Oldest running House AC unit

On Tue 21 Jul 2009 10:16:06p, Ashton Crusher told us...

Goetle's must be pretty good. I have friends in Glendale, AZ whose home was also built in the early 1970s (maybe 1971). They also have the original Goetle AC package unit on the roof, 3 ton. We were talking about it last week, and while their unit has had regular preventive maintenance, the only service item the unit has required is additional coolant.

Having said that, they've been considering replacing the unit in order to upgrade to one that is more efficient.

What do you pay in electric to cool for one year, 12 years ago we junked a unit and saved 60% ever since, its paid itself back many times over, like that 9mpg 350 Chevy Blazer I sold for a 20 mpg car, I wasted so much money driving that gas hog, money pissed down the drain. You AC is inneficent , thats nothing to be proud of.

My 2009 pickup gets the same gas mileage as my 1952 Buick Roadmaster. Now there is American progress.

Hi, You can't compare an apple to an orange.

My neighbor has a Bard wall hanger that is about that old but the house is in foreclosure (about a year) and I am not sure it would start if they turned it on.

Yes you can. An apple is red, an orange is orange.

This may not be true for AZ. I have a friend out there that has an old HVAC unit that also uses evaporative cooling. This takes care of most of his needs. I doubt if any improvement in the compressor driven section could signifiantly improve overall efficency of the system.

Jimmie

That is not true at all. Old systems had a SEER in the 6-8 range. New systems are 18 or more. The biggest improvement usually comes with the new duct work and getting that air handler out of the attic.

Not sure this qualifies. But, an apartment complex near me. I took out one of the run capacitors from an old through the wall unit. the date on the cap was 1962. Suggests the entire AC mighta been from about that age.

Going from 6- 18 seer might save you 75% in operating costs im guessing

ransley wrote in news:5e65b0f0-7f48-403b-b927- snipped-for-privacy@c29g2000yqd.googlegroups.com:

Yea I had one of those 350's in a pickup topped off with a Holly 4bbl. Couldn't kill those 350's. Had like 1k lbs of patio stone on it once and you barely knew it...until you hit the brakes. Tad weak on response :-)

Its to bad the bodies didnt last, salt made them dissapear in front of your eyes , but it ran forever

No, there is a good reason for GM to go bankrupt.

Yeah, I would guess it's SEER must be about a 6. Makes me feel bad for the tenants. I've almost replaced it a couple times but I've replaced complete units on two other rentals and those "new" ones have a hard time lasting more then a decade but this old one keeps on chugging.

it's on a rental house. Yes, it's inefficient.

An old fellow I knew called me about his early 70's Carrier condensing unit that had been condemned by a large HVAC company with shiny new trucks. The only problem with the unit was a bad condenser fan motor. When he bought the AC, it was the top of the line most expensive home AC unit Carrier had at the time. It had stainless steel hardware, a two speed thermostatically controlled condenser fan, a built in sight glass, both high and low pressure switches, a sound insulation cover over the compressor and an anti short cycle timer. The thing was built like a tank and I advised against replacing the old Rolls with a new Hyundai as it were. I was able to find a two speed motor and make it fit with a few spacers and the thing is still going strong today after five years with no other repairs. The neat thing about the old unit is the condenser fan switches to low speed at night when the outside temperature drops and it is very quiet.

TDD

GE Unit installed in 1973. Only maintence each year is to clean it out, vacuum all the junk that worked itself in during the winter, oil the fan motor and run about 2 gallons of a water and bleach mixture onto the evaporator tray and let it run out. Fingers crossed, but have never needed a service call or parts replacement. No doubt that it isn't very efficient anymore, uses more electricity than one of the newer ones---but here in Mass, use of the AC is not a full time need and mine only runs if the temperature and humidity get oppressive. This year we are having the "summer that never was" and my AC has only been on two times and for a few hours each. MLD