Current Events > PSA: Your AC can probably only handle lowering your living area 20 degrees

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Unsugarized_Foo
07/20/19 5:19:12 PM
#1:


Its a bit late, but its a thing. I got mine set at 80 cause its 100 outside. It can go a bit lower, but thats really working the unit
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chitown82
07/20/19 5:36:02 PM
#2:


Depends on how many square feet your house is and the size of your a.c. unit.
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Unsugarized_Foo
07/20/19 5:38:36 PM
#3:


It does, but most units in place are picked due to the square footage and then as a whole is roughly a 20 degree difference

I have been seeing a lot of 'over-sized' units going on homes, and that can be a negative because it doesnt allow time for the dehumidification
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Colorahdo
07/20/19 5:41:11 PM
#4:


crazy how we build such inefficient homes

My buddy lives in an adobe house in NM and doesn't even need AC
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Questionmarktarius
07/20/19 6:01:37 PM
#5:


If my basement wasn't prone to flooding, as well as probably being full of radon, I'd just move down there. It barely strays from 65f all year.
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Annihilated
07/20/19 6:07:20 PM
#6:


Uh no, 20 degrees is not very much. A lot of air conditioning in homes and buildings can go as low as the 50s in that kind of heat.
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AsucaHayashi
07/20/19 6:09:14 PM
#7:


that's why you only install them for smaller rooms, ideally the bedrooms.
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Tupacrulez
07/20/19 6:09:22 PM
#8:


Colorahdo posted...
crazy how we build such inefficient homes

My buddy lives in an adobe house in NM and doesn't even need AC


That's just old homes.

New homes are ridiculously efficient.
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Unsugarized_Foo
07/20/19 9:26:11 PM
#9:


Im rather interested in double envelope houses myself
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#10
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StrangerThings3
07/20/19 9:29:53 PM
#11:


That should be enough.
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pres_madagascar
07/20/19 9:32:43 PM
#12:


Tupacrulez posted...
Colorahdo posted...
crazy how we build such inefficient homes

My buddy lives in an adobe house in NM and doesn't even need AC


That's just old homes.

New homes are ridiculously efficient.

No lol. A lot of new builds are built very cheaply.
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IdiotMachine
07/20/19 9:40:03 PM
#13:


We have a 5-ton unit for our home, and it was freakin 81F in this house during the morning (when outside it was 95F peak). Only now, with the sun down, is the inside temperature going lower and lower.

We hired an HVAC tech to come take a look, and he said the unit is undersized for our house (approximately 6,400sqft house). He recommended a light commercial unit of 7-tons or adding a split unit in the main hall.
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Dragon239
07/20/19 9:53:08 PM
#14:


pres_madagascar posted...
No lol. A lot of new builds are built very cheaply.

What's your experience in the field, and vaguely whereabouts do you live?
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Manocheese
07/20/19 9:59:01 PM
#15:


Cpt_Pineapple posted...
RIP man AC

Died at the room cooled down from 97 degrees to 76 degrees.
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Tupacrulez
07/21/19 3:10:04 AM
#16:


pres_madagascar posted...
Tupacrulez posted...
Colorahdo posted...
crazy how we build such inefficient homes

My buddy lives in an adobe house in NM and doesn't even need AC


That's just old homes.

New homes are ridiculously efficient.

No lol. A lot of new builds are built very cheaply.


We'll, I've got a literal decade building everything from slab on grade bungalows to 5 storey condo complexes numbering in the tens of thousands of square feet, to schools and prison expansions.

Please, enlighten me.

1970: R12 walls, R12 ceilings, vermiculite allowable, vapour barrier non existent.
2019: R20 continuous walls, limited thermal bridging, R60 ceilings, no vermiculite (DUH), building must have continuous air/vapour barrier allowing no more than 60 nanograms permeance per square meter of air passage. Home must also meet air exchange rate of 1.5 exchanges per hour. HRV or ERV highly recommended and required in many municipalities.

Come on son. Fucking try me.
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Schwarz
07/21/19 3:18:58 AM
#17:


Manocheese posted...
Cpt_Pineapple posted...
RIP man AC

Died at the room cooled down from 97 degrees to 76 degrees.

preach
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pres_madagascar
07/21/19 9:33:17 AM
#18:


Dragon239 posted...
pres_madagascar posted...
No lol. A lot of new builds are built very cheaply.

What's your experience in the field, and vaguely whereabouts do you live?

