Cathcing Up: Heater vs. Air Conditioner

So, when I got up when the power went out this morning, the house was already noticeably cooler than I would have expected if the heater was working.  I do recall  that it was a warmer night, and I had kicked off the two heavier covers that I use, and had just the sheet and comforter covering me. 

I decided that I would stay in bed, covered up and snuggling under all my covers, until the house warmed up some.  I was surprised.  The heater came on but did not stay on for very long.  However, this happened  multiple times over the next hour or so.  

In the summer time, if the air conditioner was shut off, or the power went out, the air conditioner would run, and run, and run until it could catch up with the thermostat.  And, if the temperature outside was really, really hot, the air conditioner would run and stay running as needed.  

As I thought about, it makes sense that the heater would turn on and off.  I believe that is a safety factor so the parts do not overheat and ignite.  I may be wrong, but it makes sense to me. 

Anyway, after a while, my house warmed up.  

The Air Conditioner

The air conditioner/heater unit I have is now a year old, and the company from which I purchased it provided a free one year check up. The technician showed me how to clean out the outdoor unit, and he checked for the temperature of the air coming out of the vents:  54° to 57°.  That explains why, when the air is blowing, I am too cold, although the thermostat is set at 78°.  But, that tells me the unit is working as it should.  I can also tell that by the electric and gas bills I have received this past year, and the actual usage of electricity and gas has been less, although I have the air conditioner set cooler (not much) and the heater set warmer (by about 3°) than I did before the new unit. 

New heating and cooling system

So Friday, August 11, 2017, I had the air conditioner and heater in my home replaced.  I went with JD's One Hour and Plumbing  https://www.jdsonehour.com/.  I noticed some bad reviews on line, but my worst experience was with the guy who tried to convince me he could not replace the thermocouple in the water heater.  When I was talking with the slab guy and mentioned that experience, he knew exactly who I was talking about.  Everyone else with JDs has been polite, efficient and effective.  I have used them off and one for years, and my experience on Friday was just what I expected.

The crew showed up on time. I hate to admit it, but when JD came by Tuesday, we shook on the plan and I did not ask for a written bid.  I called into there office later, and asked that the crew present me one before they started the work, so we were all on the same page..  The leader of the crew not only had the written bid, but agreed that it was for their protection and mine, and later in the day went on to tell me a story about how JD was victimized by a customer with whom he did not have a written agreement.  I think it is nice that there is a businessman out there who will do business on a handshake.  I wish more of life was like that.

The crew worked till noon, took a lunch break, and returned in the afternoon. One person worked outside to replace the compressor, the other worked inside to replace the coil and furnace, and install another air exchange.  They predicted they would be done by 3 PM, but the outside worker was called away, so it took the crew leader a little longer to clean up.  

After the installation was complete and functioning was tested, the technician showed me about my new unit. He even tested the condensation pump.  He told me the filter I had in reserve was the correct size for the new unit but said the pleated filters I had been using made it harder for the air to pass through the system, and the easier the air passed through, the better, so to use a plain filter (which is less expensive.) He showed me how to change the filter, and said that was the only maintenance I needed to do.  He also explained that there was no pilot light, that there was a some kind of hot spot and that would ignite the gas when the heater came on, so that would save a small expense as I left the pilot on during the summer (I hate dealing with pilot lights).  He showed me the indicator light that showed the system was working properly.  He asked me about looking at the compressor outside and told me what the various hook ups were for.  He put all the serial numbers for the units on the receipt, gave me the owner's manuals, and said basically the parts are warrantied for 10 years, but the labor is not. That makes sense. He said they were an authorized dealer, so if I had trouble, to call them, and they would deal with the company.  He said that the furnace would have a slight burn smell, the first time I turned it on, and if I was uncomfortable with that, they would come out and turn it on for me in the fall, free of charge.  I told him every season, the first time a turn on the air conditioner or the furnace, I make a point to do it when I will be present, in case there is a problem, and I would do so again this fall.  

He cleaned up so well, I probably could have gotten away with not vacuuming the work area, but I did, and returned everything to its place. 

So, I was presented with a bill for the exact amount JD and I had agreed to.  I paid by check, having previously move the money to my checking account.  

