A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

We just spent way too much on a replacement. It gave up the ghost just in time for monsoon season, but luckily we have an evaporative cooler to hold us over a few days.

My first 6 years here all I had was the swamp cooler. A bar of Lava in the bottom keeps it from getting calcified, but you shouldn't be dependent on it too long.
As a kid we had a window A/C downstairs and one in the parents bedroom. So on miserable nights my sister and I would sleep on the floor of my parents bedroom.

Anyway that tapped a memory cluster.
Good luck with the install.

Went through this in the summer of 2018. I luckily had the 2 window units from my childhood home in my garage. Those (along with with a few fans) got us through the summer until I had worked enough overtime to get us a down payment on a new system.

That sucks,having spent most of my life where summers are hot, no AC really bites.

honyock wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:09 am We just spent way too much on a replacement. It gave up the ghost just in time for monsoon season, but luckily we have an evaporative cooler to hold us over a few days.

Timing, in life, is everything.

We live in a climate that, while not humid relative to, say, New Orleans, is quite humid compared to where I grew up. Air conditioning is essential.

Now that I have said that, watch -- our system will poop the bed.

Murphy's law? Smoke alarm batteries die in the middle of you best sleep and make the warning wails; heater dies on the coldest day; A/C on the hottest. Car before or during some important trip or event. Amplifier, during that big gig...

Here in northern wisco we get it all, from -20F stretches in the winter to high humidity/high 90's in the summer occasionally.

I grew up in the 70's and AC was not nearly as common up here. My dad even worked for the Trane heating/AC company and we did not have air in our house until i was older, my dad scored an employee discount on a central air system. We were the most popular people in the neighborhood for a while after that in the summer!

Hope you get things fixed soon [mention]honyock[/mention] , AC is defnitely a necessity in your climate.

we never had AC in mid-Michigan growing up 80-90s, but we did get a pool in the late 80s, and the basement did stay reasonably cool in summer except when it got in the 90s.

My dad now lives "up north", almost dead on the 45 parallel and still has no AC and we just about die coming back to the humidity when it is in the 90s as it seems to do every summer trip we take back. I think they look forward to the excuse to pull out their RV to rough it in the AC while we are visiting.

Never had AC growing up here in PA. I actually just bought one last year because we are getting those 80-90 degree days more often here. Father also worked for Trane here in PA. for 30 years or so until they moved out.

mozz wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2020 5:07 pm Father also worked for Trane here in PA. for 30 years or so until they moved out.

Scranton by chance? My dad had a chance to transfer there but did not want to move, in hindsight is was good for him as they closed that shop down. I grew up in La Crosse, WI which is the HQ and birthplace of Trane.

In Florida houses used to be built to accommodate any breezes that might happen to be blowing through and jalousie windows as well as barrel tile roofs went a long way to cool things down but life at 96 week in and out without AC is deadly. Good luck with the install.

Depending on the age of your old system, the silver lining is that even the lower end central HVAC systems are so much more efficient and your electric bill should be be significantly lower. I had to replace my old circa late 90s unit about nine years and my electric bills were 1/3 lower with the new one...

honyock wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:09 am We just spent way too much on a replacement. It gave up the ghost just in time for monsoon season, but luckily we have an evaporative cooler to hold us over a few days.

I actually miss monsoon season... I loved the torrential thunderstorm every day for like 20 or 30 minutes. Usually happened in the afternoon, but when it happened at night... Man, it was glorious!

I never had AC when I lived in Arizona (nor growing up in Massachusetts), but in Flagstaff, it didn't get very hot in the summer. Summers in MA were a lot more uncomfortable, actually. When I lived out in the desert at the Vermilion Cliffs, I had a swamp cooler in my trailer and that got it cool enough for me, even when it was over 100°. Except one time, when it was 114° the water line to the cooler broke, and the trailer was too damn hot to climb up on the roof to fix it! I had to wait until the sun went down some before I could replace the tubing. Fortunately, I was friends with all the biologists at the Peregrine Fund, so I went and hung out with them in their air-conditioned field-house to pass the time.

uwmcscott wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2020 6:13 pm

mozz wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2020 5:07 pm Father also worked for Trane here in PA. for 30 years or so until they moved out.

Scranton by chance? My dad had a chance to transfer there but did not want to move, in hindsight is was good for him as they closed that shop down. I grew up in La Crosse, WI which is the HQ and birthplace of Trane.

Yeah, my dad was there till they closed late 90's? Looked it up on a list of the largest area employers, and it said 600 employees. RCA picture tube plant was right down the road at 1200 people and a bunch of other places in the industrial park, they are almost all vacant now. I can remember my dad saying they used to vent the refrigeration units on the back dock, R-12 or whatever vented right out into the air.

My HVAC system is 43 years old. I know I’m on borrowed time but so far, so good this season.

Hope install goes great. Generally, evaporative coolers don’t work well in monsoon-like weather due to the higher humidity.

DonM wrote:Hope install goes great. Generally, evaporative coolers don’t work well in monsoon-like weather due to the higher humidity.

luckily the monsoon moisture has been kept at bay (unluckily for the Bighorn Fire...). The ridge hasn't reestablished itself so the swamp cooler has been ok as long as we aren't trying to do any major cleaning and whatnot. Sedentary living is the name of the game with a swamp cooler.

We will be getting a loaner portable unit from AC co. or they may just charge our system to limp it through the weekend since it looks like the deeper moisture is going to make its way across the border tomorrow or Friday. Can only spend so much time in our tiny pool since the sun will bake ya if out in it even with high SPF lotion.

mkgearhead wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2020 9:38 pm My HVAC system is 43 years old. I know I’m on borrowed time but so far, so good this season.

Touch wood. Quickly!

Worth noting is that most guitars are made of wood. There, I have given you an excuse to play guitar.

mkgearhead wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2020 9:38 pm My HVAC system is 43 years old. I know I’m on borrowed time but so far, so good this season.

you got me beat! we just replaced our 31 year old HVAC system in May. Our AC unit sounded like it was full of rocks when it started up. You couldn't have a conversation in our back yard while it was running. We just didn't want to keep chancing it giving up the ghost in the peak of summer.

*edit: I'll add that if you are concerned about cost (as we were), modern systems blow the old ones away in terms of efficiency. You should see a significant drop in your power bill

Unit is in, our swamp cooler has been removed and the hole capped, and it is awesome. It is whisper quiet and does a great job, house is comfortable once again. They will be sealing the ducts and replacing the registers in about a month. Excellent service all around.