Apartment AC Troubles

Being summer in Philly AC is a must. Sometime in May I noticed the AC in my unit stopped working. After a week a new unit was installed and I thougth for sure my troubles were over.

However, my troubles had only begun. I suspected nothing as I had too many other troubles on my mind: a dying external harddrive with all my info on it, a dishwasher that wouldn’t turn on, and a small sick spell.

Well this sick spell wasn’t aided by the HVAC repair needed on my AC unit. It turns out the completely new system the apartment complex had installed was broken to begin with. Apparently the compressor was broken from the start making the unit functionless. Needless to say they were not pleased and neither was I.

After a week of attempted repairs I was left over the weekend with no AC. Naturally I had my mind on other things trying to resolve them while resting in bed. And, naturally, that happened to be one of the hottest weekends of the summer boasting its own excessive heat warning. Well after a weekend of 86 minimum inside I had enough.

No sooner had I emailed the apartment staff about it than someone was here to resolve it temporarily. A mini AC unit was installed through one of my windows to keep my main room cool. This was really important as it became unbearable to cook in a room that was already hot enough to cook an egg (metaphorically. Should have tested it literally though). With the 4th of July celebrations and extended holiday I would have to wait until the next week to see what would become of my AC.

Well the next week brought plenty of visits but until parts and a new unit came in there was little to be done. That is until yesterday!!!

Several of the men who had visited prior were back again to disassemble the “old” unit and put in the new one. While they were in and out they allowed me to get a few pictures of all the fun details hiding above my ceiling tiles which you can see below!

Overall the replacement team was hardworking and very kind. The only advice I recieved was as a designer to make sure to leave room for repair crews to work. This was quite noticeably an issue with the small bathroom being the site of a larger repair. Buildings house all kinds of people some permant (primary) and some transient (secondary), some just to inhabit and others to work on. Each of these inhabitants needs to be considered and, at least in school, the only person considered is the “permanent” (primary) inhabitant.

For as long as it went on at least I learned something about the city, the climate, and design. Everything is in the details afterall!