Oh, for some air conditioning right now!

We've been having a heat wave. We do have central A/C, but I think there may be a problem with it and the thermostat, and the heat pump may need more Freon.  I discovered this the past month or so, during a few other heat waves, which is about the only time I use it--when there's a heat warning from NOAA, I leave it on for the cats all day when I'm at work--I can't afford to use it much for me, but I worry about them when I'm at work. I do leave a couple of upstairs windows open, just in case the A/c or power conks out while I'm gone, so they would have some air. It has always worked wonderfully, despite leaving the windows open.

Lately, though, while it seemed to be working, it didn't seem up to par. The programmed thermostat keeps stopping a one temperature, and even goes up a degree or two when the A/C is on, which has never happened.  This all started after DH remover it in order to paint the wall. The batteries were VERY corroded.  I think he may have done something when he re-set the thing. I've tried 5 times to use the programs codes to override the schedule, but it doesn't seem to work.  We can't get someone in until mid-August (it would be another $200 on top of the regular fee to have an emergency call).  I;m afraid to use it, if it does need more Freon, in case I damage the heat pump by running it when the Freon is low. I've had fans in the windows, and the cats seem fine, but I can't leave those one when I'm at work. I just decided to clean i short spurts, rest, clean again, then watch TV by the window with the fan.

Dang it, it's HOT here in suburban Philly!  

That stinks. I went through a bad heat wave years ago with no air conditioning. It forced me and my cat to move in with a friend temporarily. His place was no pets but the landlord let him help me since I could prove I had my own apartment. Is there any way you can get a window unit for one room? It may not be a bad idea to have a back-up any way.

I honestly don't know how you're surviving, Marge!  I would die with no ac.  I'm in Central Florida and it's just not possible to live without it.  To answer your question, though, I don't think it will hurt your unit to run it if it's low on refrigerant.

I sure hope you get some relief soon.

We don't have central AC in our house. Most of the time, I'm OK with it, but this weekend was not good....for the animals or for us. It was flat-out nasty. And I've seen on tv that Philly's weather is just insane right now. 

I hope you can get your AC looked at soon. It's not easy being without it.

[quote name="Winchester" url="/t/323475/oh-for-some-air-conditioning-right-now#post_4065892"
I hope you can get your AC looked at soon. It's not easy being without it.
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Air conditioning is rather rare in Germany and something I really miss about the U.S.. Even hospitals and most stores don't have it. It doesn't help that summers have gotten hotter here.

someone said to fill a balloon with water-put it in the freezer then when it freezes=put it in a pan infront of the fan-it will blow cool air as it blows on the ice.

another idea-put some ice in a pan infront of the fan-same idea.

you can get a decent window unit on craigslist=just make them run it so you can get the temp of the air coming out of it=get a thermometer and stick it in the slots=it should be spitting out 32 degree air.  you can do this at home to check your central air=see what temp the air is when it comes out. this temp trick I learned for my car ac when I was recharging it. I assume its no different for any other unit=that's why the air is so cold when it pumps out-the air in the room is so hot that you don't feel it 32 degrees. I would google the name of your AC unit and see if anyone else has any issues and maybe its something simple.

I'm in W. Tennessee and and it is what we call "hell-hot" here.  Our temps have been in the 90's, but the heat index is well up in the 100's every day, with 100% humidity.  Our old central unit starting doing similar to what you are describing, and because it was running nonstop trying to cool the house off it was absolutely wearing it out and making it freeze up.  We limped it along for another couple of years then had to give in and get a new one

I think I would have to go stay with someone if ours went out, I don't know if I could stand it, I'm so spoiled to the A/C!  And I can remember as a child we rarely ran the A/C, windows were always up, either it wasn't as hot as it is now, or we were more accustomed to it, don't know which.

My friends that live in Buffalo don't even have A/C at their house, and they are suffering as well this year.

Stay as cool as you can, and get a bunch of popsicles!

Still no A/C. It's supposed to feel like 107 F today.  This is our 3rd (or is it 4th?) heat wave without the A/C working.  Our tile floors downstairs literally are sweating and sopping wet each day; it's day 3 of this heat wave.

The guy came out this morning, and told us that they "No longer fix our type of unit". Well, company with the orange and blue colors, why couldn't you have told us that OVER TWO WEEKS AGO WHEN WE MADE THE APPOINTMENT? Surely, our records are on your computer, right?  Hmm...the plot thickens. DH's friend's son is an up and coming manager, but not in this area. We gave him our address, and he was able to easily pull up our unit's information and its service record.  He said that they do work on these units, though they are uncommon nowadays. He will be filing a formal complaint against the technician (he could be fired, though I have bad feeling about that--unless he did lie to us). We think that he simply didn't know how to fix it; he kept saying that he had never seen one before. If that's true, he should've been honest, and assured us that someone who could fix it would be out today.  Our friend was willing to come 100+ miles to check on it tonight. That was very, very kind of him. 

I did call the company who installed it 11 years ago. The reason we never had them service it was that we think they didn't do the best job. They also left a big opening, and rats have gotten into the duct work over the years. They also bailed on the first, free service call after we got the unit. I tried to make an appointment, but they never called back. However, we are desperate, and there aren't many places to call. They're coming out this afternoon. I'm worried about the cats when I'm at work during a heat warning. I' have been leaving the A/C on for them; it does slightly cool things, but there definitely is a problem. We just installed laminate flooring, which cannot take much moisture. It hasn't gotten as wet as the tile, but if this keeps up, it will be ruined.

Wish us luck!

I hope you get it fixed soon I can't imagine being without air conditioning in this.

We contacted another company, who was so nice to deal with (the original ones we didn't want to deal with!). They came out this afternoon, and he put Freon in the unit. The new units no longer use Freon, BTW, they use Pruon (sp.?), which is a 1/4 of the cost of Freon. Anyway, it's a temporary fix--we will get our new HVAC unit installed next week.    Expensive, but it makes sense to do. They only last 10-12 years; and we replaced this one 11 years ago.

I am so glad you got it fixed. It is late summer so a temporary fix is good enough.

I'm glad you got it fixed, even temporarily. 

We have no AC in the house at all. Most of the time, it doesn't bother me. This summer, I'm dying here. It's gotten beyond ridiculous.

Winchester said:

 
I'm glad you got it fixed, even temporarily. 

We have no AC in the house at all. Most of the time, it doesn't bother me. This summer, I'm dying here. It's gotten beyond ridiculous.

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The same here!  I seldom use it, but, when NOAA issues a heat warning for dangerous temperatures, I leave it on all day for the cats when I'm at work. 

The fix means that it won't go under 74 F, and it's currently at 78 F, but the humidity has really gotten better. The sofa is still wet, but the floors have dried up.

We're meeting with the gentleman this afternoon, and, from what they told us yesterday, the new system may be installed on Tuesday.  Well, there go my plans for a master closet re-do that I've been planning for a month! I can't justify spending that money now. I've waited 11 years to do it, and was just going to buy the stuff this weekend, then this happened...of course!

My heat pump is acting up.I had someone come out in May and he added some freon. He said I  will need a new heat pump in the fall. I just hope this one will last until October. It's just barely cold enough in all this heat. I live in the DC area and it is so so hot. Even when I go shopping in the stores I get so hot I sweat all over. When I get home I am soak and wet.