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Air conditioners throughout the Wichita metropolitan area are raising the white flag of surrender as an intense summer heat wave continues. Businesses that sell and service air conditioners have been inundated with calls over the recent string of 100-degree days.
Tuesday hit 101 in Wichita. It was the fourth straight day — and 20th this summer — of triple digits for the city.
"You're seeing a lot of capacitors just popping left and right," said Toni Gile, a receptionist for Dan's Heating and Cooling.
Air conditioners that haven't been maintained properly or that are getting up there in years are breaking down under the strain.
"They can't handle it," Gile said. "Not this kind of heat. Not this many days in a row."
Monday saw an onslaught of calls for service, after highs of 108 on Saturday and 111 on Sunday.
"Our next opening is a week from today," Gile said Tuesday. "We don't want to say 'no,' but you can only work guys for so long."
The problem isn't just that highs are surging well above 100, cooling company officials said. Lows are dropping only to the upper 70s, meaning the units are essentially having to run nonstop.
"In the evenings, our on-call guys are running until midnight," Fahnestock president Eric Fahnestock said. "We've got four to five guys running calls on weekends, and they're constantly busy."
Many customers have called heating and cooling companies to complain that their units aren't cooling their homes or businesses to the thermostat setting.
What they don't realize, company representatives said, is that air conditioners in Kansas are designed to cool the temperature about 25 degrees below the outdoor temperature.
That means if it's 111 outside, an air conditioner is only going to be able to get the interior temperature down to about 86.
"If you've got it set at 72, unless you've got a really well-insulated house, it's not going to maintain 72 when it's 111 outside," said Gaye Ashley, who works for Roth Heating and Air.
Around-the-clock humming of air conditioners is sending utility bills spinning, too.
Abhilash Jacob, who has a house in Bel Aire, said he saw his electricity bill jump from $66 to $225.
Chelsea Immunschuh's bill jumped $100 this month for her an apartment in west Wichita.
"And I didn't change anything in my cooling habits," she said.
Yet changing cooling habits is a good idea for folks who want to ease the pain in the pocketbook caused by this heat wave, Westar officials say.
Among the most simple:
Close window shades and curtains on windows exposed to sun.
Run the bathroom exhaust fan while showering to reduce humidity.
Close vents to unoccupied rooms.
Keep the air conditioner properly maintained.
Regular maintenance is an important step, representatives said, but one too many people neglect.
"If you don't have regular maintenance on it, to where you keep the coils clean, that makes it work even harder," Ashley said.
The harder and longer a unit works, the more prone it is to break down.
Summer is typically busy for heating and cooling companies, Fahnestock said, but not every summer is the same.
Last year featured only about a three-week busy spell, he said, before temperatures cooled down to more comfortable levels.
"The heat has kind of come and settled in this year," he said.
While cloud cover may keep today's high from reaching 100 in Wichita, forecasters say, triple digits are expected to return Thursday for an extended stay.
Mulvane on Tuesday became the second city in the Wichita area to institute mandatory water restrictions.
Augusta restricted water use Monday night, and because Mulvane receives its water from Augusta it was compelled to impose the same restrictions.
That means residents with even-numbered addresses can water on Monday and Thursday, while those with odd numbers water on Tuesday and Friday.
Watering is restricted to mornings from 6 to 9 a.m. and evenings from 7 to 10 p.m.
Those who have their own water wells must post a sign stating that in the yard.
