the HVAC repair guy just left my house a few minutes ago. my HVAC stopped pumping out cold air all of a sudden last night. the condenser unit outside was not moving at all. I called the HVAC shop this morning and they said it was probably a bad capacitor.(which turned out to be right) They scheduled me for first thing Tuesday morning, but the repair guy showed up half an hour ago anyway.(apparently he lives in the subdivision next to me)

Anyway, I was happy that she showed up and I didn't have to suffer another hot night. Last night the inside of my house went up to 87 degrees.(outdoor was 84 degrees at midnight, humidity 62%)

While she was packing up her tools, she told me that she replaced at least 15 capacitors today. (the other 2 jobs were clogged drain pipe from the AC unit and failed fan) I saw that on her clipboard as well... 3 of the jobs were in my neighborhood... all said "capacitor" under job description.

For my unit, the part was free under warranty, but labor wasn't... so I had to pay $205... which isn't that bad for my area.

I couldn't help but wonder if bad capacitors are built to fail... any chance that the HVAC manufacturers do that in order to help the HVAC repair shops/installer make money?

I’m in North Georgia. It’s been a hot summer and on the hottest days, my AC cannot keep up. The attic is 140ish degrees and I have been trying to decide what avenue to take to fix the problem over winter so next summer isn’t so bad.

Here is a single picture of the attic. The baffles seem too narrow? I have hardie board soffits and the ridge is vented.

Should I try more baffles (they are only every other rafter bay and sometimes skip more than 1)? Should I also do attic foil? Should I entertain an attic fan?

Unit is about a month old. So very new. Last unit was a Trane as well. Single stage though. I never heard it start up this way. Fan sounds like it seems to be struggling on startup and I think I hear bubbles??? Completely new to this. Thanks in advance!

Update: Thank you all for the reassurance! Spending a pretty penny on a new system would make anyone nervous. Especially when you have researched and researched and researched and pull the trigger and start to hear unfamiliar noise 😆. Love this community. 🙏

Need my Evaporator Coil replaced and I was quoted $470 an hour for labor. I've never heard of labor being so high before. Any thoughts?

I live in an apartment and I am wondering if the AC is broken. It was cool the past few days but this has to mean it’s broken now. Not sure what to do and figured I’d ask here.

Does this drain look okay?

My mother is not a preventative maintenance type of person, and we built this house for her in 2010. I don’t know what possessed me, or made me think about it, but I thought “Dang, I bet she’s never ever had her AC unit cleaned.” I couldn’t believe air was still able to flow through these coils. I got it cleaned, but my jaw dropped when I saw this.

I bought this house 3 years ago and it passed inspection with no mention of the way this furnace vents. I’m selling and the inspector wasn’t sure, the new buyers are questioning it and want me to consult a licensed hvac tech. I’m just wondering what the code is on the venting of the gas furnace that’s located in the crawlspace. Is there a code on how close to the house this vent can be or near windows? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

*Edit: location is in Oregon

Broke a copper line that is likely for refringent on my AC. Looks like I'll need to get a professional in here. Called three places for quotes so far, but two turned out to have the same exact AI phone operator and just don't want to deal with them.

One local place will stop on by later this week, but over the phone explained that my unit uses R22 and are telling me it isn't worth the repair. And I should be installing a brand new unit. R22 looks readily available online, and affordable, but only for purchase by certified techs or businesses that employ them. Was quoted about $300 per pound by the place coming out this week already.

Are these things just not worth the repair or is the upsell heavy already?

Context:
2400 sqft house in Oklahoma
New low E windows, new insulation, new soffits, new doors, solar screens on west facing windows
Humidity around 30% outside, 45-50% inside
85F low 103F high average the last week and next week.
16 year old unit
R410A
3 returns, 14 supplies
New filters
Condenser outside is clean
Coil has been cleaned and sealed well after
System has a leak, about 2-4lb a year.
Just had it topped off 2 weeks ago, was 4lb low after 15 months.

During the day I am seeing an average of 72 at the return and 65 at the supply. At the peak heat of the day it’s around 75-76 at the return and 70 at the supply. By 3-4 AM it’ll be 68 at return and 59 at supply.

I am sorta out of ideas other than the unit is just old and can’t move enough air when it’s so hot outside. Is it just time for a new unit?

Hi Fellas, I have this thermostat at house and was wondering what are my upgrade options. The house is built in the 80s and the HVAC system was changed in 2010s. Haven’t opened the thermostat to check the wiring afraid i might mess up something. Looking for something with easy install features.

Looking at buying new build and have hear that sometimes corners are cut with the duct work…any thoughts on this based on picture?

I have a 30-year-old air unit in my basement. I have a 78-year-old husband who has spent decades claiming we didn’t need to hire anyone to fix anything in the house, because he could do it. He also promised to be the one to clean and maintain the house, while I worked full-time. However, as you can see from the condition of my house in the video, he has not taken care of very much. (The “body” of our furnace/air unit is filthy, as is the rest of the house.)