The new system has a different sound than the old one. JD said it would be louder. It is not, it is just different, and I think that is because the old system worked so hard so long to cool the house.  Immediately when the new system was turned on, I could feel the increased force of the blowing air.  It took a while to get the house cooled, and the system to shut off, but we could feel the cool air in the process, after the house became hot while the system was being replaced.

This was good.

I then returned everything to its place.

Air Conditioner and Heater Day 2

So, the air conditioner/furnace specialist came by this morning to check on my situation. Sure enough, the condenser coil was rusted and leaking. Options were: try to replace the condenser coil; for not much more money replace the inside furnace/condenser coil unit; for about twice the money replace everything inside and out.  Since I had already thought that I would be doing that in June, and the unit is 26 years old, I decided it was time to replace everything. 

I was scheduled to be off Friday, and had a couple of errands to do, but I rescheduled those, after I scheduled the system replacement for Friday. 

I think this will be a good move. 

Plumbing

Well, I actually called the plumber last week, but did not receive a response, so let it go until this morning, when I usually go into work late.  I called, and received a response.  I called into work and said I would be later than usual.

The plumber came.  We looked at the bathroom near the leak, and could find nothing. We checked the meter, which showed no leak, he pulled up carpet and padding that was soaked, and asked to put a fan on the area to dry it out.  He wanted to come back later in the day. That worked for me, as I had some work things I felt obligated to do.

So, in the afternoon, when the plumber came back, the area was dry, unless he stepped on a specific spot.  Amazingly to me, but not to the plumber, there was high quality tile on the slab.  He tried to dislodge it and could not, and said he might have to come back tomorrow with different equipment.  

So, then we looked in the furnace/ac closet.  I had looked. There were some water stains on the floor, but I thought they might be old.  He took the panels off the furnace, and sure enough, saw water drips.  The filter was wet.  That was the leak, and it was seeping into the hallway. He said it was a coil in the air conditioner.  

So relief, I did not have a slab leak that could take an untold amount of digging to find, but now I am faced with possibly needing a new air conditioner and even air conditioner and heating unit. 

The plumbing company I use has specialists who do certain things.  The air conditioner person, and the supervisor were both unavailable to talk to me this afternoon about what my options are.  So, I will stay home from work in the morning, again to meet with someone about this. 

Well, if you are a regular reader, you will remember I thought a new system might have been required a couple of months ago, when the air conditioner could not keep up with the 112° heat.  But, all that was needed then was a clean out of the compressor. But it might have been an indicator of more serious things. 

The air conditioner/furnace were replaced in this house in the fall of 1991, about 6 months before I purchased it.  So, I have really been blessed that I have not had much trouble before now.

And, I am still blessed, because although there is a leak, I have air conditioning.  Most of the time, when the air conditioner develops a problem, there is no air conditioning.  

This will be an expensive process. 

I will deal with it.

I am blessed that I can deal with it. 

Air Conditioning Fix

Well, the HVAC repair person came early today, but I was home, so that was okay.  I used JD's One Hour Service  https://www.jdsonehour.com/.  He suggested I change the filter, and he checked the unit.  He said it was dirty, so the air was not recycling properly, so the Freon could not cool down, and if I did not have it cleaned, it could burn out the compressor. Otherwise, the pressure was fine.  So, he cleaned it, and I could tell the cool air coming in was much stronger and colder.  It was less the $400, a bargain compared to a whole new unit that could cost $3000 to 4000 for  a house my size.  This is amazing, since I do not recall ever having the unit worked on before.

Air Conditioner

It has become absolutely apparent today that the 26 year old air conditioning unit at my house can no longer keep up with the very high heat.  It is pumping out cool air, but not enough to really cool the house.  I will call my plumber/HVAC person Monday and see what I can arrange.  I hope a shot of coolant can help until we can get a new unit in.  Because I am a realist, and a 26 year old unit needs to be replaced by a more energy efficient, environmentally friendly unit.

Air Conditioning

For the first time this season, I shut off the heater, and turned on the air conditioner. I had been holding off, and the inside temperature never rose above 80° until today.  I have also been able to cool off the house at night by opening the windows, and letting  the cool night air in. And, I use ceiling fans.

Tonight, at 9:30 PM, it is 80° outside, so that will not help cool off the house.  If we have storms overnight, that will help.  But earlier, before nightfall, the storms were to the north and east, and moving to the north and east.  Even now, there is a line of storms east of Lubbock, moving to the north and east, missing Lubbock.

