That's Not Cool

[kevin_standlee]

The diagnosis from the air conditioning specialist: He can recharge the existing AC unit on the roof of the trailer (which is producing less cold air than it used to do, although fortunately for us it's doing some cooling). However, the cost of doing so is likely to be roughly $500, compared to around $800 to buy a whole new unit (which would have the added benefit of not using a coolant that will be banned in a few years), and he can't guarantee that the recharged unit wouldn't leak the coolant away, since we can't identify where coolant is actually leaking. Alas, had we known this was coming, we probably would have bought one during our trip to Camping World in Wilsonville, Oregon after Westercon when we bought the new RV fridge; it would have saved us maybe $70 in sales tax. Lisa and I are discussing our options. She will probably stop by Camping World in Rocklin when she comes down to join me for the Westercon 66 open meeting planned for July 29 in Sacramento. If she finds a unit she likes, I might be able to stop by CW on my next trip home and collect it. It should fit into the back of my van. Lisa and I will have to install it, which will be a lot of work.

Unfortunately, this sort of thing delays further other planned repairs, since we need to keep at least one place habitable on the property, and living without AC of some sort in Fernley is a ticket to misery.

Comments

[rono-60103.livejournal.com]

Would a "swamp cooler" for the house be acceptable? Although I'm unsure if you can get them any more as they are a bit of a water waster. They also can be a source of water-friendly allergens.

I cannot, however, guarantee that one would be cheaper or easier to install than the RV unit for the trailer.

In Albuquerque, at least prior to 1989, most houses and many businesses only had evaporative coolers and they worked pretty well except at the peak of the monsoon humidity. Even where my parent's house sits less than a mile from the river, half the house has been cooled by a swamp cooler since the early 1980's.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

We know about swamp coolers. They are used a lot here because of the low humidity. There is in fact a derelict one attached to the "granny hutch" in the house. But Lisa won't install them. She doesn't like how (as you note) they can cause water-related trouble. In the very short-term, she improvised a kind of short-range swamp cooler in the living room by attaching a portable misting sprayer to a box fan, but it's not the planned long-term solution.

She's familiar with the use of swamp coolers — although she lived in the wet part of Oregon for many years, she's actually from Los Alamos NM — but is not fond of them.

[buddykat.livejournal.com]

You could also look into portable air conditioners. They generally need to be near a window or something to put the drain hose through, but they are also usually on wheels for easy mobility.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

True, but inside the trailer, there's basically nowhere to put it. We're continuing to work through our options. Fortunately, the AC continues to produce some cold air, just not as much as it once did.