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Purchased a 14 year old house a few months ago (original HVAC unit in the house). Inspector couldn't test because it had been about 50 degrees and said it was too cold and would be bad for the compressor...my real estate agent bought me an "Old Republic" home warranty as part of the transaction...just turned the AC on last night and it ran for about 2 hours and felt a "little" cooler (you could tell some of the humidity was taken out of the air), but the thermostat only went down from 80 to 78 in that time. It has been warm inside the house (but not enough for me to turn the AC on vs just using fans until recently), so maybe the walls were hot and it was just taking it a while to cool down, but I would have thought it would be cooler after running for two hours straight...SO, now I'm thinking of calling the warranty company and having them come check it out...should I do anything before they come? I don't know if the AC has ever been maintained because I just bought it...the condenser (sitting outside on a concrete pad) has some of the fins pressed in and bent over here and there and there is about an inch of leaves at the bottom under the fan-should I straighten out the fins or clean out the leaves before having them come over? I don't want them to deny me because of these things-any advice? Thanks!
I don't know about todays A/C's but units the age of yours are designed to run for quite a while to cool. You have already discovered the reason, humidity control. Two hours would not be long enough. The longer a unit runs the dryer the air becomes. Dryer air feels cooler. Cleaning the condenser would be a good idea and would not be covered by a warranty.
Purchased a 14 year old house a few months ago (original HVAC unit in the house). Inspector couldn't test because it had been about 50 degrees and said it was too cold and would be bad for the compressor...my real estate agent bought me an "Old Republic" home warranty as part of the transaction...just turned the AC on last night and it ran for about 2 hours and felt a "little" cooler (you could tell some of the humidity was taken out of the air), but the thermostat only went down from 80 to 78 in that time. It has been warm inside the house (but not enough for me to turn the AC on vs just using fans until recently), so maybe the walls were hot and it was just taking it a while to cool down, but I would have thought it would be cooler after running for two hours straight...SO, now I'm thinking of calling the warranty company and having them come check it out...should I do anything before they come? I don't know if the AC has ever been maintained because I just bought it...the condenser (sitting outside on a concrete pad) has some of the fins pressed in and bent over here and there and there is about an inch of leaves at the bottom under the fan-should I straighten out the fins or clean out the leaves before having them come over? I don't want them to deny me because of these things-any advice? Thanks!
There is one thing you can check, the unit outside has two copper lines, one small one and onelarger, after you run the unit fore about half hour, the larger line should be cold to the touch, or sweating, not ice, if you have ice, your filter might be blocked, if the line is not cold, it might be low on ref.Make sure you check your indoor air filter.
There is one thing you can check, the unit outside has two copper lines, one small one and onelarger, after you run the unit fore about half hour, the larger line should be cold to the touch, or sweating, not ice, if you have ice, your filter might be blocked, if the line is not cold, it might be low on ref.Make sure you check your indoor air filter.
Yeah, I did feel the lines-larger one was not sweating or really cold at all-it was dry on the outside/warmish. So I guess low on refrig....thanks for the tip.
Yeah, I did feel the lines-larger one was not sweating or really cold at all-it was dry on the outside/warmish. So I guess low on refrig....thanks for the tip.
So now you need to call a technitian, it lookes like its low on ref.
I had a home warranty when I bought my house 18 months ago. I was very pleased with the service, the technicians they sent, and their responsiveness. (I had Best home warranty/HomeAmerica.)
You asked for reasons they'd deny coverage? The warranty doesn't cover cleaning and maintenance. So, if that's the problem, they won't pay for it. However, you mentioned that the fins were bent. They WILL fix that. Any mechanical failure is covered by the warranty.
The technicians are getting paid for the service call by the warranty company and will fix a mechanical failure. If the system needs cleaned, you might be able to strike an agreement with the technicians to at least do a superficial clean (without removing the coils) if you paid them a bit extra. Removing the coils and doing a big clean can take hours and they would have to schedule a separate appointment for that.
When I had a ceiling fan break and the warranty company sent electricians, I asked them to check and adjust all of the ceiling fans in my home. They were happy to do it. I also asked if they could possibly install a new porch light I had bought to replace the small, ugly one that was on the house. It just made sense since they were already here and I told them I'd pay them extra myself. One of the electricians put in the new light for me while the other was working on the ceiling fans. He refused to charge me, saying they were here anyway.
Again, I was very pleased with the warranty service and the people they sent.
Have it checked by a HVAC tech. Sounds like low refrigerant levels. There may be some problem with replacing teh refrigerant if R-12 is being used. The tech will know how and what to use.
Have it checked by a HVAC tech. Sounds like low refrigerant levels. There may be some problem with replacing teh refrigerant if R-12 is being used. The tech will know how and what to use.
Household A/C units use R-22, r-12 is used in household refrigerator, r-12 is not being sold any more, I cant keep up with all the new ref.
Be sure when they come out to fix it that they don't just add more refrigerant. The stuff got out somehow... there's a leak they need to take care of or else they'll be back before long.
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