Air Conditioner Issues Plague New TX Fire Stations
Source Beaumont Enterprise, Texas
Air-conditioning problems at Beaumont's two new fire stations result from units that overachieve rather than struggle to keep up with summer temperatures.
The result is moisture dripping down from the ceiling tiles.
City Council on Tuesday discussed the air conditioning problem that bedevils both new houses.
City Attorney Tyrone Cooper said, "Folks are trying to figure out what the fix should be."
The fire houses cost about $11 million apiece to build and are expected to remain in service for more than 50 years.
Architectural Alliance vice president Rob Clark, who designed the structures, calls them "monument buildings."
However, the heating, ventilating and cooling contractor might not have designed and installed the units properly, City Manager Kyle Hayes has said.
While firefighters at Station No. 2 are living with their problem, the new Station No. 11 remains unoccupied at Park and Royal streets. The existing Station No. 11 on Sabine Pass Avenue remains in service, even though the city agreed last month to sell the property to a private buyer.
At Helbig Road and East Lucas Drive, Fire Station No. 2's problem seems to be its two air-conditioning units aren't working well with one another.
While one tries to moderate the temperature in the massive bay where the engines are parked and cool the living area, a second one is supposed to turn on automatically when it senses the temperature is not where it should be.
The second unit is supposed to remove moisture from the air. It does not turn on because it isn't sensing enough of a temperature imbalance. And there is no thermostat to control it. All the station has is a metal plate on a wall to sense the temperature, which is controlled from a remote location.
"You realize, why I am so sweaty?" said Capt. Matt Roy. "At night, we open the two doors (from the common area) to the stall so it pulls moisture when the second unit kicks on."
The city closed the old Fire Station No. 2 on Ironton Street before the air-conditioning problem became apparent.
By the time Fire Station No. 11 was ready, the city decided to hold off on a move until the ventilating problem was fixed.
[email protected]/dwallach
———
©2016 the Beaumont Enterprise (Beaumont, Texas)
Visit the Beaumont Enterprise (Beaumont, Texas) at www.beaumontenterprise.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
