I posted this over in alt.hvac but that was, apparently, an error on my part. They referred me over here. Hope someone with more knowledge than I (which is just about ANYONE!) can give me some guidance.
The story:
I noticed that, while my AC was blowing out cool (as opposed to warm) air, it didn't seem as cold as last summer. To test it, I put the thermostat down to
65 and left it for 24 hours. The outside temp was about 78 yesterday, and when I came home from work, the inside temp was about 75.I called a repair place (don't know him, just pulled his number out of the yellow pages) and they said they could come tonight. Wonderful! He came, he checked the unit, said it was functioning properly, but needed freon. He put some in, came back inside the house, put a little thermometer on the vent, shook his head, went back out and put more in, and came back in (didn't test again), said he was done, I paid him, and he left.
I didn't look at or move the thermostat after he left. This morning, I'm a little warm, and go to turn down the thermostat, and it is down to 62, but the house is at about 73. I walk over to the vent, and warm air is coming out. :-( I called the repair place; they are coming out this afternoon. The lady on the phone said something about maybe a leak.
My question to more knowledgable people: does she mean a leak in whatever holds the freon? If so, should that have been checked before he put more in (to the tune of 140.00?). In other words, is there a way of checking that beforehand, or is it just a case of "If it comes back out again, there is a leak." I know absolutely nothing about this stuff.
Also, since they failed to diagnose the problem yesterday, will I still be charged for the service call?
Thank you for any help you can give me!
Sheila