The Dreaded A/C's in guest rooms

[JBloggs]

Oh yeah CH, it was one of our many WELCOME BACK TO THE B & BEAST! Where did you think YOU were going? On vacation? Never! <Insert evil laugh echoing down the halls>

 

[Samster]

Had a PITA from my very favorite state in the whole union ring the bell yesterday afternoon to tell hubs "It's getting a bit warm in my room". It was 4 pm, the temp outside was 102 degrees in the shade. Ya think???
Hubs explained that our whole house a/c unit was struggling a bit to keep up (understatement, as the neighboring town yesterday had power wires SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST due to the heat!). He also explained it was the hottest part of the day and that the A/C unit would start to catch up again as soon as the sun moved over the house, and that in the meantime there is a fan in the closet of her room if she needed it for napping, etc. She just stared at him and turned to go out the front door. The temp in the foyer (near the front door) was reading 78 inside, I ran up to their room and before I even opened it could feel the cool air rushing out the bottom. Their room was a good bit cooler than the foyer.
Geesh..

It is over 100F here today plus the heat index! When we had guests, they would crank the central A/C units down to 72 degrees. Dur... It will only keep working as hard as it can and can only cool to a certain extent when it gets that HOT, people! It will keep running no matter what when it's that hot! I found that if I kept the A/C constant at a certain temp it could maintain it better for the guests (rather than trying to set it up when the guests would be out for the afternoon, but when it gets that hot, it couldn't cool the house down past around 76F which is absolutely quite comfortable.
Did I mention that it's costing us less than half to air condition this big house since we have no guests? I keep it at 78F at the lowest and it's very comfortable even when I'm cleaning. Good grief....
Then there were the people from the MidWest who would turn on the A/C with sweatshirts on when it was a balmy 70 something outside in the Fall.
I do NOT miss that part of hosting guests.

 

[Samster]

Mort part two of the dilemma was the freezer was also dead, that is what happened, we were not here using the ice maker and it froze up and we, ahem, DH, had to pull the whole unit out and turn off the fridge and it was a royal mess. This is the same freezer/ice maker we have had issues with for over a year. I am ready to toss the whole side by side out. Oh yeah, that's right, it costs money and all that money is going into keeping this place cool.
Edit - whole unit meaning whole refrigerator unit and dissect it in the middle of the kitchen. Yes we had guests here and the food was still in the fridge overnight with tape on the door so I wouldn't open it..

oh, you can't catch a break can you?? Poor Joey and her dh!

 

[Don Draper]

Oh yeah CH, it was one of our many WELCOME BACK TO THE B & BEAST! Where did you think YOU were going? On vacation? Never! <Insert evil laugh echoing down the halls>.

Rats, sorry to hear you had to come home to deal with this. These old houses!
The A/C guy came just to check out our unit today, he said there is no problem, just what others here have said that the units are not able to cool more than 20-25 degrees. I'm always hot and I think it's comfortable in the house so it will have to be good enough. Ms. PITA has checked out, thankfully.
One suggestion the HVAC guy did mention was for our uninsulated attic, where part of the A/C and ductwork sit, is Reflectix Insulation...we went and got some at Lowe's. It basically is a huge roll of the material they make windshield shades out of. You staple it across the studs and the aluminum reflects the heat back up through the roof. He said it can help take a lot of stress off the A/C unit/ducts themselves. So once everyone checks out tomorrow that will be our sweaty project!

 

[Morticia]

Mort part two of the dilemma was the freezer was also dead, that is what happened, we were not here using the ice maker and it froze up and we, ahem, DH, had to pull the whole unit out and turn off the fridge and it was a royal mess. This is the same freezer/ice maker we have had issues with for over a year. I am ready to toss the whole side by side out. Oh yeah, that's right, it costs money and all that money is going into keeping this place cool.
Edit - whole unit meaning whole refrigerator unit and dissect it in the middle of the kitchen. Yes we had guests here and the food was still in the fridge overnight with tape on the door so I wouldn't open it..

The freezer conked out because you weren't using the ice maker? How does that happen? Is it to do with how hot it got in the kitchen while you were gone? Curious as we don't use the ice maker a lot but it's only hit 90 in here in the past few days. (All those lovely south-facing windows that keep me warm all winter! When we paint, I'm shuffling the furniture around so I can close those dang drapes!)

