AC on constantly!! (Phoenix: apartment, townhome, tenant)

[Hot in AZ]

My husband and I just moved to Phoenix and are getting used to our new A/C-dependent life. We are beginning to wonder if the A/C at our apartment is not working up to par, even for this hot time of the year. In order to come home to 78 degrees after work in the evenings, we have to leave the A/C unit running constantly all day long (i.e. it doesn't reach 78 degrees and then click on and off to hold it at that temp). It is not that the thermostat is broken because if we set it at 85+ it will click on and off, but in order to get the temp at 78, the A/C has to be running all the time. If we wanted to keep it at 75 we couldn't because the A/C is already on all the time and can only get to 78. We've had an A/C guy look at the unit and he says it is working fine. But, keeping the A/C running 24/7 just to maintain 78 degrees seems a little extreme. We haven't gotten our first electricity bill, but are nervous that it is going to be outrageous. Is this kind of extreme A/C use normal around here?? Many thanks.

[mortimer]

How big is your house? Do you have just one A/C unit?

The part outside is called the condenser. Look for the part that has
metal fins all around. The fins act just like a radiator in a car and get
rid of the heat.

They should all have space around them like _|_|_|_|_|_|_
and not be all 'smushed' together like \\\\\\\\\\\\\\
(hope the illustratations make sense).

Also, go outside and see if your windows are leaking cold air (the
opposite of winter when cold air leaks inside).

Those are the quickest and easiest things to check. If OK, the
insulation in your house is terrible. Be of good cheer though; You
are heading into the six months were your A/C won't run at all.

[Hot in AZ]

Thanks, mortimer. We've got a lot of things working against us---it's a three story townhome, 1200 sq. ft. The condenser is outside on the ground, and the other half is upstairs in the hall in the third floor. The first floor is an uncooled garage, and the upper two floors are living space. We've got western exposure, too, about 5 windows that just bake in the afternoons.

I like the idea about checking for cool air leaking out, but all of our living space windows are up on the second and third floors.

Yea, we are counting the days (and our pennies) 'til Oct. 1.

[sablebaby]

Originally Posted by Hot in AZ

Thanks, mortimer. We've got a lot of things working against us---it's a three story townhome, 1200 sq. ft. The condenser is outside on the ground, and the other half is upstairs in the hall in the third floor. The first floor is an uncooled garage, and the upper two floors are living space. We've got western exposure, too, about 5 windows that just bake in the afternoons.

I like the idea about checking for cool air leaking out, but all of our living space windows are up on the second and third floors.

Yea, we are counting the days (and our pennies) 'til Oct. 1.

That sounds exactly like one of our last apts that I had. We lived there for 2 1/2 years and I don't remember any problems with the AC not working properly like you say yours is. We always left it on at 80-82 or so when we were not home and turned it down to 75-78 when we were home. Sounds like your unit isn't working right. It's supposed to do what you tell it to do.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Hot in AZ

Yea, we are counting the days (and our pennies) 'til Oct. 1.

If youre expecting it to cool down on 10/1, youve got another thing coming. Its been 100 degrees and over in early October.

And yes, running the A/C non-stop is a fact of life for 6 months of the year in the Sonoran Desert.

[Bill-]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

And yes, running the A/C non-stop is a fact of life for 6 months of the year in the Sonoran Desert.

yes, it's fact of life, just like running the heat 9 months a year up north is.

[Bungle]

Originally Posted by Hot in AZ

The first floor is an uncooled garage, and the upper two floors are living space.

This is the problem. I have one bedroom in my house that is over our garage. On average the room will be 10 degrees warmer than the rest of the house due to the hot air rising from the garage.

I've always been curious what the cost difference would be to insulate and cool the garage compared to an A/C unit running full time like yours is doing.

[MotleyCrew]

Our new tenant complained that the A/C ran all the time at our town house which was only a year old. We had a service guy come and check and the coils were all gooped up with construction junk. We had them cleaned and serviced and it is running fine now. Worth having it checked because the alternative for us was replacing the condenser.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Bill-

yes, it's fact of life, just like running the heat 9 months a year up north is.

Try maybe 5-6 months at best.

[Bill-]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Try maybe 5-6 months at best.

I lived in Chicago for 23 years and had the heat on in every month except June, July and August.