Now that the air conditioning has been turned on for the summer, people might be interested in this info from a fellow resident (Thanks Craig!):
My downstairs heat pump wasn’t cooling very well this week, so I had A1 Maintenance Master come out and have a look. (978-937-5526). Turns out, historically, when old heat pump units have to be replaced with newer ones, as was done years ago in my unit before I bought it, it’s common that the new hardware’s radiator doesn’t align with the old vents in the bottom of the exterior panel that covers things. This often isn’t a problem, but, apparently, when the building system is finally working at 100% with maximum cooling in the system, this can cause frost to build up over the radiator fins in some units, and keep the “cool” inside the building system from reaching the air in the apartment. You can check this yourself by removing your exterior panel (by turning the screws at the top corners a quarter turn to release the catches) and having a look at where your radiator might be relative to the vents.
The immediate work-around is to remove the exterior panel and turn things off and wait for the fins to defrost. (You can speed this up with a hair dryer or just using the heat pump fan). Then, just turn things back on with open air flow and things will be nice and cool right away. The long-term fix is to fabricate new vent openings that better align with the radiator. A1 is doing that for me, but any metal shop might do the same. (I recommend A1 for all of this, of course, but others may have additional good recommendations).
Keep cool!
Best,
Craig.
I have more to add on this. The problem is the air flow. You have to ensure that the air flows through the fins, not around them. You can ensure this by doing a few things. First, buy some aluminum foil insulation (about 1/4 inch thick) from the Home Depot which happens to be the exact width of the unit: 2 ft. Cut to length at the top of the unit and cover any exposed opening above the fins. This will cause the fan above to pull air through the fins. Second, I recommend you pop open the cover and lean it inward so that you get more air flow into the unit. On the back side of the cover, there may be a bracket which prevents the air flow. Mine have been removed. Lastly, do not close off the vents above or restrict the flow in any way. All of these measures will help. If you are getting frost build up, the flow is no good. Anyone who wants to see what I’m talking about is free to come over and I can show them.
If A1 can create a cover which better aligns with the opening, I would like to see what it looks like.
Thanks.
I had A1 make a new panel for my second-generator system on the first floor, which was not heating well. The fix worked.
I can’t attach a photo here, but I am willing to send it to whoever would like it. I would say, that despite how knowledgeable A1 is and how quickly they *can* work, they took the panel to cut a new opening and kept it for 3 months before getting around to it, and that took some persistent calling. So when they get busy, and if it’s not an emergency, they might just forget about you.