Arizona. A lot of cheap new build neighborhoods go up around here with problems out the ass. Rented a house in one once and everyone had issues.
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treewojima
07/21/19 9:48:56 AM
#19:


The materials and general techniques have improved, but not necessarily the craftsmanship. We moved into a single family home that was built in a new neighborhood back in ~2000. There were certainly no complaints about insulation, but there were the typical issues associated with mass produced "budget" homes of that era - cheap flat builder's paint and carpet, the yard was just sod on top of gravel/concrete spillage left over from construction, and the hallway and stairs down to the basement were crooked (we found that out when trying to hang a picture - the level just did not square with the right angle of the walls and floor at all lol). There were more little obnoxious things that we found but I can't recall them all, it's been 20 years

I suppose I'd chock that up to poor labor more than anything, but for most people who don't build or supervise their own homes it can lead to a sour taste in their mouths
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yemmy
07/21/19 9:49:10 AM
#20:


Tupacrulez posted...
Come on son. Fucking try me.


Let me know when you're on site with a bunch of illegal workers who don't even use levels period.

Then you see those same workers build a whole damn subdivision.
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darkprince45
07/21/19 9:51:24 AM
#21:


I mean it was 115 in Nevada. Im supposed to set my air at 95??? I set it to 70. I have two units in a brand new. Downstairs stays at like 78 never on really and upstairs stays at 70
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The Trent
07/21/19 10:04:35 AM
#22:


TC and half this thread doesn't know what they're talking about
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pres_madagascar
07/21/19 11:04:32 AM
#23:


treewojima posted...
The materials and general techniques have improved, but not necessarily the craftsmanship. We moved into a single family home that was built in a new neighborhood back in ~2000. There were certainly no complaints about insulation, but there were the typical issues associated with mass produced "budget" homes of that era - cheap flat builder's paint and carpet, the yard was just sod on top of gravel/concrete spillage left over from construction, and the hallway and stairs down to the basement were crooked (we found that out when trying to hang a picture - the level just did not square with the right angle of the walls and floor at all lol). There were more little obnoxious things that we found but I can't recall them all, it's been 20 years

I suppose I'd chock that up to poor labor more than anything, but for most people who don't build or supervise their own homes it can lead to a sour taste in their mouths

This. Phoenix area is one of the fastest growing areas in the country. Around here you can tell the quality of a new neighborhood based on cost. The cheaper, the lower the quality.

You can tell when newer houses in one neighborhood are less than $150k, when every other house surrounding the new subdivision is selling for $220k+.
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Anteaterking
07/21/19 11:09:24 AM
#24:


My AC is currently very comfortably keeping the inside of my house ~35 degrees colder than outside.
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Shablagoo
07/21/19 11:10:45 AM
#25:


Colorahdo posted...
crazy how we build such inefficient homes

My buddy lives in an adobe house in NM and doesn't even need AC

how does dat work?
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chrono625
07/21/19 11:13:32 AM
#26:


IdiotMachine posted...
We have a 5-ton unit for our home, and it was freakin 81F in this house during the morning (when outside it was 95F peak). Only now, with the sun down, is the inside temperature going lower and lower.

We hired an HVAC tech to come take a look, and he said the unit is undersized for our house (approximately 6,400sqft house). He recommended a light commercial unit of 7-tons or adding a split unit in the main hall.

500sqft per ton is rule of thumb for HVAC sizing.

For 6500sqft, yeah 5 ton isn't able to handle that.

You should realistically have two 5 ton units for the entire house.
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Colorahdo
07/21/19 11:48:57 AM
#27:


Shablagoo posted...
Colorahdo posted...
crazy how we build such inefficient homes

My buddy lives in an adobe house in NM and doesn't even need AC

how does dat work?


I guess it's extremely poor at heat exchange in dry climates. In the winter it's warm, in the summer it's cool. Like a cave
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pres_madagascar
07/21/19 11:54:49 AM
#28:


Colorahdo posted...
Shablagoo posted...
Colorahdo posted...
crazy how we build such inefficient homes

My buddy lives in an adobe house in NM and doesn't even need AC

how does dat work?


I guess it's extremely poor at heat exchange in dry climates. In the winter it's warm, in the summer it's cool. Like a cave

Yep, only downside is the Adobe has to be reapplied every so often as it'll dry and crack.
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Tupacrulez
07/21/19 3:35:30 PM
#29:


yemmy posted...
Tupacrulez posted...
Come on son. Fucking try me.


Let me know when you're on site with a bunch of illegal workers who don't even use levels period.

Then you see those same workers build a whole damn subdivision.


Why the fuck are you on site with them? Why the fuck do they get hired if they're illegals?
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0xDEFECADE
07/21/19 3:36:58 PM
#30:


I set it to 77 because of this topic instead of 71-73 and my mom complained haha
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IdiotMachine
07/21/19 5:35:10 PM
#31:


@chrono625 posted...
500sqft per ton is rule of thumb for HVAC sizing.

For 6500sqft, yeah 5 ton isn't able to handle that.

You should realistically have two 5 ton units for the entire house.

So the HVAC guy recommended getting at least a 7-ton light commercial unit, because getting two units will involve resizing ducts, zoning, etc. (he explained it to me in more details, but I forgot now).

