Monday, May 23, 2022

Ode to an old AC

Okay, folks, you won't find any native plants or odd critters in this post. Instead, I wish to pay tribute to an old friend of mine–our air conditioning outdoor unit. This morning, I bid farewell to our Rheem compressor, which was dated July 1998. Wow, right? I've lived "with" it since April 2002, when I moved into this home. (James arrived in 2006.) That adds up to more than 20 years!
 
I remember back more than ten years ago when James and I toyed with the idea of selling and moving. One interested couple came over to tour the house, inside and out. The husband took one look at the outdoor AC and shook his head. "THAT will need to be replaced," he said firmly. Well, as you likely surmised, we didn't sell or move. What's more, we kept the AC. Bless its heart, it kept running and running and running, year after year after year. Until this past March, when we had to have more Freon added, which was a bit of $$. Then more was added earlier this month, which meant more $$. That's when James and I decided not to prolong the inevitable any longer. We especially didn't want to be without air conditioning in blistering July or August and possibly have to wait on equipment to arrive (always iffy in this era of supply-chain woes).

 
 
As of this morning, meet our new AC unit, part of an American Standard heating-and-cooling system installed by the friendly and crew of Will, Blake, Nathan, and Mason with Apache Air & Heat here in Blanco. After the install, owner Stephen Myers came back to inspect their work and answer our last questions. Kudos to Apache! 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

They don't make heating and AC units the way they used to. Same for appliances. In 2004, I worked in a building heated by a unit made in 1958. I also had a friend whose AC was made in the 80's and was still chugging along. When we installed a new unit with Puron at our house in 2001, the compressor gave way exactly one month after the warranty ran out. Sold the house so I don't know what's there now. Hope your new AC unit lasts as long as the old one did.

Sheryl Smith-Rodgers said...

Me, too! We don't run our AC hard so that should help. During the day, we keep the thermostat at 80 and at night, 77. And I'm with you on the "they don't make 'em like they used to." I really hated parted ways with our trusty old Rheem. Meanwhile, our plain-Jane refrigerator in the kitchen (knock on wood!) is also a 1998 model. Oh, we PURPOSELY bought a VERY plain GE gas stove in 2013 from Home Depot. Less than two months later, we had a major issue with it and had to fight with Home Depot for a total replacement. Ultimately, they did exchange out the stove. Sigh.....

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