2 years with no ac or heat

[dpatty]

I went on a service call for an older couple who had been without heat or ac for two years. They said they wanted me to check out the system and find out what it would take to fix it, they did not want to go through another hot Texas summer in the heat.




Found the problem in about 1 min












The furnace was unplugged. Heres your bill, LMAO

Wish I had a camcorder for when I told the wife what had been wrong

[hvacprodmgr]

Unplugged ?

Breaker switched off ??

[dpatty]

It has an appliance cord for power. It'a an older low budget install.

[smokin68]

It's possible someone unplugged it for a reason. is it safe? Seems if the couple unplugged it they would have known....even the most ignorant people usually know something has to be plugged in.

[Irishmist]

Striking and sad at the same time. Striking that the system operated with something akin to an extension cord. Sad, that these folks had to suffer the last two years because of it.

I share the same concern about why it was unplugged. I would be absolutely sure the system was safe before leaving it plugged in and operational.

I'm confident that you did just that.

[dpatty]

It was unplugged because they stuffed a bunch of junk next to the gas furnace.

You do not know just how ignorant some people can be. I have had customers that think a more efficeint unit just cools faster and no matter how long you talk to them they refuse to learn anything. I have had customers that called saying water was pooring out of the unit, only to find that it is pooring in the drain. I'm sure all of us have ran into people like this. What else can you do but laugh.

[coolmist]

I believe it. I had a lady call that had gone through 2 Oklahoma summers without cooling because the prior service person told her that the compressor in her unit would not start. She couldn't afford a new system and sat in the heat.
Her son sent me out to check it for a replacement. I checked
the run capacitor for the existing unit it was open. Replaced
it and away it went cooling just fine. Poor lady burned up for 2 years for nothing.

[dpatty]

but that would not be her ignorance, that was a thief trying to make a buck at her expense.

[bb]

2 Years ?? How could anyone stand 2 days without A/C in this god forsaken heat?

Sometimes I want to slap the first person who settled this place.

One day I made a comment to an elderly customer "I don't know what people did here in Texas before A/C was invented."

He replied "We burned up. We would wet down sheets at night just to try to stay cool."

Thank god for technology.

I'm sure they were happy to have some relief again by having a/c. I sure hope they can afford to pay the electricity bill now.

[Irishmist]

Yeah I used to wet down the sheets too, when I was younger, but then I got over it. lol

[tpa-fl]

Best one I've had in awhile was from my own folks... and they're not THAT old... but.. WR 1F95 stat... and they were complaining that the system wouldn't cool... Indeed, the system won't cool with the stat set to HEAT ONLY. Of course, they might not have been able to see that because the stat kept flashing CHNG FLTR which they neglected to do as well.

[dhvac]

my parents are just as bad my dad dosnt want to believe that i know what i am doing
had a service call to their house and it was for dead batteries in the stat

btw the service charge was coffie and a few choc. chip cookies

[Midwest]

I had a call last fall during our first cold snap. Husband was out of town (he usually takes care of things around the house). Found a wire unplugged to the gas valve. Changed filter, tested operations- all OK. Told a co-worker of mine who knows these people pretty well and he said "yeah, Bob does that so she can't run the furnace and waste gas until he thinks it's cold enough! If I had known you were going there, I'd have told you to check that wire first thing, but keep your mouth shut!" Now, he'll have to find another trick to economize. Greg