Is it time to allow AC in all Top Units?

Those Brittan Heights top units do have the nice vaulted ceilings and often great views. But there is also a downside; they get pretty hot in summer. There is very little separating the living space in the top condos and the composition roof above them which acts like a huge heat magnet.

If you’re a believer in global warming then you have to think that it’s only going to get hotter and those top units will get the brunt of the heat. While to the best of my knowledge, the HOA’s rules only allow for air conditioning installations where it’s a medical necessity for the occupants, I believe that almost regardless of age or health, it’s getting hot enough that it’s becoming a medical necessity if you don’t want to get heat stroke in your own home.

I understand that these units create additional sound and that the unit below will be subject to the extra noise, but those same units may also be a bit cooler if the condo above them is air conditioned. We are also only talking about running these units during the hotter times of the year and let’s be honest, we all put up with noise. Everyone’s furnaces are inside their condo and make some noise when they come on.

The HOA should require that AC installations are very energy efficient units coupled with the most quiet. Perhaps, it should also be required that homeowners install additional insulation in attic spaces and walls, install double pane windows with UV film, etc. This should not be cost prohibitive, but some effort at making the condo more efficient should also be put forth. Maybe in the end, it’s not AC but some other combination of technologies. It would be nice if the HOA had a ready package it could offer to top unit owners for how to make their units cooler instead of each owner having to reinvent the wheel.

In the end, maybe there are also other mid and lower level units that get just the right amount of sun exposure that should also be allowed some cooling solutions. Anyway, that’s my two cents. Brittan Heights occupants, it’s your community and HOA, you can make this happen if it’s to your liking.

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1

Ahdee on March 28, 2017 at 11:00 pm

I’m curios – can a resident use a portable ac?
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  Anonymous on March 29, 2017 at 8:44 am
  
  Ahdee – I don’t believe there are any rules against the portable AC units. By that I’m speaking about ones on wheels that reside inside the unit and not something that you mount on a window. But recall that those units will expel water so you will need the unit to drain somewhere.
3

addisonjwriter on August 15, 2016 at 11:52 am

As the owner of top floor unit, more needs to be done to reduce the temperature during sunny days. Even my neighbors below warned me when I moved it that it gets too hot and they’re not even on the top floor. I shut the windows and curtains , have insulation in the roof and blast 3 fans in the living room and it’s still too hot. More needs to be done.
4

Andrea on June 12, 2016 at 10:28 am

Quite frankly, I don’t care for your two cents on this issue. You don’t live here. I happen to live in what you mention as “maybe there are also other mid and lower level units that get just the right amount of sun exposure that should also be allowed some cooling solutions.” And I am in also one of those units that “will be subject to the extra noise” with the promise that it would be “a bit cooler if the unit above is air-conditioned”. (By the way, there is a big difference between a furnace coming on and an AC in condos such as ours.) You are a realtor. For you, adding value to top units is a big gain when you sell them. For those of us who are not in a top unit, it would not, might very well be a loss when we try to sell. Besides all that, you may not be aware why most of us choose to live here – the peace and quiet, the nature and protected wilderness all around us. That would no longer be sustainable.