The (I guess it’s called) condenser hose from the AC runs in the basement ceiling, toward the bathroom I sleep right next to, and then turns right under that bathroom to drain as shown in the video, behind our washer and dryer.

I have recently been hearing noises I had not previously noticed. I first thought we had critters in the attic, and then realized it was non-chaotic and sounded more like water sloshing than animals. It seemed to be coming from the bathroom, but I couldn’t tell if it was in the wall or the ceiling or the floor. I grew concerned and my husband is disinterested, so I hung out in the basement for a bit and then noticed this drain sound. I believe this is the noise I’ve been hearing.

But I’m still concerned because, like I said, I don’t recall ever hearing this before and I have slept next to this bathroom for the entire time we have had this air-conditioning unit. If that draining sound is suddenly getting louder and I can hear it upstairs from the drain, is there a reason to be concerned?

Hi there, I’m sure this question has been asked a million times but I have the Ice Air WHSP in my apartment both in my living room and bedroom. In the living room, because it’s a big space shared with the kitchen and entry, I keep it set to 67 but the room usually doesn’t get that cool. In the bedroom, we keep it at a very brisk 62 because my wife and I both sleep very hot at night. Both of these units are set to auto fan speed and cooling obviously (during the summer). The issue is in our living room where we just got a new unit installed and find that it turns on and off very often and almost annoyingly so as it kicks into high fan speed before promptly turning off after two-three minutes and it repeats. All of this to say, is it better to leave both of these units on auto or low/high speed so air is constantly moving. My worry is raising my electric bill but I will defer to experts here in this forum who have far more knowledge than myself. Thanks!

We’re finishing about 600 sq ft in our basement and looking to install a mini split. Our contractor is pushing the cassettes since the space hasn’t been finished yet and they look aesthetically pleasing. He didn’t seemed to be concerned about ceiling height.

I agree that it’ll look better than the traditional wall mounted boxes, but after doing some research, I’m seeing that the cassettes are more difficult to maintain. One thing I’m concerned about is the condensate pump failing at some point and causing water to seep in the dry wall. Could be other things I’m not thinking of. Anyone with thoughts on doing the cassettes vs the wall mounted box for a basement? Is the difficult maintenance on these things overstated?

Hello! My partner and I are moving to Fort Wayne at the end of September because they received a job offer. I've been wanting to join the trades, more specifically mechanical or commercial HVAC.

While my partner was in school, I was the main provider, so I wasn't able to afford starting a trade career until now. I have no professional experience or formal training, but I'm great with tools and have a strong mechanical knowledge base.

Here's my question: Where is a great place to start? Some people have told me that if I can get hired by a company, they'll train me on the job. I also know trade school is an option. I'd love to hear all opinions and suggestions!

Is this normal amount of water coming out of drain?
It used to be drops before.
Location
Phoenix arizona
Temp 96F
Humidity 37%

I’m living out of my grandparents cabin right now while I’m taking collage. Now instead of rent they offered that I could “fix it up a bit” or make it livable as payment. The problem is there is no central ac system there is only one ac window unit but it’s in the living room which does works if your in that side of the house but it’s across from the other side where my bedroom and bathroom is so they get very hot especially the bathroom. So I thought about putting another window ac unit in bedroom and put a vent or fan in the walls bordering both rooms so both rooms can be cooled. I don’t really have a lot of knowledge with how to properly cool houses, so I wanted to ask here if this layout in the image would work? I did use chatgpt to kinda to see how it would kinda look like and work for reference.

We live in a 3-story townhouse central AC, with an open stairwell. There is a ceiling fan at the top. The upstairs is warm during the summer. Should I set the fan to draw cooler air upwards, or push the warm air downwards? Thanks!

Update in the comments, they are dead! Thank you all ✨ My plan is to spray tonight with the thermostat and AC unit outside turned off, and I've been instructed I need to knock out the nest after spraying + hose it off with water after. Should I wait until the next evening to knock the nest out? Logic tells me probably yes, but I'll need to run my AC during the day tomorrow because I have pets. To remove it, using a screwdriver and gloves is my idea, but what if it's knocked inside the unit? I just don't want to mess anything up, advice appreciated and I can call pest control instead if it sounds like I'm too worried or something 😁

We are selling our home. The HVAC died on the day of inspection. We are under contract and need a replacement ASAP. We got a solid bid from a journeyman licensed HVAC guy who did good work for several neighbors and friends. He states he is not able to pull a permit in Maryland as he is not master licensed (not sure if this is true.. I'm thinking I can pull the permit myself and just have it inspected after the fact). He will submit an invoice with the unit info, certification of working condition, and his license number. The contract states only that the unit be new and in working condition.

What are your thoughts?

I noticed this corrosion in my laundry room ceiling where the furnace/ac unit is. The pictures are taken from above the furnace between the joists. There is a lot of corrosion but no obvious leaks. I do not belive that it is coming from the floor above, that is the middle of the living room, and there is no evidence of water on the ceiling of the basement.