I always like to turn on the heater and air conditioner under circumstances that include I will be home while those functions run for the first time, just to be sure there are no major problems.  With the heater, there is always the hot dust smell from the vents.  Not so with the air conditioner.

HVAC Filter

I try to remember to replace the filter for my heater and air conditioner on a regular basis.  Most recently, I purchased a filter that was suppose to be good for 90 days.  I set a reminder on my computer, and replaced the filter this weekend.

The filter was totally covered with a layer of thick, gray cat hair.  Sake cat hair.  Well, 90 days is too long.  I set a reminder for 60 days, but as I was thinking about it as I wrote this blog, I decided I needed to check it at 30 days, and if it was okay, I could extend the check cycle. 

One of my co-workers has an HVAC license.  He says the most important way to do preventative care of our HVAC system is to change the filter.  I believe it.  I do change the filter regularly, and trying a filter that was suppose to be good for 90 days was an experiment for me (although I am not always 100% diligent at changing the filter on time.)

The House Feels Close

It is hot out, and of course, I have the air conditioner on.  But it is very humid in Lubbock, so even with central refrigerated air conditioning, the house feels close.  I sprayed some air freshener into the intake vent for the air conditioner.  It did not help a whole lot, but it helped some.

The humidity is not something we experience a lot in Lubbock.  The aridity makes the heat so much more bearable. But, when it is humid, we still have to deal with it.

It is the longest day of the year.  I ran errands and did housework earlier, so did not spend much time outside. Maybe later this evening, I can.  I stayed out quite late last night.  The night air was just beautiful, especially in comparison to the house.

What Season Is This?

We have had some wonderfully warm and beautiful weather the last few days:  shirt sleeve, sunshine, and spring like.  I was able to sit out and enjoy the sunshine Friday night, part of Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  It has just been delightful.

I heard the weather forecast last night: it was going to be colder today and we would have some mist and overcast, with possible snow and rain mix overnight Tuesday night.  Sometime in the last few days, I had turned of the furnace.  It was too nice to have to run the heater.  And, when I woke up this morning, the house was comfortable, and I did not think about the heater being off...

Until I left work a little after 5 PM tonight.  I was not too concerned, because the temperature was in the low 40s.  Sake and Taki do not seem to mind if the house is cool, but Haiku does not like it. But, there are plenty of throws and blankets under which she can bury herself (and she does) if she is cold.  When I got home, the house was in the middle to low 60's, which it would have been had the heater been on.

But, I turned the heater on.  We are anticipating mixed snow and rain tonight.  I hope for rain. We need the moisture.  I hope it rains hard tomorrow. 

But, I am ready for spring.

Refreshing

We are experiencing a brief cold front: it blew in Friday night but Monday is supposed to hot again.  But yesterday, last night, today and tonight have been pleasant, refreshing. I stayed in last night, and listened to the Tech game, and was pretty tired afterward.  Tonight, I went kayaking, and feel so refreshed, I believe I will sit out, after a while, for  a while.

It has been nice not to need the air conditioner and to have the windows open, so we can have some fresh air inside.

Cat Stories

I was late getting home tonight.  Not too late, about 45 minutes.  But the cats knew.  Haiku and Taki were waiting at the garage door when I entered the house from the garage.  I suspect they hear the garage door, so know to be waiting.  I brought some items into the house with me, including refrigeratables, so took care of that first.  Then I went through the bedroom, to the computer room.  Haiku and Taki were waiting at their feeding station in the bedroom, but both dashed into the computer room behind me.  Then, returned to the bedroom. So, I fed them quickly, then took care of the other cat chores, including feeding Sake.

Sake is not as anxious to be fed. She frequently checks out the food, then retires from the kitchen, only to return 10 or 20 minutes later to eat.  

I have a walk in shower in one of the bathrooms of my house. I keep a bowl of water on the floor of the shower, for the cats.  Three times tonight, when I went into that bathroom, Taki was sitting in the shower.  I have no idea what that is about.  I know she likes to bat the water bowl, moving it around.  Is she trying to get cool on the tiles?  Does she like being in a "cave?" (This brings to mind a question, how do cats cool themselves.  I know that dogs pant, and exchange heat from their ears and the pads of their feet. Hmmm http://www.dwmtech.com/CATS/coolcats.htm or http://www.thecatsite.com/a/keeping-cats-cool.)

