Difference between furnace and heat circuit breakers?

[jkjsooner]

Hey, I know there's some smart posters out there. Maybe someone can help me.

About two months ago my air conditioner (in my rental apartment) just seemed to stop working. A guy came out to look at it. After he left twice I went on vacation and turned the thermostat to the "off" position. Both times when I got home my apartment was literally 110 degrees.

The lady who cleans my house once a month came while I was gone and almost freaked. She managed to get the property management guy to look at it and he just shut everythng off at the breakers.

Here's the kicker. I went from 1240 kwh in July to 3390 in Aug, 4040 in Sept and 5480 in Oct. I think what is happening is that the heat is always running and when the air is one it is just fighting with the heat.

I want to disable the heat. I have three breakers. 1) heat 2) furnace 3) A/C. What is the difference between the heat and furnace? (This is where my wife laughs that I learned nothing getting my EE degree.)

If I turn off the furnace the fan stops. If I turn off the heat the fan keeps blowing but the air stops being cool.

Slo that's question #1. For the attorneys out there I have question #2. Do I have a case to force the property owners to pay my absurd electrical bills? I've tried to get them to fix the damn thing and they've come out twice - probably screwed it up the first time and the second time all they did was shut everything off. As I figure it they owe me at least $1500.

I might just not pay my full rent next month if they don't cooperate. They have a good tenant but I can turn bad and while that might hurt me I'll make their life hell as well.

[olevetonahill]

Let me think about that Prob ok ?
It does sound like the Heat and A/c are fighting each other .
MY DIL had Kinda the same Prob. Ill find out from her in the AM what it was Ok ?

[olevetonahill]

I aint an attorney fer sure . But it does sound to me like you have a cause of action against the Land lord .
Specialy if the Maintenace of all things are their responsibilty .

[jkjsooner]

Olevet,

Thanks for the input. Much appreciated.

[olevetonahill]

YW . But what Kinda unit do you Have ?
Is the Heat Gas ? Lectric ?
Is it a heat Pump ?
You have to many unknowns fer any real help here .
Like fixin a Car . We need specifics .

[jkjsooner]

YW . But what Kinda unit do you Have ?
Is the Heat Gas ? Lectric ?
Is it a heat Pump ?
You have to many unknowns fer any real help here .
Like fixin a Car . We need specifics .

To be honest I don't know if it's a heat pump or electric as I don't own the place and never really paid attention. It's not gas.

Here's my kwh readings (or estimates) starting with Oct 2007 to get an idea of the scope of the problem.

Oct 870
Nov 920
Dec 1010
Jan 1030
Feb 1030
Mar 1000
Apr 970
May 600
Jun 1390
Jul 1240
Aug 3990
Sept 4040
Oct 5480

And that is why I'm going to play hardball with my landlord. I live in DC and there are a lot of ways tennants can screw landlords in this city. I don't want to do that but if I have to I will.

[IB4OU2]

This may be more of a control/thermostat connection problem than a circuit breaker problem. Did your landlord replace or change the wiring to the thermostat?

[StoopTroup]

I think your case would be even stronger if you had the bills from May 2007 to Sept 2007 also.

http://media.kusi.clickability.com/images/joebrown.jpg

[Oldnslo]

In Oklahoma, you might be able to cobble together something under the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. No clue about DC.

[OUstudent4life]

Be careful about the no rent thing...in OKC that can get you in trouble. Also no clue about DC though...

[olevetonahill]

To be honest I don't know if it's a heat pump or electric as I don't own the place and never really paid attention. It's not gas.

Here's my kwh readings (or estimates) starting with Oct 2007 to get an idea of the scope of the problem.

Oct 870
Nov 920
Dec 1010
Jan 1030
Feb 1030
Mar 1000
Apr 970
May 600
Jun 1390
Jul 1240
Aug 3990
Sept 4040
Oct 5480

And that is why I'm going to play hardball with my landlord. I live in DC and there are a lot of ways tennants can screw landlords in this city. I don't want to do that but if I have to I will.

Do you have last years bills ?
My DIL had a similar prob . a Friend checked it out and some switch Inside the cover Of the Inside unit had been accidently Moved to Heat , The Unit was fighting itself to Try to Cool the House and Heat it at the same time .
Maybe Take the cover off and Just snoop around and Look at any and all Controls .
Good Luck .

[jkjsooner]

The bills go to my wife. I'll have to see if she has older ones. The last bill only gave what I printed above. I'm sure the utility company could provide previous readings.

The workers were supposed to come today. I went to see what they say. In some sense I don't want to fix it but instead want them to do it. If it's something as simple as a switch they'll probably lie about it but in either case I want them to see it.

As far as not paying the rent, yeah I wouldn't actually do that but I would threaten to do it. ;-)

Here I go assuming that the property managers are not going to work with me and getting all worked up over it. I tend to jump the gun on these things.

Thanks for all the input.

[Sooner Eclipse]

TURN THE GROW LIGHTS OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It sounds as if the signal wire to activate the A/C is shorted to the sig wire to activate the heater. If you turn one on, the short causes both to activate. Could be a bad thermostat control box or the wire(s) between the t-stat and the air handler(furnace/evaporator)

[stoops the eternal pimp]

possibly a relay problem as well

[Penguin]

You probably got a dead hobo in the furnace. Happens every time.