I am glad we have central air conditioning at our house. It was here when we moved in 12 years ago and each summer, it gets fair amount of use. The compressor unit outside looks pretty old, likely it was the same unit that was installed when the house was built in 1987. It did go out a few years ago, but only needed a fuse and a capacitor replacement.
Lately however, the electrical panel breakers keeps tripping for the compressor. It is two 50 amp circuits, and by the size of the breaker switch, probably also a 240 volt circuit. That mean a maximum power draw of ~10 kW. Since we use about 16-20 kWh each day without the A/C, turning it on for a few house will double our power usage. In the summer, I can get about 21 kWh generated from my solar panels but that is for an entire day. Definitely not enough if I want to use the A/C and charge my Tesla at the same time.
When I turned on the A/C at around noon, it was ~80°F in my home office. Since the windows face west, it gets hotter and hotter during the afternoon. With the compressor not running, I am just recirculating the air around the house. Just now, the office was at 86°F, which prompted me to run outside to check the compressor. The circuit breakers were tripped again, though it was and easy fix to reset them. However, I do not know why it keeps tripping, and worry that it could become a larger problem later on when it is even hotter.
Life with chronic diseases 