Why is my house so hot??

[HTSS_TR]

You have to turn on air conditioning in Canada ? I thought that Canada = Snow = Cold and Southern California = Sunny = Hot.

For the last few weeks and this week high of the day was/is below the low 70's, today high is only 64-65F and overnight low is in the mid 50's. It's cold enough right now such that we have to put on sweater inside the house and when we go outside too, we may have to turn on the heat.

 

[Samilcar]

Well, it IS July.

 

[HTSS_TR]

IT IS JULY but it is colder here than last January-February.

 

[Brett Miller]

Originally Posted By: Patman
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)


It's 97 degrees at my house and my supply air temp is 56 degrees. Your system is not running up to par.

 

[Samilcar]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
IT IS JULY but it is colder here than last January-February.


I was commenting more on your "Canada = Snow = Cold" comment. Not much snow or cold in Canada in the summer. I'm not at all surprised that a southern Canadian summer would be hotter than a milder SoCal climate.

 

[Brett Miller]

Just remember...you don't have to shovel humidity...

 

[ItsuMitsubishi]

Originally Posted By: Samilcar
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
IT IS JULY but it is colder here than last January-February.


I was commenting more on your "Canada = Snow = Cold" comment. Not much snow or cold in Canada in the summer. I'm not at all surprised that a southern Canadian summer would be hotter than a milder SoCal climate.



But our national igloo is melting! This is a crisis!

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
You have to turn on air conditioning in Canada ? I thought that Canada = Snow = Cold and Southern California = Sunny = Hot.


I don't know if you noticed, but you said [An entire country] = [climate] and [A specific region of a specific state] = [climate].

Canada's kind of.. diverse.

 

[StevieC]

Canada is very diverse in its people, culture and crazy shifts in weather extremes and a place I'm proud to call home, but the politicians and the taxes... Well that's another story and not allowed for discussion on this board but lets just say there is lots to be desired, but I wouldn't move anywhere else in the world!

 

[mechtech2]

Also check for full supply voltage at the compressor.
Odd and unlikely, but possible.

 

[ItsuMitsubishi]

Originally Posted By: StevieC

Canada is very diverse in its people, culture and crazy shifts in weather extremes and a place I'm proud to call home, but the politicians and the taxes... Well that's another story and not allowed for discussion on this board but lets just say there is lots to be desired, but I wouldn't move anywhere else in the world!

darn right! HST = thumbs down. Toll-free public roads = thumbs up!

 

[StevieC]

Toll free roads for now... It's coming as our company is already planning on the cost so they must know something in the corporate world that us citizen folk think has a chance at not happening.

I'm just glad that I'm financially ok for the future than most others my age so I at least have a fighting chance with the "Squeezing" I see coming.

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Top floor will always feel hotter because of the sun directly heating it through the roof. The lower you go, the cooler it'll feel.

We have dual zone A/C units. The one for the upstairs is a larger unit, yet it still turns on and runs a lot more than the one downstairs.

Also, warmer air is lighter, so there is a natural tendency for the warm air to migrate toward the top of the house while the colder air travels to the bottom.


You do not want a 2 story house in Miami or Fort Lauderdale...If you have one [like a friend does with a dual zone unit] your electric bill will be around 500 bucks a month for about 10 months of the year...Thats with the temperature set at 75 degrees.

 

[StevieC]

It was hot last month as my folks got their hydro bill and last year at this time we had used 33 KW/H and this year they used 93!

Shows you how hard the A/C unit was working in the last 30 days. There was no other purchases or anything running differently from last year or last month. (Last months bill was normal)

Is was $366 versus the normal $112.

Keep in mind we have smart-metering in this area so they charge more for peak usage times and the meter records such.

They were not happy!

 

[HTSS_TR]

It was hot here last week, I had to clean the 2 table fans we left in attic last winter and used the fans for 2-3 days. Now the weather is cool down again since last Wed, I just opened all windows at night and closed it during the day, the house was cooled down to around 67-68F in early morning and no more than 72-73 in the afternoon/evening without any fan running.

My last month electric bill is about $30, which is about average for summer months the last several years. My winter electric bill is a little more at around $40-50.

 

[Solo2driver]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
It was hot here last week, I had to clean the 2 table fans we left in attic last winter and used the fans for 2-3 days. Now the weather is cool down again since last Wed, I just opened all windows at night and closed it during the day, the house was cooled down to around 67-68F in early morning and no more than 72-73 in the afternoon/evening without any fan running.