Hot!

It's summer in Texas.  And it is hot.  As my favorite local radio sports talk show host says, this is what happens in Texas this time of year.  Why do people act surprised?

I have not been opening the windows before I go to bed, lately, because it has been too hot, and I did not need to let the hot air in.

This morning, I awoke about 3:40 AM and could not go back to sleep. I checked the temperature and it was 77°.  I opened the bedroom windows, but it did not help much.  The air was too still, and too humid. The bedroom became passing cool, but not the rest of the house.   However, the low this morning was 73°, and I left the house open, and was able to enjoy the cool morning air in my back yard.

For a while.

By about 9:30 AM, it was too hot to sit outside, and too hot to have the windows open. This has been the case recently.  The house just does not cool off much overnight due to the heat. The A/C bill is high, but I deserve the comfort.

 This afternoon, a storm blew in. There were very few big drops of rain, but some thunder and lightning, and wind. For a while. The clouds stayed, so the temperature stayed below 100°.  But it was still HOT.

I went to the brass band concert to night, and for the first hour or so, the air was dead still. Then the breeze picked up. And the temperature dropped. At almost 10:30 PM. the temperature was 78°.  It is not cooling the inside of the house yet, but I have some of the windows open to get some cross breezes and try to cool the inside off.  It will take a while. But hopefully, the house will cool off tonight.

Cooling Off the House

I was blessed, some year ago, to be able to afford replacement windows. These are windows that allow for opening, and allowing fresh air into the house.

During this time of the year, I am grateful that I can open the windows.  I use this to help keep the house cool, and air out the house. 

I have to be careful, because if I leave the windows wide open, someone could easily access the house.  So, as the night becomes later, I close many of the windows, and lock open, with a small opening, the others.

My neighbors have been using their air conditioner for several weeks.  Today, with 95° temperature, is only the second or third time that I have had the air conditioner on.

Over the weekend, I had the house open for most of the day.  By late afternoon, I had to close the house to keep out the heat.  Saturday, the air conditioner came on.  But about 4 hours or less later, I was again able to open the house. So that is nice.

I much rather cool the house with fresh air than the air conditioner.  Sometimes, at this time of the year, I can not, because the dust is so bad.  But, this year, the dust has not been so bad, so I have been able to keep the windows open a lot. 

I especially enjoy sleeping with the windows open at night. However, during this time of the year, allergies become a problem.  There are always trade offs in life.

Cold Feet and Dreams

I have experienced lengthy periods of time in my life when I can not get warm.  Warm clothing, sitting next to a fire or a heater, using a heating pad, and hot showers all help temporarily, but ultimately, I feel a central chill that I can not shake, even if the ambient temperature is not uncomfortable.

I am not referring to being in the cold.  I am referring to getting a chill, and after I am trying for a period of time to warm up, not succeeding at warming up.  I have thought that during these times, I might be suffering from Raynaud's Phenomenon http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000412.htm. 

Although I have periods of being cold, the insufferable, persistent cold has not been with me for several years.  I can not think of when it was last with me, but I am guessing before 2006. Oh, I have had a few days of being cold, but not persistent, and usually due to cold weather or cold climate control inside...

Until about 3 and a half weeks ago.  I noticed it first at night, when I could not warm my feet.  They would be ice cold. I would wear socks to sleep, and have an afghan at the foot of my bed to help warm my feet.  It sometimes did not seem to do any good.  I would wake up in the middle of the night and have to rub my feet to warm them. 

At the same time, I noticed something that I have not paid attention to previously, so I do not know if it has been associated with this experience of being cold in the past:  I was remembering my dreams.  I am sure I dream, but most nights, while I might wake up knowing I was dreaming, I do not remember my dreams.  During this period of my experiencing this uncomfortable cold, I am remembering my dreams.  I am often waking up, I think, and then returning to sleep and to the dream in progress.  Sometimes I am not sure I am fully awake, and I am just experiencing a change in the level of my consciousness.

Most of my dreams are strange, and are about things in my past.  Most of them are not scary, and some are down right intriguing, so I want to "finish the story."  It seems that while the dreams are about my past, they skew the information in strange ways, combining various peoples in my life in odd or unusual pairings.  Some of these dreams are almost comforting.

