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PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 6:10 pm 
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I knew that with this heat wave I'd see much higher temperatures inside my house, but I'm concerned, with the extraordinary highs in here, that maybe I have an AC issue. Here's the situation:

End-unit townhouse, first floor is completely open-concept and that's where the thermostat is. For the last three days, the internal temperature of the house has registered at 81 or 82 degrees (the AC is set to bring it to 73). It takes several hours after the sun has set each night to actually get the temperature comfortable again. There are two AC blowers going into the basement and the basement is cold. Do I have a balancing problem or is the AC unit just not good anymore? The HVAC in the house is the old style with the rectangular vents; probably about 17 years old?


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 7:38 pm 
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Hard to tell but obviously something is wrong. Your homes temp should be in the low 70's, not low 80's. Time for a service call. Read the advice in a similar topic that was also posted today.

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 9:52 pm 
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have you changed the furnace filter recently?


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 8:39 am 
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Location: Milton, Ontario
For now, close the registers in the basement and open the registers on the top floor.


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 9:09 am 
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HaltonPeelHomeInspection wrote:
For now, close the registers in the basement and open the registers on the top floor.



Will that not just create a negative air pressure in the basement, that will just end up drawing all the cool air down anyway?

I would suggest calling around to different HVAC guys, and ask if they have the tools to setup a proper balance in the house when they are doing a maintenance on the system.

OR you could watch the 100+ youtube videos on how to balance the home AC and do it yourself...

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 9:11 am 
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Meagan wrote:
I knew that with this heat wave I'd see much higher temperatures inside my house, but I'm concerned, with the extraordinary highs in here, that maybe I have an AC issue. Here's the situation:

End-unit townhouse, first floor is completely open-concept and that's where the thermostat is. For the last three days, the internal temperature of the house has registered at 81 or 82 degrees (the AC is set to bring it to 73). It takes several hours after the sun has set each night to actually get the temperature comfortable again. There are two AC blowers going into the basement and the basement is cold. Do I have a balancing problem or is the AC unit just not good anymore? The HVAC in the house is the old style with the rectangular vents; probably about 17 years old?


This is normal; Higher density (colder) air 'pools' at the bottom of a container (house) while lower density air 'floats' to the top. When the air is not stirred, it can take a very long time for the temperature to equalize, this becomes impossible when the whole system is in flux.

As people suggested:

1. Change / check your furnace filter. If you don't have the cheap (high-airflow) fiberglass filters you should consider getting a pack and swapping one in.
2. As suggested, close the basement vents, however if they still leak cold air consider blocking the registers with an insulator (old clothing etc...) - don't forget to unblock them in the fall.
3. Check your air-returns (the big vents usually located inside a wall cavity) - make sure they are not covered by furniture and clogged with dust. Their job is circulate (mix) the air inside your house.
4. If you're in the house, consider running a bathroom fan on the top floor. Purpose would be to exhaust the hot air outside, and promote further convection of the air inside.

Keep your room doors open and if you have fans, run them in such a way to promote air circulation around your house.

If no joy, call an HVAC company of your choice.


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 9:30 am 
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HaltonPeelHomeInspection wrote:
For now, close the registers in the basement and open the registers on the top floor.


Was never a fan of closing ALL of the registers in a basement. Most, but not all, IMO leaving even one open is better. After all, every area of the home needs circulation and effective de-humidification.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 11:09 am 
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Location: Milton, Ontario
Halton Home Inspector wrote:
HaltonPeelHomeInspection wrote:
For now, close the registers in the basement and open the registers on the top floor.


Was never a fan of closing ALL of the registers in a basement. Most, but not all, IMO leaving even one open is better. After all, every area of the home needs circulation and effective de-humidification.



They don't close tight anyway. Just try it long enough to get through this rough spell. No biggy.


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 7:43 am 
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Hm. I taped up the vents in the basement (no other way to close them) and put a brand new filter in. All the doors upstairs were/are open (there are no doors on the main floor) and the upstairs bathroom fan was on the whole time. The house was still at 79 yesterday, and I'm not sure if the 2-degree reduction compared to the prior 3 days was due to the changes or to the temperature outside being a couple of degrees cooler. :(

Would you suggest that at this point the symptoms point to an issue somewhere in the AC unit or the venting?


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 8:06 am 
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When the fan is running, do you feel cold air blowing, or hear the condenser running? If you don't hear the condenser running (the loud thingy mounted on the outside of homes) when the fan is on, it could be a capacitor that is broken; this happened to me last year.

I feel bad for you, it's hot AF. :s Call Mason at Nissan Air (416-200-1971)

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 4:30 pm 
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I wouldn't put on a bathroom fan for long, unless you are using the bathroom or after a shower.
As it was explained to me, you are taking air out of the house and new air has to replace it.
That air comes from outside and that is the hot air you are taking in.
Another trick is to feel the copper lines running in from the unit. One should be hot and one cold.
Best to call a professional though.


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2018 1:05 pm 
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So Mason from Nissan came in and, yes, it seems that my AC may in fact be broken. Well, not broken, but inadequate to the task now after 15 years. So it seems that I'll most likely be replacing the unit. :(


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 2:44 pm 
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It's interesting how short-lived ACs and many appliances are now. The house I grew up in was built in 1974. The original Lennox unit that was installed with the house ran without a single issue from 1990-2006, a 30+ year-old unit, and the stove and fridge were also all 1974 units that were still good 30+ years later.

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 4:46 pm 
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So an update and conclusion to the story -- I did get the AC unit replaced by Mason in the end. He did some replacing of the pipes going from the unit to the HVAC as well, and it was truly astonishing how sub-par the original installation was. They chose a 1.5ton unit which would have been just barely enough for the house as long as it was running at full spec. But they used copper tubing that was half the size of the required ones (the stuff he took out could literally fit inside what he replaced it with). He also replaced the condenser with a more effective unit, and the whole area around the HVAC system is now much clearer because he fixed the configuration of where the pipes were running. He did *so much* -- and his price was really really great, especially considering he put in a 2-ton carrier AC unit. The old unit just couldn't keep up anymore; it was running below specifications and the tiny tubing was just stunting the whole operation. So, I am looking forward to lower hydro bills now that the unit actually cools the house and then shuts off as opposed to the old unit constantly running, never quite getting there.


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 30, 2018 7:23 am 
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Thanks for updating us!


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