{"id":2632,"date":"2026-02-28T12:57:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:57:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/?p=2632"},"modified":"2026-02-28T12:57:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:57:26","slug":"hot-rooms-cold-water-redlands-hvac-issues-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/28\/hot-rooms-cold-water-redlands-hvac-issues-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Hot Rooms, Cold Water: Redlands\u2019 HVAC Issues Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A
Merriam Hall is one of several residence halls equipped with a two-pipe system capable of both heating and cooling. Credit: McKenzie Rose<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Students living in Williams, North, Merriam and Holt halls found their rooms a little too warm and cozy when they returned from Winter Break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the start of the semester, many students in these four residence halls have reported constant and overwhelming heat no matter how low they adjusted their room heaters. The heat encouraged Merriam resident Sabina Wolf ’29, who reported room temperatures up to 90 degrees, to purchase an extra fan. Opening the windows provided some relief, she said, but not enough on the all-to-common warm days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI even had to go home because I was starting to feel sick from the heat,\u201d Wolf said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holt resident Raf Noa ’29 said his roommate resorted to draping a towel over their heater. He said the basement was even worse, describing it as a \u201csauna.\u201d While the building is still hot, Noa said he has noticed improvements since the end of January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are still minor bits of heat, but it\u2019s not insufferable like it was before,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ciana Asmuth ’29 lives in a quad-style room in North Hall where both of the room\u2019s heaters ran nonstop for several days until facilities personnel came and fixed the issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asmuth said temperatures are still high, but the room now feels much better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not as\u2026 rotisserie chicken,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Johnston Complex buildings Bekins and Holt provide housing for students enrolled in the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies. Holt has a two-pipe HVAC system while Bekins solely has a boiler. Credit: McKenzie Rose
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Williams Hall, resident Emberly De La Vega ’29 reported distinct temperature fluctuations throughout the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy room is kind of warm, but the second I step out into the hall it\u2019s a good deal colder,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The water was another source of concern. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

De La Vega, a water polo player, said Thompson Aquatics Center\u2019s water wasn\u2019t heated for the first couple of weeks \u2013 including the pool and showers. The NCAA requires<\/a> water temperatures of 78-81\u2109, so the team wasn’t able to practice in the pool several mornings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Why<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The temperature issues were caused by residence halls\u2019 HVAC infrastructure and complications with a new energy system, according to Facilities Director Melinda Sanchez. Most of the residence halls<\/a> have centralized heating systems, but North, Merriam, and Holt were built around the same time \u2014 between 1959 and 1965 \u2014 with a two-pipe system of either heating or cooling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the buildings were built, we thought it was the coolest, neatest, efficient thing that we could do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
North Hall is one of the three first-year residence halls. Credit: McKenzie Rose
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each fall and spring, resident assistants (RAs) in the three dorms hold a vote to determine when to switch the HVAC system between heating or cooling. Yessenia Sanchez, the director of Residence Life and Housing, said the RAs held these conversations in November and December and voted to switch the systems to heating over Winter Break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said votes to change North and Merriam back to cooling were cast Feb. 4 and the heat was turned off on Feb. 23 to be replaced with air conditioning the following day. So, when these students come back from spring break, they should find their rooms to be much cooler. Holt residents are still undecided on a date to switch to air conditioning, Johnston Center Resident Coordinator Anthony Castellon ’21 said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams, on the other hand, has a centralized HVAC system. Melinda Sanchez said the position of the building, with its west side facing the setting sun, contributes to its temperature discrepancies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to these halls\u2019 structural factors, she said there have been hiccups with the recently-installed Honeywell energy system. Honeywell is more energy efficient and allows for building-specific temperature regulation, but it also requires more meticulous programming. Melinda Sanchez said this accounted for the water issues too, which she said have since been adequately addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had some issues with the programming, and all of that has been figured out now,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019ve had a complaint in well over a month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melinda Sanchez said the reason that temperature regulation seemed worse this year compared to previous ones was due to the extremely warm winter<\/a>, pointing out the predicted 85\u2109 this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not used to experiencing this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Afternoon sun hits the west side of Williams Hall on Feb. 24. Sunlight heats the building\u2019s bricks, which can contribute to high temperatures inside the hall. Credit: McKenzie Rose
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Going Forward<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When asked for their proposed solutions, several students suggested inspecting and upgrading the two-pipe system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we were able to get the buildings to have AC and heat, and you can control it from your rooms, that would be great,\u201d Asmuth said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Melinda Sanchez said switching the three residence halls from two-pipe to centralized HVAC systems would entail a full renovation which is not currently planned. She estimated such a project would take four months and be \u201cincredibly expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, students are encouraged to submit facilities work requests<\/a> and contact their RAs if HVAC issues arise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe take every work order on its own merit and go check and make sure it\u2019s working properly,\u201d Melinda Sanchez said. \u201cWe don\u2019t know if you don\u2019t tell us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students living in Williams, North, Merriam and Holt halls found their rooms a little too warm and cozy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"Structural challenges, new energy system malfunctions and warmer weather account for HVAC issues in several residence halls, McKenzie Rose reports.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[346,69,68,345,109,30,57],"class_list":["post-2632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-bekins","tag-holt","tag-merriam","tag-north","tag-resident-assistants","tag-reslife","tag-williams"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2632"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2646,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2632\/revisions\/2646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}