A/C acts like it's on, though it's not
June 30, 2010 5:12 AM Subscribe
I have a phantom central air system. I turn the upstairs unit off at night, because my bedroom gets the coldest of the rooms in the house when it's turned on, and my side of the bed is directly under a vent. Anyhow, last night the unit was off, but the vent still made noise like it was working. Vents in other parts of the house sounded like they were working as well, though the unit was off. Though the vents were making noise, I don't think the rooms were cooling. What's going on, and is this the sign of something worse?
Response by poster: The thermostat is set to "auto", to cool down to the set temperature (78), and then to maintain it. However, I moved the main switch from "cool" to "off".
posted by litnerd at 5:25 AM on June 30, 2010
posted by litnerd at 5:25 AM on June 30, 2010
Best answer: The ductwork is just open tubes of sheet metal, and it carries sound very well -- like old-fashioned speaking tubes. The ducts from the part of the system you turned off could easily be carrying sound from some other appliance -- perhaps a fan in one of the rooms, or the downstairs AC unit?
posted by jon1270 at 5:28 AM on June 30, 2010
posted by jon1270 at 5:28 AM on June 30, 2010
Why don't you think it's the downstairs unit? Try turning that one off at the same time.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 5:41 AM on June 30, 2010
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 5:41 AM on June 30, 2010
Response by poster: We spend the least time downstairs, so that unit stays off most of the time. So last night, neither the upstairs or the downstairs units were turned on.
posted by litnerd at 5:47 AM on June 30, 2010
posted by litnerd at 5:47 AM on June 30, 2010
In addition to having heat / cool / and off, my system has a "fan" setting that will circulate air through the ducts without actually conditioning it. This is good for moving air around the house, especially when I have my fireplace running.
Is it possible this is the case with your system? Can you verify that the air handlers were working? Hang a tell-tale (a strip of ribbon) off your vent and see if it moves as much when the A/C is on as when it's off.
posted by bondcliff at 6:07 AM on June 30, 2010
Is it possible this is the case with your system? Can you verify that the air handlers were working? Hang a tell-tale (a strip of ribbon) off your vent and see if it moves as much when the A/C is on as when it's off.
posted by bondcliff at 6:07 AM on June 30, 2010
I rent, but I have a Trane heat pump system that not too long ago started exhibiting the symptoms you're describing (fan running continuously but AC not actually cooling, regardless of whether the switch was set to "cool" or "off".) The maintenance folks came in and replaced some kind of controller unit for the fan, and that solved the problem.
posted by Johnny Assay at 6:25 AM on June 30, 2010
posted by Johnny Assay at 6:25 AM on June 30, 2010
In addition to having heat / cool / and off, my system has a "fan" setting that will circulate air through the ducts without actually conditioning it.
Ditto, my thermostat has a separate control for fan which is usually set to auto. There is also a an appliance timer stuck to my furnace which controls when the fans come on.
posted by wongcorgi at 7:13 AM on June 30, 2010
Ditto, my thermostat has a separate control for fan which is usually set to auto. There is also a an appliance timer stuck to my furnace which controls when the fans come on.
posted by wongcorgi at 7:13 AM on June 30, 2010
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posted by Hilbert at 5:18 AM on June 30, 2010