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re: Alabama Power tells the 76° AC environmentalists to hold their really hot beer
Posted on 6/26/24 at 7:20 am to adamau
Posted on 6/26/24 at 7:20 am to adamau
quote:
Alabama Power explains how 20-degree rule impacts air conditioning
does the same rule apply during the winter to those in the north? 4 degrees.....but the heater can only get you to 24?
or does this only apply to electric appliances? gas heater is okay?
these people are nuts.
0
Posted on 6/26/24 at 7:44 am to TDsngumbo
quote:
quote:
Meaning, if it’s 100 degrees outside, most homes will only get down to around 80 degrees.
That’s bullshite. On 100° days I can easily keep my house at 72°.
The 20 degree rule has always been off but there is some basis for it....the setting of the thermostat is the temperature of the air that passes the thermostat...it is an average, at best, depending on its positioning in the return air path. if the stat is at the return air of directly in the return air path, that setting is not going to be indicative of the temperature in areas that do not have the same amount of airflow. Shut the door on a bathroom and restrict the airflow...the temp will be considerably higher than it is at the return air grill.
Posted on 6/26/24 at 7:55 am to adamau
Imo people have gotten soft when it comes to AC. 80 degree with no humidity air is not some death sentence. Throw in some fans to move air around and it isn’t bad at all. I had a full unit failure for downstairs part of house last year that required replacement which would take about a week. Set up two window units on opposite ends of the house and had a couple fans moving air around. The temperature hovered around 80 but the air was dry. It wasn’t bad at all.
My old man was adamant about his AC and heat policy. He would say if it’s HOT outside then it should be WARM inside and if it’s COLD outside then it should be COOL inside. The discussion would always end up that he wasn’t paying to keep AC at 69 so you can sleep under a heavy comforter at night.
Bring on the downvotes!
My old man was adamant about his AC and heat policy. He would say if it’s HOT outside then it should be WARM inside and if it’s COLD outside then it should be COOL inside. The discussion would always end up that he wasn’t paying to keep AC at 69 so you can sleep under a heavy comforter at night.
Bring on the downvotes!
This post was edited on 6/26/24 at 8:02 am
Posted on 6/26/24 at 8:01 am to Obtuse1
quote:I came here to similarly disagree with his attempt to equate a refrigerator’s and a residential building’s thermal properties.
That is a horrible way to make your point. The average refrigerator has about 30 BTUs of cooling capacity per cubic foot, and is very well insulated and sealed. Compare that to a 1500ftsq house with 8-foot ceilings (12k cuft) and the equivalent cooling capacity would be 30 tons seven to ten times the normal amount for that size of home.
You beat me to it by being obtuse and not obtuse at the same time.
It is truly amazing how many people have very little to zero concept of thermodynamics.
Posted on 6/26/24 at 8:05 am to adamau
I'm heading to my place on Smith Lake this weekend so this better be bullshite.
Posted on 6/26/24 at 8:12 am to adamau
quote:
Meaning, if it’s 100 degrees outside, most homes will only get down to around 80 degrees.
Maybe in houses built in the 40’s.
I can keep mine in the low 70’s when it’s that hot outside. Does it run a lot… yea… but it maintains it well lower than 80.
They need to chunk another rod in the nuke plant and sell electricity. Not give HVAC advice.
This post was edited on 6/26/24 at 8:14 am
Posted on 6/26/24 at 8:15 am to adamau
quote:
you can set your thermostat for a lower temperature but honestly, it might not help much
My thermostat was set to 68 last night. When I woke up it was 68 in my house.
Posted on 6/26/24 at 8:37 am to Bjorn Cyborg
quote:
Yea that’s false. 100 degrees today and you could hang meat in my house.
Environmentalism aside, A/C is making people soft, and if you need your house to stay below 75 degrees to be happy, you are why stuff like transgender story hour can happen.
Posted on 6/26/24 at 8:59 am to adamau
quote:
Meaning, if it’s 100 degrees outside, most homes will only get down to around 80 degrees.
Every southern thermostat can confirm that this is a straight up lie.
Posted on 6/26/24 at 9:01 am to adamau
In super humid south Louisiana; A/C can dry out a space pretty quickly and can definitely make that 20 degree delta feel more like 25-30 degrees difference.
I love A/C. Couldn't live on the gulf coast without it.
I love A/C. Couldn't live on the gulf coast without it.
Posted on 6/26/24 at 9:14 am to CleverUserName
They are talking about the design basis for a Manual J calculation used to size the system, i.e. you need a 4 ton unit to cool your house based on the internal volume and construction of your home, windows, etc. and an expected heat load of 95 degrees (just for example).
Not many people do those correctly and just base tonnage off of square feet. This is bad when it's not blazing hot outside because the unit doesn't run long enough to dehumidify the air, but you have more cooling capacity when it gets really hot.
The window unit example works well because you size the central unit for moderate heat loads and can supplement with additional tonnage during peak cooling loads. Some new houses now do the same with central duct air handlers + supplemental mini splits.
Not many people do those correctly and just base tonnage off of square feet. This is bad when it's not blazing hot outside because the unit doesn't run long enough to dehumidify the air, but you have more cooling capacity when it gets really hot.
