My AC is down till possibly Thursday

[punkncat]

Assumption is that the storms that rolled through night before must have taken a hit to the outside unit. The fan is completely dead. Not in stock anywhere local, will be Wed or Thu before it can get here. Only a seven year old unit that was installed six ago...FAR too soon for this expensive bit of winding to go out. Grumble.

If nothing else it gave me good reason to cut the windows back open and install screens from the painting......(several years ago).

Thank goodness that we aren't in that week of 90+ temps. Supposed to be very mild here for the next few days. I sure appreciate that.

[BenoitOWN]

I understand it sucks but many don’t have em and we’re using fans. It’s in the 80’s in my home and even if I ‘’cool’s’’ my bedroom it doesn’t go in the other rooms unless there is airflow from the outside.

im down to 1 big square for my door, 2 broke falling down when I was stacking them up.

[punkncat]

^ My grandparents house didn't have AC at all, just window fans. The first house that the wife and I lived in didn't either. It's heat were 'floor dragons', lol.
The most poignant thing that I recall about both of those places is that there were established shade trees all around. Unfortunately we had to cut out the large Oak on the front yard due to ensuing roof and septic tank damage. We cleared 20-something trees from the back yard as well so we get about 8-10 hours of direct sun on the house. Probably should look into some solar panels. ;P

[glaman5266]

We went from grass-scorching heat and dryness to mid-60s & spotty drizzle. Mid-60s isn’t cold by any means, but it sure feels like it. At least we’re not running up the power bill. And, in true WI fashion, it’s jumping to 80-something tomorrow.

[punkncat]

I have to admit that this heat has really been getting to me. I am ashamed to say that I have allowed my personal fitness level to be well beyond the worst it's ever been. These all day long, stuffy, 80F+ temps inside the house constantly have been reeking havoc on me. Slept all of about four hours in two days and got physically ill last night I got so hot. Giving strong consideration to a hotel room for tonight...

[Shaftski]

When we hit this situation a few years ago, we ran out and bought a portable AC unit to get by. Cooled the living room, closed it up from rest of house using heavy curtains temporarily, and we all camped out there at night. A 7K BTU unit should run 300-350. A good hotel will be 150 a night or so.

[punkncat]

When we hit this situation a few years ago, we ran out and bought a portable AC unit to get by. Cooled the living room, closed it up from rest of house using heavy curtains temporarily, and we all camped out there at night. A 7K BTU unit should run 300-350. A good hotel will be 150 a night or so.

The wife and I considered a portable AC unit. We have never ever needed one. Have never had our AC break in a way that couldn't be readily fixed, so there is that.
I asked the wife if she had interest in paying ~$350 plus for something we would use for a day or two and then have to figure out where to set and collect dust for possibly decades if we have the same history. It just doesn't make sense, really.
I figured it would be easy enough to "tough out", but apparently being 50+ has different ideas.

There are three considerations going into the possibility of a hotel room. CHEAP (check for bed bugs), allows dogs, and hopefully has a pool without too much P in it.

[Shaftski]

I would have been fine but the wife has a rough time the second the temps hit 85 outside. Throwing down the money was a no brainer for me. Waaaaaay better than hearing how hot it is every 10 min, LOL.

If you don't mind roughing it a bit, cheap way to go is camping at night. Tents are easier to cool down than a house. No bedbugs and mystery stains.

Our current house becomes an inferno at night unless the AC is cranking all day. Will easily get 20+ degrees above outside temp if you let things get out of hand.

[glaman5266]

"If you don't mind roughing it a bit, cheap way to go is camping at night. Tents are easier to cool down than a house. No bedbugs and mystery stains."

This is an excellent idea.

[punkncat]

Lol, it is a good idea. We have been under the effect of a tropical storms leftovers the past few days which is a good/bad. Lol, the other thing is what happened to our tent when someone thought it would be a good idea to let loose a bag of firecrackers and bottle rockets with the sticks torn off on our last camping trip.....needless to say though, a new tent is far cheaper than an AC unit.
Yeah, we came out of the tent pretty quickly, lol.

[acrewofone]

Wow, storm yesterday afternoon knocked out the power and it did not come back on until 7AM this morning. Yesterday it was muggy 80's and the Wife said she was having trouble breathing in the hot house. So I released the emergency latch on the garage door and manhandled it up to open (heavy wooden door). She pulled her car out and sat in the driveway, running the car A/C and charging her phone. She only came back inside when the temperature cooled down.

But like the OP, my outside AC unit is dead. I took the cover off and the wiring from the compressor to the relay is burned off at the ends! Well isn't that great....

Only good thing is we do have a large stand alone unit, and can push the cool air it creates around with fans.

Funny story on how I obtained that unit. A couple years ago, my boss, that has an office internal to the building with no windows, bought this big stand alone unit for $500, but then he said it would not work nor keep the room cool. He had not installed the hot air vent tube because there was no windows! So he had the unit in the middle of the room, blowing cold air out the front, and blowing hot air out the back! When I told him he had to vent the hot air out a window, he was like "crap, I can't use this thing". I suggested he take it back to where he bought it, but he had purchased it over a year ago but never used it until now. He asked me if I just wanted to buy it for $200, well sure enough...

[punkncat]

Yes, so far it looks as if the storm took out the fan as noted, my receiver on the main TV no longer has surround, the front middle channel won't work at all and the crossovers on and/or tweets on the main pair seem not to be working. I am SUPER freaking glad that the new computer build I have hooked to that TV seems fine, as well as the TV itself. My son hasn't been home, but his room is the closest to the area we suspect was struck so he may have more to find out.
All in all it's probably close to a homeowners claim, but I would rather pay it and avoid raised rates.
Oh and as an aside, when I was digging in the basement to get the screens back out, noted that the keystone for the bulb down there is blown off it's box.

[Shaftski]

I ONLY run my AV gear electrically isolated now. Fiberoptic transceivers and isolation transformers are going to be overkill for most though. But once you invest enough in the setup it is completely protected and absolutely zero noise floor.

Even something like a Furman power conditioner is worth it, they will insure gear if it is plugged into the Furman unit and lightning still somehow manages to blow it up.

Might want to try a whole house surge protection unit if your town's grid is dodgy.

[Cunha]

Whenever I read this thread title I think "man who needs to know about the timeline on this dudes autococker problems"

[punkncat]

:rofl:, right?

[glaman5266]

Had the power go out probably 7 or 8 years ago in the middle of summer. 80*F+ out, with a new baby. Took the electric company 3 days to fix it. We live out in the middle of nowhere, so low priority, but it was a simple fix. We figured out who on our country block had power & who did not, and once we figured that out we knew which power pole/transformer it was. After 3 days we actually flagged down a power company truck & basically said "Fix that! That one there!" Had power within 2 hours.

What the hell do we pay these guys for? lol I know we were low priority, but 3 days for a sub-2 hour fix is pretty boneheaded.

[punkncat]

My wife freaking ROCKS!. She asked the rental group that we are 'sisters' to (so to speak, same owner) if they had any extra window units and they DID. They had a unit with none of the mounting hardware, but it's in a window, it's got towels crammed on the sides, and a broom stick shoring up the back.
COOL AIR!!!!!! So nice.

[Cunha]

Good work. Now to get your cocker going.