Question:  What would be the ideal humidity inside a Southern California home during the summer and cooling with central air conditioning?

Reply: Actually if you go below 50% RH you will feel quite dry, in fact too dry. The other consequence is that the static electricity in the home builds up as well at lower humidity levels, this can be a problem if you have carpet in your rooms
The advisable level is somewhere between 55 and 65%RH if you have the ability to control it, all the better.
A/C in dry climates tend to over dehumidify the air as the moisture in the air is condensed on the indoor evaporator coil and drained away….causing dry eyes etc and A/C in high humidity zones tend to add to the cooling capacity making you feel less comfortable.
Some people in dry climates have been known to put containers or bowls of water in their home to keep the dryness at a reasonable level.

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Question: 

The air conditioner guy tells me that’s the brand he uses. I’ve never heard of them. Does anyone have any advice for me?

Reply:

Yes I know of them. I am not quite sure what you are asking but to hazard a guess I would say you are wondering if they are any good.
Not the best unit around at all, they are cheap and that’s all I can say about them.
For a reliable unit / brand try the following:
Daikin
Mitsubishi Electric
Carrier
There are many many more but the first 2 are who I recommend especially Daikin, for reliability.

Question:

I ive in a appartment and over the winter the maintance men put in a new central heat and air system…. a few weeks ago when i turned the air on the apartment filled with a haze that smelled like achemical. they later came out and said the A/C wasn’t hooked up and that they had fixed the problem. Now the air works but tis not cool, and I was wondering if all of the coolant could have leaked out ??? Thanks to anyone who can help!

Reply:

That is a most likely scenario, if the freon leaked at a fast rate it pushed some system oil out with it causing a haze not dissimilar to what you described.
Since the machine does not cool now then it is highly likely that it has dropped it’s gas charge.
Call the maintenance men and tell them your story, they should find the leak repair it and re charge the system.

Question:

I have a really small cabin that I use a portable air conditioner. It works good until the temps outside rise above 90 degrees. Anything in the 100’s, or 110, it can’ tkeep up. I live in a VERY dry climate with < 10% humidity. I was thinking of also getting a portable evaporative cooler and running them both at the same time. Do you think there would be any benefit? I would like to add some humidity to the air anyway..

Reply:

Without going into a lot of detail the short answer is no. Evaporative cooling and refrigerated cooling working in the same environment do not work. The 2 types of cooling do effectively cancel themselves out.
If you do have a humidity problem and wish to cool your cabin you should invest in a dedicated humidifier that supplies the required humidity and can also be regulated according to your settings.
Sounds also that you need to upgrade to an A/C unit that will do the job. My advice is to buy a unit that will perform better in high temperatures conditions, have a heat load calculation carried out on your premises, they are usually given free with a quote for a new unit.
FYI: The industrial computer rooms of the past have struggled with this conundrum for many years and found the only solution to be as I have stated above or installed A/C units that have built in humidification systems.
Hope this helps.

Reply:

Don’t even go there.
The consequences of attempting this are not worth it.
If you knew what the fines were for doing this I do not think you would contemplate trying this, never mind the danger.
Final note, you haven’t a hope in hell of getting it right anyway.
Sorry to sound fierce but I want to stress that you are asking the wrong question, you should be asking, who can I hire who is qualified to carry out this type of repair.

Question:

We have been having terrible problems with our central air conditioning unit. Our house is about 8 years old and we have a zone system (separate heating and cooling thermostats for upstairs and downstairs). For the past 2 years the unit is not cooling the house properly (heating works fine). We had the dampers replaced 2 years ago and I know the dampers are fine. We have had several repair technicians look at the unit. They always recharge the unit with more Freon (3 times in 1 summer) after claiming to fix a leak. This past weekend again a repair person claimed that we had an internal leak in the unit. He said that he had plugged the leak and then he charged the unit with Freon. Not only did this not work (our house continued to get hotter from 73F to 85F while AC was running all day) the pipe coming from the unit outside our house was all frozen over with ice (all the way to where the insulation started).
Any suggestions or help will be appreciated. Thank you.

Reply:

Your A/C unit is a SEALED system. That means that if the system is leaking then there is a need to get a COMPETENT A/C technician to troubleshoot the problem, find where the leak originates and repair it.
Your main problem is that you are using people who do not know what they are really doing and I am sorry to say that these cowboys drag the reputation of the industry down.
At some point you will have to decide whether to keep using the people who have returned and not repaired your machine …and… finding a really good technician who can genuinely fix your machine. All I can say is good luck because these guys are as rare as hens teeth and if you find one you want to keep their details and pass them on to close family and friends.
They might charge more for their time but they are worth every cent because they will get the job done right first time.
Sorry if I sound a little harsh but I have no time for so called A/C technicians who cannot do their job properly - good luck!

Question:

I live in Florida and I need to store food products in my garage. I need to keep my garage cool as I plan on storing food products in my garage. I need to keep the temperature in the garage at a steady 78 degrees. Is it more feasible to run the cooling from my exisiting central air or to get an independent system for the garage? Will I need to sheetrock around the walls inside the garage and or to add insulation??? any help will be greatly appreciated…

 Reply:

What you need is a dedicated system for your garage. It is no use trying to tap into your central system as you have differing needs in both areas and cannot hope to maintain temperatures at your desired set point in the garage.
Secondly you will also need to ensure you are insulated in the walls and the ceiling, just putting sheetrock around the walls will help but nowhere as well as fitting insulation in the cavity as well. You will save in running costs of the machine over time.
I know this is more money to install but if you do it right in the first place you will be alleviating future headaches and saving money in the long run.
Hope this helps

Question:

How can I ensure that the entire house gets cooled down and not just a few rooms?
I live in Florida, so central AC is a must! My home is approximately 1300 square feet.
I have central air conditioning but the two farthest rooms in the house are usually warm while the rest of the house is cool. What can I do to ensure that all rooms are cooled evenly? Sounds like your system is a free flow supplying air to all rooms at once.

Reply:

To fix this a technician would have to go into your ceiling and adjust fixed dampers in the ductwork. By getting the correct airflow balance the air should be able to reach the extremity of those rooms.
If the air is still not able to reach rooms you may have a system that does not have enough capacity to adequately supply those rooms. Believe it or not it is a tricky job to balance the air correctly requiring specialist measuring equipment.
Another consideration is the thermostatic control. It is nearly impossible to cool extremity rooms if these have a high heat load in comparison to the rest of the home, the thermostat cannot know what the temperature is in those rooms and even if it did the system would then freeze the rest of the home in a vain attempt to cool the extremity rooms.
Not as easy as it first sounds is it?
Best to get the experts in to have a look. And be selective as to who you choose, this type of job requires high technical experience from a reputable company…don’t scrimp out trying to save a few dollars.
Good Luck