uh oh, what was that sound
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My experience is slightly different:
me listening to my air conditioner run non-stop
Goddamn fucking condensation shorted the fan controller, again. Hijo de PUTA
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Just to chime in, here in Israel I've never seen an air conditioner without a heating mode. "Heat pump" isn't ever talked about because it's a bog-standard feature of every air conditioner on the market. It's just "putting the AC in heat mode".
Our summers are brutal (especially in recent years, fml with climate change) but winters aren't nearly as cold as European or American, so we don't really have much call for a whole dedicated heating system. I'm guessing this is why ACs just add heating since it barely affects manufacturing but is a massive selling point (or glaring omission) for the roughly 100% of houses that don't have other heating solutions.
It's pretty ironic that we ended up with the most efficient heating solution being ubiquitous specifically because we barely need heating.
Of course, a ton of people (including my mom) still choose to use electric space heaters in the winter. I prefer AC but I can't deny that the air feels different so it's a valid preference, if somewhat wasteful. Not as bad as gas or fire though.
wrote last edited by [email protected]A Heat Pump isn't just a "bog-standard" feature especially if it's older than 10 years old.
There are many ways Central Air can heat the air in a home. A Heat Pump is only one of them.
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They have a limit. So like it's 110° outside, the best my swamp cooler can do is 90° inside.
That is the best most Air Conditioners will do as well???
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Bay Area checking in. We have had a mild summer somehow. I feel bad for the rest of you tho.
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I heard spray insulation voids your homeowners insurance. Is that still true?
Haven't heard that. I can say this, we have a Habitat for Humanity home and the insulation, structure, windows, etc. are well above code. They don't play. The mission is to put people in homes they can afford, from the day you sign the mortgage, into the future.
Yeah, the faucets, doorknobs, lighting, carpet, linoleum, all that is shit. But again, they don't fuck around with structure (hurricane zone here) or insulation. Most energy efficient place I've ever lived.
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Haven't heard that. I can say this, we have a Habitat for Humanity home and the insulation, structure, windows, etc. are well above code. They don't play. The mission is to put people in homes they can afford, from the day you sign the mortgage, into the future.
Yeah, the faucets, doorknobs, lighting, carpet, linoleum, all that is shit. But again, they don't fuck around with structure (hurricane zone here) or insulation. Most energy efficient place I've ever lived.
How you qualify for one of those homes?
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I used to live in a small apartment building without individual mailboxes so we could just see each other's power bills. The first time they arrived, I was dumbfounded by how much everyone else paid. I'm not gonna give exact numbers because it means nothing unless you live in the same country and state but it's enough to say their bills was literally 10 to 15 times what mine was. It was a very warm place so I just assumed they ran the AC all the time until we went through a particularly hot summer and I decided to just eat the bill and ran it 24/7 as well. My bill was a little over 3 times the usual amount. WHAT THE HELL WAS EVERYONE ELSE IN THE BUILDING DOING?!
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I used to live in a small apartment building without individual mailboxes so we could just see each other's power bills. The first time they arrived, I was dumbfounded by how much everyone else paid. I'm not gonna give exact numbers because it means nothing unless you live in the same country and state but it's enough to say their bills was literally 10 to 15 times what mine was. It was a very warm place so I just assumed they ran the AC all the time until we went through a particularly hot summer and I decided to just eat the bill and ran it 24/7 as well. My bill was a little over 3 times the usual amount. WHAT THE HELL WAS EVERYONE ELSE IN THE BUILDING DOING?!
Growing weed.
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And Jesus said: "Don't share thy bread nor thy fish, for it is socialism, and it is wrong."
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A Heat Pump isn't just a "bog-standard" feature especially if it's older than 10 years old.
There are many ways Central Air can heat the air in a home. A Heat Pump is only one of them.
Interesting, it never occurred to me that that might be the case. What other methods are there (besides the obvious resistive heating), and is there some way to check what method my AC uses?
I still would assume all new AC units here function as heat pumps, isn't it just the cheapest solution to manufacture? Keep in mind that it never goes below freezing so there's no need to deal with frost and ice.
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So it'd take 25 years to have enough savings on the power bill (saving $100 a month for 6 months of summer)
Assuming the power company never raised rates in the coming years.
That's not quite the right comparison. You can't expect the old AC to keep working for 25 years. For stuff like that, it's really a question between replacing now versus replacing later, and the net present value of the combined cash flows when you compare replacement timelines.
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Consider that the other option is having no AC in Texas though.
Oh, Agreed 100% when it's broken beyond repair. But replacement of a working (yet now inefficient old) AC doesn't save money necessarily. Not when new units are so expensive.
