Chiller AC cools some rooms but barely others — what's wrong?
My apartment runs on chilled water (district cooling). The living room is arctic but the bedrooms barely cool, even set to maximum.
Is this something inside my apartment I can fix, or do I need to chase building management? I am not sure where my responsibility ends and theirs begins.
2 answers
The fact that some rooms are fine and others are weak is the big clue — it points to the individual fan coil unit (FCU) in the weak room, not the chilled water coming into the building. Usual suspects in that room's FCU: a clogged filter or a dirty coil choking the airflow, an airlock, or a stuck two-way valve throttling the chilled-water flow to it.
Where the line sits: everything inside your apartment (the FCUs, their filters, the thermostats) is normally your side to maintain; the building loop, pumps and supply temperature are FM's. So start with the weak room — pull and clean its filter, and if it is still weak it is worth a chiller servicing visit to check that FCU's valve and coil. Only chase FM if every room is weak at once, which is more like a barely-cooling-whole-flat supply issue.
Worth checking the obvious too — bedroom doors closed all day with the FCU set low can ice or airlock, and furniture pushed right against a return grille kills the airflow. Cheap things to rule out before anyone visits.
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