Home expenses. Oof.

[deanwebb]

Found out I need a new AC system at home: previous owner had duct work that provided it with half the airflow it needed, so it's not doing anything right. Lots of hot/cold spots in the house, and that was part of the reason why. The other part was that there's no damper system to divert air.

Getting the job done right, of course, is not cheap. Supply chain issues and inflation have driven up costs, but this is the kind of thing one buys when one needs one, especially in Texas before there's a summer price hike.

[icecream-guy]

my pre-covid electric heat/ac for zone 2 (upstairs) ran me like 10G,
not like you can't do it cause it reduces the value of home
you can remain hot/cold but the inspector will make you replace it when you sell.
there are some options for tax write offs in US if you are doing energy value.

if you are in Texas and hate the heat, get it fixed right and get a guarantee for the work.
sounds like the builder may have been cheap as in my case. replaced unit within 10 years brand new.

speaking of supply,  I ordered UPS from APC on 1/7, and cancelled order on 3/7 due to supply issue
web site said they were available but apparently not at the supplier level.

[deanwebb]

Yeah, those numbers for post-covid units are well north of what they were 2 years ago. It's a real pain point. Had to also have electrical and plumbing work done last year, but that stuff will last a very long time and we don't plan on moving out of here.

[Otanx]

Home repairs are just expensive now. We need to get the floors redone. Carpet is getting pretty bad. I Just wasn't expecting a ten thousand dollar quote. Would love to get the kitchen and master bath redone as well, but I really don't want to see what that will cost.

-Otanx

[deanwebb]

Home repairs are just expensive now. We need to get the floors redone. Carpet is getting pretty bad. I Just wasn't expecting a ten thousand dollar quote. Would love to get the kitchen and master bath redone as well, but I really don't want to see what that will cost.

-Otanx

No. You do not, unless you absolutely have to.

[config t]

Buying a home in general is outrageously expensive right now

[deanwebb]

Everything is mounting up... I'd like to see my pay get indexed to inflation...

[Dieselboy]

I'm back in London at the moment and we're having some nice weather in the low 30c's (86F - 90F) and expected to go to 35c (95F) next week.

It's definitely warming up in the south of England. Nowhere near as hot as I've frequently had in Australia. Difference though is that one place has A/C and the other generally doesnt. Much more comfortable to live in 110F with a/c than 90F without it.

[deanwebb]

Much more comfortable to live in 110F with a/c than 90F without it.

^ TRUTH

Speaking of which, Dallas is on track to have a top year for consecutive days over 100F as well as total days over 100F. Don't know if we'll knock down the records of 2011 and 1980, and I truly hope we don't, but we certainly could manage a streak that knocks down either 2011 for most days over 100 and/or 1980 for most consecutive days over 100.

[Otanx]

Monday was hot enough here that our AC couldn't keep up. Thought something was broken, and went out to look at the AC, and found my neighbor on the other side of the wall looking at his. Checked a few things, and it was working. Eventually it was able to get the house temp down.

-Otanx

[deanwebb]

One thing I tried last night and may continue with is the idea of supercooling or night cooling.

1. Run AC hard at night to get indoor temp way down. I picked 70F, but the dehumidifier kept running and got the house down to 68F. I had the cycle end at 8am and that temp held for about an hour and then started up.
2. AC downstairs did not turn on all day - it's after 4PM now - but dehumidifier did run off and on during the day. Downstairs central temp stayed at 74F or less all day. Upstairs got up hot enough to kick on the AC at 76F, but that's upstairs getting sun all day. Side rooms in the house got up to 78F in the main bedroom and 81F in my office, which was less than the 83F it hit yesterday.
3. AC comes on again at night to make things cold - I have that cycle set to start at 8 PM.

The idea being that if you get things REALLY cold, it takes longer for them to get ferociously hot, lolz. It worked very well today, we'll make some tweaks here and there and keep doing it if it keeps the house cold without having to run the AC in the daytime.

Oh yes, the current temp here in Dallas is 104F, or 40C.

[Otanx]

We do something like that. I like it cold when I sleep. The difference is we don't have dehumidifiers, and our high was 111F (43.8C) on Monday. I think the cool part of the house was around 82 at 4PM. Which lines up pretty well with what you saw.

I just got my next home project. Our kitchen sink has always had long delays to get hot water because the hot water heater is all the way on the other side of the house. I happened to find a 4 gallon under sink hot water heater for $30. Need to pick up some hoses to get it all connected, but hope to get that done this weekend. It will be nice not to waste 2 minutes of water before it warms up. Especially with the water issues around here.

-Otanx

[deanwebb]

Oh yeah, you want to save water out thataway with Hoover Dam getting restrictions.

[icecream-guy]

takes a lot of energy to cool that house back down,  my wide likes it at 68, we keep same temp 24/hr. so we are not trying to cool a 3600Sq ft house from 78 back to 68 (would take most of the night).  keeping the fan in the on position keeps air circulating and making it feel cooler all around  (and yes, I wear long sleeves in the house cause it is way too cold for me.

[deanwebb]

Last 2 days, we've been going from 73-74 at the end of the day. Not a big reach down and the dehumidifyier helps on the circulation and steadiness thing.

I also found out that turning off some of the monitors in my office helps out heaps.