Air conditioning your home -- like buying frozen foods in my mother's time -- are things most people take for granted nowadays. To be without is pretty much unthinkable. You expect to find a package of frozen peas in the freezer just like you expect the AC to turn on when it gets hot. In fact, most refrigerators make ice cubes. And you don't have to defrost them.
Let me tell you, growing up in Minnesota's summer humidity, I didn't mind defrosting the refrigerator as a kid. I once punctured the freon system in a refrigerator by chipping away at the ice with a screwdriver instead of letting it melt via pans of hot water. My mother was livid. Our home AC was comprised of a small desk fan blowing over a tray of ice cubes -- the kind of tray with a metal handle you had to pull back to break up the ice. And I walked 20 miles to school barefoot in the snow.
It's been hot in Sacramento, really hot, over 100 degrees. Yesterday, as I headed out to list another Sacramento short sale, I realized that water was dripping overhead from my attic onto the back deck. There is an overflow pipe sticking out of the ceiling of my covered deck. It has never before dripped. During the time I was gone, it filled up a bucket that I had placed under it.
My husband crawled up in the hot attic to investigate. He says not to worry. There is a pan under the AC, which is doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing. And what would that be? It would be holding water and allowing it drip outside through a pipe, he says. I do not believe we should have a pan of water under our AC unit in the attic. It has never before dripped on the back deck. We have a relief valve on the other side of the house. I believe it is malfunctioning.
This is why we have a home protection plan. I renew it every year. Thank goodness for American Home Shield. Not only do I suggest to my clients that they get a home warranty, but I refer AHS to them. Because stuff goes wrong.
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Certified HAFA Specialist


My Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.
Lyon Real Estate is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.
Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.
The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice. It could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.