Some planning ahead

When I get back home, one thing I think I need to do, is make arrangements to replace the old air-conditioning unit. (Again, standard note: comments will be approved at posted at a later date)

I should have done this last summer, when I had to replace the furnace and blower. But. It was a lot more expensive to do the whole thing, and I thought maybe I could get a few more years out of the unit. But it's begun doing stuff like icing up, which I can't tell is a sign it's failing or merely the fact that it's been unbearably humid pretty constantly this spring. And anyway, the unit is at least 15 years old; I've been in this house nearly 14 years and the a/c unit was in place when I moved in.

I suspect part of it is I'm trying to cool "too much" (really, what I'm trying to do is suck some humidity out of the air) when the outdoor temperature is cooler. (I could open a window to cool things down, but: humidity. And also my allergies are bad enough already)

Until leaving for break I did manage to make do - the unit would run fine with a higher temperature (set on 78 or 80, which I suppose is more "environmentally friendly" but it also means my house is awfully humid and a little warmer than what I'd ideally like, especially for sleeping). When it got really bad, I decamped to my bedroom where I had installed the window unit yet again.

(I was smart when I took it out last year. I took the mounting screws and the little brackets and put them in an envelope, so they were all there. I don't always have that kind of foresight, saying "I'll remember where I put them." And yeah, the mounting screws are important because they prevent anyone from outside from opening the window the rest of the way - this is psychologically important to me as I am on a ground floor and while I think it's highly unlikely someone would try to break into my house through a back window, it's also not impossible)

The biggest issue I think is humidity. It's been awfully humid this spring. I don't remember it being so bad before; we had a couple of days with a dewpoint of 70. My body doesn't like that. I have a dehumidifier but it seems like this humidity overwhelms it; it runs constantly (and fills up) and it's still kind of humid in the house. Shortly before going on break I considered buying a second dehumidifier but the ones the Lowe's had were terribly expensive, especially considering I likely will be buying a new whole-house air conditioner this summer.

I admit the logistics of the thing is my biggest hurdle. As I've said before, I'm frugal. And I tried to put a little money aside each month this past year against the possibility of having to buy a new a/c unit some time. But, the guy from the place I use (and trust) warned me they'd have to put the unit on the other side of my pecan tree from where the current one is. And that probably means taking out the privet that's growing there (I don't have any real heartache about losing the privet, it's just, I'll probably have to get the tree guy out to remove it as it's pretty big). And there is something that will be need to be done to the "indoor coil" on the set up. I can deal with being without air conditioning for a couple of days if it comes to that, but if I have to arrange to be home, more or less, while they're working, it will be a challenge. (If they'd work on a Saturday, I could do it over a Friday and a Saturday....)