A/C and the Heat Wave

Our downstairs A/C went out sometime Tuesday. Outside high temperatures have been in the 3 digits, so I was surprised that I actually didn't notice until mid-afternoon, when I glanced at the clock (which also has a digital thermometer) and it was 81 degrees. Oddly (at least for me), I wasn't uncomfortable. Wife called the HVAC folks, who came out and discovered a burned-out blower motor. Of course, it was a peculiar motor with a dual shaft arrangement that wasn't immediately available either on the truck or back at the shop.

Wednesday was, of course, a holiday, but our repairman tried a couple of suppliers who would have opened up had they had the motor which, of course, they didn't. We had planned our annual 4th of July family get-together, but cancelled that as too many people in the house cooking and carousing, and going in and out to grill and swim, would doubtless have raised the temperature indoors to where it was uncomfortable. The get-together will be tomorrow.

The shop ordered a replacement motor from the manufacturer on Thursday, and bright and early Friday morning they were out to install it. Bright and early because as soon as the sun hits the attic (where the furnaces and blowers are) the attic becomes comparable to the interior of an active volcano. The A/C was up and running by mid-morning. One would think we'd be heaving great sighs of relief, but even though the temperature got as high as 83 degrees indoors, it only became uncomfortable for Marilyn if she was moving about. Indolent wretch that I am, it didn't bother me at all. We do say continued thanks that the upstairs A/C continued to work, so we slept comfortably.

Other than the replacement cost, which was significant, we gleaned one benefit from 3 days of A/C-less-ness. That is that we can get along with a warmer temperature setting than we had previously been using. Maybe having the temperature set higher for the rest of the summer will help offset the cost of the new motor.