I am an air conditioner repair tech (20+yrs). Describe your problem and I will employ my ancient majiks to ascertain the solution. HomeImprovement)submitted by It's hot. We HVAC companies are expensive. If you are handy, and comfortable checking a few things, you might get away with an easy fix. If it does require a professional, I can at least arm you with knowledge so you don't get taken advantage of. For those of you EXPERIENCED with meters, voltage that can inconvenience your children with funeral costs, and a firm acceptance that you might cause some serious $$$s in repair, HERE (corrected) is a diagnosis flow chart for newby HVAC techs. Note, some base knowledge is assumed, and it does not address refrigerant (freon) diagnosis. Also, the box talking about checking compressor terminals for "open" should be clarified that meter set to Ohms If you have a question please help me out: tell me if your system is anything other than a standard central HVAC system with a furnace or electric heater inside (or under house/attic) with ductwork coming off and an air conditioner outside.

let me know if it is a heat pump5yr old, 10yr old, 73yr old when was the last time it worked well EDIT: I will answer your question, may just take a bit. Even if this thread is months old. I was getting, and answering a couple questions a week all year from the last time I did a post like this. If you have a multi-level/story house with one system, and have temperature balance issues, read all the posts from your fellow sufferers here.Buy Nike Shoe Rack If you dont see what you need in these comments, check the questions I answered in 2015Best Brands For Laminate Wood Flooring π Rendered by PID 5979 on app-535 at 2016-09-12 01:11:22.407009+00:00 running d7f280f country code: US.Manchester United Curtain Material

We all attach a utility with every object we buy. One of the basic things we expect from an air conditioner is that it should give good cooling. Faster or slower, but it should cool well in order to get the temperatures down to comfortable levels. When it does not do so, we do not derive utility from the product and want to replace it. But these questions arise in several minds: “Why is it that my AC which was cooling well till a few months back is not cooling well now?”, “I bought a new AC but why is it not cooling well?” or “This AC used to work really well a few years back but is ineffective now”. There can be several reasons for the same, some of which can be technical faults as well. But here we would try to explain some of the reasons, which may not be fault in the AC itself. One of the common complaints from people living in northern part of India during peak summers is that the AC is not cooling effectively or the compressor is not working. Unknowingly while installation of the AC, people do not realize that the outdoor unit (in case of split AC) or the outer part of the AC (in case of window AC) is directly facing the sun.

All ACs have an optimum operating temperature (ambient or surrounding temperature) at which they can work most effectively. If the temperature increases beyond the optimum temperature, the efficiency of the air conditioner goes down and it can also reach a stage where the compressor stops working completely. At lower efficiency, it can also consume more electricity than that mentioned on the BEE label. Typically numbers on BEE label are in test conditions.: This happens because the job of AC is to take heat from inside the room and throw it outside. But if the heat outside itself is quite high, then it is not able to do its job properly. Air Conditioners are designed to work at a certain optimum ambient temperature and beyond that they stop working. How much is optimum temperature? For most ACs it is about 46-48 degrees. Beyond which they can become less effective or may even stop working. These days some brands have models that can handle up to 52 or 54 degrees. Solution: The best thing that you can do is to avoid installing an AC in such a way that it faces direct sun or is in a place where there is lot of heat.

And it is not necessary that heat can happen only in a city where the temperature goes high. It can happen anywhere if the ODU is in closed hot place. Also one can even use an AC with optimum temperature of 46 in a place where the temperature goes high. It would just need a place where the surrounding temperature is low. This can be achieved by placing plants around the AC or by pouring some water on it occasionally (although it can be cumbersome), or by any other creative idea. One of the common mistakes people make is that they buy AC just based on their budget and not based on the requirement of the room. A small AC in a huge room will always find hard to cool the room in peak summers. Thumb rules for sizing ACs do not work always and one has to look at several parameters while sizing air conditioners. Certain cities are hotter in summers, which mean they require more cooling for the same size room as compared to cities where temperature is less. Some cities are more humid than hot and so the cooling requirement is less, but what is more important is humidity removal.

Thumb rule of 1 ton for 100 sq ft (most commonly used thumb rule) does not work always and one should make sure that proper sizing is done before buying AC so that there are no regrets after the purchase. Yes aging not only impacts humans, but appliances too. With time efficiencies of most appliances come down. Cooling of an air conditioner reduces with time, or I must say with time it takes more electricity to give the same amount of cooling. As per ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers) an air conditioner reduces its efficiency by 7% in the first year, 5% in the second year, 2% every year in the following years, and this reduction peaks somewhere between 20-30% depending on how well the air conditioner is built. If the AC is 20 yrs or older, it can go down up to 40%. (Source: “A Survey of Refrigerant Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop Emphasizing Oil Effects and In-Tube Augmentation;” ASHRAE Winter Symposium of 1987; Schlager, Pate, and Bergles.).