I have a box connected to my main fuse box, that controls the peak demand of power or something like that. It is an Energy Sentry. I use a lot of power throughtout the day or at least not worry about how much power I'm using, and now the A/c seems to not be kicking on.

What the hell does this thing really do in simple terms. Are they hard to get rid of? Should I even mess with it? My girl needs the house to be colder, I could care less, but then again I care cuz I don't want to hear complaining.

try and get a hold of ghost drifter. he's an electrician.

breadbox wrote:I have a box connected to my main fuse box, that controls the peak demand of power or something like that. It is an Energy Sentry. I use a lot of power throughtout the day or at least not worry about how much power I'm using, and now the A/c seems to not be kicking on.

What the hell does this thing really do in simple terms. Are they hard to get rid of? Should I even mess with it? My girl needs the house to be colder, I could care less, but then again I care cuz I don't want to hear complaining.

Our local power utility here in NJ (PSE&G) places a device on central air conditioners that allows the power company to cycle off the compressor during periods of heavy demand for brief periods to prevent brownouts, In return we get an $8 per month reduction in electric bills during the summer.
I suspect you may have a similar device. Check with your power utility.

Telcoman

Yeah it seem to be programmed, Cuz it'll cut on every once in a while, I think it just cycles the air conditioner for only so long to save you power and on the electric. we just got to get it on a different program.

Another electrical question. We have heating elements in our ceilings, which consist of dry wall with a layer of plaster and copper wire and another layer of drywall. How much would that cost to replace and who does it? Or are these outdated and I need something new.

"Back Story"

A week and a half ago our toilet clogged, tried to fix it but it backed up into the shower.

Tear down "kitchen ceiling" a.k.a. the ceiling heating element to get to pipes. Find cast iron piping with fittings reaching their life's end. Open a section to check out the situation and retrieve 14 gallons of standing Sewage water.

Come to find out our P-traps are clogged with what looks like black clay.

Friend was raised as a master plumber. Got a good deal to replace it all. He finished tonight.

I couldn't feel your pain more. I just spent over a week patching a ceiling in an investment property over a drippy 60 cent copper T. It was a major "f-it" moment when I decided to skim coat the entire ceiling to get rid of the imperfections... still took two or three touch-up sessions after that. Finally got it to near perfect today... I sure hope nothing else leaks.

Your setup is very interesting... I have never heard of ceiling radiant heat! Seems like the fact that heat rises makes this a bad idea. If you keep it I would have ceiling fans set on a very low setting blowing the air downward when you're using that system. I have heard of plenty of heat sources buried in floors, but neve in a ceiling. Is it controlled by a thermostat in the bathroom? Maybe it's actually a heat source for the upstairs instead. All of that said, different things are done in different areas of the country.

There is a really good forum dedicated to HVAC... run a Google search for hvac talk and you'll find it. It's a very active forum, and the guys there can give you good advice. Depending on your budget, I think your most economical option (for operating cost) is forced air dual fuel in your climate, but the ease of running duct work has a huge impact on what that would cost.

Heath

Yeah, I pretty sure ceiling radiant heat was a bad idea, seeing as half the houses in the neighborhood either removed it or it fell in unexpectedly.

I think we may need to just fix the Heating part of our central air. The radiant heat is kinda awesome because it feels like the sun is on above you.