HVAC

Changing Filters

Today was change filters day.

I have been changing all the filters in the house every 2 months ever since we have been here. This not only includes the two HVAC filters (one upstairs, the other down), but also the Keurig coffee maker and the Brita water pitcher.

When we got the A/C fixed last month the tech mentioned that if we set the fan to ON instead of AUTO it would run all the time, but at a slower speed, which would cause the air to be kept in constant circulation which would help filter it better. And as well, possibly increase the motor’s lifespan because starting up from stopped was harder on it than just increasing and decreasing speeds to match demand, so, this is what we started doing. The ON setting will cost a few bucks more in electricity, but the extra filtering might help Donna’s dust allergy. With the added airflow through the HVAC system we figured that those filters probably should get changed every month starting now.

Although the current HVAC filters have been in there for 2 months they have actually only been in use for a month because in July the A/C was broke and didn’t run at all. Can you guess from the picture below which filter is new and which one is used?

That is the dirtiest filter I have ever seen, and both of them were that color. I don’t think the level of dirt captured has anything to do with running 24/7, but more to do with the air quality here in Klamath Falls.

The first days of the month were the only ones in green, AKA Good, and the A/C was still broke then. So for the rest of the month we got 5 days of Poor, 9 Unhealthy, 10 Very Unhealthy and 4 Dangerous. The skies have been smoke filled from wildfires to the east of us and then when they were finally under control, Northern California started burning.

Maybe I’m going to have to change the HVAC filters every two weeks during Oregon’s 5th season, the months of July to September are called Fire Season.

Smooth Trip, Rough Return

We have found coach seat nirvana for our flights of 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 hours over to Seattle, a Boeing 767-300. Its two – three – two seating gives us ample opportunity to not have to climb over anybody to get up and stretch or take a nature break1. Plus no possibility of a drunk napping on my shoulder during the flight. Both our flights out and back went un-bumpily smooth and 10 – 20 minutes quicker than advertised. No unruly kids ahead or behind and no crying babies anywhere.

We got back to ATL, ate a quick dinner at the terminal, collected our car and were on the road east by 8:00 PM. This, it turns out is the only time I have ever seen the bottom southeast quadrant of the I-285 beltway uncrowded. It was eerily empty. Even the normal 2-mile back up to transition to I-20 was wide open. There was more traffic near Washington Road in Augusta when we got there at 10:30 than around Atlanta…

When we go away for a week or more vacation we lock the thermostat to 77 or 78 so as not waste all that effort cooling the whole house down for the silk plants. When I took off the hold, I could hear the condenser kick on. The temp said it was 79, and I thought to myself, “That’s going to take a while to get down to comfortable.” As we went about our typical unloading of the car, tossing stuff in the laundry hamper, checking mail, staring into our empty refrigerator, we realized there was no cold air coming out from the vents.

Opened the bedroom window and could see/hear compressor running. Shut off thermostat. Reset, even though it wasn’t tripped, the A/C breaker. Turned the thermostat back on, the compressor came on, but still no air.

It was still 79° in the hall and the humidity was at 98.9%, we were in for a long night. We took cold showers, turned on all the ceiling fans to high and went to bed. I did eventually fell asleep, but poor Donna tossed and turned almost all night. At 5:00 I woke, found her in the other bedroom and said, “Hey, lets bike ride to Ridgecrest for breakfast, at least start the day right.”

By 2:00 PM we had cold air coming from the vents for about the cost of one of our round trip tickets to Seattle, but worth every penny of it.