Keeping a multi-story house cool using AC and attic fan?

[ray1970]

Sheesh. Doing the math I?d say my sprinklers are running for about 54 hours every month. No wonder my water bill is high.

[Irving]

Should have only built a 3' fence and used some of the neighbor's water from their sprinklers.

Can you do 18-20 minutes a zone, or does everything yellow up? I'm only running like 12 minutes a zone.

[ray1970]

My back yard is horrible. There?s zero shade back there. I tried fifteen and twenty minutes and it just isn?t enough. I can get away with it in June if we?re getting some rain but July and August are brutal.

[Gman]

Congrats on finding something that's working for you on the upstairs AC. Your vent solution sounds familiar. I don't fully close any of them, but they heavily favor downstairs in winter and upstairs in summer. We keep the house at 71 and our bills are not insignificant, but it's worth it to us. We also don't like stagnant air and like to have air movement while we're sleeping. This was a good investment for the role for us:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B075SMHB63


The front yard got fried. Got my latest water bill and I was waaaay under quota. Had all of the sprinkler sprays changed over to MP Rotators a couple of years ago. They require a longer run-time, so I upped my zones depending on how stressed the grass has been in those zones. It's tough to rehab the grass when it gets unhealthy and it's so hot and dry.

I'm in the process of switching out some sprinkler heads that weren't sized appropriately when I had the MP Rotators installed and have a Rachio Gen 3 controller on the way. I'm looking forward to making it easier to adjust the lawn watering without having to squint at a cheesy cheapo timer in the garage.

[Martinjmpr]

Resurrecting this old thread:

So I got my first bill for a full month with AC use. I was a little nervous opening the email, hoping the shock wouldn't be too bad.

And it wasn't: $117. Up from $75 last year when it was so brutally hot and we DIDN'T have AC. A $42 increase.

And I'm fine with that. I'll pay $1.40/day to be comfortable in my house.

Putting an oscillating fan in my upstairs office works great, too, because that way when the cool air comes in from the vent in the floor, the fan moves it around the room. There are some days it's almost chilly in my office. I also keep the window blinds and curtains closed, which helps as well.

Still kind of warm when we try to sleep at night. I may get one of those powered vent things for our master bedroom. Also might bump the thermostat down a degree or two now that I have a better idea of what the AC is costing us.

All in all I'm pleased with adding AC. I think the wife was skeptical (especially when I told her the initial cost) but it's really been worth it this Summer. Particularly since we've gotten the grandkids for at least a day each week. It's nice for them to be able to play outside and get completely exhausted and then they have a cool, comfortable place to unwind afterwards. They don't have AC at home so I'm sure they appreciate that aspect of coming over to Nana and Papa's house!

[Martinjmpr]

Don't get me started on the grass though. We had one sprinkler zone go out and now the grass there is looking terrible. We're trying to rehab it with the hose sprinkler until I can get my sprinkler guy out to look at it. At least it's in the back yard where only we see it.

Even the rest of the yard (where the sprinklers work fine) doesn't look that good. I mowed yesterday for the first time in 3 weeks and barely had enough cut grass to fill a trash bag. In early June I could have filled two each time I mowed and had to mow at least every 5 days or the grass went crazy!

I always explain yard care as "spending July and August desperately trying to keep the grass looking as good as it did in May and June."

Then by September I just give up.

[ChickNorris]

Don't get me started on the grass though. We had one sprinkler zone go out and now the grass there is looking terrible. We're trying to rehab it with the hose sprinkler until I can get my sprinkler guy out to look at it. At least it's in the back yard where only we see it.

Even the rest of the yard (where the sprinklers work fine) doesn't look that good. I mowed yesterday for the first time in 3 weeks and barely had enough cut grass to fill a trash bag. In early June I could have filled two each time I mowed and had to mow at least every 5 days or the grass went crazy!

I always explain yard care as "spending July and August desperately trying to keep the grass looking as good as it did in May and June."

Then by September I just give up.

Might just need a solenoid. Easy peasy.

[brutal]

Our A/C in general got quite a bit better upstairs after I put a damper in the Kitchen island vent that was the shortest and closest to the evap unit. I've got the downstairs bath blocked at the register but also need to install a damper on that line and perhaps one on each of the living room vent lines. I've also been taping all the vent joints as the basement is like a walk in cooler.

[Gman]

Might just need a solenoid. Easy peasy.

That's usually what does it. I had one go out a few years ago. Bought a 4-pack on Amazon and replaced them all since they looked like they could use a refresh. I also had one valve that needed a diaphragm replacement, but that's also pretty easy.

[ChickNorris]

Id welcome a meat locker. I like it chilly, just not damp. Usually having a swamp cooler is my preference but I'm also used to very little atmospheric humidity & this summer has been very humid for Colorado. Because I don't have AC I'm now trying to find a middle ground between cool & sticky & it's not working.