Environmental Laws, Air Conditioning, and The Homeowner.

Let me start by saying that this isn't about Al Gore. If you happen to be a huge Al Gore fan, then take my apology, and shove it. Al Gore, in my opinion, doesn't know who he is-except that he's a politician, and that means that he's on the take. If you are big into Al Gore's environmentalism, then please take a moment to consider that Al might be more interested in what he stands to gain than the future of our planet.

Why do I say that Al doesn't know who he is? Easy: Being a Christian, in Al's case, a "Southern Baptist," and a Gaia worshiper at the same time. . . .is impossible. Politicians are so often these days true disciples of Mammon, that any other religious affiliation is doubtful, at best. No, don't you even start-I in no way believe that Christianity gives folks a free pass on environmentalism. I do not support those that believe that the second coming of Christ can be used as any sort of excuse for our current consumption, pollution, and what's going to happen nex

Let me state two things straight away, and then I'll move away from the political arena as best as I can-though often, I find that everything relates back to politics: 1. I do NOT identify myself with modern American Christianity. I think that the fundamentalism of the Reagan/Bush era has been disastrous for true disciples of Christ. I find that fundamentalist are often dumb, functionally illiterate, racist, homophobic, and extremely un-Christian, and 2. I more closely identify myself with the agenda of the Democratic party. I am NEVER one to further the aims of the rich, and this is why I feel that Al Gore is neither in tune with Christianity, or the working class-he's sold the working class down the river for money, and he never was a Christian.

What on God's green Earth am I talking about? Environmentalism, and how it relates to YOU, the American Consumer; and especially in the arena of HVAC, and home appliances. Energy efficiency is the game-and YOU are it's looser. Al Gore, and the other rich politicians and bureaucrats, are the winners; and the bankers and corporate big shots created the game. Did you really think that you had a chance?

The situation: When I entered the hvac field in 1995, I believe that the minimum seasonal energy efficiency rating that a residential system could have was 10. If you've not heard of a seasonal energy efficiency rating, then perhaps you've heard of a S.E.E.R. rating? This is what we are talking about. Somewhere around or soon after the year 2000, the minimum S.E.E.R. rating of residential systems was raised to 12, and now, the minimum is 13-and lets not forget that manufacturers are no longer producing systems that run on r-22, per international law.

Now, I'll try not lo loose you here with technical stuff, and I admit, there are some things that I don't truly understand-but by and large, the best way to achieve a higher S.E.E.R. rating is through surface material that transfers heat. In air conditioning, this surface material is almost always copper-but sometimes is aluminum. If you have happened to have had to have an air conditioning system replaced at your home-then you may have noticed that the newer system is much larger than the old one. This is because the manufacturer is using more copper in hopes of achieving a higher energy efficiency.

Fair enough? It is. . .. . .BUT THERE ARE SOME ISSUES INVOLVED THAT ARE NOT FAIR TO YOU. Let me explain: If you have an ice filled drinking container that is thick glass, and then you have a similar sized container of iced beverage of thinner glass-which one will sweat, or condensate more??? Think about this for a moment-or even conduct an experiment. I promise you, however, that all other conditions being equal-the thinner glass drinking container will produce more condensation.

Why is this? Simple! It's easier for heat to be transferred across a thin material than it is a thicker one. Are your oven mittens, you know, the things you put on to grab a hot plate out of an oven, are they thick or thin? They are thick because the thicker the material, the less heat can be transferred across it to your skin. What does any of this have to do with the price of tea in China?? Nothing at all, but it has a lot to do with your a/c system, and how cheaply it is built, and how you are being royally screwed in the name of energy efficiency.

You see, hvac manufacturers are making your new systems out of such thin copper that they do achieve a higher energy efficiency, and save you money on your monthly electric bill. The problem is that the thin walled copper tubing used in conjunction with a new, environmentally friendly refrigerant(r-410a) that also happens to operate at much higher pressures is a combination that will most certainly lead to you having many more refrigerant leaks, service calls, and trashed equipment than ever before. Do not forget to factor in inflation.

