Our Maintenance team advised they’ve shut down the chillers and drained the cooling tower for the season, and annual maintenance is underway. This year this includes a 10 year teardown and rebuild of both our cooling plant’s chillers.
Approved by the Board at a previous meeting, this effort helps lengthen their lifespan and operate more efficiently. The process takes approximately two months for each chiller, and work is already underway on Chiller #1. Work should be completed in time for them to be ready for operation in the Spring.
If we do get unseasonably warm weather again, we sympathize with any discomfort and appreciate your patience and understanding while we complete the maintenance work.
Already, one of the chillers has been taken out of service for a planned 10 year tear down and rebuild. Only one chiller remains operable, but as colder overnight weather approaches, planning for seasonal draining and maintenance of the main tower is already underway.
We suspect a formal announcement to be around the corner – possibly as soon as next week – from our maintenance team, that cooling will no longer be available for the season. At that point, only heating service is expected to be available. During warmer weather, the system will be in neutral but cooling will not be available over the winter.
Typically, above outdoor temps of 54 degrees, it can become uncomfortably warm if the heating system is on. However, the team will monitor temperatures on warmer days very closely, and do there best to maintain indoor temps in the low 70s.
More below from our previous post about transitioning our system.
Our team will balance any change over as best we can, but residents need to keep in mind the process is not just a flip of the switch. Transitions take about 8 hours. The temperature of the water in the pipes has to properly settle depending on whether we are moving from heating to cooling or cooling to heating. This process can take 6 to 8 hours either way, otherwise we risk damaging pipes and mechanicals. (We can’t just put superheated water into the chillers, and we can’t put chilled water into the boilers.)
Heating is our priority, consistent with the Chicago Heating Ordinance. We only switch to cooling if conditions are expected to result in discomfort. At times, this can be difficult to navigate, particularly when we have relatively cool outdoor temps but full sunlight during the day. Most recently, the weather has been quite a bit warmer than average, so we have been keeping cooling available. And temperatures have just not been cool enough overnight to make a reasonable transition. (Remember, the process takes 8 hours to go from one to the other.)
Our team aims to maintain hallway temperatures in the low 70s which tends to support unit temperatures in the 70s as well. We have sensors in multiple locations inside and out of the building and these are monitored almost obsessively by our engineers and the Property Manager. Typically we expect the need for heating with outdoor temps in the mid to low 50s or colder. AC is typically available when the sun is out and temps are around 60 degrees or higher. When the weather changes quickly, switchovers are challenging. When it’s 40 degrees in the morning, and climbs into the 70s in the early afternoon, the transition will be slow, if it happens at all. We have to consider whether heating will be needed again that night and the time needed to switch back over to heat.
We realize full sun during the day heats some units very quickly, but there will be times we may not switchover. We have no control over that. And if hallways are holding steady in the 70s overnight, we may not switchover to heat. Once winter weather truly sets in, and we start expecting freezing temps, the cooling tower will be drained and annual maintenance will get underway. After that, cooling will not be available until Spring and heating should be available at all times.
It will not be 100% comfortable for 100% of our residents, 100% of the time this time of year, but resident comments and observations can help us make adjustments and improve conditions as much as possible. Contact us at parktowercondo-mgmt@habitat.com, or call the office 773-769-3250.
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