Let's Play Stump the Chump!

October 05, 2012

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Send in your stumpers!
You know - that problem house, symptom or combination of symptoms that confounded the homeowner and challenged all your building science savvy to solve. Send BPI a description of the problem – and the solution, which will be kept secret. If it's a genuine stumper, it may be published in the next HVAC2HP e-newsletter. Send stumpers to lmcdowell@bpi.org.

This stumper is reprinted with permission from BPI.

This Month's Stumper:

A big thank you goes out to Jamie Clark of ARRONCO Comfort Air in Lexington, Kentucky for sending in this stumper! Jamie was called to an 18 year old, 2,500 sf, two-story home with a vented attic in Lexington that had a broken central air system. There were two air systems, one in the attic, one in a closet. ARRONCO decided to replace both systems with two ton Carrier® hybrid systems. After the project was completed, all the registers in the house started sweating. Jamie came back the next day to find the humidity level over 70 percent! The two stage systems were running on low most of the time which should have resulted in lower than average humidity (average in Lexington is 55 percent). ARRONCO inspected all the equipment to make sure it was installed correctly, and tested all the equipment. All air volumes were right, the equipment was perfectly sized, all duct work was sealed (with less than 10 percent leakage). Why was the humidity so much higher?

Jamie Clark performs energy audits and geothermal sales and design for ARRONCO Comfort Air in Lexington Kentucky. He's been in the industry for 17 years, starting out as an air duct cleaner and moving into sales and design. Jamie teaches continuing education for the local community college.

Think you know what the problem is, as well as the solution? Send it to lmcdowell@bpi.org.

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