 

[JBloggs]

Fridge was not being used, freezer was not being used, so it just got super cold. The water in the tubes froze and caused havoc.

 

[Emily Spiers]

Dh came home from work Tuesday to find the attic circ fan had kicked the bucket. It was over 100 degrees outside, so the attic temps were scalding, he had to climb up there and investigate it, then go to Lowe's and replace it, fortunately, it was that easy and only cost $85. These old houses don't have vents on the eaves like new houses, we have a/c and then the oppressive heat pushing down upon us, we can only do what we can do..

Oh my and it is worse here today..the humidity is even higher. I am praying for rain.
.

I am praying for rain.

Hang on, it's coming your way. We are in the middle of our first rain in a long time...90s-100s here for the past week. Rained tonight. I'm in the neck of the woods where you grew up.

 

[Samster]

Oh yeah CH, it was one of our many WELCOME BACK TO THE B & BEAST! Where did you think YOU were going? On vacation? Never! <Insert evil laugh echoing down the halls>.

Rats, sorry to hear you had to come home to deal with this. These old houses!
The A/C guy came just to check out our unit today, he said there is no problem, just what others here have said that the units are not able to cool more than 20-25 degrees. I'm always hot and I think it's comfortable in the house so it will have to be good enough. Ms. PITA has checked out, thankfully.
One suggestion the HVAC guy did mention was for our uninsulated attic, where part of the A/C and ductwork sit, is Reflectix Insulation...we went and got some at Lowe's. It basically is a huge roll of the material they make windshield shades out of. You staple it across the studs and the aluminum reflects the heat back up through the roof. He said it can help take a lot of stress off the A/C unit/ducts themselves. So once everyone checks out tomorrow that will be our sweaty project!
.

Do you staple this across the roof rafters or the floor joists? If you're putting it up against the roof, it might have the same effect as the foam insulation which is sprayed in between the roof supports. The foam can actually cause heat build-up in really warm climates and pop your roof shingles. I'll look that product up and see what it says.
ETA: I will ask my dh to investigate this and cost it out. Says that testing has not revealed harm to shingles and that it doesn't promote mold.

 

[Country Girl]

Had guests here from China this week. 100 degrees out, air conditioning going full blast, and windows wide open

 

[Don Draper]

Oh yeah CH, it was one of our many WELCOME BACK TO THE B & BEAST! Where did you think YOU were going? On vacation? Never! <Insert evil laugh echoing down the halls>.

Rats, sorry to hear you had to come home to deal with this. These old houses!
The A/C guy came just to check out our unit today, he said there is no problem, just what others here have said that the units are not able to cool more than 20-25 degrees. I'm always hot and I think it's comfortable in the house so it will have to be good enough. Ms. PITA has checked out, thankfully.
One suggestion the HVAC guy did mention was for our uninsulated attic, where part of the A/C and ductwork sit, is Reflectix Insulation...we went and got some at Lowe's. It basically is a huge roll of the material they make windshield shades out of. You staple it across the studs and the aluminum reflects the heat back up through the roof. He said it can help take a lot of stress off the A/C unit/ducts themselves. So once everyone checks out tomorrow that will be our sweaty project!
.

Do you staple this across the roof rafters or the floor joists? If you're putting it up against the roof, it might have the same effect as the foam insulation which is sprayed in between the roof supports. The foam can actually cause heat build-up in really warm climates and pop your roof shingles. I'll look that product up and see what it says.
ETA: I will ask my dh to investigate this and cost it out. Says that testing has not revealed harm to shingles and that it doesn't promote mold.
.

Across the roof rafters, and it tells you how close you can get to the roof itself, you have to leave a little bit of room for the air to circulate. DH just finished installing it, not hard at all. You can cut the stuff with scissors and he just used a regular staple gun. At Lowe's it was $40 for a roll that was 4 feet high by 25 feet long. If you have a contractor supplier near you you can probably find it cheaper.

 

[Joey Camb]

You can also use similar stuff that you stick to the wall behind radiators to keep the heat in and save money you buy it from the hardwear shop and stick it on with wallpaper paste. Having good thick regular insulation in the loft helps keep the heat in in the winter and out in the summer (every little helps)