I Am So Hot!

You ready for a long story? If not just skip it, it is not that interesting anyway. But it will make me feel better.

Last fall my central A/C unit died. The symptoms were that, it would run for three minutes and then trip the circuit breaker. It ran fine all summer. Then this started happening in the end of September. It was still hot out, and needed to be fixed.

So I called a friend who has an HVAC business. He examined the machine and the symptoms and determined that it needed a new motor on the outside condensing unit. Unfortunately he did not have one in stock and could not find one at any of the “supply houses”, so he had to order one. Three days later he got it and tried to install it. But the existing fan would not fit on the new motor. Again, no fan in stock and none at the supply houses, so we ordered one. Four days later the motor and fan are installed. The bill was almost $1000. By the time the system was actually working on October 6th, it had gotten cold outside. We briefly ran the A/C and it appeared fine. The A/C guy assured me that all is well.

Fast forward to June 4th 2008. I turned on the A/C unit and it tripped the fuse after five minutes. Tried a few times and it kept happening. I had the guy come out. Of course, it was the worst possible day to call him since it was the first hot day of the year and he was dealing with a host of emergencies. He finally came. He tried this and that and the other thing and he could not fix it. I had Blue Dot come and they said we need a new system.

So basically I paid this guy a grand at the end of the hot season least year for nothing. The symptoms this year are exactly the same as last year. All I can say is that he had better not send me a bill for this year, or I will demand a refund for the grand I paid him last year.

This was three days before Shavous, a heat wave was coming and we were expecting company for the festival. So I started to scramble. I borrowed four window A/C units. Thanks to Ilana and Mark, Zev and Michelle, Chaim and Esti, and Bubby and Zaidy S. I then purchased two window units from an ad on Craigslist. Thanks Anna in Westminster. I paid $100 for two small window units in good working condition.

So my house is cool and I am not so hot anymore.

I have ordered a new system for the house that is yet to be installed. I’ll post all of the details once it is installed.