Tips to cool a house! Please help

[Loki]

So I woke up (at 7:00pm) to my house at 80 degrees! The house is only 4 years old. I changed the air filter 18 days ago and again today because it was quite dirty. The thermostat is set on 68 (which is actually 73 inside) so it has been running constantly. Yesterday it only got to 71 on the thermostat with the same temp outside. It wasn't this hot in the house last week when the temp was 105 outside.

The air filter I have is a cheap 3m. I got this filter because the news had some air guy on it and said the cheap filters let more air through and that your AC unit works less.

Does anyone have any ideas/tricks to cool a house quickly? I don't want it to get to hot in here with my 5 month old.

 

[pgr11]

Im asuming you mean your a/c is set to 68. Is that correct? If so you have a problem for sure if the house is at 80. Is the vent blowing cold air or just moving air? Is you compressor fan blowing or is it off?

 

[Loki]

Yes. I keep it set at 68 which with other thermometers keeps the house at 73.

68 is the set point 77 is what the thermostat is reading and my thermometer is reading almost 80.
usually

It seems to be blowing warm air. Once I noticed this I got all of our fans out and in the living room. I'll go look outside at the unit.

 

[Rockadile]

check the coils make sure they are clean of grass, pollen, and all that gunk.

 

[pgr11]

If warm air is coming from the vents and the compressor fan is blowing you prob have a leak in the freon line and it all leaked out. If the fan is not blowing check the fuse box to see if the a/c fuse tripped

 

[Loki]

Just went outside the fan was not moving. Checked the breaker box and they are all fine. I put the thermometer into a vent and it was showing about 82 so I went to put clothes on to go outside and checked it again before I went outside and it showed 74 for the air at the vent.

Outside at the vent there was a high pitch noise and the fan blade was not moving. The unit is very warm, hot almost, to the touch.

 

[Bentonb]

I'd call a repair man.. there's obviously something funky going on with your outside unit

 

[candcreef]

Your fan motor on your air conditioner is bad, or it is your capacitor for you fan...(I do a/c down here in Florida)...call an a/c company, should only take twenty minutes to fix...

 

[pgr11]

Do you have additional fuses by the unit? Sometimes there are cylinder type fuses that go bad, and cause the fan to stop. The fan motor may be bad as well. I had to replace mine last year.

 

[pgr11]

BTW it's an easy repair to do yourself.

 

[Loki]

There is an additional breaker next to the unit and it was also in the on position. I flipped it off then back on. I am renting this house and am afraid it may take a couple of days to get a hold of the landlord. :(

Okay stupid question time. Can I take the few nuts holding the grate off and see if the pump spins freely? Will this tell me anything?

Thank you guys for helping!

 

[pgr11]

capacitor or the motor is bad. I would be carefull trying to spin that fan if it starts up it could do some damage. You might try tapping the top of the motor to see if it tries to start moving but one of the two are bad and need s replaced

 

[Loki]

Dang. Yeah I already tapped on the miter and it didn't start. So should I turn the AC off all night or can I still run it without this fan going? I guess it was doing some good because once I turned it off it got even more hot.

 

[pgr11]

Turn the thermostat to fan not cool. You can keep the blower going but don't keep it on cool or cold

 

[mojo]

yea sounds like the start run cap. if the house isnt that old typically the units have a 5 year warranty. The cap should be covered. usually less that $50. But the service call will be $150 bucks

 

[Loki]

There isn't a setting for fan only. Hopefully this will keep the fan on. My 120 is at 81 now and the nem tank is at 83. Time to remove the lids :) I'll freeze RODI water over night for preparation for tomorrow.

 

[Loki]

Thanks everybody for your help! I really appreciate it. :D

 

[pgr11]

yea sounds like the start run cap. if the house isnt that old typically the units have a 5 year warranty. The cap should be covered. usually less that $50. But the service call will be $150 bucks

Yep thaty's why I did it myself. Googled it and it seemed pretty straight forward and it was. Took me about 45 mins. Thats from a guy that didn't know anything. hahahahaahah

 

[pgr11]

That should keep the blower going. Hope it all works out for you

There isn't a setting for fan only. Hopefully this will keep the fan on. My 120 is at 81 now and the nem tank is at 83. Time to remove the lids :) I'll freeze RODI water over night for preparation for tomorrow.

 

[uall8up]

I had the exact same problem yesterday. One of the lines outside had ice on it. We turned the entire unit off for a couple of hours to let it thaw out and all is good now.