A short Ask Derek Cole episode (episode 98) addressing two caller issues: a 3‑ton air conditioner that now fails to maintain comfortable indoor temperature in October, and whether manufacturer parts warranties cover hurricane/flood water damage. Derek outlines three likely causes for cooling shortfall—the HVAC unit itself, the duct/air distribution system, and the building envelope (insulation/leaks)—and recommends professional inspection plus simple DIY checks of attic or crawlspace ducts and insulation. He also explains that manufacturer warranties typically do not cover flood or act-of-nature damage; homeowners or flood insurance may apply instead.
Chapters
Hey, on this episode, my 3 ton unit in October is still not cooling the home. And with the hurricane is my parts warranty covering the damage. You ask your comfort and energy questions and they get answered. This is the Ask Derrick Cole Show.
What you gonna do for 100? To be special?
I'm going to say episode 100. Hey, this is Derek Cole. Welcome to episode 98 of the Ask Derrick Cole show. Answering your home and energy questions. A little tired this morning because I stayed up so late watching the, watching the baseball game.
I thought you were gonna say Country Music Awards.
No, I wasn't watching the country music horse. I saw some stuff on it, but I was watching the baseball game, but I went to bed at the eighth inning so I missed all the fun apparently. But anyway, that's not why we're here.
I had my 3 ton unit checked this summer because it was behind in the hot weather. They said it was fine and now it's still behind when it's 75 degrees outside. What's the problem?
Well, there could be a couple of things. One, if you hadn't checked out, first of all, let's go back to it's doing all it can and it was fine in the middle of summer. So if it's 95 degrees outside and you're doing, you know, at best 75 in the house, it's doing what it's supposed to be doing. And once it gets to a hundred, you're doing 80 in the house, it's doing what it's supposed to be doing. Now in October when it's 75 degrees, it should be keeping up with that cooling temperature inside the house. So there is a problem. But it could be one of three things. It could be the unit which was checked out, that could be a problem. It could be the air distribution, which is the duct system, that could be a problem. Or the envelope, which is the home, that could be a problem. Now you need to have a professional to look at all of them, but especially the unit. But what you can do yourself is go chant that duct system in the attic under the house. I believe we dug into this. He said the duct system was in the attic and he thought he was losing some cooling that way. Well, when they do a load analysis on that home, on that system, duct loss in the attic for heat gain, heat coming into the duct system is calculated. Now that calculation is different than if it was in the crawl space because obviously you have more of a heat load if it's in the attic versus the crawl space. So that should have been factored in sizing the unit, the equipment, the duct system. So that shouldn't be a problem. So get someone to check your unit. You can yourself look at the duct system just to randomly look at it, make sure no runs have fallen down. There's no big, you know, gaping holes where an animal or something got. Something got tore up there or the, the pest control guy did something. You know, you can look at all that yourself. And then third, the envelope, the home itself. Make sure you have insulation, all spots. Because what we've seen happen too is like in an attic. You know, it'll be, we'll take an infrared gun and we'll shoot the temperature and it'll be 75, 75, 80, 80, 80, 80, 102. You're like, okay, well I need some insulation over here. That's why it's so hot. So check those three things. If it's not the duct system, if it's not the home or the envelope, then it's the unit. So when you look at all three of them, that factors into why you're having a problem. Especially with a home that's not had this problem previously. Hopefully you lived here for a few summers or at least one summer before and not had this problem. So if it's a brand new problem, it's either probably the duct system or the unit. If it's something that's always happened, then I will look at all three. That was a long answer.
As long as that question.
Does that make sense though? People want to, want to think that if they're having a cooling problem or heating problem, it's just the unit where it could be the duct system, it could be the house, the envelope, it could be all three having problem or it could be just one of those three having a challenge. But one of those three being off is going to cause you not to be comfortable.
My unit has water damage from the hurricane. Isn't that covered? Since I have parts warranty, that is.
What the manufacturer calls an act of God or nature. It's not going to be covered under your manufacturer's warranty. Now I'm not saying it's not going to be covered under a homeowners policy or some kind of policy like that. But if you have a, for, let's say you have a 10 year parts and labor warranty and you're in year three or four or five and you have flooding and hurricane and you have water damage because of that, the circuit board went out, this part went out, the motor went out because it was underwater. The parts warranty is not going to cover that because that's an act of God, act of nature. The homeowners may cover it, but just because you have a parts warranty doesn't mean it's going to take care of it. It's kind of like if you bought a brand new car and your car is flooded. Well, kia with their 10 year warranty is not going to cover that flooded car with engine problems. Now, okay, that's not Kia's fault. It's not a manufacturing defect. It's not going to be covered under that warranty because again, it's out of their control. It's out of your control. We can't control the environment, nature. So therefore the warranty, warranty for that period is there to cover manufacturer defects or workmanship problems. But a flood and hurricane is not one of those. So it's not going to curve it. Sorry. Alright, but the homeowners, I mean, depending on your policy and what you got, I mean it may cover if you have flood insurance, obviously. You know, I would look at all of those angles. But Anyway, that's episode 98. Yeah, 98 of the Ask Derek Cole Show. Be sure to hashtag your questions and we'll get them on the show.
