What is a chilled water outage in my residence hall?
For Georgia Tech Housing and Residence Life, a chilled water outage means the central system in your residence hall that provides cooling, also known as the air conditioning, needs to be temporarily shut down and you as a resident may experience disruptions to your cooling system.
Why does a chilled water outage need to happen?
To complete construction or maintenance work on cooling systems, which can include upgrading equipment, making necessary repairs or completing preventative maintenance, the best and safest practice is to shut down the systems.
How does chilled water work and why does it impact my air conditioning?
The system uses chilled water that circulates through pipes to cool the air inside of your residence hall or bedspace. It is different from your individual A/C units, due to this being a central system, all bedspaces in the residence hall or using that system will be impacted. Your A/C will not be cooling during this window. Indoor temperatures may rise depending on the outside weather and your bedspace or residence hall location.
Why is this chilled water outage affecting an entire building or multiple buildings?
Due to how our residence hall’s chilled water systems are designed we cannot isolate cooling to an individual bedspace, apartment, or residence hall. If all of the bedspaces or residence halls are connected to the same cooling system, the safest and best practice is to shut them down simultaneously.
Does this impact my hot water or heating system?
A chilled water outage does not impact your domestic hot water or your sinks and faucets.
When will this take place and how long will it last?
Housing and Residence Life collaborates across the department to schedule outages during times with the lowest potential impact to residents such as early mornings, overnight or during breaks and low in-room percentages.
Our team makes every effort to estimate accurately the time needed to complete as many related activities during the shutdown period to minimize the long-term impact on residents. Unfortunately, we cannot always predict the length of time of our maintenance work, in these instances we will communicate with residents any updates as they become available.
What should I do if my cooling system is not working after the shutdown is complete?
When a shutdown occurs, it is important to note residents should not feel an immediate increase in temperature, a system of this size can take hours to fully impact residents’ comfort. To that end, when the shutdown is complete, residents will not feel an immediate decrease in temperature and are encouraged to allow 30 – 60 minutes for cool air to begin flowing again.
What can I do to stay cool during the outage?
We understand this is uncomfortable and want to support in minimizing the impact. We encourage residents to use these tips to keep temperatures low.
- Keep blinds and curtains closed during the day to block excess heat into the space.
- Wear light clothing and drink plenty of water!
- Use portable fans to circulate the air.
*Portable fans may be available in limited supply at your Area Office. Check their hours of operation and available resources for more information.
If you or other residents in your space experience extreme discomfort or have specific medical needs please contact the Housing Help Desk, Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. For after-hours assistance contact the RA on Duty. Our team is consistently monitoring conditions and wants to collaborate with residents to provide necessary assistance.
What happens after the outage?
Housing and Residence Life will ensure the chilled water system is restored and cooling is functioning properly before communicating with residents that the outage is complete. When the shutdown is complete, residents will not feel an immediate decrease in temperature and are encouraged to allow 30 – 60 minutes for cool air to begin flowing again. If after that period residents continue to experience high temperatures in their spaces, we ask that a Facilities Request be submitted for the impacted space.