Need Urgent Help!-air conditioning.

**krusty2515** · 07-03-2008, 09:36 AM

Hello everybody.

As you all know, summer is hear and it is getting hot. The problem is that my air conditioning unit never properly works. Here are the list of problems

Air Flow is weak
Air is not cool.
Freon constantly leaks out.

The ac who comes to my house is very lazy and all he does is put some more freon in and says he has patched up the problem. The sad thing is that it has leaked over 11 times in the past 4 years. Every time he comes he insists that he has solved the problem.

I decided to go to another AC guy. He said that the unit was too weak to supply the part of the house that it is hooked up to, The side of the house that has the ac problems is 2000 square ft with 8 ft high ceilings. The price he said did not seem reasonable.

The other guy said that the duct work was not right, but the unit was fine and strong enough. I asked him about the freon leak and he said that is only a very minor problem, whearas i read that it is a pretty big problem. Not trusting this guy I called another guy.

The other guy said that the duct work was fine and that it is an insulation problem that was causing all my problems. He said that the flow was fine. I did not believe him because on the other side of the house it is much cooler and the flow is much stronger, BUT that side of the house is hooked up to a different unit.

Now i am super confused. It is hot as hell and in the afternoons i feel like killing myslef. I live in the southeast united states right along the coastal region, so temperatures reach about 100 F easy because of the humidity.

I emailed an ac guy who i found on the internet who hands out advice and he said i need a 4 ton unit for my house. Not knowing how many tons my current ac system is, i went out side to check. Sadly there is a bunch of information that I do not understand. I took a picture of the information to see if anybody knows what any of it means and if they could help me.

That is a picture of what my AC unit says on the outside.

If anybody could help me i would be extremely grateful. I feel miserable in my house in the afternoons. Plus with all these people telling a bunch of different things, I have no clue who to believe.

**the dangling wrangler** · 07-03-2008, 09:47 AM

How can he "know" what you need over the INTERNET? He can't. I can tell you this over the 'net, you have a 3 ton unit. Also, pricing in posts is frowned on here.

**krusty2515** · 07-03-2008, 10:02 AM

hey thank you so much for the quick reply. I was just posting how much the guy was charging to show my frustration. Just out of curiosity, did you get 3000 from the 300 psig it says on there? Also he said that was just a very rough estimate. He said i would need a manual J to see how much i really need.

**the dangling wrangler** · 07-03-2008, 10:08 AM

036jas. Edit out the price or the mods will.

**krusty2515** · 07-03-2008, 10:14 AM

doing some rough calculations, i found out that indeed it came out to around 4 tons i need. But I am going to get someone to check this professionaly. Anyway, does it really matter if the unit is slightly more powerful than what is needed?

**HeyBob** · 07-03-2008, 10:23 AM

Moving to residential forum where it belongs!

**beenthere** · 07-03-2008, 10:28 AM

Yes, over sizing can cause more trouble then you already have.

**krusty2515** · 07-03-2008, 10:35 AM

So is there some general chart that ac guys follow for how many tons you need per square foot of house you need. All i need is a very general chart. That way i can make sure the ac guy cannot rip me off.

**Refer-Madness** · 07-03-2008, 10:39 AM

Originally Posted by krusty2515

So is there some general chart that ac guys follow for how many tons you need per square foot of house you need. All i need is a very general chart. That way i can make sure the ac guy cannot rip me off.

Look back up at your post, post #3, and you've answered your own question. Manual J

**krusty2515** · 07-03-2008, 10:41 AM

The problem is that i have no idea what a Manual J is. I tried searching google, but no results came up that i was looking for. Can anybody explain what that is, or send a link. I am a complete novice at this stuff, so please exuse my ignorance.

**the dangling wrangler** · 07-03-2008, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by krusty2515

The problem is that i have no idea what a Manual J is. I tried searching google, but no results came up that i was looking for. Can anybody explain what that is, or send a link. I am a complete novice at this stuff, so please exuse my ignorance.

Look at the top of the page for HVAC calc. Your questions will be answered.

**Refer-Madness** · 07-03-2008, 10:46 AM

It is a book for residential load calculations. 1st hit on google when I entered it. You can also look at the top of this page for a link to HVAC calc. there is a homeowners special for doing a load calc on your own home, but its not free and I've never used that software so I cant really tell you anything about it.

**m kilgore** · 07-03-2008, 10:53 AM

The only way to properly size your house is with a manual J calculation. This takes into account all of your windows, doors, insulation, room sizes etc. If you want to do one yourself there is a hvac-calc link at the top of this page. There is a cost for this for a one time user.

Any reputable contractor will run the calc. Your having problems and this would take out the guesswork. Going by square footage is just a guess. Call some contractors and ask them if they will run a manual J.

You have a 3 ton unit now and if you need a 4 ton then the ductwork willl need to be altered for the increased capacity.

Post your location and there may be someone on here that is in your area and would be willing to give you some help.

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