My last month electric bill is about $30, which is about average for summer months the last several years. My winter electric bill is a little more at around $40-50.


That's crazy...when we lived in San Diego, even in a 1bdr apartment with no A/C we would get bills for $400+ from SDG&E. Here in Houston, I can get down to $60-$70 in the wintertime and a max of $200 so far this summer with the central AC cranked all day long (and all night!)

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
It was hot here last week, I had to clean the 2 table fans we left in attic last winter and used the fans for 2-3 days. Now the weather is cool down again since last Wed, I just opened all windows at night and closed it during the day, the house was cooled down to around 67-68F in early morning and no more than 72-73 in the afternoon/evening without any fan running.



You must have awesome insulation...Down here any top floor condo and second floor home will have the a/c compressor running steady from 10AM to midnight unless we get the PM thunder and monsoon rain to cool things off for a couple of hours...All the monsoon rain does is make it more sticky...Lately we have not been getting the PM rain so you have the burning sun blasting till 7PM.

This summer has been hotter then normal which is no fun...When I get out of the car I actually run to get inside of the building.

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

Originally Posted By: StevieC
It was hot last month as my folks got their hydro bill and last year at this time we had used 33 KW/H and this year they used 93!

Shows you how hard the A/C unit was working in the last 30 days. There was no other purchases or anything running differently from last year or last month. (Last months bill was normal)

Is was $366 versus the normal $112.



Last year my average kWh was around 850....This year the kWh is over 900...My average bill last year was around 120 month...This year it's around 160 a month...Plus I do not even cook...I need it cold when I sleep...My condo is on a middle floor sandwhiched on both sides by other condos so that helps keep it a bit cooler.

I put a 7K BTU unit in the bedroom...It keeps the bedroom really cold and it takes some load off the central A/C at night.

Leaky air handlers are a major thing down here in the summer cause of the jungle humidity.

 

[HTSS_TR]

My house is single story with 4 bedrooms and 2830 sq-ft, the house was built in 1970 with adequate insulation and I changed the windows and patio doors to double pane vinyl some years back. There are several windows and patio doors facing south and west therefore we get evening breeze from the Pacific ocean about 6-7 miles away.

My average KWH in summer is around 300-350 this year and the last 10 years, but go up in winter months to about 450-550.

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: CROWNVIC4LIFE

Last year my average kWh was around 850....This year the kWh is over 900...My average bill last year was around 120 month...This year it's around 160 a month...Plus I do not even cook...I need it cold when I sleep...My condo is on a middle floor sandwhiched on both sides by other condos so that helps keep it a bit cooler.

I put a 7K BTU unit in the bedroom...It keeps the bedroom really cold and it takes some load off the central A/C at night.

Leaky air handlers are a major thing down here in the summer cause of the jungle humidity.


The problem with my folks house it the A/C unit is only rated for 1.5 Tonnes and they need about 2.5-3 tons. It will maintain current temperature but will not reduce it in the house and then shut-off for a while so it runs all day long and sucks the power.

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: StevieC

The problem with my folks house it the A/C unit is only rated for 1.5 Tonnes and they need about 2.5-3 tons. It will maintain current temperature but will not reduce it in the house and then shut-off for a while so it runs all day long and sucks the power.


Within limits..smaller is better a smaller unit running non-stop will dehumidify better than a larger unit.

Just for example..my addition is 400 sq. ft. and has a cathedral ceiling with 3 exposed walls. I have a 7000BTU unit. In the worst days 95F and high humidity it will keep the room comfortable and actually do some of my adjacent dining room kitchen.

My whole house is 1650 sq ft and I have 3 window units totaling exactly 1 1/5 ton and that is fine.

A/C folks tend to install too high a capacity bc they don't want call backs. While there are other factors a well designed system will be adequate with a ton/ 1000 sq ft. So add a half ton for a 2000 sq ft house and with a well designed system (ample returnss on each floor and good insulation.....2 1/2 tons for a 2000 sq ft house. That's what I would insist on having installed..max.

Patman: You have a problem with your system..you should be able to get close to a 25 degree across the evaporator...except in hi very high humidity it could be closer to 20. If your house is 80 degrees dead minimum return air should be 60 and that is almost unacceptably high.

I'd almost bet your coils are iced up or dirty