We live in the southwest and our air conditioner just died. It is 25 years old. We are in the southwest, it is 11:00pm and 90 degrees in our house with windows open, and my wife is pregnant.
We are miserable and I am very grumpy.
I don't even know what to look for, where to purchase, or what it is called. I am so bad at all things home repair related.
Am I looking for a heat pump or an air conditioner? What is the difference? Should I fix or buy?
When our home was under warranty it went out once. They fixed it for $55 but would not replace it. The guy said it would probably die in a year.
We are trying to sell our house but the market looks like it might not move for a year.
What am I looking for and how much should I anticipate to spend? Anyone even know where I look?
I saw this on the Internet. It kinda looks like the green thing connected to the side of the house and the big green box in our laundry room.
Grr arrgh. I can handle heat as long as I cool off at night, but right now I wanna go break something.
Our unit still blows air, but it is neither hot nor cold. We did replace the filter.
Suggestions or info anyone?
EDIT: I guess this applies to me. If I get a 1500 credit for a high efficiency system does that mean I am looking at something costing between $5k-$7k?
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Are you sure it doesn't just need to be charged? Ours needed charging this year (we have a slow leak we haven't isolated yet) and it cost $45.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
Mine leaked out too, and I'm not sure yet whether the leak will be accessible without tearing into walls. One more thing on the to-do list.
My mostly uneducated understanding of heat pumps is that they are best suited to situations where they can serve to provide both heating and cooling within a relatively narrow annual temperature range. If you have cold winters a furnace works better, and if you already have a furnace you might find that the extra cost of a heat pump might not be worth it just to provide cooling.
Posted by lem (Member # 6914) on :
I got someone scheduled to come by tomorrow. I have a Split System Air Conditioner, tho mine is 25 years old and looks in really bad condition.
I wonder how much a new one costs. I am thinking of just fixing it, if possible, to get us through the time it costs to sell the house. Or should we replace it because it will help us sell the house?
This might be my fault. I haven't replaced the filter for a year. In my defense we seldom use it unless it is summer, and summer is just starting.
Posted by DSH (Member # 741) on :
They're supposed to work great in a dry desert environment (but since I've never lived in a dry desert environment, I can't say for sure!)
They also appear to be significantly cheaper than AC units.
Posted by MattP (Member # 10495) on :
Swamp coolers work pretty well when it's dry and they are inexpensive to install and run, but since they blow through a single vent the cooling isn't as well distributed as a central-air system. We've had a swamp cooler for a long time, but I'd like to get AC one of these days.
Another option which is much more expensive up front but which may pay for itself over its lifetime is a geothermal system.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I wouldn't get a heat pump, personally. They aren't as effective and they use more energy, from what I understand.
It's possible you just need a new coil. I had the same symptoms in my air conditioner, and a new coil fixed it for a fraction of the cost of a whole new unit.
Good luck! Let us know what you decide to go with, and why, and whether it works well when you get it in.
Posted by Wendybird (Member # 84) on :
25 is a pretty standard life for a split system. It would probably be cheapest to just replace the air conditioning compressor. The blower motor is part of the furnace and it sounds like it is still working if its blowing air. Buying a compressor instead of a whole system will be most cost effective. Having a new cooling unit will add to the value of the house when trying to sell it. Buyers will be hesitant to buy a house knowing they will need to replace the a/c soon after buying. In this market when there are so many houses you need to make sure you give yourself every advantage you can.
That said, I personally want to switch to a heat pump because where I live I have to use propane to heat and it gets quite costly to refill the propane tank during our relatively mild winters.
Oh and btw - you can't run a swamp through your a/c vents because the moisture shouldn't run under the floor like most cooling registers run. However you can have venting run through the ceiling to each room and run a swamp. My last house had that and most houses here in Tucson that don't have a/c or have dual cooling systems have this set up.
![[Wall Bash]](graemlins/wallbash.gif)
In my defense we seldom use it unless it is summer, and summer is just starting.