A/C working properly? Cost -> lower temp?

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

Shut the hell up and keep sucking.

[BobK207]

btw that would moot, not mute :)

I get it just fine, IMO you're missing the point of "tangential" comments in some of the posts..............

[BobK207]

Jeff-

She wants the AC to cool her apt at a reasonable cost....I don't she's interested in catching flies :)

cheers Bob

my money's on single

[Logan Shaw]

Indeed. This by itself isn't much information. I'm no expert, but I know that A/C units need to be properly sized for the load. (If a unit is oversized, bad things happen like either excessively short cycle times or uncomfortable temperature swings, and maybe problems with humidity regulation.) What this means is that on the hottest few days of the year, the A/C *should* run a lot. If I understand correctly, it is perfectly reasonable behavior for your A/C unit to run for "hours" on the hottest few days of the year.

Now, combine that with the fact that the large parts of the Western US have been experiencing a heat wave. There may be record high temperatures where you live. Or maybe not; you might not live in one of those areas that is experiencing record highs. We don't have that information.

The $320 electric bill is a sign, but it's not really proof of anything. There was a guy who posted to misc.consumers.frugal-living only a few weeks ago whose electric bill at a small office suite was through the roof, even though he was only there a few days a week and turned everything off when he left. Turned out a neighboring office suite had been accidentally wired through his meter!

So, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask you to quantify "hours". (On the other hand, the flame fest that this thread has turned into is unreasonable.)

- Logan

[Logan Shaw]

I have a high school (and college) diploma. Yet, I don't think everything I heard in high school (or college) is automatically true. In particular,

2000 wasn't the first year of the new millenium, and 12:00 PM is not noon.

Here's an explanation of why:

Note that this comes from NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is the US federal government agency responsible for standardizing measurements. These are the people who operate NIST-F1, the atomic clock which is the primary reference for timekeeping in the United States, and one of the primary references worldwide.

- Logan

[Logan Shaw]

I think YOU just supplied a perfectly adequate definition of 'outrageous'.

- Logan

[Logan Shaw]

Don't you think using a hoe would damage the coil? On the other hand, if it is *really* overgrown with grass or vines or something...

- Logan

[krw]

Well, we can't all be 100% correct. You're batting .500, which isn't bad in some shapes.

^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^

1. What part of government is "responsible" for anything?
2. You _are_ talking about the US federal government.
3. Oxymoronic.

1. Pedantic.

[mm]

I saw his post. It's not bad advice. I got an 800 on my math SATs, as high as the score goes, and it wasn't until I was 45 or so that I finally got straight which was which. I finally came up with a way to remmeber which was which. Logic is my thing, and not memorization. There are lots of people who for lots of reasons haven't got it straight, and it's good policy to make things as easy as possible for people who are trying to help. It's almost the equivalent of removing things that are in front of the furnace before the repairman gets there, even though he can and will do it himself.

What's worse than AM and PM is 12m and 12M. I still don't know which one of those is noon. I wonder how many people do.

When my mother hired a painter, she took off all he wall plates before he got there and put them back on after he left. And other stuff like that. They made that agreement so she could pay less. (She also told me he was "blind", but I'm not sure what that meant. He did a good job.)

[mm]

It could be that a neigbhor is using her electricity. There was a case on tv like that just last week. And oh yeah, there was a follow-up in this newsgroup just last week where another tenant was was using the poster's electricity, and had been for months, since he moved in.

So she could have two separate problems, the bill and the lack of cooling.

But I believe the AC is broken and it alone is using the electricity, and still we need to know details. She''s the one who wanted to prepare before the repairman came. This is not a case of "it's too difficult for you. Why investigate? Call the repairman." The repairman is coming but she wanted to be prepared for him.

[Noon-Air]

the $320 light bill is from LAST MONTH, and has nothing to do with the current heat wave. The OP needs to either A) be climbing the landlords ass tot get it fixed, or B) pony up the cash and hire a pro to fix it.

[Noon-Air]

Old news.... who really gives a rats ass anyway. It has absolutely nothing to do with the price of tea in China.

[mm]

So they both mean the same thing! Wow, I thought I had this worked out when I was 45 y.o. Now I have to start all over. Maybe NASA could come up with a numeric term for noon, or I'll have to start usilng a 24-hour clock.

[Al Bundy]

"Jeffrey Lebowski" wrote in news:eqCdnWVVrYolhRLbnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

I think that's a different alt.* group.

[mm]

This is so on-point, I think it deserves to be quoted. Also, I don't think there can be copyright issues with government websites info, all of which should be in the public domain"

Are noon and midnight 12 a.m. or 12 p.m.?

This is a tricky question. The answer is that the terms 12 a.m. and 12 p.m. are wrong and should not be used.

To illustrate this, consider that "a.m" and "p.m." are abbreviations for "ante meridiem" and "post meridiem." They mean "before noon" and "after noon," respectively. Noon is neither before or after noon; it is simply noon. Therefore, neither the "a.m." nor "p.m." designation is correct. On the other hand, midnight is both 12 hours before noon and 12 hours after noon. Therefore, either 12 a.m. or 12 p.m. could work as a designation for midnight, but both would be ambiguous as to the date intended.

When a specific date is important, and when we can use a 24-hour clock, we prefer to designate that moment not as 1200 midnight, but rather as 0000 if we are referring to the beginning of a given day (or date), or 2400 if we are designating the end of a given day (or date).

To be certain of avoiding ambiguity (while still using a 12-hour clock), specify an event as beginning at 1201 a.m. or ending at 1159 p.m., for example; this method is used by the railroads and airlines for schedules, and is often found on legal papers such as contracts and insurance policies.

===> I've heard this before.

