AC to Heating Turnover: Time to Warm Up Inside! How Can Condo Managers and Residents Deal With This Tricky Situation

Well, it’s that time of year again, the leaves are changing, we can finally wear those comfy sweaters again and we start to lose those warm sunny days of summer. Personally, we are just excited for the extra pockets that jackets provide. Fall also happens to be an awkward time for condo managers trying to judge when to make the big switch from cooling over to heating, which can be tricky. Was that just a small cold snap, or did we miss the mark and now need to find some more heaters?

When the temperature does drop, Canadians stay warm thanks to an infrastructure of heated houses, cars and public transportation systems - CEC Network Réseau des CÉC

In Stratastic we have experienced this from every possible angle. We have been the property managers struggling to decide if it’s the right time to change; the residents trying to cope with the cold inside our units until the heating is fully back on; and the directors dealing with several complaints regarding this topic. That’s why we want to let you in on a couple of “secrets” and hard earn advice from our years of experience.

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Ac To Heating: 4 Keys To Understanding Why Is It So Hard For Condo Managers To Decide And What Can Residents Do In The Meantime

The progress done in weather forecasting since the start of human civilization has been incredible. We have gone from rain dance rituals and trustworthy knee pains that flare up when rain is about to come, to highly sophisticated AI powered tools that can perform forecasts as accurately (or better) than leading meteorological agencies up to 10,000 times faster. Nonetheless, deciding when to switch a condo HVAC system from AC to heating can be quite tricky, and dealing with those days in between can be hard for residents.

The decision to change from AC to heating is a decision that should be taken by the condo manager, based on weather predictions and past years experiences, but also the professional advice of the condo’s HVAC company. Switching from hot to cold and vice versa in a condo is not as easy as doing it in a private home, so it's a decision that must be taken with great care.

Why can’t condo management

just turn on the heat?

Short answer: It's unfortunately not as simple as flipping a switch. HVAC contractors are required, the systems are large and expensive machines that need to be handled with proper care. Finally, the weather affects all condos alike, so condo vendors that deal with HVAC systems can have their hands full during this period of the year. 

Long answer: The chances are that your condo was built as a 2-pipe system. That means that to each of the units there is one pipe delivering hot/cold water and then a second pipe to return it back to the boilers/chiller. Unfortunately, this mean that the system is only able to run either cooling or heating at any one point but not both. This also means that when condo management wants to switch over it becomes a bit more of a process.

Technicians are required to properly shut down or initiate systems such as boilers and chillers, pressures must be fine tuned and adjusted to account for changes in temperature, and water chemistry must be changed to account for the same. This is why during the changeover times medium to large sizer condos will likely see 2-3 work vans from their HVAC company working from early in the morning each day.

All in all, a normal process takes 2-4 days of constant work from 2-4 technicians to shut down one system and start up the other. Keep in mind this does not include potential problems that arise or all the work that is completed after the systems are shut down. For example, once the cooling system is shut down there will probably be a whole process of cleaning and treating the chiller, cooling tower and other systems to ensure no risk of extra wear from corrosion or blockages.

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Why does my condo have a 2-pipe system, why not upgrade it so we can run both as needed?

Short answer: Cost, both for install and maintenance/running costs.

Long answer: Such systems of course exist and are often referred to as 4-pipe systems, two for the cooling and two for the heating. While these systems can often provide greater levels of comfort in a building, they come at a big cost and are thus usually restricted to commercial buildings. As far as installation costs go, it's more design work, installation of more piping and all its accessories like insulation and often requires higher end outputs. Rather than a simple fan coil that lets one fluid in when called for, it must be slightly more intelligent about how it heats and cools.

Therefore, especially considering that switching from a 2-pipe to a 4-pipe system would imply a modification of the condo’s pre-existing piping system, running and maintenance costs would also likely rise as any time a condo has two systems running, they will be fighting each other. 

For example, one resident what’s their unit to be warm, but the hallways or neighbor wants to cool. Thus, each system is spending at least a small amount of its energy fighting the other. Then there is the energy required to simply run each system: large motors to circulate the water, or especially turning on a chiller, because it is massive, causes a massive draw of electricity. In the end it simply isn’t cost effective. 

If the AC is off, then why are the hallways blowing cold air?

This is a hard situation to prevent during switchover times. With the heating system still off and it getting super chilly at night in Canada, the air in the halls tends to get cold at night. Usually, as soon as the outside air temperature drops below a specific temperature; 17⁰C for example, the fans for the hallways stop cooling the air - instead it is simply filtered and sent into the building.

I know what you are thinking: Why don’t we just turn off those fans? Well, condo management can’t simply turn off the fans as they supply fresh new air and expel contaminants like carbon dioxide through pressure.

What can residents do if their home gets cold at night or in the morning?

Most condo suits tend to have a fan coil which a built-in electric heater. This heater isn’t huge, but it is designed to take some of the chill out of the air. To activate this heater all residents should need to do is switch their thermostat over to “heat” mode and it should kick in. It won’t enough to make their suite nice and toasty, but it should help to increase it a few degrees.

If the units do not have these systems, or the temperature has significantly dropped, a good idea is to have personal space heaters for situations just like this. If residents don’t own an individual heater, chances are condo management keeps some stashed away somewhere. Most likely there won't be many to pass out and fulfill everyone’s needs, so if this is a recurrent issue in the condo, residents should consider buying their own, especially residents such as the elderly or those with newborns.

-Stratastic Inc.

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