Q. Unit is only 5 yrs. old, not sure if I'm quoting right I had about 5lbs. of pressure they took it up to 60-70 I believe.

A. Average range $175- $250. unless there is a leak on the line. than it's more.

(No Chosen Answer)

Q. We desperately need an exhaust fan installed in our upstairs bathroom. There is one tiny window, which is not enough to expel all of the moisture (esp. living in FL!)... and no air conditioning vent. The bathroom is located on an exterior wall so I wouldn't think it would be too complicated. I just don't know who I should call to do it.

A. Actually, either one can do this job. When building new houses the electrician sets the fan housing and runs the wires, then the AC man runs the duct work when he roughs in his AC unit. Since there's gonna be a switch involved, I'd call an electrician first.

(No Chosen Answer)

Q. Thinking about having one installed. Thoughts on cost to install, operating costs vs using the air conditioning? What about leaks around the installation site...hear that from a lot of people that have had them. Thanks for the help!

A. If you need an attic fan and have a vent at one end of a peaked roof, you can have a fan installed there. I did something else too. One fan in the attic blows air down into the house. Another at the other end of the house blows air into the attic. On a cool day, but with a warm attic because of sun load, I circulate air from the attic through the house. Thermostats in the attic and in the house circulate air only when the house is 70 degrees or less AND the attic is at 75 degrees or more. Also I can switch off the one that blows air into the house. On hot days, after sundown, I can blow air out of the house, sucking it in from the cooler air outside.

(No Chosen Answer)

Q. Please excuse my ignorance, but is there a portable air conditioning unit (blows out COOL AIR in a HOT ROOM) without being attached/fixed to the wall, as in carry it with you just plug it in to a wall socket and have it blow out cool air. I know this may seem like a dumb question, but a simple answer would be much appreciated. Thank you!

A. There are two units that are kind of like that, but not quite. one is called a swamp cooler. they evaporate water to absorb thermal energy in a room, but make the room more humid, and only really work in dry climates. however, they are relatively cheap to buy and use little energy. the other is a regular AC unit, but, this is not a window unit. they make one that is a free standing floor unit that can be pushed around and plugged in anywhere. however, the only downside is that there is a 3 or 4 Inch diameter hose that comes out of the back of the unit that must be run outside, through a window or a cat door or something. the unit is similar to window units in that it must move the heat from the room to the outside, but it does not have to hang out the window. they are about as expensive as regular window units. and are much more portable. you just have to point the hose outside. just remember, the heat has to go somewhere. it is very hard to just make it disappear (like an endothermic reaction, a reaction that takes heat)

(No Chosen Answer)

Q. Well my air conditioning broke and we had some people fix it and then it broke again... every time i want it to go to a certain temperature like 75 or 74 it wont move it will stay at like 88 and the 80's and i dont have the number to my ac guy and how could i fix it... i have a digital ac thermometer thing. no the outdoor fan is not runnining

A. Don't take this personally, but if you use phrases like "digital ac thermometer thing" then you aren't qualified to repair an air conditioner. You can check simple things like the circuit breaker. But if it is tripped, it is usually for a reason. And if it trips multiple times, there definitely is a problem. If you aren't satisfied with the last co. Try another one. There are lots of companies in the yellow pages. Or ask a friend or neighbor if they know someone they can recommend.

(No Chosen Answer)

Q. It is 90 degrees in our house and only gets hotter they said they won't come until tomorrow afternoon. I work from home, I have a very ill dog, and these are not suitable living conditions.

A. Generally not. Obtain a court order first, you can not just decide to withhold rent. The dog will not be a legitimate reason in court, a signed lease and your AC being out for more then a couple of weeks will though. That is if the AC is covered in the lease. The next day is certainly not a problem for any reasonable person.

(No Chosen Answer)

Q.

A. I use a guy named Tanner , Bill Tanner . I think its Tanner Air conditioning . He has always done a great job for us and never tried to charge for something that wasn't needed. Good Luck

(No Chosen Answer)

Q. So at tech school, they taught me 400 cfm per ton of air. Now that I have my paper and have landed a job with an installation crew, I am learning that cfms vary. I have seen fan speeds set anywhere from 300 to 425 cfms. It seems to depend on ceiling versus floor supply, 1st or 2nd floor, or from one lead man to the next. I can't get the same answer twice out of my lead installers as to the variance. So why the wide variance? I know the slower fan speed will pull more latent heat from the air. And I would suspect that the lower cfm is better suited to ceiling registers. Am I right in this? But why would first or secomd floor matter? I live and work in the SE with high humidity, and a month of peak condition days. Peak conditions are the high 90's to low 100's. These are replacement units in existing housing. I would love to do new construction, no rat poop, no 130 degree attics. And if we upsize a unit, we add more duct runs, not enough in my opinion, but we do add more return and supply.

A. A rule of thumb in air conditioning work is that 400 cfm of air is equal to 1 ton. If 400 cfm of air and a delta T of 20 degrees is achieved, this is equal to only 400X20X1.08=8640 btu/h. However, this neglects the latent heat portion of the cooling load. The latent heat (3360 btu/hr) is absorbed at the coil by condensing moisture from the air. The formula taking into account the latent heat is: multiplied by X (CFM) * ΔT (oF) results in or X*1.08*ΔT Btu/h to get total heat. Another equation is Q = 4.5 x cfm x Delta h to get total heat. What you are taking into account with these numbers is humidity control. Variable speed blower motors are able to start at a slow speed and even delay in starting to give the evaporator time to reach optimum temperature. This assists in humidity removal, but retards the sensible heat removal. The fan as humidity is removed reducing the latent heat slowly picks up speed to assist in the sensible heat removal. You do not have this type of option on a standard three or four speed blower and have to have a compromise between latent and sensible heat removal. Again back to the 400 CFM per ton general rule. Forgetting about sensible and latent heat and just looking at air-conditioning manufacture numbers for air-flow verse BTUH. Approximately 400 CFM of air is needed to be moved across the evaporator per ton of air conditioning. 800 CFM would equal two tons of air conditioning (a ton of air-conditioning is equal to 12,000 BTUH). The above would by manufacture specs give you a 20 degree delta-T. This however, has nothing to do with total heat removal. It is only a number to say how much CFM in general you need per ton of air-conditioning. The air-flow on split systems is determined by the blower capacity in the gas furnace or electric air-handler. Meaning you have to correctly size the furnace not for the amount of heat needed, but for the amount of air-flow in CFM that it can provide for the air-conditioning part of the system. Return and supply ductwork also plays a large part in air-flow and has to be sized to deliver into each space the correct amount of CFM to overcome the heat load for that same space. The return has to be sized to return the correct amount of air taking into account the friction of the ductwork itself and the type of filtering media that will be used. In the end remember furnaces which are where the blower is located in residential split systems are sized by tonnage or blower size (CFM 400 approx for each ton). Example 2 ton, 3 ton, 4 ton, 5 ton, notice there are no half tons in furnace sizing. You find 2-1/2 ton 3/1/2 ton in air conditioners but not in furnaces. You buy a furnace blower sized to best match the tonnage of air-conditioning you are using and adjust the blower speed from there to match half ton sizes. If you have a variable speed blower in the furnace you can then take into account the latent heat removal or humidity and make further adjustments. There is more to it than this, but hopefully this gives you a general idea of the differences between sizing CFM for tonnage or for latent,or total heat removal factors.

(No Chosen Answer)