HVAC Woes

Our power bills spiked in December. In January, we were billed for 2700 kwh! We paid around $300 in a brand new house! And it was incredibly mild! What if the weather had been much colder?

At first, we thought the first bad power bill was an anomaly. We're in a new house. However, two nasty power bills in a row marked a pattern.

Carrie called everyone. The warranty people and our builders talked and they said they had no responsibility. The power company agreed to send someone out to check if our meter was faulty, but it passed inspection. That implied that the warranty/builder combo was wrong, but we had to prove it.

So Carrie turned off the HVAC and started checking the power meter at regular intervals. She documented her findings and we averaged about 1 kw over 3 hours (hard to tell exactly without decimals). When Carrie turned the HVAC back on for the night, we spiked to something like 55 kwh over 11 hours!

Carrie noticed a few things while she was data-logging.

First, our thermometer had no emergency heat indicator. She'd checked a few times over the winter and never saw "Emer heat" or a light indicating it was on, but that's because there wasn't any warning to be found.

Second, the system the builders installed is undersized compared to the government's recommendations for our area.

There was more phone tag and debating back and forth. The warranty people didn't have their own techs, but used the builder's. The builder didn't think there was anything they were liable for and was unhelpful.

The carousel went around and around until Carrie hired a local HVAC technician. He came out, confirmed all the coolant was gone, and refilled it. Then he came back a few days later and confirmed there was a coolant leak. He suggested repairs that cost $1200.

At that point, Carrie and her dad were both on the builder's case. They agreed to send out one of their guys who said it was due to a valve not being tightened.

Will we get reimbursed for our expenses? Are they telling the truth about it being only a valve? Or are they trying to stall until the year warranty expires and they're off the hook?

Time will tell.