AC unit is NOT in full sun. Shade it and it will work a lot better.
And as others have said, make sure it's not clogged with debris, dog hair, etc.
Mine would actually get clogged up with my German Shepherd's hair if he was blowing out his winter coat near the unit.
Check your refrigerant pressures.
They run higher than a car, but you may be low on sauce. Home units don't leak like cars, but who knows what you have?
Often the evaporator is too small and inefficient in home systems, even though the outside unit is OK. Small 'A' frame evaporators don't work well.
BTW, make sure you outside AC unit is NOT in full sun. Shade it and it will work a lot better.
And as others have said, make sure it's not clogged with debris, dog hair, etc.
Mine would actually get clogged up with my German Shepherd's hair if he was blowing out his winter coat near the unit.
For those of you who say 65 is not cold and its low on refrigerant, well in this heat that unit CANNOT COOL AND DEHUMIDIFY the air down to any cooler temps the unit is just to small for the amount of heated air a 1800 sq. ft home has to cool.
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted By: hemitom
240000 and 5500 your running 2.5 tons of cooling. Patman is running 18000btu,s in 1800 sq.ft.
Good to know. Not sure if our home is actually that size or larger (did what I think is rough), but this means that we are roughly right-sized for 1500sf (assuming distribution).
Does the 1 ton/600sf correspond to a certain area of the country? Home style? I'd think that a rancher, with more roof area relative to living space may be different than a colonial square home with multiple floors for example, and FL may be different than NJ which is different than Ontario.
Thanks!
240000 and 5500 your running 2.5 tons of cooling. Patman is running 18000btu,s in 1800 sq.ft.
Good to know. Not sure if our home is actually that size or larger (did what I think is rough), but this means that we are roughly right-sized for 1500sf (assuming distribution).
Does the 1 ton/600sf correspond to a certain area of the country? Home style? I'd think that a rancher, with more roof area relative to living space may be different than a colonial square home with multiple floors for example, and FL may be different than NJ which is different than Ontario.
Thanks!
Originally Posted By: brianl703
rambler is a type of house, not a type of person. In this discussion, anyhow.
Sorry, never heard the term used before.
Again 600 sq ft per ton is a very loose, rough, insert favorite adjective here, semi-rule of thumb. Many other factors come into play. Like if you have a wall of glass windows looking out over the cape, or the 85 deg. indoor swimming pool just of the family room, you might need a little more capacity, lol!
rambler is a type of house, not a type of person. In this discussion, anyhow.
Sorry, never heard the term used before.
Again 600 sq ft per ton is a very loose, rough, insert favorite adjective here, semi-rule of thumb. Many other factors come into play. Like if you have a wall of glass windows looking out over the cape, or the 85 deg. indoor swimming pool just of the family room, you might need a little more capacity, lol!
JHZR2. There are many things that come into play when sizing A.C units, sun exposure, tree's ceiling height, number of floors, windows, insulation R value in walls and ceiling. and of course climate. A house in texas will need more cooling than N.J. A good contractor will do a heat load calculation which considers all variables to your house and area, No unit will be perfect so they try to find the best fit , to small won't cool on the hottest days two large will short cycle and not dehumidify the air enough.
Originally Posted By: meangreen01
Sorry, never heard the term used before.
You may not have them in Wisconsin..a rambler is a single-story house with no basement. I think typically they have a crawlspace, as opposed to being slab-on-grade construction. Most commonly found in more southern parts of the USA, like here.
Sorry, never heard the term used before.
You may not have them in Wisconsin..a rambler is a single-story house with no basement. I think typically they have a crawlspace, as opposed to being slab-on-grade construction. Most commonly found in more southern parts of the USA, like here.
Patman
Staff member
Originally Posted By: Brett Miller
65 degrees at the register is not that cold. Sounds like you may be low on refrigerant.
I doubt that. I remember when the guy refilled the refridgerant he took a temperature reading at the same vent and saw 65 degrees then as well (it was also in the low 90s at that time too)
65 degrees at the register is not that cold. Sounds like you may be low on refrigerant.
I doubt that. I remember when the guy refilled the refridgerant he took a temperature reading at the same vent and saw 65 degrees then as well (it was also in the low 90s at that time too)
Patman
Staff member
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
BTW, make sure you outside AC unit is NOT in full sun. Shade it and it will work a lot better.
It actually is in the hot sun for a good portion of the day, from just after sunrise until about 3pm it's exposed to the sun. Not much I can do about that though, I'm in a condo townhouse so I can't plant any trees back there to create a large amount of shade.
BTW, make sure you outside AC unit is NOT in full sun. Shade it and it will work a lot better.
It actually is in the hot sun for a good portion of the day, from just after sunrise until about 3pm it's exposed to the sun. Not much I can do about that though, I'm in a condo townhouse so I can't plant any trees back there to create a large amount of shade.
65 degree supply temp is not sufficient. The supply temp should be in the low to mid 50's. Have the coils cleaned on the AH and the outdoor unit as well. Change the filter, have the freon checked. If none of these bring the supply air temp to the low to mid 50's then you are probably undersized. I have a 2.5 ton Trane XL14i with a variable speed AH for 1200sq feet with lots of glass. So 1.5 ton sounds small for 1800sq feet.
Have you had a load calculation done?
Have you had a load calculation done?
Yes it sounds like the units for tat condo complex were undersized a bit. Aside from the usual A coil and filter checks, theres not much you can do. If your complex consists of adjoined units, that could be the reason why the contractors thought they could skimp on the AC units (and furnaces) because theyre trying to take advantage of the fact that two sides of the house are not exposed to the outdoors. Still, you;re probably better off than me right now, where we have a grand total of 17,500BTU of cooling to make due with!
Patman - I have a feeling that clever and inconspicuous shielding may be judiciously erected. Don't block flow in or out by having it too close to the unit.
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