The window unit example works well because you size the central unit for moderate heat loads and can supplement with additional tonnage during peak cooling loads. Some new houses now do the same with central duct air handlers + supplemental mini splits.
This post was edited on 6/26/24 at 9:15 am
Posted on 6/26/24 at 9:15 am to Tider13
quote:
Every southern thermostat can confirm that this is a straight up lie.
True. 20 degrees difference is nothing. 25 is actually somewhat common.
We try to keep our house at around 74; but our system did struggle when Louisiana had unusually bad heat last year that approached 106-107. That 6-7 week heat wave definitely taxed our systems. I think our A/C starts to struggle with a 30 degree difference, but we have an older house with older and less insulated windows. This place definitely was not designed for energy efficiency in mind.
For those crazy heat waves last year in July/August - we moved the thermostat to the upper 70s during the day and it definitely struggled to keep up. At night it's 72/73 on the bedroom side; 76 on the kitchen side. We had no issues at night, but the ambient temperatures usually dropped to at least the mid 80s outside then. Our house could easily hold in the upper 60s if we wanted to for that.
That heat wave sucked so bad last year. Our drip line got algae in it twice from the system running so damn much. That of course triggered our float switch, which required me going up into the attic a couple of times to shop vac the drip pan and clear out the drip line with clorox. It was a special kind of heat up there....it had to have been at least 140 in that attic during the day. I've spent time in Phoenix during record breaking summer heat for them (122 degrees), and our attic was an order of magnitude hotter than that.
Most older houses like mine have attic fans that you can turn on for 30-40 minutes and recycle that attic air before you get up there. But mine does not have that for some reason. Kind of wish it did.
This post was edited on 6/26/24 at 9:21 am
Posted on 6/26/24 at 9:22 am to adamau
Centerpoint told the Houston area that same thing about a week ago. Most everyone told them to go frick themselves!
Posted on 6/26/24 at 9:30 am to TDsngumbo
quote:I guess Alabama Power & Light has never heard about insulation.
quote:
Meaning, if it’s 100 degrees outside, most homes will only get down to around 80 degrees.
That’s bullshite. On 100° days I can easily keep my house at 72°.
Posted on 6/26/24 at 9:31 am to SWCBonfire
quote:
They are talking about the design basis for a Manual J calculation used to size the system
This is the correct answer. If Alabama Power finances a new heat pump for a customer it will use the Manual J calculation to size the unit. The calculation is based on a 20 degree differential.
Posted on 6/26/24 at 9:44 am to diat150
quote:
Honestly if I built I think I would go with one of those multi head mini splits for the bedrooms and a smaller central to manage the common areas.
This is becoming fairly common. It would cost a lot more but there are systems where a central unit controls zones. Maintenance is beyond what most people would tolerate in their homes but there are ways to condition air that are more "efficient" (but not necessarily financially efficient) than a central system.
We live in a subdivision with large 2 and 3 story houses. Most of them have some supplemental mini splits for the upper floors. Ours is 2 stories and we have 3 units and no mini splits. The upper floor gets fairly warm (not uncomfortable) in the hottest part of the day but the down stairs is almost cold. Our power bill runs about $180 a month this time of year. The insulation and windows are HIGHLY efficient.
Posted on 6/26/24 at 10:18 am to AwgustaDawg
Mitsubishi and now others have smaller central/ducted air handlers and mini splits that run off the same condenser unit with inverter drive - it can slow down/speed up the compressor as needed to save power based on demand.
If it were me, I wouldn't put a traditional central HVAC unit in a new custom home (without city natural gas service). Builder/spec homes, you're stuck with what they provide. Central units can still be very efficient, however, if they know what they're doing. They also make integrating a whole house dehumidifier easier.
If it were me, I wouldn't put a traditional central HVAC unit in a new custom home (without city natural gas service). Builder/spec homes, you're stuck with what they provide. Central units can still be very efficient, however, if they know what they're doing. They also make integrating a whole house dehumidifier easier.
Posted on 6/26/24 at 10:40 am to adamau
After 5 years of wondering why the hell our bedroom was always hot at 4am with the AC on 65. I bought one of those portable AC units. It was a game changer. Went out and bought another one for the upstairs family room. Knocked roughly $200 off our bills.
Posted on 6/26/24 at 10:44 am to adamau
Well I appreciate the recommendation but they can frick off.
Posted on 6/26/24 at 10:49 am to adamau
This is a common misconception
Your house isn’t cooling outside air.
The 20 degree idea is when an AC system is working at peak, it can lower the temperature of the incoming air (return air) 20 degrees. but that's assuming the air being supplied is outside temperature air. as the system runs the return air gets cooler, so the supply air (what comes out of your vents) should be 20 degrees cooler than that. A home with a tight envelop should be able to cool down to much more than 20 degrees vs outside ambient temp.
Your house isn’t cooling outside air.
The 20 degree idea is when an AC system is working at peak, it can lower the temperature of the incoming air (return air) 20 degrees. but that's assuming the air being supplied is outside temperature air. as the system runs the return air gets cooler, so the supply air (what comes out of your vents) should be 20 degrees cooler than that. A home with a tight envelop should be able to cool down to much more than 20 degrees vs outside ambient temp.
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