Hot as Hell
I am not kidding. It is hot here. Temps have been hovering around 100 degrees for about a week now with the heat index at around 106 some days.
And guess what? Guess what our UPSTAIRS air conditioner decided to do last Saturday in 100 degree heat. Well it froze up and died. The AC's passing was not entirely unexpected as it was original equipment and our town house which we bought 4 years ago is about 20 years old.We replaced one AC at that time and crossed our fingers on the other.
So the service guy from the AC company came out on Saturday afternoon, (bless his little pea picking heart). He worked and worked trying to correct the problem but to no avail. It was terminal and he had to pull the plug.
Our bedrooms are upstairs so of course hubby and I had to make other plans for sleeping. The temp upstairs was reading out 93 and up and we did not relish being fried in our sleep. I chose the den sofa and Sam chose the sofa bed in the downstairs playroom.We managed remarkably well and even felt like real troopers. Almost like camping out. At least we were cool.
So then,today, the AC company came to install the new equipment. They worked and worked and demolished the old furnace in the upstairs attic and carted off the old outside unit and installed the new stuff.
But UH OH. The new outside Carrier AC had a "defective coil: The servicemen went to pick up a replacement coil to reinstall on the brand new unit. While they were gone Sam and I confered and decided we do NOT want an expensive air conditioner right out of the box with a defective part. After some tough talk with the salesman who sold us the equipment we got the promise of a brand new unit ASAP.
In the meanwhile, the serviceman comes back with the new replacement coil (made in Mexico), installs it and then discovers it was not the coil after all but somehow the compressor had overheated and shut off. He fixed the problem and now it is getting cooler upstairs where I am now sitting at my computer venting.
Why oh why does nothing work right the first time anymore?
Don't get me wrong,I am extremely thankful for the cool air that is wafting down from the overhead register but I just wonder whatever happened to good old Yankee know how and ingenuity.
I read this when I googled AC in the South and I agree 100%
"I am not the least bit sentimental about my un-air-conditioned Georgia childhood, especially my nocturnal summertime tossing and turning at the foot of the bed, praying to catch a breeze through the nearby window before the rooster started sounding off. Suffice it to say, if cranking up the A/C constitutes an unnatural act, put me down as a habitual and unrepentant offender."
and this
As air-conditioning was reshaping the way we lived, it was also helping to change the way we made our living. Without it, most of our bigger, heavier, and more complex industries would surely have never headed South after World War II, nor would many of the people who worked in and managed them, or the retirees who jumped at the chance to luxuriate in air-conditioned comfort while telling us how they used to do it in Ohio. Overall, the air-conditioner was crucial to reversing the South's historic pattern of out-migration and to the explosive growth of the "Sunbelt" in the 1970s."
http://www.uga.edu/gm/902/FeatBack.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

13 Comments:
My friend with whom I stayed last week had the same problem, which became crucial on Sat. afternoon. The repairmen were able to load 3 units of freon into her old air conditioner, and it started cooling again immediately, Luckily, by the time we went to bed Sat. night, it was cool again. Thanks be to God and the repairman!! Glad you were able to get cool too.
From where I am sitting (rain and lousy weather --and it's been like this since practically the beginning of June), it feels like you live down under in Australia and not in the US and that there it's summer, while here, it's almost winter...
I found the article on air conditioning very interesting. Never thought of it in that light.
Good to know your unit is finally working!
This summer has been very hot. I can honestly say I am hooked on airconditioning. Glad to hear you finally have some cool air once more.
Great post!!!!!!!!! I'm so glad you are cool again -- then again you are always a very cool lady! lol
93 and up....you really would have been fried in your sleep Chancy. So glad everything is working again. I've been pretty much running my air conditioner in my bedroom....NON-STOP. It's been hot here too....too hot for my liking. I'm looking forward to a little cooler weather....ah Autumn....my favorite time of the year.
Hotternhell, here, too! Humiture was 112 the other day. I don't remember the sun actually being painful on the skin when I was a kid. Bet you were one happy camper when that new AC kicked in. Thanks go to Dr. John Gorrie for all this lovely cool air.
We are on day 15 of over 100 degrees here and it makes me want to live a good life. Hotter than hell sounds like hell to me!
It is about 70 here, very hot for Juneau, and I have to sleep with all of the windows open because my bedroom is on the third floor and heat rises. Since it doesn't get much above 75 here, ever, we don't have AC.
I have no idea how you survive the deep South. And glad that your bedroom is once again livable.
Glad you're cool again. Family member in Richmond, Va. had the same coil problem, but had to go a week (actually longer 'cause she went out of town) in 100 degrees waiting for a coil that had to be shipped in from ... Texas! I couldn't believe it. Guess this day and age she's lucky it wasn't coming in from abroad.
You are also dealing with humidity which makes it all much worse. Knock on wood, but my airconditioner that has given us fits and starts for the last two years, is purring beautifully and this is the coolest (indoors) summer for me in a long time.
You are absolutely right about having to do things twice. It seems that no matter what you buy, fix or clean - you have to do it twice.
I had my wall to wall rug cleaned a few weeks ago and there are places that look worse then before they were cleaned.
The cleaner came, looked over his work and said he will come back and redo the bad places.
Now, I have to wait for him to call and let me know WHEN he is coming!! I'll give him a few days and will probably have to call and remind him to show up.
I personally think the reason we have problems with all the 'new' equipment we get these days is that it is made on the cheap in other countries so that our U.S. company heads can turn a nice profit!
I've been through several Texas summer days with no AC. No fun.
Several years back, we had a freak rain and high wind storm in late June (yep, it storms here, but normally the wind isn't too bad). However that year, entire neighborhoods went black. Temps hovered between 95 and 100 for the entire week.
We spent a lovely 23 hours without any electricity. No A/C, no fans, no ice machines, no cold water. Yep, it was miserable. Why didn't we leave? Multiple pets that couldn't be displaced. We figured if the pets were toughing it out -- so were we. When the lights came back on, boy oh boy were we grateful. God bless, TXU. At least that was my thought at the moment. I'm generally not so friendly when I get my electric bill every month.
Sorry, your AC fritzed -- that is just never fun.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home