I wonder if, because of the cold, I am not achieving a deep enough sleep, so I awaken during the dreams and remember them.  I do not know enough about sleep theory to know if that coincides with what sleep theory says, but I think REM sleep, when we do most of our active and memorable dreams, is not as deep a sleep as other stages of sleep.  

Well, I do not mind dreaming, and I do not mind remembering my dreams, although the memories usually do not stay with me more than a few minutes, then I move on to thinking about my day.  But I do wish I could get warm and stay warm.

Cooler Weather

The cooler weather blew in last weekend on 9/2/11 during the Texas Tech football game.  There was a dust blow, and we have had some moisture, including last night.  The night time temperatures have been in the 40s to the 60s, and the day time temperatures have been in the 80s and low 90s.

This has been so pleasant.  I am able to open the windows of the house when I am home, and let the cool air blow in during the evenings. I sleep with the windows open.  When I am home in the mornings, I am able to open the windows and let the air blow in.  I can shut off the air conditioner.

This is great.  The air in the house had become stale, especially with three cat pans, although I use baking soda to help reduce the odor. I really enjoy the fresh air.

I have been able to sit out some mornings and enjoy the newspaper while I sat outside with my orange juice and coffee. I have been able to sit out in the evening to read.  I have had to use the clip on mosquito deterrent. There is just enough moisture for us to have mud mosquitoes.

This is the West Texas weather we expect.

Suffering the Heat

Much has been said about the extreme and persistent heat that has enveloped the south, southeast and southwest of the United States this year. There seems to be no relief.  We on the South Plains of West Texas are used to hot summers, with evenings that cool off into the low 70s or even 60s, that give us relief.  This year, that has not happened. Not only are we repeatedly seeing day time highs in the above 100s, but the evening temperatures are in the high 70s, and there is no natural relief. 

We are admonished to wear light colored, loose fitting clothing, drink plenty of fluids, and find air conditioned options if we do not have air conditioning at home.  Air conditioned options include malls, libraries, movie theaters, restaurants.

I work in a building in which one of the chillers is not working. Sometimes, I am in a comfortable environment, and sometimes, I am in an environment that is too cold.  But, this year, sometimes, I am in a situation in which the air becomes too warm and stifling.

For me, one of the side effects of this heat is that, although I try to stay hydrated, my eyes feel dried out.  I use eye drops to help, and they do. But the dry itchy feeling is uncomfortable.

My sleep is not generally affected by the heat: I am blessed that I can afford to air condition my house so it can be cool enough to offer me a good night's sleep.

But, I am still suffering the heat.  I have limited watering my yard to keep my shrubs and trees alive. The grass near them responds positively.  I do not go out in the evening, as I do not want to be in the oppressive heat any more than I have to. I try to remember to adjust my use of appliances to off peak times.

But, let us face it, we are in a heat emergency.  My wish is that there will be some natural relief.

I have not addressed the drought. And, in this session, I will not. 

What a Difference

Okay, so I knew the motor of the air conditioner was going out for a while. What a fool I am.  I did not call for help sooner, and I should have.   I did not realize how loud the motor of the air conditioner fan had become:  I suspect that as it got louder gradually, I did not realize it.  Also, I did not realize how inefficient it had become. While the house was not unbearble any where, it seems the new motor is helping the fan to disperse air more efficiently.

I Should Have Acted Sooner

Well, the air conditioner fan motor had been acting up for a while. It was so intermittent for so long, I did not worry.  The truth be told, by Wednesday, I had decided I needed to do something, but I had already taken off to take Taki to the veterinarian, and for jury duty. Jury duty is covered by leave, and I worked long to make up for being gone to the veterinarian.  I just did not want to be out again this week.  I was anyway.

I stayed home this morning, and found a heating/air conditioning/plumber who could get to the house this morning and replace the motor. I had used them before, and really liked them:  they were able to fix my plumbing without breaking more pipes.  Mine is an old house, and often when some pipes are worked on, through vibration, another pipe breaks.  Also, the day I needed them, it was raining, and when the plumber got on the porch, he put surgical booties on so as not to track in the mud. 

So, all turned out well.  I also think the gods conspired to keep from overworking this week.  I had really thought I would put in a full 40 hours. I was a couple hours shy, due to going into work late today.  Hmm.