If you missed the last post about today’s parking ban, please go back and check it.
The Central Street Bridge over the Pawtucket Canal will be closed to southbound traffic starting next week; only northbound traffic will be allowed through. This means that, unless you are headed for Merrimack Street, you should turn left when exiting the lot or the city garage onto Market Street. There will be no right turn allowed from Market on to Central. The partial closure of the bridge will facilitate repairs and is expected to last for five months.
For more information about the bridge work, and/or to preregister for a virtual, public, informational meeting tonight or tomorrow night, click here.
Also, a resident is both offering information and seeking advice about our heating systems. I think I should mention that air from my own heating unit hasn’t been overly hot these past few days—with everyone home and the temperatures so low, it’s no surprise that the boilers are having a hard time keeping the water temperature in the heating loop toasty warm. At least today’s snow is accompanied by somewhat milder temperatures..
In any case, here are his remarks. Feel free to respond in the comments. I also recommend using the bulletin board search function if people ever want to find older discussions on a specific subject.
Hi Folks,
Having some heating issues with the upstairs heater (working fan, new thermostat, but little/no heat), which is definitely not a great problem to have on the brink of another snowmageddon.
Is A1 Maintenance Master still the go-to recommendation for servicing of the unique heating/cooling units in our building? I found the one in this unit to be a ClimateMaster 81615GSSSSCOP, which I found a neat little “Decoder Ring” for off the Discontinued Products Page which helps break down what the serial numbers on these things actually mean, but that does little to help me understand what may be occurring with the absence of heat from the unit.
Curious if other neighbors have other local service companies you’ve worked with and/or any experiences you can share about cost/scale of upgrading your heating units? Assuming that has to occur in coordination with new drywall around the heating unit itself or are these capable of being slid/popped into the existing wall space?
I have always enjoyed good results from A1. Sometimes internal system breakers get tripped and rebooting the heat pump by flipping the breaker can help. (I can hear the difference between the fan and when the compressor is running, which is how I know when to do it). Other times, temperatures within the loop moderate and reduce the efficiency of the units. (Though a difference between upstairs and downstairs suggests service on one might be required). I also check dust build-up on the filters, and GENTLY vacuum out the radiator fins just to be sure. (Using the brush attachment and only running over the surface can help ensure you don’t damage the radiator fins).
There’s an LED temperature readout in the basement close to the ceiling near the doorway to the back staircase. I haven’t looked lately to see what it reads, but it can offer clues whether the problem is central or in your unit when performance is compromised.
My understanding is that the units can be lugged out of the space via the removable front panel and that they are many thousands of dollars to replace.
I have been very happy with A1. I will continue to use them.
Before using them (both the father and the son have provider very good service on different calls) I had used another company (honestly I do not remember the name), they other company had charged me for the time that the service tech was on the road both from their office and returning to their office although the tech told me that he lived in Tyngsboro and we were on his way to his next customer and wouldn’t be going anywhere near their office, which was an hour away.
If your unit does end up needing maintenance, A1 Maintenance Master has always done a spectacular job for me. They are a top notch outfit.
Definitely recommend A-1. I have also used Jim Pappas, who is capable, but not good about keeping appointments.
Thanks everyone. Great feedback!
I did some reverse engineering and discovered the tech that came to clean out ducts reinstalled the thermostat and jammed the pins that connect the control unit to the wall plate, subsequently also disconnecting the “W” wire that powers on the heat compressor. It threw me off because the fan *was* working and created an impression the heating had failed (which it did since it had no signal to start!). Thinking the thermostat was bad, I replaced with it with a new one, only to neglect to carry over the jumper from the “Y” to “W” wires.
If anyone ever has questions on proper wiring for heat pumps I can now say I’m you’re in-building accidental expert!
So back up and running again.
Interesting. When we had our contractor install a new thermostat one spring we didn’t realize until the following fall that the heat no longer worked. When heating season arrived, we had to call A1 and he promptly figured out the thermostat wasn’t wired correctly for our system.
I bought an Emerson Sensi smart thermostat predominently based on the quality of their thermostat wiring instructional videos and I have not been disappointed. They’re relevant no matter which thermostat you’re using and I would highly recommend them whenever Cliff isn’t available for tutoring.
Haha. Thanks Craig. So let’s stick with the Emerson Thermos for everyone then.