# Struggling A/C advice



## ITParalegal (Jun 29, 2007)

Let me give you then rundown of my situation and advice given to me and then tell me what you all think

House has a 12 year old a/c unit. ive only lived in the house a month so I don't know its history.
The unit is a 2 ton Goodman central heat a/c
The house is a single level 1050 sq foot house with a large crawl space, no whirly's or electric vent fans

When I leave in the morning I put the thermostat up to around 78 and when I get home I turn it down to 72. When I go to bed I like it around 69.

But it is struggling I can tell to keep me cool. When I get home its always around 80.  In the evening it keeps around 74-76 degrees and when i go to bed it takes around 3-4 hours to get the temp to 69 degrees.

I had a service guy come out and check the unit. He added 1 pound of freon and said the coils were clean.

He made a big to do over me not having any attic whirlys or electric fans up there
He also said this is as good as it's going to get and that replacing my compressor would do me no good. The only way my house is going to get cooler is by addding attic ventiliation, keeping the thermostat at 72 all day so that the unit doesnt have to work so hard when I get home, and eventually, get a new unit.

But this is my problem:
 I just moved from a 1500 sq foot house that a smaller crawlspace and no whirly's or electric fan either.
It had a much smaller a/c unit, it was a carrier, and the house was 500 sq ft bigger than the only I have now.
This unit had no problem keeping my house as cool as I wanted it and kept up with the temp change from when I got home and turned the a/c down.

And surely the unit did not work this bad for the past 12 years or they would have complained.

So, what should I do? It is under warranty with my home for a year but the company servicing the warranty told me the same thing. Putting  a new compressor will do no good. Only adding vents will help. I just don't buy that this is as good as this unit has ever performed. And if the performance has decreased, what could it be the result of ? Short of draft leaks from windows and doors. The duct work is in good shape too


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## CraigFL (Jun 29, 2007)

It sounds like you are indirectly being told that your new place may not have enough insulation(and/or ventilation). If your new place is short on attic venting, the attic space will reach very high temperatures and your heat gain from the attic may cause your A/C unit not to be able to keep up. You could have heat gain from other areas of your new place too like windows and wall insulation.  You may want to do an energy loss/gain study before you decide exactly what to do. You can always go bigger on the A/C to mask the other problems. Attic venting is cheap and easy to do too.


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## ITParalegal (Jun 29, 2007)

Where should I look to find a business that can accomplish this?


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## glennjanie (Sep 10, 2007)

Hello ITParalegal:

A certified home inspector can preform the test for you and give an objective answer. If that is not available, call the local Carrier or Trane distributor and ask them for the best dealer they have. They know which dealer can do the job for you and not try to hold you up.

I personally have no faith in whirllys (you will usually find them with a garbage bag over them in the winter) and little faith in electric vents (they burn out quickly and no one knows it). I have Vent-A-Ridge on my house and am in the process of adding soffit vents. The heat will make air come in at the soffit and force it out at the ridge (heat rises). The attic needs ventilation in the summer and winter; the insulation (R-19 or higher) holds the heat in or out as needed.

Please post back and let us know how you stand now and how it has worked out.

Glenn


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