If one is referring not to a specific date, but rather to several days, or days in general, use the terms noon and midnight instead of 12 a.m. and 12 p.m. For example, a bank might be open on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon. Or a grocery store might be open daily until midnight. The terms "12 noon" and "12 midnight" are also correct, though redundant.

====> On July 3, I was a at a supermarket that had a temporary sign, and someone had written "Open July 4, 7AM to 12AM, and then it had a dark P written over the second A.

I liked it better when it was the National Bureau of Standards. They keep changing names and confusing me. (I'm just going to call the INS "la Migra" so I don't have to worry when it changes names.)

I'll tell you how I remmeber this, and how I think it arose. The moment of noon is neither before noon or after noon, but the

59.999999999...... seconds after that are after noon, and yet still part of the minute that is 12:00. (and part of the second that is 12:00:00.) So even though all but the tiniest bit of the minute is not noon, most of 12:00 noon is PM.

[carie_r]

When some people read threads they only check back with the specific line they were on. I posted a short sentence telling them it's there, instead of posting the whole thing. Sorry that annoys you...

[mm]

I surely wouldn't consider that an adequate test. An adequate test looks at the results, that is, is the air cold. Unless that is physcially impossible, like maybe measuring something on a satellite when one is on the ground, but that is not the case here.

Still, I wonder if there are two places that are specially important. But I'm not an AC guy.

Although someone said 20 yesterday, I don't think it is always 20 -- I think what I've heard here, AHR, is 15 to 20.

Now the thing is working! Darn. It's much much harder to fix most things when they are working right. Even things that only work intermittently. You pretty much have to catch it when it's not working to be able to fix many things.

Do you have a thermometer other than the one that is on the thermostat?

He asked because curious-type repairmen are always curious when a customer says something about a repair, right or wrong.

And of course it does have to run for a while to get to that temp. He may have thought you had had it running.

The fact is that all repairmen get calls for things that either were really never broken or start workimg the moment they touch it. Even when I'm working on my own stuff, that I know is broken, it's not unusual for it to start to work fine the moment I start to repair it. Sometimes they never break again, sometimes they do.

It's plainly working outside, but I think he should have looked if it was dirty. By now he has 18 degrees, which iiuc is pretty good.

I think during hot weather a lot of companies make service calls as quick as possible, because so many people are calling them. If one wants a tune-up or a cleaning, he has to call when they aren't so busy, or pay more in the busy season**. But if the outside is dirty, you could clean it yourself if the landlord says ok, using a garden hose with no nozzle, iiuc. The fins are very easy to bend, and bent fins cut down AC efficiency. This isn't your major problem, though.

**This is why I guess whether you rent or own, you should test your furnace in September and your AC in April or May, so that if it is broken, you have time to get it fixed when companies aren't busy. I don't know what various landlords will say if you say your ac isn't working in May. Landlords vary.

For the next time, espeically a more important situation, you have to have the pencil ready, because if you give someone time to think, they want to "check with their lawyer". That's why reporters iiuc sometimes try to surprise the people they interview.

Did you first ask his name, or if he had a business card**? For your records, all you really need is his name, or the company name on the truck. He didn't add any freon, so he doesn't have to have a license, and your legal relationship is with your landlord, not with the AC company. This part is very important. If he fixes it and does a bad job, but doesn't cause damage to things you own, you won't be able to sue him. You're not paying him and you don't have a direct relationship with him. No privity. (If does damage things you own, the landlord might be resposnible too, in this case.)

Being a tenant can be both an advantage and a disadvantage in this situation. It depends how things play out.

**My friend who has a burglar alarm business gives all his installers business cards, although I'm sure many bosses in many fields don't bother. He's hoping to get business that way. (He might be thinking that without a business card, the installer will just give them his own number and do the work without my friend, but if they have a card they won't bother.)

That's really going to endear him for the next time he has to come. He'll be sure to clean up well, and be extra careful to not leave fingerprints.

And for nothing because as you found later, he doesn't have to give you his number. Except he may tell your landlord he doesn't like you. That's not in your interest either.

I absolutely despise the president of my home owners association. She lies, cheats, and steals votes, and she's a hypocrite or senile. But I don't tell her any of that that or she will make my life more difficult. When one of us moves, I'll probably tell her.

From my pov, it's hard to say if it's unfortunate or not. Surely if I were in your shoes, I'd be happy to be able to get his number. (Even though I could find his number if I had his name. If the licensing agency wouldn't look up his number based on his name, they also wouldn't do anything if they had his number.) But if we look at the whole picture, we live in a country where laws are becoming more and more oppressive. I'm flabbergasted that in Virginia, they passed a law that there can't be smoking even at private clubs. And some place else they banned the sale at restaurants of food made with transfat. Requiring that the ingredient be listed on the menu would have been ok, and probably killed it, but telling people they can't serve a legal food if people want to buy it is, I hate to say it, the bud of fascism. That the state has the power to do anything. (Not German fascism, which includes mass murder. More like maybe Spanish fascism.)

This strikes me as reasonable.

BTW, you didn't reply to any particular thing I said last night, but I hope I convinced you that I wasn't suggesting that anything underhanded is going on.

[HeyBub]

Sorry, 12:00PM is not noon.

I do have a high school diploma (and several others including post-graduate degrees). English IS my native tongue, although I can get along in a few others, including Pig Latin and Morse Code. And, before you ask, I have been to parts of South Georgia.

Sorry if I seemed pedantic or persnickety.

[carie_r]

Never married. Only do long-term-relationships with one person. Single for 3 months, after the last relationship of 2 years. Dating casually. I don't have to approach, but I do because I know what I want. I typically only date people with IQs above 135 (thats about a 1340 on the old SAT) - otherwise we wouldn't relate.

[HeyBub]

Panda eats, shoots and leaves.