Fan running the wrong direction

[RoBoTeq]

No - I'm in a rental property and had been complaining about my a/c not working properly and when I got an excessive electric bill I knew something was definitely wrong with it. I doubt they have done any maintenance to it, and it's an ancient piece of equipment. He said it was the fan that was spinning backward, so I would imagine that would be the condenser fan not the blower... he said he fixed it, but I don't know what he did.

I really just want to know if a condenser fan that is running the opposite direction could cause my higher electric bills, having warm air coming into the apartment, and the a/c having to run constantly to attempt to satisfy cooling?? And if any other long term damage could be done from it running like that for so long...

The fan running backwards could have caused some overheating issues of the outdoor unit. This could have caused the compressor to overheat and shut down on thermal overload which would have prevented your indoor air to be cooled but would not heat the indoor air.

Unless you have a heat pump and the reversing valve was creating an issue, I can't see why your electric bills would be significantly higher.

[Twilly]

Twilly can see why the bills would be higher as the head pressure would escalate possibly kicking the compressor off on high head and the system continued to run 24/7 and not satisfy the stat.

[RoBoTeq]

Twilly can see why the bills would be higher as the head pressure would escalate possibly kicking the compressor off on high head and the system continued to run 24/7 and not satisfy the stat.

At the most, you would be running two fractional HP motors, one for the outdoor unit and one for the indoor unit. That should not be an astronomical amount of energy usage.

[Twilly]

Twilly says wouldn't the compressor be drawing more amps?

[RoBoTeq]

Twilly says wouldn't the compressor be drawing more amps?

Tis true. And if the compressor were shutting down regularly, the starting amps would also contribute to the energy usage.

So, I'm assuming the renter would like some sort of compensation for additional energy usage. Should be easy enough to compare usage for this year compared with usage for same months last year to come up with an amount overpayed due to the faulty system. Then again, when was the complaint filed and who is at fault for the time the system ran poorly before the complaint was made?

[Twilly]

Twilly would like a split

[Mr Bill]

At the most, you would be running two fractional HP motors, one for the outdoor unit and one for the indoor unit. That should not be an astronomical amount of energy usage.

That RoBoTeq dude is wanted in ARP.

[Mr Bill]

Twilly would like a split

Join me at Sonic tonight....They have the best.

[timebuilder]

I'm in Michigan, and it has been much hotter than most summers we've seen so far. But at least twice in July my A/C actually stopped working on the days when it was 90+ - I don't know if the fan running backwards and trying to work so hard overheated the compressor or what, but usually when it was REALLY hot it would "crap out" and it would be 87 degrees in my place

I'm also on a 3rd floor unit, and they keep trying to tell me it's 3rd story heat load that is doing it... but then how is it that 50 story buildings in Florida are able to cool their place... I think that a $220 electric bill for a 1,000 sq foot apartment with one person in it in the evening only (6PM - 7:30AM) is pretty excessive. I think the 3rd floor excuse is the apartment complex trying not to fix something because I'm sure people on the 40th floor of an apartment building aren't paying $3,000 for their electric...

Office buildings don't use the same type of equipment or have the same construction materials used as a home or apartment complex. If you are on the top floor of a building that is 20+ years old, there is no doubt a great deal of radiant heat energy coming in through your ceiling.

When local temps are above the design temp benchmarks, a properly sized system can't keep up. That's normal.

A condenser fan spinning in the wrong direction will not be able to move enough air through the coil to eject heat into the atmosphere and condense the vapor into a liquid. The result is poor cooling and long run times, and in very hot weather, even further reduced cooling.

Is it cooling now?

[wright05]

I do believe it is working now, but it has been cooling off in the evening lately so I've just been leaving my windows open, as I'm not home during the day. I plan on checking the temperature in the incoming and return ducts myself this weekend. I have requested compensation and they aren't being very pleasant, although I guarantee that everyone there isn't paying that much for electric. I checked my meter on August 1 (about half way through my billing cycle) and it was already registering 950 kwh of usage!! It was 1308 for Mid June - Mid July and wasn't working for half of that time and still produced a $220 bill. It will be a year this month and I'm moving out of their because of their lack of maintenance to the a/c as well as everything else. Regular usage over the course of the year was about 250 kwh - and I was home a lot more then.

[wright05]

Tis true. And if the compressor were shutting down regularly, the starting amps would also contribute to the energy usage.

So, I'm assuming the renter would like some sort of compensation for additional energy usage. Should be easy enough to compare usage for this year compared with usage for same months last year to come up with an amount overpayed due to the faulty system. Then again, when was the complaint filed and who is at fault for the time the system ran poorly before the complaint was made?

I originally made a complaint at the end of last September (2010) because I thought it was not running very efficiently, however, they put it off because we were going into cooler months (being from Michigan). In June I returned from an extended vacation and noticed A/C wasn't cooling, I made 2 requests in June to have it looked at. It crapped out the 1st of July and didn't get looked at until the 5th (it was a 95 degree weekend!). Then "got fixed" but then stopped working on the 8th of July. I put all together 6 maintenance requests in before I sent them a letter documenting my repeated attempts to get it fixed... once they got the letter they finally brought a subcontractor out that said the fan was running in the opposite direction... that's all I got from the apartment complex though and I don't think they want to tell me anymore that may be wrong with it.

[motoguy128]

I think you may have a reasonable claim ot be made in small clams court to cover the additonal costs on your electric bill from failure to repair the equipment within a reasonable time. You'll need a LOT of documentation including electric bills from last year, thsi year and might even need to get copies of electric bills form other apartments in the same building.

Regardless, I would make plans ot move out.

Our electric rates wher I am in SE Iowa are $0.14/kw-hr...which I think is a little higher than Michigan. Pus It's hotter and more humid here and my electric bill for a 3200sqft 1925 2 story home was only $270 (1900kw-hr)... for 36 days at the end of June and July. For 30 days it would have been $230.

I think it's MCUH, much more than just radiant heat comming in. You clearly have a very poorly functioning system. I would have expected a bill around $150.

[wright05]

Regardless, I would make plans ot move out.

Our electric rates wher I am in SE Iowa are $0.14/kw-hr...which I think is a little higher than Michigan. Pus It's hotter and more humid here and my electric bill for a 3200sqft 1925 2 story home was only $270 (1900kw-hr)... for 36 days at the end of June and July. For 30 days it would have been $230.

I think it's MCUH, much more than just radiant heat comming in. You clearly have a very poorly functioning system. I would have expected a bill around $150.

I already plan to move out and have a new place I'll be moving into in September. In Michigan our rates are .07 for the first 600 kwh and .14 for every additional above 600kwh. Our usage was for 30 days between June 18 - July 19 and at that point it was just starting to get real hot in July and that was $220. Our upcoming bill will be representing when we had over 90 degree temps for over a week with 60-70 dewpoint... it was like the tropics! I even think for the cooling quality that we get it shouldn't even be $150 - This whole summer so far it works all day and all night to keep it around 80 and if it's over 90 out then I usually expect temps around 83... I agree that there is definitely an issue with the efficiency of the unit - the heat load from the 3rd floor (keeping in mind the 1st floor is a garden style and half undergound) can't be why it's performing so inefficiently.