I talked to an HVAC friend, and he said don't do that, just get a second 3-ton split ductless unit installed in my first floor (the entire first floor is an "open concept", with vaulted ceilings and ~2,000 sqft of open space). What do you think about that...?
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FL81
07/21/19 6:11:05 PM
#32:


Unsugarized_Foo posted...
Your AC can probably only handle lowering your living area 20 degrees

Yeah no, there's no way I'm keeping my AC at 90F
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dawgpound69
07/21/19 6:37:40 PM
#33:


Tupacrulez posted...
yemmy posted...
Tupacrulez posted...
Come on son. Fucking try me.


Let me know when you're on site with a bunch of illegal workers who don't even use levels period.

Then you see those same workers build a whole damn subdivision.


Why the fuck are you on site with them? Why the fuck do they get hired if they're illegals?


Are you fucking kidding me? If you complain about illegals at all people just call you a racist asshole.
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Tupacrulez
07/22/19 2:32:01 AM
#34:


Unqualified should be a reason to fire them.

There's no good reason a new home should be built more inefficient than an old home.

At every major stage of building the home is inspected. Excav, footings, foundation, framing, lockout, insulation, wiring, plumbing, finish, move in.

Ten. Ten inspections by independent bodies.

And buddy's point about not so much as using levels? As shitty as this is going to sound, that doesn't affect the efficiency of a home directly. So it's a deflection at best.

One of us knows what he's talking about.
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DrizztLink
07/22/19 2:42:40 AM
#35:


Tupacrulez posted...
One of us knows what he's talking about.

That's one more than the typical CE debate, this is new territory for them.
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CarrieChan
07/22/19 3:03:55 AM
#36:


dawgpound69 posted...
Tupacrulez posted...
yemmy posted...
Tupacrulez posted...
Come on son. Fucking try me.


Let me know when you're on site with a bunch of illegal workers who don't even use levels period.

Then you see those same workers build a whole damn subdivision.


Why the fuck are you on site with them? Why the fuck do they get hired if they're illegals?


Are you fucking kidding me? If you complain about illegals at all people just call you a racist asshole.

Definitely true.

Feelings are serious business!
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CarrieChan
07/22/19 3:06:44 AM
#38:


Tupa is a real tradesmen, so I'll take his word over the armchair tradesmen on HVAC matters.
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treewojima
07/22/19 6:22:03 AM
#39:


Doesn't Tupac live in Canada, or am I thinking of someone else
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0xDEFECADE
07/22/19 6:22:39 AM
#40:


"I'm poor" the topic
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RamboCell29
07/22/19 6:37:37 AM
#41:


My unit keeps my house in the mid 70s while outside was 100 and humid.

Unfortunately when replacing my unit last year I found out my duct was undersized so I'll never get correct airflow unless I gut the house but I can live with it.
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chrono625
07/22/19 6:43:20 AM
#42:


IdiotMachine posted...
@chrono625 posted...
500sqft per ton is rule of thumb for HVAC sizing.

For 6500sqft, yeah 5 ton isn't able to handle that.

You should realistically have two 5 ton units for the entire house.

So the HVAC guy recommended getting at least a 7-ton light commercial unit, because getting two units will involve resizing ducts, zoning, etc. (he explained it to me in more details, but I forgot now).

I talked to an HVAC friend, and he said don't do that, just get a second 3-ton split ductless unit installed in my first floor (the entire first floor is an "open concept", with vaulted ceilings and ~2,000 sqft of open space). What do you think about that...?


That would be fine as long as you have a proper means to circulate the air in that amount of space and also it would have to be mounted higher than normal because cold air drops.

If you have it too low the further points of the house to the unit will barely cool.

What may also work are 2 splits located at each end of the first floor to assure you have proper coverage.

Another idea is to install a second unit and a damper if there is a split in the supply between upstairs and downstairs.

Again I have zero idea how the duct was run, I just installed a 2.5 ton unit in my home because I had a single zone that was only 3.5 tons for 2500sqft. The new unit takes care of my 2nd floor and is a complete game changer. I should also be more efficient in my energy usage now.
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IdiotMachine
07/24/19 12:00:47 AM
#43:


chrono625 posted...
That would be fine as long as you have a proper means to circulate the air in that amount of space and also it would have to be mounted higher than normal because cold air drops.

If you have it too low the further points of the house to the unit will barely cool.

What may also work are 2 splits located at each end of the first floor to assure you have proper coverage.

Another idea is to install a second unit and a damper if there is a split in the supply between upstairs and downstairs.

Again I have zero idea how the duct was run, I just installed a 2.5 ton unit in my home because I had a single zone that was only 3.5 tons for 2500sqft. The new unit takes care of my 2nd floor and is a complete game changer. I should also be more efficient in my energy usage now.

Thanks for the feedback!
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