District Cooling, Fan Coils and What Needs Cleaning

Homes on district cooling have a fan coil unit rather than a condenser, and the maintenance profile is different from a standalone split system.

What matters, and why.

What a fan coil is

Chilled water arrives from a central plant and passes through a coil in your ceiling void. A fan blows room air across it. There is no outdoor unit to service.

What still needs attention

The coil, the drain pan and line, the filter, and the blower wheel. Those are yours regardless of who runs the plant.

The condensate line

In a ceiling void, a blocked condensate line shows as a stained ceiling before it shows as anything else. Clearing it is cheap; the ceiling repair is not.

Who is responsible for what

Plant, risers and metering sit with the provider. Everything from the fan coil into your home is generally yours. Your building manager can confirm the boundary.

If this is something you would rather hand over, our AC duct cleaning and air quality is scoped at an inspection and confirmed in writing before any work begins. We will also tell you when a job does not need us.

Questions

Answered plainly.

Where there is ducting from the unit to the diffusers, yes. Some layouts have very little duct and the coil is the main item.

Almost always condensate. Have the pan and line checked before repainting, or the stain returns.

Annually as a baseline, more often in a dusty location or after any building work.