Some Mansfield Apartments residents at the University of Connecticut experienced problems with their hot water since Facilities Operations and Building Services began replacing the apartments’ boilers, replacing them in two apartments per day. (File Photo/The Daily Campus)
Some Mansfield Apartments residents at the University of Connecticut experienced problems with their hot water since Facilities Operations and Building Services began replacing the apartments’ boilers, replacing them in two apartments per day.
The boilers are being replaced due to their advanced age, said Facilities Operations and Building Services resource planner, Andy Kelly.
“The [boilers] we’re replacing are near the end of their expected service life and grossly inefficient,” Kelly said. “We’ve been having maintenance issues with them that asserted they are near the end of their expected life.”
Residents have not expressed concerns about a lack of hot water to Facilities as of Tuesday, Nov. 8, Kelly said.
“I checked in our Work Order system as well as with the call center staff and there have been no reports of issues communicated to us today,” Kelly said in an email.
Residents like senior applied mathematics major Kelly Cosgrove encountered difficulties with their hot water Monday evening after having been told the water would be back on by then.
“A few weeks back [the Department of Residential Life] told us the boilers would be replaced two apartments at a time,” Cosgrove said. “They said the water would be shut off for most of the day when they replaced our boiler. When I came back at 7 [p.m. Monday night], the hot water came on a little bit, but then it ran cold again.”
As of Tuesday, Nov. 8, Cosgrove said her hot water was still not running.
Facilities has been maintaining a schedule of replacing two apartments’ boilers per day since mid-October and will finish replacing the boilers in all apartments by the beginning of December, Kelly said.
“Generally speaking we have been able to pull two a day off with maybe one exception, but it didn’t extend beyond a couple days,” Kelly said. “We were able to provide hot water in the evening in that situation when it had been shut off during the day.”
Boilers are replaced during the day so as to not significantly interfere with residents’ lives, Kelly said.
“Crews have been starting between 8 and 9 [a.m.] so by early evening hot water can be restored to apartments,” Kelly said.
Residents’ concerns regarding their hot water have been addressed in a timely manner, Kelly said.
“We have had a few complaints from residents regarding hot water; in all cases we were able to have staff respond within an hour to confirm the issue and begin resolution,” Kelly said.
Kelly said all students living on campus in any residence hall or apartment should utilize the work order website if a maintenance issue arises in their building.
The new boilers will bring hot water to students in a more efficient way, Kelly said.
“Residents should know that the new units are an energy efficient, on demand system that only creates hot water when it is called for, compared to the old units that constantly kept a reserve of hot water,” Kelly said in an email. “Because of this, it will take slightly longer for hot water to reach the fixtures compared to the old units.”
Alexandra Retter is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at alexandra.retter@uconn.edu.