We are in the south, not Texas, and really need to replace our almost 25 yr old AC. We've been repairing and trying to get another season out of it for the last 3 years.
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That's not quite the right comparison. You can't expect the old AC to keep working for 25 years. For stuff like that, it's really a question between replacing now versus replacing later, and the net present value of the combined cash flows when you compare replacement timelines.
“You can’t expect the old AC to keep working for 25 years”
Bullshit. A properly installed system will outlive the person that installed, easily. Even 25 years ago, the compressors were made so well that most of them are still electrically and mechanically sound.
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Go out where? It's too hot outside
Libraries, movie theatres, parks with a strong breeze and plenty of shade.
The first two are a bit better. Good way to spend a smaller amount of money to be in AC.
Some cities also have advisories for people to stay cool without needing AC running, or provide other resources for the hottest days.
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“You can’t expect the old AC to keep working for 25 years”
Bullshit. A properly installed system will outlive the person that installed, easily. Even 25 years ago, the compressors were made so well that most of them are still electrically and mechanically sound.
Most refrigerants from ~25 years ago have long since been banned, and the units themselves may not be suitable for use with modern ones.
Unless you’re referring to an evaporative-style cooler, but they’re practically useless in exceptionally hot weather (anything north of like ~33 degrees Celsius).
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Also depends on what type of heat you use
I have a heat pump, so my air conditioner is my heater, heat pumps are basically just an AC running in reverse.
In general, my wife and I don't mind it being cold, we're willing to let the temperature in our house get down to about the mid-low 50s (F, obviously) in the winter, so we do end up using a lot less electricity in the winter. But if we tried to keep our house at a warmer temperature that most people would find comfortable, it would probably be about the same.
Our gas bill over winters is over $200/month (AUD), due to our gas central heater
Comparatively, our three split-system ACs (2 bedrooms, main living area) over summer at most cost us ~$50/month.
Yet even still, trying to convince the missus that we’re better off running the split-systems in heater-mode would be more efficient and cost-effective is an uphill struggle.
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Central Europe here. We had like two weeks of scorching hell and then it has been raining ever since.
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Most refrigerants from ~25 years ago have long since been banned, and the units themselves may not be suitable for use with modern ones.
Unless you’re referring to an evaporative-style cooler, but they’re practically useless in exceptionally hot weather (anything north of like ~33 degrees Celsius).
It doesn’t matter if the refrigerant is banned.
A properly installed system is hermetically sealed. All the refrigerant it will ever need was put in the day it was installed.
I still regularly service 20+ year old R22 systems that are still trucking along just fine. And just because a refrigerant is banned doesn’t mean you cannot get it. I just bought a new tank of R-22 a few weeks ago. It was ridiculously expensive because they don’t make it anymore, but it’s perfectly legal to buy. And there are drop in replacements if a system does get damaged and develops a leak.
A week ago I retrofitted my neighbors R22 unit to 407C because the lawn guys hit the suction line with an edger. Cost my neighbor a thousand dollars to do it, but still cheaper than a new unit. He plans on selling the house in 5 years, so the electricity savings from a new unit don’t interest him, and his current unit is perfectly serviceable.
Most of these companies that say you “need” a new unit, are just out to make a buck. Unless the unit is physically destroyed or you plan to keep the house for 20+ years for the energy savings, there is little reason to get a new unit. Don’t get scammed.
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My AC gave up the ghost 5 weeks ago.
I'm watching Happy Gilmore 2 as the crew installs a new one.
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It doesn’t matter if the refrigerant is banned.
A properly installed system is hermetically sealed. All the refrigerant it will ever need was put in the day it was installed.
I still regularly service 20+ year old R22 systems that are still trucking along just fine. And just because a refrigerant is banned doesn’t mean you cannot get it. I just bought a new tank of R-22 a few weeks ago. It was ridiculously expensive because they don’t make it anymore, but it’s perfectly legal to buy. And there are drop in replacements if a system does get damaged and develops a leak.
A week ago I retrofitted my neighbors R22 unit to 407C because the lawn guys hit the suction line with an edger. Cost my neighbor a thousand dollars to do it, but still cheaper than a new unit. He plans on selling the house in 5 years, so the electricity savings from a new unit don’t interest him, and his current unit is perfectly serviceable.
Most of these companies that say you “need” a new unit, are just out to make a buck. Unless the unit is physically destroyed or you plan to keep the house for 20+ years for the energy savings, there is little reason to get a new unit. Don’t get scammed.
A new AC here costs 400$...
