You needn't replace both ACs at same time

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romeros radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer systems. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona. Here are questions about home maintenance and improvement from the Southern Arizona area.

Q: I have two 18-year-old air conditioning units on my home. Theyre both operating well, but Im getting ready to replace them because my summer AC bills are going through the roof. Can I do one AC at a time in order to spread out the cost to fit my budget?

A: Its possible to do that, provided that you replace the air handler unit as well as the condenser unit because they need to match up to operate properly. But once you have that new air conditioner youre going to be so excited next summer about how much smaller, quieter and more efficient your new equipment is that you will wish you had done both systems. By doing both HVAC sections at once, you also avoid some of the fuss and upheaval that take place during installation.

Q: The root ball of a pine tree in my yard is beginning to invade the water company meter box in front of my house. The water company says that I have to take care of this problem. Do I have to cut down the entire tree?

A: You dont have to remove the tree. An arborist can cut back the roots and then can install a barrier to stop the roots from invading that part of your yard again. Youll probably need a barrier that will go about 3 feet down into the ground. Workers can probably simply dig a trench and slide in the plastic root deflector to keep roots from heading toward the meter box.

Q: Id like to replace my older gas water heater with a new tankless model? Is that feasible to do?

A: Tankless water heaters keep growing in popularity and their performance has really improved over the years. At one time, you would get a flash of cold water, then a flash of hot, then a flash of cold again when they started up. You still have to run the water a little before hot water arrives at the point of demand. A tankless unit will have high-powered burners that can be fueled by gas or electricity. These units are usually considerably smaller than traditional water heaters and will take up less room in a garage or a closet.

But if you go tankless, you need to have a water softener installed as well if you dont already have one. Thats because our very hard Arizona water can damage tankless heaters. And tankless models are more expensive than traditional water heaters. The installation can also be more complicated in terms of gas and electric lines.

Q: Three months ago, we planted a young red push pistache tree in our yard. It replaced a mesquite that was infested with mistletoe and was slowly dying. I used to water this new tree every day; now I water it every other day. But Id like some advice on how much watering I really have to do. It doesnt seem to have grown very much at this point.

A: You probably didnt need to do all that watering to begin with, and now that cooler weather is here and the tree will soon lose most of its leaves, you should only water it every seven to 10 days. When you do that, you want to give it 7-10 gallons at a time.

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You needn't replace both ACs at same time