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Help you......tell me your problems with your HVAC/R system...Tell me what you want to learn....Tell me what's wrong or what you think is wrong with your HVAC system...Help me get better at my job. At the same time I will help you be comfortable at a reasonable price....I will give that info for free
Shameless plug to help my education
I'll be 100% totally honest and if I can't solve it I will absolutely find someone that can.
I'll bite since I'm not in the area - the upstairs is SO hot, A/C is great on the main level, but 2nd floor (and it's only a Cape Cod) so not huge, upstairs is HOT, HOT.
I'll bite since I'm not in the area - the upstairs is SO hot, A/C is great on the main level, but 2nd floor (and it's only a Cape Cod) so not huge, upstairs is HOT, HOT.
By the way ...it doesn't matter the area...I'm not selling anything. I'm offering years of relentless pursuit of knowledge.
Location: Sometimes Maryland, sometimes NoVA. Depends on the day of the week
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I'll take you up on your offer. I have two questions.
(1) The past week or so temps have been in the 90s and our a/c is running non-stop. Its also on its last legs, but we want to string it along until this fall. Anyway, the past week or so there has been water leaking from the evapotor intermitadly. The drain line is not clogged, nor does the water seem to be leaking out of any joint along the drain line. Sometimes it leaks, sometimes it doesn't. We have yet to see a pattern. The water is not bothering the garage floor, and we don't want to spend money on the a/c since we plan to replace it (just don't have the money yet). We took the cover panel ff the furnace, and nothing in the furnace looked wet, except a very small puddle on the floor that was then draining out into the garage. How might this water leak bother our oil-fired furnace?
(2) House is a split-foyer, 40 years old. When we had an estimator out a couple of weeks back, he said the biggest problem with keeping our upstairs cool is the location of the returns. The basement return (at the base of the stairs) was at the ceiling and the upstairs return (also near the stairwell) was about 6" off the floor. He told us to (a) move the upstairs return to ceiling level and (b) close off the basement return in the summer (and the upstairs return in the winter). We did both this weekend, but then considered possible ramifications of changing the airflow. Will this be a problem? Will the motor be working too hard b/c there is less air coming through the returns, or will it just take twice as much air through one return? FWIW, the upstairs return that we removed was 24"x8" and the new one return grill is 14x14" so the surface area is the same, but we went from spanning two spaces between the studs to one (our returns are not ducted behind the drywall).
Ug.. those look so long, but wanted to give lots of information.
I'll take you up on your offer. I have two questions.
(1) The past week or so temps have been in the 90s and our a/c is running non-stop. Its also on its last legs, but we want to string it along until this fall. Anyway, the past week or so there has been water leaking from the evapotor intermitadly. The drain line is not clogged, nor does the water seem to be leaking out of any joint along the drain line. Sometimes it leaks, sometimes it doesn't. We have yet to see a pattern. The water is not bothering the garage floor, and we don't want to spend money on the a/c since we plan to replace it (just don't have the money yet). We took the cover panel ff the furnace, and nothing in the furnace looked wet, except a very small puddle on the floor that was then draining out into the garage. How might this water leak bother our oil-fired furnace?
Is there any of the larger copper pipe exposed without insulation? What city in MD are you in? How do you know the drain is not clogged just curious? I have to ask lots of question to get a mental picture.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rubytue
(2) House is a split-foyer, 40 years old. When we had an estimator out a couple of weeks back, he said the biggest problem with keeping our upstairs cool is the location of the returns. The basement return (at the base of the stairs) was at the ceiling and the upstairs return (also near the stairwell) was about 6" off the floor. He told us to (a) move the upstairs return to ceiling level and (b) close off the basement return in the summer (and the upstairs return in the winter). We did both this weekend, but then considered possible ramifications of changing the airflow. Will this be a problem? Will the motor be working too hard b/c there is less air coming through the returns, or will it just take twice as much air through one return? FWIW, the upstairs return that we removed was 24"x8" and the new one return grill is 14x14" so the surface area is the same, but we went from spanning two spaces between the studs to one (our returns are not ducted behind the drywall).
Ug.. those look so long, but wanted to give lots of information.
No I wouldn't close of a return. maximum velocity for best results and quiet operation is 500 feet per minute. You can go slightly higher but the static pressure starts to build up to much at a certain point it just stops moving air. Closing off a return vent will increase that velocity and static to a point of possibly causing damage. How large is your system in tonnage? if you don't know can you write model numbers downs and make?
To give you an idea what it does to your A/C try breathing normally deep breaths then try to breath the same through a straw. The volume of air is critical for performance and life. Have you changed your filters? Have you at least sprayed off the outdoor coil with a hose? @ your breaker panel cut power to the condenser or cut total system power if you have to and take a hose washing the coil from top to bottom getting it as clean as possible. The right way is to remove the fan and spray from the inside out but that can be more than some want to do. If you have problems removing debris a slight mixture of something like purple power will help....make sure you spray it completely off and allot to dry before you cut power back on to it.
Sorry for the long winded post. When I can get the model numbers I can see if your return grilles are ok and properly sized. Do both RG's have filters in them and are they the type that you pull the tabs and the door is on hinges?
P.S. also what type of filters are you using? and unless you just trust that contractor completely I would get several bids at least 3 and then when you get back with those we can look at bids.
All that really does is cut down on volume. It's usually very difficult to achieve much balance with one system for two floors without zones. It's possible but it really needs to be done in the design stage because of cost. Your best bet which I don't ever like telling people is a portable or window unit...Unless you planned an upgrade or something in the future. Probably the best balanced system would be two separate ones....but that get's very costly also.
1 vent closed might be okay if it's delivering close to the proper air flow but I wouldn't do much more.
I would prefer a window unit but if you get a portable they are much easier to locate and be out of the way. If you do get one by chance get the two hose model. The single hose models pull air from the home to reject the heat from the condenser coil. Can you measure the size of your returns?
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