TU Rob

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So, the icing up of the upstairs heat pump could be a air flow issue - blower motor not moving enough air across the evaporator coil or the unit is a bit low on R-22 refrigerant (20 year old unit is likely R-22). I’ll assume your air filter is not dirty/clogged. Have those been checked by a HVAC tech? I understand you’d need an old school tech who diagnoses and fix things, as most companies would just want to sell you a new system. But I routinely watch YouTube videos of older techs who fix 20 year old + HVACs. But finding one who will…..

But a couple window units/portable units could likely still be cheaper than an upstairs HVAC repair.

Having 1 large unit to try to cool 2 floors properly without zoning is difficult, as you well know from experience on your house.

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I've actually got a really good HVAC guy here in Birmingham. He was able to diagnose and keep my older unit going for several years with minor things here and there. But it finally died in October of 2020. I was hoping to make it through to the spring, but the compressor died on it. I trust him, but I know there is a leak somewhere and just refilling it with R22 is expensive. I had mentioned to him about mini splits a few years back when he was servicing the new unit he installed and adding freon to the heat pump. We never got too far into the conversation, but he said he could do that for us when the time comes.

So yeah, temporary solution that would only be used for 6-8 weeks a year is fine with me. The downstairs unit has a gas furnace in the blower so getting upstairs warm in the winter is no issue. He even suggested removing the heat pump but leaving the blower in place to help with air flow, but said as long as it is cooling some running it a few hours every evening would be fine. So that's what I've been doing the last several years.

I've ordered one of the portable ones to try in the smaller bedroom. Should be here soon and I'll get it hooked up.

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They need to add a third lane to both sides of I-65 from the Tennessee state line all the way to Mobile before they do anything else.

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Needs to be 6 lanes from Tennessee at least south of Montgomery. That covers Huntsville, Cullman, Birmingham, and Montgomery. That stretch from Montgomery to BHM is the busiest, and most of that has been slowly addressed.

Once you get about 20 minutes south of Montgomery, there isn't a real need year round, but it would be nice to have in the summer months.

We have a somewhat older home, built in the late 60s. Over the years previous owners have done some weird stuff with HVAC. House was originally built for a 4.5 or 5 ton unit to run the whole house. Somewhere around 1999-2001 whoever lived there installed a smaller unit for downstairs, even though there were still ducts connected to upstairs vents, and added a small heat pump I guess for supplemental AC upstairs. Downstairs is around 1,400 sq ft and upstairs around 800 sq ft. 6 years ago I replaced the "downstairs" unit with one adequately sized for the whole house, but for about 6-8 weeks every summer the upstairs with a bunch of old windows gets fairly warm.

I've tossed around the idea of replacing the heat pump, or putting in mini-splits, but I'm thinking short term about getting a window unit for bedrooms or those portable AC units that would still vent out of the windows. Does anyone currently use one of these, and can you drain it out of the window as well or do you have to wait until the water pan is full and dump it? Ideally I would like to set it in place by the windows in the bedrooms and feed a short hose out as well, but I've never used one before. Thinking easier install than a window unit since the windows are 3 stories off the ground. Not having to deal with support brackets and risk having something that heavy fall out. I certainly don't mind draining or dumping it, but if it is possible I'd like to set it in place and just turn it on in the late afternoons to cool off the bedrooms. There's a bedroom on each end of the house so I'd be betting a pair of them.

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I think apple watches look tacky in every occasion unless it’s a medical professional wearing scrubs or some guy going out to exercise.

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At least they have a large variety out now. The first models were all the same. I had a 3, then I think a 7, and now an Ultra 2. The Ultra is amazing. Almost 3 day battery life, larger screen for my older eyes, and a lot of health data. I use mine for tracking HR while working out, sleep tracking, and then the usual text and other alerts. I can glance down at my wrist instead of pulling my phone out every time to see if I should respond soon or if it can wait a bit.

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I thought the whole point of an air fryer was that it didn't have to be preheated?

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We have a smaller countertop one, and it takes a very short time to preheat. It has a temp dial and a timer. I just set the timer to the shortest time to get it to turn on, which is like 3 minutes, and after that I pull the tray and put my food in. Honestly I don't use it often because I like cooking, but for quick stuff like nuggets or tots for the kids, it is great.

The only time I've ever been sick on a boat was after a heavy dinner and too many drinks the night before. Lesson learned, don't eat a fat steak and have bourbon at 9PM when you're getting on the boat at 6 AM.

I spray Bifen in my yard every 2-3 weeks. Used to have a company come out and they gave the neighborhood a pretty good discount based on how many homes signed up for the service. But I realized I could do it on my own for much cheaper. The only difference is they had a backpack fogger as well as garden sprayers. Cut the grass then spray the yard and bushes and lower tree limbs.

I was also out west for a week this year, and they had the mosquito dunks in buckets of water. Those seemed to help in the area we were in. I thought about getting some of those in addition to what I'm spraying, as I could leave a couple buckets out all the time.

You younger baws pay attention to the calendar when you’re deciding a wedding date. We got married slap in the middle of May. First 5 years or so it was great. We could vacation while school was still going on and the beaches or wherever we went were never crowded. Then we start having kids and our anniversary is right in the last month of school with all the kids programs and other busy things going on. We typically have a nice dinner now and delay the trip a few weeks.

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was going to say this, but oddly one will throw it up. but its a small price as they really love them.

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The pork chop bone is my dog's favorite. Of course he never gets mine until it is picked clean of meat, but the kids always leave a little on there and the dog goes to town and that bone comes out clean.

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Lets not say the “R” word on here please. Some are pretty sensative to it and it really is hurtful to see and hear!

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Shut up Retard!





(Sorry, someone had to do it)

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For coffee and reheating frozen food that I brought I have one of the two burner Coleman suitcase stoves.

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Same here, except mine is the Magellan brand from Academy. About 1.5 years ago I went in there looking for one of the Coleman stoves, and they were sold out, and I ended up buying a small one burner butane stove. It is fine in warmer weather and when I'm just taking my boys camping. It will heat a griddle just fine to do bacon and eggs, burger patties, and boil water for coffee. But I was limited to the one burner. This spring I went to find a two burner, and ended up with the Magellan which is a copycat of the Coleman. I would have bought Coleman, but again they were out of stock. I figure for $40 if it lasts me a few seasons great.