Few things... I believe the smaller 2 ton unit was installed after the main unit (even though they are both manufactured in 1994) because the 2 ton Freon line is outside the wall. This is what a repair man once said. Also, I found this information from an old receipt regarding the current 2 ton AC unit: Make: Trane cond XE1000 / Trane Furnace / Trane Coil Model: TTR024C100A1 / TDD040R924B0 / TRC024C4HPB2 Please keep in mind, I'm trying to read his handwriting so the above number/letters might be wrong. In the past, the 2 ton unit seemed to cool just fine although we only keep the house mid-70's at coolest. I'm not sure how big the common area is, but the ceilings are very high -- 12 feet I believe. If you would like, I can take pictures of the attic space or any of the AC parts. Thanks for the help.

It's not going to cause damage, the radiator just isn't going to heat as effectively. What's happened is that your system pressure is now to the point where there's not enough water in the system. That's why you're hearing the "trickling" noise. There are a couple of things you need to do. First is to make sure that the expansion tank isn't waterlogged (completely full of water). If it is, it needs to be partially drained, or the air cushion re-established. Next, you need to add water to the system. This may, or may not, be necessary depending on the condition of the expansion tank. The pilot light problem has nothing to do with this issue. Your best bet is to have someone come out, do a full inspection/cleaning on your system, and show you how to check the expansion tank and add water to the system.

I had not thought about 4 year olds and their ability to imagine toys out of thin air! In DH's house, we have no curtains to deal with, just plantation shutters on 8 of the windows. And I did not put furniture along the exterior walls, as chance would have it. So that was not an issue for us. But I can well understand that it is a problem. Down south, our HVAC vents are mostly in the ceiling or the floor for elevated homes. In have seen a few with vents in the walls, but not many. My attic in Mobile has limited usefulness because of the ductwork and the inside half of the heat pump which is up there. When this house was built in 1950, it had a gas floor furnace in the hall. No ductwork at all, just a heating unit under the house in that crawl space, a grate in front of the only bathroom, and the hall made wide enough that you could walk without stepping on the grate when the heat was working. They took out the grate and replaced it with 1.5" wide oak to match the rest of the floor when they added a heat pump....but the floor will need repair soon, as it seems to be settling. I'm also thinking they left the old gas furnace under the house, something that I really do not like. In the days before whole house a/c, our homes usually had a whole house attic fan in the hall near the heating system. And that HUGE old fan was removed to make room for lifting the heat pump into the attic, and it was shoved into the back of the attic. This kind of thing really irks me, since I believe in clearing the decks before launching new home improvements. Sorry to digress here. No one-size-fits-all heating system is appropriate for all areas of the country. The need to COOL is more important here than heating. But this week, I can truly sympathize with you guys up New England way, where it is around 100 degrees and above, and no rain in sight.

I ended up doing the entire condo. The installer and place I purchased from gave me a better deal if I did it all.