With warmer weather coming, it is only natural that I’d start using the A/C more, especially since (1) I sleep during the day and (2) the bedroom, which is upstairs, is as much as 10° warmer as the 1st floor. So that meant making some adjustments, including purchasing a couple of additional large, portable swamp coolers (both for the white noise, the extra humidity, and cooling factor as the air blows over me while I sleep) and that helped. When the A/C came on, the air was also sent through the swamp cooler and the bedroom cooled down nicely resulting in the bedroom being cooler than the 1st floor (where the thermostat is). When the A/C is off, the bedroom is only a few degrees warmer than the first floor when the A/C comes back on.
Still, there was an issue with the A/C itself in that the unit began freezing up. That meant that I either had a coolant shortage or the coils were dirty. So I called the company who initially installed the unit and scheduled an appointment for this afternoon. When I got up this afternoon, I checked the vents and the air flow happened to be weak. So I switched the unit to fan-mode with no A/C to start the thawing process.
When the tech arrived, we went down to the basement to check the unit and both the primary and backup drain pipes were dribbling water. He discovered that they’d been installed improperly and since his company was at fault, he fixed that for no charge. The tech’s first thought was that the coils would be dirty. He was wrong. So it was time to check the refrigerant level. The valve covers were barely on and when there was a definite coolant shortage,
he figured that was the cause. So a pound of refrigerant later, we turned the unit back on and wa-la! It is working.
So after signing up for the bi-yearly plan to have the unit checked, cleaned, etc. as well as provide a discount on parts and labor, the tech wanted to make sure everything was OK. However, the unit had shut off and so I hit the override to turn the temp down more. The fan kicked on but the A/C never actually back came on. Nice. After a complete check of the electrical, it turned out the connector switch was the cause. He was manually able to kick the unit on, but I didn’t want to take a chance. I wanted a new switch installed and of course, the tech was more than happy to oblige (more billing time).
When all was said and done, my bank account finds itself lower, but my condo now cools much, much better. Just part of the joys of home ownership, but hey, I wouldn’t change a thing. ^_^
I know it’s irritating to deal with all of these glitches and expenses, but at least you don’t have to do yard work.
Oh yeah. ^_^
you mean the inspector missed that?
The A/C couldn’t be tested because the inspector came out during the winter. As for the drain stuff, it looks OK on the surface the inspector did not even looked at anything A/C related which is why it wasn’t caught.