Corridor Temperatures

I propose that our Market Street at Town Center Condominium Unit Owners Association (a) heat our corridors only as necessary to keep the corridor temperature from falling below 66 degrees Fahrenheit, (b) cool our corridors only as necessary to keep the corridor temperature from rising above 79, and (c) neither heat nor cool our corridors when the corridor temperature is between 66 and 79.

This policy (c) to "neither heat nor cool our corridors when the corridor temperature is between 66 and 79" doesn't mean to keep to corridor thermostats set to the "Off" mode when the actual corridor temperature is in that 66 to 79 range. Rather, depending on the time of year, the corridor thermostats should be set in either the "Heat" mode or the "Cool" mode, but with the temperature setting on the thermostats at either 66 or 79 depending on whether the thermostats are in the "Heat" mode or the "Cool" mode, respectively. In other words, the heating should turn on if the actual corridor temperature drops below 66, and the cooling (air conditioning) should turn on if the actual corridor temperature rises above 79.

The larger the temperature range where our Association neither heats nor cools the corridors, the less our monthly Association assessments can be. Association expenditures for electricity have been rising rapidly, with the Association electricity expense for 2009 projected to be $143,000. For a unit with a typical par value of 0.32%, this amounts to about $457 annually toward the Association electric bill.

We have about a mile of corridors in our building. Corridors run the entire perimeter of our building on the first through the forth floors. The corridor on the Terrace (UL) level is only on the west and south sides of the building, about half the length of an upper-floor corridor. I am not including common elements near the main entrance lobby as part of the corridors. Appropriate temperature ranges for such common areas as the Community Room, the main entrance lobby, the Management Office, the Fitness Center and the Internet Center should perhaps be the subject of other posts, but are not addressed in this post.

Based on corridor thermostat settings I have observed, it appears to me that we sporadically cool our corridors if the corridor temperature rises above 74, and sporadically heat our corridors if the corridor temperature falls below 72. I think the temperature range where we don’t spend Association funds for heating or cooling should be larger than two degrees. Residents can maintain whatever temperature they want in their unit. Residents passing through our corridors going to or from the outdoors would normally be dressed for outdoor temperatures, and should thus be able to handle a corridor temperature closer to the outdoor temperature than is the temperature they maintain in their unit. Someone using the corridors, but not going to or from the outdoors, would normally be in the corridors only briefly, so should be able to tolerate a temperature somewhat different from the temperature in their unit. That is why I am suggesting a rather large 13-degree temperature range where we don’t spend Association funds to heat or cool our corridors.

While I feel strongly that there should be a rather large corridor temperature range where Association funds are spent for neither heating nor cooling, I believe there are good arguments on both sides regarding what should be the upper and lower temperatures of that range. I strongly encourage you to email me or/and post comments on this matter in my forum at the below links. (You will need to be registered and logged-in with that forum to post there.) I hope there will be dialog. I expect to bring this matter up during the unit owner comment period during our Board of Directors meetings, perhaps as soon as at the 18 Dec 08 Board meeting. After two or three months of unit owner dialog on this matter with other unit owners and our Board members (or maybe sooner), I believe our Board of Directors should specify the upper and lower temperatures for our corridors. My opening paragraph of this post might be suitable as a basis for a Board motion or resolution. Here are my email address and the link to my forum:

rasmussen305@gmail.com

http://mstcuoa.proboards59.com/