We've already set a record this week for high temperatures in May. On Tuesday it was 97 damn degrees and it's not even June yet. Early next week the high temperature is supposed to be 103F. It's ridiculous.
And to make matters worse, our air conditioning isn't working properly. When we were in the process of closing on this house, we discovered that the HVAC is 36 years old! Since it was still functional, the seller wasn't compelled to do anything about it, and we were too far gone in the closing process to renegotiate anything. Because of that, primarily, we purchased a home warranty so that if it (or anything else) broke in the first year it would be covered. Well. All good, right?
Wrong! We put in a request for a service call, and when the technician arrived yesterday he found that the previous owner had rigged something up to make the a/c work...and a fan in the motor is not diverting hot air away from the unit. So when the temperature rises during the day, the motor shuts down because it's overheating. And since it's a rigged together "fix" the technician is doubtful that the warranty company is going to cover the repair. Which will be in the $200-$300 range for another pieced together fix because the unit is so old that original replacement parts are hard to find.
I have a feeling we're not going to have any choice but to dip into our savings to purchase a whole new unit. That will easily be several thousand dollars, at least. We will, of course, wait for a decision about the repair from the home warranty company before we do anything.
In the meantime we have a temporary fix....a water hose positioned in front of the unit with a fine mist of water spraying on it. It keeps the unit cool enough to work. Who knows what our water bill will look like though.
It's bad enough to be stressed out...but to be hot too....it's just too much!
I'd sue the former owner! what a bastard!
ReplyDeletewe had to replace the heater/AC unit in our house after 18 months of ownership. bloody expensive and we took out a loan with our HVAC people. 18 years later and it's still going strong.
The wonderful JOY of owning your own home.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that the home inspector missed that AC mistake.
My roof leaked several times before we found all the leaks during the monsoons. Not good.
I hope things will be better soon for you both. Summer is coming and you need a break.
Hug the gud dugs for me.
parsnip xo
Very true. People are always telling me I am too hot to be approachable.
ReplyDeleteOh, honey. The heat makes the slightest things unbearable. I just bitched at my husband and I know it was because I was hot. And to not have the AC functioning well is simply unbearable.
ReplyDeleteInstead of fixing a very, very old AC, (most last less than 20 years), it would be better to put in a new one. There is no guarantee that the fix will last or that something else won’t go bad. You would just be throwing good money away. Most companies let you finance it for a couple or more years.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Jennifer.
As someone who works in Home Improvement Retail, believe me when I tell you you're not alone. You have no idea how often we deal with home sellers installing lower end products just to get through the closing. I had a gentleman who wanted new, cheap carpet installed... except there were old, asbestos tiles that needed to come up. When I told him we wouldn't install because the new owners might tear up the carpet, damage the tiles, and send asbestos dust into the air. His comment? What do I care about the new owners. What ever happened to ethics and values?
ReplyDeleteThe price escalation of these sanity saving installations is hard to believe.
ReplyDeleteYou really do not need this on top of everything else. The home warranty people will hopefully be reasonable and act in your interest.
ReplyDeleteUf! 100 degrees already?!? And there's a blizzard in South Dakota. So sorry. May this be the only bad news from the house!
ReplyDeleteMany people who live in colder climes dream of hot weather but it can be very debilitating. It's going to be a longggggggggg summer in South Carolina. Better suck on a popsicle.
ReplyDeleteUgh! That is HOT for this early in the year! Sorry about your A/C. Hope the insurance comes through, but Lord knows, if they can get out of it they will.
ReplyDelete