[Jackbit]

We had our home built in central Florida. We moved in 8/5/04. After many complaints about the upstairs being too hot, the builder determined on 8/7/07 (yes, 3 years later) that insulation was never put in our attic. Our house is about 3600 sf under air... approx. 1000 sf was not insulated. We have two air conditioning units, one for upstairs one for downstairs. The downstairs unit helps cool an approx. 15'x15' room with a 20' ceiling.

Our air conditioners have been trying to cool our house without insulation for 3 years. Should I be concerned about the wear and tear on our units, and, if so, what should I request the builder do to make it right? Thank you!

[acetc]

How much you paid for the additional operation required of the a/c system is hard to say, I might negotiate a percentage of your utility bills over the last three years.

[Jackbit]

Thanks for the response acetc! My husband was going to look into the utility bills and what the builder might actually owe (there's a formula out there somewhere apparently)... I'm worried about signing off on this and having our air conditioner units die (or have major problems with them) because they were over-worked (if that's possible) for 3 years. So, that really is my question, could 3 years of no insulation have put more wear and tear on the air conditioning units leading to repairs or replacement before they normally would have needed such things? I know the upstairs one ran continually... all day and most of the night. Thanks again!

[SuperTyphoon]

3 years is nothing for an AC unit. My unit is almost 20 years old (I live in south Florida where it runs almost every day of the year) and does not show signs of 'overuse'. Central air units are meant to run constantly, it is actually better than them running on and off frequently.