The City of Lights parade is this Saturday, the 26th, beginning around 4:30pm. Other events will be going on throughout the day. There will be no parking on Jackson Street beginning at 10:00am and no parking on Central and Merrimack Streets beginning at 2:00pm. Parking will be free in all city-owned garages all weekend. I haven’t come across official confirmation, but I think it’s a safe bet that parts of Arcand Drive, Merrimack Street, Central Street, and Jackson Street will be closed for the duration of the parade—so please plan accordingly if you’re going to be driving anywhere.
Also, I just got a request for heating/cooling advice: “Resident is looking for recommendations for an experienced technician who has done HVAC in CP1. Resident would also like to know if others have the experience of the heating unit blowing cold air more often than hot.”
A-1 Maintenance Master is always the one I hear recommended (there’s a link for them on the Useful Links page). They are extremely familiar with the heat pumps in this building and are very nice. I personally haven’t had any problem with our units blowing cold air but I’ve used A-1 in the past to inspect our systems, and to correct a wiring mistake on a thermostat installed by another contractor. If anyone else has any thoughts on the subject, please feel free to post them in the comments.
Try turning your pumps to ‘off’ at your thermostats and flip the circuit in the electrical panel that controls the pumps (don’t know if it is one or two circuits that control the pumps). Leave it flipped off for 5 minutes. Then flip back on and set your thermostats to HEAT. It MAY reset your systems
Not an expert but I’ve gone through this recently, so here’s the deal:
If your pump’s compressor is running (if the unit is chugging like a motor) it should always be blowing hot air.
If the compressor is running and you’re getting cold air some of the time, of if your compressor is really, really loud, it’s likely low on coolant. An HVAC tech can refill it, but if the system is original, it’s made to use a coolant (Freon) that is no longer allowed by environmental regulations – the technician is only allowed to fill each heat pump a certain number of times before the whole unit will need to be replaced with one that uses a modern, less dangerous coolant.
If your compressor is trying to turn on and failing, or running for a bit and failing, that triggers an automatic 5 minute cooldown/reset, it’s either the compressor itself on its way out, or the reversing valve (that flips the unit from heat to cooling) needs to be replaced or repaired. Fixing the reversing valve is relatively easy and cheap; replacing the compressor is neither.
I recommend New England Cooling Towers. Never had an issue with them. http://www.nectinc.com/
A-1 Maintenance Master (Steve and David) are the best. They also fix appliances!