Thinner copper tubing for heat transfer combined with higher pressure gasses. . . . think about it. If you thought in the past that your a/c people were having a hard time finding and repairing refrigerant leaks, and that this was costing you too much money-well, buckle up, kiddo, the future is going to make you scream! Trust me on this-it's not really making my job any more pleasant either.

This situation is industry wide, you do not get what you pay for any longer-you get new junk. Thirty years ago a/c systems were designed to last thirty years, and they often did. I still see some while I'm out and about-and I'm very pleased when I get the opportunity to repair one, and keep it going. I know good and well that a brand new system, though more energy efficient, is a piece of junk that can not compare to an older system. Twenty years ago systems were designed to last twenty years-and they often did, but now? Fifteen years is about the max that you can expect from your new, overpriced and under-built equipment.

If you are still reading-then you're a trooper, and I appreciate it. Besides thinner copper and higher pressure gas-I'd like to explain some other things that have changed in the name of energy efficiency, and environmentalism. Compressors have changed. The compressor is the very heart of any air conditioner, and now your compressor is designed to use less electricity, and it does. That's the end of the good news. I shall try to explain.

In the past compressors in residential systems were reciprocating compressors, which used valves-like your car's engine does. Nowadays, reciprocating compressors are no longer available in new systems. The tried, trusty, and true reciprocating compressor has been replaced by the scroll compressor. The scroll compressor is just a shadow of the recip. The scroll compressor doesn't truly have valves-and I'm not able to come up with a decent analogy to explain how it compresses refrigerant gasses-but it doesn't seem to be able to do it for very long at all. I've mentioned in other hubs here how a homeowner can and should rinse off his condenser coil in order to save electricity, well, with an old reciprocating compressor you didn't have to worry too often about the compressor overheating and being ruined so much. These days, with scroll compressors-you have to be very worried. The scroll compressor is a "punk bitch waiting to get dropped" by a dirty coil.

Scrolls are weak. Scroll compressors aren't very durable. Scroll compressors are here to stay because of the policies of people like Al Gore.

When I worked for the Dallas Independent School District from 1995 to 2002, one of my responsibilities was all of the window unit air conditioners in my assigned area. Throughout the school district there were thirty year old Carrier window units that I serviced. After a time, it became impossible to get the replacement fan motor for the old Carriers. So we would replace them when the fan motor died with new Carrier window units. . . .and they sometimes only lasted a year. One year-and the unit that replaced one that was THIRTY years old was trash. Why? SCROLL COMPRESSORS.

Well, besides compressors and surface material for heat transfer-what other avenues are being used for energy efficiency? Well, the next big thing that consumes energy in an a/c system would be the fan motors. Fan motors, as you may have guessed, are also being made more energy efficient these days-and of course, that means that they are being made cheaper, less durable, and that you will see your service person out at your home replacing one soon.

What's my point? Why am I writing such a downer of a hub? Well, frustration is why-I've got to explain time and again to customers why it is that their not-so-old system is really already junk, and why it is that new stuff just sucks in comparison to older stuff. It really seems as if I might be making this crap up in order to cover some sort of shortcomings in my abilities or constitution. . . . .but I'm not. You'll see it for yourself before long, if you haven't already.

The good news is that you DO save money on your electric bills-except the price of electricity has grown, so you don't really save anything. Isn't that nice? Environmentalism is a worthy cause-but it's up to us, the poor people, to demand that we not be the ones to shoulder the burden for the abuses to the environment that were committed by corporations. It's up to us to NOT let Al Gore get rich selling carbon credits to small businesses while Haliburton and British Petroleum destroy the planet. Remember, THE MOB RULES.

When people like you and I get tired of our rising cost of living, and tired of shoddy products that we have to have to survive-maybe we'll do something about it. We will always outnumber the top one percent of the income bracket, the one percent that owns more than the other ninety nine percent combined. What's got to happen is that we have to turn the fucking television off, tune out the garbage that the media(a tool of the top one percent) is trying to sell us-and live.