Air Conditioning for my house

[killramos]

Aside from 30 minutes to cool down my bedroom on a hot day before bed, my AC essentially never runs. Bungalow with a very cool basement and i run my fan 15 min/hr.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Windows open on main floor and windows open on upper floor with fans blowing the hot air out the upstairs windows. Works the best when there is no breeze like a couple nights ago.

Edit: We have triple glazed windows, keep the blinds closed during the day and our house doesn't actually get that bad. Rarely will the upstairs get above 23c and usually hovers around 20-22c. We also run the furnace fan at night once it starts to cool down.

Seeing inside temps at 29c is crazy! Are you guy keeping blinds open and/or cooking all day?

And dont open windows until its cooler outside then inside (obviously). Had a friend that left their windows open all day and couldn't understand why their house was always so hot.

We have dual pane "Lux" windows, I assume they are decent but not as good as triple pane. I don't know much about windows.

We have honeycomb blackout blinds on the big window in the bedroom, so there is an air gap in the blind which does add some insulation value but it doesn't really make a difference when the sun is baking that window. The heat radiating off the window/blinds is extremely noticeable in the evenings.

With my GF being a nurse, she will sometimes go to bed at 8pm when at this time of year it's still super bright out, so we have to close the blackout blinds and therefore also the windows, so that doesn't help with the heat. The blinds are closed all the time unless a window is open at all other times of day anyway.

Minimal cooking (try to use things like the instant pot or Door Dash on the hottest days). Main floor never got above 23/24C, upstairs is way worse (bedroom is where I saw 29C). Doesn't matter now that we have AC but it was much worse than expected before. When I used to live downtown, my condo window faced west too and it was 29-30C inside on the hottest evenings. I bought 2 portable AC units after that haha.

I will say that I probably could have turned off the basement floor heating and ran the furnace fan to pump cooler air upstairs from the basement before we got AC, but I was still learning about new home HVAC and didn't really know how to do that at the time. Probably would have helped but not massively.

[dj_rice]

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Which way are your fans facing? In, or out?

1 Tower Fan (Vornado) pointed directly at bed on the 2nd floor in my bedroom. 1 Tower Fan on main floor living room. And 1 circulation fan at end of hallway pointed to towards my bedroom.

I'd be dead without that Vornado

[88CRX]

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1 Tower Fan (Vornado) pointed directly at bed on the 2nd floor in my bedroom. 1 Tower Fan on main floor living room. And 1 circulation fan at end of hallway pointed to towards my bedroom.

I'd be dead without that Vornado

Try using all your fans to push hot air out upstairs windows. And run your furnace fan as much as possible to equalize your main floor and upstairs temperatures. And run all your bathroom fans all night long.

And you have to determine when the outside temps start to creep above your inside temps... its usually as soon as the sun starts coming up. So close everything up around 7am.

[Brent.ff]

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1 Tower Fan (Vornado) pointed directly at bed on the 2nd floor in my bedroom. 1 Tower Fan on main floor living room. And 1 circulation fan at end of hallway pointed to towards my bedroom.

I'd be dead without that Vornado

Open two windows across from your upstairs and point your strongest fan out one of them. You need to push hot air out and create a pressure differential to bring cold air in. You’re just moving hot air

[Mitsu3000gt]

I tried the fan both ways, and for me personally, it felt cooler with the fan sucking in cool air to blow over me while sleeping. Blowing air out may cool the whole room down better though, but strictly for sleeping comfort, it felt cooler with the fan pointed at me. I think a ceiling fan would be ideal for that, then you could still have another fan blowing air out of the window.

[88CRX]

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I tried the fan both ways, and for me personally, it felt cooler with the fan sucking in cool air to blow over me while sleeping. Blowing air out may cool the whole room down better though, but strictly for sleeping comfort, it felt cooler with the fan pointed at me. I think a ceiling fan would be ideal for that, then you could still have another fan blowing air out of the window.

A fan blowing air across you will make you feel cooler.... but it doesn't help cool the room at all.

Like you said ceiling fan above you and window fan blowing air out is best.

[finboy]

Hit 30 in the house today, 2008 Trane xr14 running non stop but we are on a hill with a whack load of windows, Gavin still the man to call for getting my ac unit looked at?

[ExtraSlow]

Remove air filter

[revelations]

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Hit 30 in the house today, 2008 Trane xr14 running non stop but we are on a hill with a whack load of windows, Gavin still the man to call for getting my ac unit looked at?

- tint your windows with IR reflective film (lets in loads of light still)

- install attic fan

- save $$$$$

- check temperature of air coming out of the register, it should be something like 10c (at least, thats what we have upstairs)

[finboy]

Sounds like either needs new refrigerant or whole new compressor. Reaaaaally hope it’s refrigerant. #thoughtsandprayers

Gavin called me in his vacation btw, nice guy

[ExtraSlow]

Gavin is a sweetheart, was really helpful for me back in the day.

[Darell_n]

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- tint your windows with IR reflective film (lets in loads of light still)

- install attic fan

- save $$$$$

- check temperature of air coming out of the register, it should be something like 10c (at least, thats what we have upstairs)

Supply air is typically 55°F or 12°C. A little colder is not bad, warmer likely indicative of a problem.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

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Hit 30 in the house today, 2008 Trane xr14 running non stop but we are on a hill with a whack load of windows, Gavin still the man to call for getting my ac unit looked at?

I'm not sure if Gavin deals with Trane units specifically, but I know that W&J does.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Hit 30 in the house today, 2008 Trane xr14 running non stop but we are on a hill with a whack load of windows, Gavin still the man to call for getting my ac unit looked at?

What filter do you have in your furnace? Get the cheapest fiberglass one you can possibly find. If you're using a high MERV filter you are really restricting airflow and probably wrecking your blower mower too.

[ExtraSlow]

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What filter do you have in your furnace? Get the cheapest fiberglass one you can possibly find. If you're using a high MERV filter you are really restricting airflow and probably wrecking your blower mower too.

Yes yes yes. More airflow is the ticket, and a "bad" filter, or even no filter, is the easiest way to accomplish this. I used to have issues with mine freezing off, and the filter was one of the main culprits.

[finboy]

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I'm not sure if Gavin deals with Trane units specifically, but I know that W&J does.

Thankfully he actually has the same unit on his own house, will wait and see. If I need a new unit, I’ll suffer through the next week or so and treat that as a 2021 spring problem.

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What filter do you have in your furnace? Get the cheapest fiberglass one you can possibly find. If you're using a high MERV filter you are really restricting airflow and probably wrecking your blower mower too.

Amazon cheapies and replacing frequently because 3 dogs and 2 cats

[The_Rural_Juror]

It shouldn't be too expensive to upgrade to a larger filter box to maintain airflow and filter efficiency. A bit of tin work and a box is all you need. A lot of the A/C guys might be able to do it when you ask them to check on the thermocouple anyway.

[revelations]

I have a washable furnace filter that I use in the summer. Very light weight.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

I use the cheap fiberglass filters from CT in the summer, as recommended by our installer. I'll switch back to the better filters for winter.