MY POST SOLITARY LIFESTYLE (WEEK #4)09:22 Jul 22 2019
Times Read: 1,500
So when my family moved in, Son, GF (Daughter), 2-yr old boy (Grandson w/full-blown terrible 2s syndrom),
10-month old girl (1st and only Bio-Grandchid), my Son took his old room upstairs on my floor, they gave their 2-year old Son the Guest Bedroom, and my Daughter (Son's GF) sleeps on a pull-out bed in the Family Room since the Baby's Sleep/Playpen is too large for the Guest Bedroom so the Baby and Mother slees in the Family Room.
Now, knowing that the majority of the family and Bandit will be downstairs, I told my Daughter back when she arrived that she had control of the 1st floor a/c panel.
1st, I noticed that down stairs was always much cooler than upstairs.
2nd, I noticed that one of the a/c panel never shut off.
So I would go downstairs, see that the a/c panel is in the "On" position and I would change it to "Auto" and explain to my daughter that it should stay on the "Auto" position so that it turns off once the desired temperature is achieved which also conserves energy.
This was done twice.
Then, one time I could feel the upstairs getting warmer. After investigating, I discovered that the a/c panel upstairs had been set to 'Heat'. When I asked my Son had he done it by mistake, he said, "No" and that it was warmer the night before even. Now, I confess to having over shot the "Off" setting and accidently left it in the "Heat" setting and giving it a minute or two thinking it would finally shut off and then realizing that it was taking too long only to notice that I went too far right from the "cold" setting, bypassing the "off" setting and accidentally left it on the "heat" setting once or twice, but I always caught it. I don't even think I get that medicated to turn my a/c unt to 'heat' and notice that the unit hasn't turned off.
I live on a Pension so I'm always monitoring "Utility Cost".
Then early yesterday, the Lair just seemed unusually warm after I got out of the Sauna expecting to cool down.
Then I notied that the 2nd floor a/c panel was reading an inside temperature of 81 degs. Heat may travel up, but most homes with attics have heat trapped up there after the sun heats the roofs and causing the 2nd floor to be warmer during the Summer than the 1st floor.
I checked the a/c panel and it was set to "Cold' and "Auto" and air was coming out of the vents, but not as cool as it should be.
I went downstairs and checked that a/c panel and it was set to "Cold", but once again set to the "On" position and the 1st floor temperature was reading 80 degs and air was coming out of the vents, but not "cold" air.
I once again reminded my daughter that the a/c panel should remain on the "Auto" setting since keeping it in the "On" position would stress the unit and waist energy.
However, the Lair still wasn't cooling off.
The 2nd floor a/c panel was still reading 81 degs, and 1st floor a/c panel was still reading 80 degs.
First, I thought someone had jacked up the settings so I ensured both units' settings were correct.
I thought I felt cooler air coming out, but then it just reverted back to what felt like fan air.
I checked the a/c units outside and one was really working overtime with air blowing out of it harder than usual and the other unit, well, it wasn't even running.
I check both a/c panels' settings and both were on "Auto" and set below the 80+ degs, but only fan temperature air was coming out of vents on both floors. But shouldn't one of the floors NOT have air coming out of its vents?
I go back outside to once again look at the a/c unit that wasn't running and began to smell the slight sent of smoke!
I immediately shut off both a/c units and informed my family of the situation.
I told them to prepare themselves because it is about to get very uncomfortable....very fast. I had my Son grab the fan from his room and apparently, he has been sleeping down stairs with his GF more so alone in his room. He's really trying to stay in "Family Mode".
Then after about 5-minutes of the temperature rising, I told my Son to go outside and I'll turn on the unit that still works just to get some sort of cooler air in the house. However, Cool air Settles Downward so if the broken unit is the 2nd Floor unit, I'm going to be cooking just like I was in my Sauna.
Guess what, turns out the unit that broke was the 1st Floor Unit.
So the 2nd Floor unit is pumping out nice cool air that will eventually make its way to the 1st Floor.
Just a reminder, most people woud NEVER care for your possessions as you would care for them yourself.
However, I'd like to think that the reason my Daughter kept changing the setting to the "On" postion was due to both units being 17-year old units and are fated to break one day as nothing last forever. Also, it reminds me of how in my "junk mail" offers to purchase A/C Unit Insurance had been coming quite often last Winter as if they knew just when the units installed when our homes were built would began to break.
I'm hoping that the a/c unit that stopped working did so due to overheating and just shut itself down and needs to cool down or a circuit breaker reset. I'll check it out in the morning.
I've read that in my area, a/c units, based on a number of variables, may achieve a lifetime range of 10-30 years with 20 years being the average, well no wonder the flyers starting arriving in my mail since my units are 17-years old and among the oldest of the surrounging homese having been built among the first 6 homes to have been built back in 2002 in my immedeiate area.
I also read that Air conditioning units, because they are outdoors and subject to the extremes of the weather, typically have shorter life expectancies of 15 years.
So in all likelyhood, it could have started dying and not acheiving the desired cooler setting causing my Daughter to keep it in the "On" position figuring my continuing to set it on "Auto" was making it warmer on the 1st Floor.
So then, the question is, who really set the 2nd floor a/c panel to the "Heat" setting a few days ago?
What I do know is that my personal debt is now increasing beyond my personal comfort zone.
You figure, it's the Summer Time, Temperatures are reaching above 100 Degs and there are old units breaking everywhere so the Demand is High resulting in Higher Charges being able to be set and of course after the trauma of the a/c unit "finally" breaking "Unexpectedly", I"m sure there will be a pitch to purchase the top of the line, more eco-friendly and saves much more energy than older units and oh, by the way, they've stopped making those older units anyways and the new models do cost more.
And I just read the following for my area:
"Homeowners spend between $660 and $4,600 to install central air conditioning. The final cost depends on the type of unit, if additional ductwork is required, and the professional's inspection and installation rates. If you have existing ductwork that needs repair, expect to add $1,000 to $3,000.
National Average Cost: $4,631
Minimum Cost: $2,426
Maximum Cost: $8,900
Average Range: $3,350 to $5,912"
COMMENTS
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Dakotah
18:24 Jul 31 2019
a href="https://imgur.com/YDosSSt">
Love,
Dakotah and Lilianat
and Baby Lili Cat
LORDMOGY
19:14 Jul 31 2019