International City flat feels humid even with the AC on — what's actually going on with the cooling here?
Our International City flat feels damp and humid even with the AC running, clothes take ages to dry, there's the odd musty patch, and it never feels crisp-cold the way I'd expect. The cooling is that built-in type through a grille, not a normal wall split. Is this just how the buildings are here, or is something wrong that can actually be fixed? It's putting me off the flat.
2 answers
That built-in grille is an FCU (fan coil unit) fed by the building's district cooling, and a flat that stays humid with it running is a classic serviceable fault, not the nature of the building. An FCU cools by passing room air over a coil carrying chilled water; if it's moving air but not pulling the humidity out, the usual causes are weak chilled-water flow to your unit, a clogged coil or filter, or a blocked condensate drain, all of which leave you with air that's stirred but not properly dried. The damp, musty, never-crisp feeling is exactly what a starved or dirty FCU produces. Get the FCU serviced specifically: coil and filter cleaned, the strainer and valve checked so it's actually getting full chilled-water flow, and the condensate drain cleared so the moisture it removes actually leaves the flat. AC and maintenance in International City that understands FCUs and district cooling is the right call here, a normal split-AC approach misses the chilled-water side entirely.
Had the exact clammy feeling in mine, turned out the FCU filter was filthy and the drain was half blocked. Once that was sorted it actually dried the air properly and the musty smell went. Definitely fixable, don't let it put you off.
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