Hi,
The HVAC tech came out on Thursday 9/23 and completed an assessment of the two fixtures mounted halfway up CCL's north wall, being (a) gas furnace serving the adjacent disco room and (b) gas space heater serving CCL / Sudo's room. In addition, I discovered (c) a small modification we need to make to the furnace serving the ballroom.
A. Space heater serving CCL/Sudo:
This unit was found to be safe & 100% functional; it can be turned on by activating the switch in the BSL room that has the brown cover plate (mounted a bit high up on the wall, but still reachable from a standing position).
In the tech's professional opinion the unit is appropriately sized for the room and will adequately heat / take the chill out of the room.
Therefore in my own opinion, CCL might consider giving the space heater a try as an alternative to multiple small electric space heaters that I have heard have been used in lieu during colder months, due to the increased life-safety hazard and energy use imposed by multiple small electric units, and because omni's electrical budget (total available amps) is limited whereas gas is barely utilized. If the space heater is found to be effective, I would propose CCL consider stopping the use of multiple electric heaters.
That said, by design the unit is not attached to a thermostat -- and so once it is on, it will stay on until it is turned off. This isn't a safety issue per se, but if left on accidentally, it could lead to energy waste.
Therefore I am recommending the following modest improvements be made:
1. The on/off switch controlling the unit be converted to a timer switch (e.g, a 30-min-max dial).
This way, the unit will not be accidentally left on, and a timer switch is an easier / cheaper improvement than adding a thermostat.
2. Lower the switch box a couple feet to a more accessible height (as a person in a wheelchair cannot reach the present switch location.).
2. The unit's gas valve be lowered to an accessible height, so gas service to the unit can be easily turned off should the pilot light become extinguished. At present, a ladder is needed to reach this gas valve.
3. Off-the-shelf CO/explosive gas sensor & a smoke sensor (w/ 10-year batteries) are mounted to the wall the code-required distance above the both the space heater and furnace. For the safety of folks working in this room, imo this should probably have been done a long time ago.
The above suggested improvements would not involve a significant disturbance of dust, are inexpensive, and are projected to take <2h.
B. Furnace serving the disco room:
- It was determined that the blower in this unit needs replacement (keeps blowing fuses); we are waiting on a cost estimate for this. This fix would have to be effected by the HVAC tech.
- It was also previously recommended that a separate, small water pump be installed adjacent to the unit to push condensation down the existing flexible drip line running to the floor drain. The flexible drip line was not run at a consistent downward slope, which led to water backing up into the furnace unit, in turn rusting the bottom of the unit and causing water damage to the platform visible from below (which presumably, dripped down onto CCL's workspace). It appears this can be self-installed, and is anticipated as a low cost improvement.
- The water damage to the platform holding the furnace needs to be assessed a bit more to see if any structural reinforcement is necessary. Due to the relatively small quantity of water produced during condensation, I don't anticipate that the water damage will be all that bad, but we don't want the platform failing at some point in the future and hurting anyone beneath. The need for any reinforcement here is TBD.
- I would like CCL to consider whether they as a group might (?) prefer to take on cleaning this furnace area of accumulated dust (such as wiping it down etc) prior to additional servicing of the furnace.
The reasons are:
-- The furnace must be able to be accessible for occasional maintenance or in an emergency, preferably without creating any potential dust headaches for CCL work going on underneath.
-- I have been informed that there are lab standards for cleaning, with which lay people / non-CCL volunteers may not be familiar.
-- Although the furnace does not serve CCL, the furnace is in CCL's space, and it makes sense to me that CCL would participate in the upkeep of building infrastructure within its space in the interest of collectively maintaining the building.
C. Ballroom furnace:
The ballroom furnace works well, but in the process of trying to assess / replace the old filters for all these units, I discovered that the filters are not presently accessible for the ballroom furnace.
The reason is: Studs for the west wall separating the furnace area from the kitchen were placed literally right up against the filter door. Therefore, a simple access panel needs to be created in the perpendicular side of the filter housing, to allow for filter replacement. This fix represents some light sheet metal work and is not perceived to be a major expense. We are awaiting an estimate for this.
Having decent air filters in place is of increasing importance due to COVID and the worsening air quality in CA. We plan to replace with MERV-13 filters to make the omni less friendly to COVID spread for any time when a furnaces may be in use (MERV 13 isn't HEPA, but does block sneeze-size droplets along with bacteria etc).
Best,
David