Smart Home 1, Dumb Home 0
You'd think it would be obvious when your AC breaks down. Especially if it happens during a heat wave during a super humid month. But, you'd probably be surprised.
We had some pretty intense thunderstorms on Tuesday. Power was out a few times and the house was getting hotter just from the power outage. It didn't come back and stay back until 1am.
The next day, the house seemed cooler. Though I had been noticing it feeling warmer. But then, on days when I KNOW the AC is working I can feel this way. Especially after a beer or a coffee. And, the vents were still blowing air which didn't feel any more humid and WAS cooler to the touch than the air around me.
More than likely what happened was that the rain and overnight temperatures had brought the temperature in the house down even without AC, and for most of the day, since the AC was "on" non-stop, the vents were likely recirculating the cold air from the basement. And the fan on in general would result in air circulation which would have helped as well.
On top of all of that, the temperature increase in the house is SLOW. We were likely growing accustomed to it, to a point. No one in the house said anything. When we finally discovered that the AC was broken... everyone said the same sorts of things. Basically, we all felt might be a bit warmer or a bit stickier than usual, but wouldn't say we hadn't felt that way before even with the AC working and definitely no one thought it was broken.
We were in a heat wave after all and the outside humidity was 90+%. On days like this we DO tend to feel warmer and stickier, even inside the house. The AC eventually shuts off, and even when it turns back on it takes time to cool and remove the humidity.
Literally, the only reason I knew was because I regularly check the Nest app on my phone. Nearing the end of my work day I had noticed that even though the AC was on according to the app, the temperature had gone up 2 degrees Celsius since the last time I had checked.
Because I was able to catch it within 24 hours I was able to get a well reviewed tech in, during a busy season before the weekend. I have no doubts that it would have been well into the evening or even the next day before we were certain without a smart device. And, then we'd either be at the mercy of more expensive contractors or be pushing it out past the weekend.
As it was, we had lived with it most of the Wednesday before we knew. So, we only made the call after dinner on Wednesday, and then the AC guy was here first thing Friday morning. 2 full days of temperatures nearing 30 degrees with 90% humidity is more than enough.
If it took almost a full day to notice in some of the hottest weather of the year with the help of a smart thermostat, how long do you think it would have taken to notice without it on a perhaps less extreme weather week?
By Thursday it would have been impossible for us not to know. We get the daily usage reports on the phone every night. Thursday, I checked the usage and the AC had been basically the entire time since the power outage with maybe 1 or 2 15 minute breaks.
We had some pretty intense thunderstorms on Tuesday. Power was out a few times and the house was getting hotter just from the power outage. It didn't come back and stay back until 1am.
The next day, the house seemed cooler. Though I had been noticing it feeling warmer. But then, on days when I KNOW the AC is working I can feel this way. Especially after a beer or a coffee. And, the vents were still blowing air which didn't feel any more humid and WAS cooler to the touch than the air around me.
More than likely what happened was that the rain and overnight temperatures had brought the temperature in the house down even without AC, and for most of the day, since the AC was "on" non-stop, the vents were likely recirculating the cold air from the basement. And the fan on in general would result in air circulation which would have helped as well.
On top of all of that, the temperature increase in the house is SLOW. We were likely growing accustomed to it, to a point. No one in the house said anything. When we finally discovered that the AC was broken... everyone said the same sorts of things. Basically, we all felt might be a bit warmer or a bit stickier than usual, but wouldn't say we hadn't felt that way before even with the AC working and definitely no one thought it was broken.
We were in a heat wave after all and the outside humidity was 90+%. On days like this we DO tend to feel warmer and stickier, even inside the house. The AC eventually shuts off, and even when it turns back on it takes time to cool and remove the humidity.
Literally, the only reason I knew was because I regularly check the Nest app on my phone. Nearing the end of my work day I had noticed that even though the AC was on according to the app, the temperature had gone up 2 degrees Celsius since the last time I had checked.
Because I was able to catch it within 24 hours I was able to get a well reviewed tech in, during a busy season before the weekend. I have no doubts that it would have been well into the evening or even the next day before we were certain without a smart device. And, then we'd either be at the mercy of more expensive contractors or be pushing it out past the weekend.
As it was, we had lived with it most of the Wednesday before we knew. So, we only made the call after dinner on Wednesday, and then the AC guy was here first thing Friday morning. 2 full days of temperatures nearing 30 degrees with 90% humidity is more than enough.
If it took almost a full day to notice in some of the hottest weather of the year with the help of a smart thermostat, how long do you think it would have taken to notice without it on a perhaps less extreme weather week?
By Thursday it would have been impossible for us not to know. We get the daily usage reports on the phone every night. Thursday, I checked the usage and the AC had been basically the entire time since the power outage with maybe 1 or 2 15 minute breaks.
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