A/C no workee

Returning from vacation is never fun. Returning from vacation to a house that has no air conditioning just plain sucks, especially when you live in Texas.

While I was away playing army, a rule went into effect that states new housing have to be more energy efficient and cannot have an A/C unit that is less than 13 SEER. SEER stands for seasonal energy efficiency ratio, which means that the higher the SEER, the more efficient the system. It might sound like I’m throwing around my intellectual weight in regards to air conditioners, but the truth is that I’ve just been swamped with folks giving me outlandish estimates and more information about HVAC than I would ever want to know. I just want cold air!

Through this ordeal I've learned that I currently have a York 8 SEER, 3.5 ton unit in the house which is pretty inefficient. I learned that multi-stage variable-speed units can save money by operating at lower speeds thereby drawing less energy, but they can cost a king’s ransom. I also learned that waking up to an 85 degree temperature at 5:00 am is not normal for most of the northern states. I am willing to bet that if a Michigander woke up to a temperature that hot before the sun came up, they would deduce that their house was on fire. Of course I’m not complaining. There’s nothing that will prepare you for a hot Texas summer better than spending a year in the Middle East, although I don’t recommend this as an approved method for hot weather acclimation.

So I wait, sweaty but patiently, for the A/C folks to come out and either revive the green beast or dish out it’s last rites and install a new one. Whatever the outcome, I just hope it happens soon before the water in the toilet starts to boil or my TV spontaneously combusts.