2021 Paint Code for rooftop railing

As the base paint for the previously identified colour code for the railing of units with rooftop decks is no longer available, find in this picture the updated colour code for the railing. It can be purchased at Randall's on Bank Street.
 

Tips to balance and improve Air Conditioning in your home (18 Aug 2015)

As we are under another heat advisory, François at #46 shares his experience on how he has been able to balance his AC across three floors and create a very comfortable home. Hope this can help those with heat issues on your top floors.

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By François Gagnon #46

By design our Units tend to exhibit excessive temperature differentials across our Units, vertically and level wise depending on the sun exposure.  I would like to share my experience in balancing the AC for my Unit at 46 KL which may provide ideas to do your own balancing for your own Unit design particularities and latent/sensible heat loads around the day.

Here are my latest summer configuration (ONLY):

1) All basement and first floor air outlets valves closed and plugged with blue mechanic’s «Scott Towels» formed into a ball shape in the air duct just upstream of the outlet (watch for PK screws to avoid hand scratches !),

2) Basement door kept closed to turn the system into a three story rather than a four story building ventilation wise (helps reduce the vertical temperature gradient),

3) Thermostat (located on the second floor) set at 23 C,

4) All blinds kept shut during periods of direct sun exposure (to reduce radiation cooling load - sensible heat),

5) On the last floor (third floor), I have changed the air outlets from the valve style outlet to an air return style outlet (no valve and canted grill providing the lowest head loss);  This substantially minimizes the head loss thus greatly improving the airflow of cold air to the last floor rooms, much needed as they are at the end of the line of a marginally designed system and where the cooling loads are the highest.  This tends to maintain the West exposure bedroom temperatures to 25 C (26 C for a few hours at sunset).  Here are pictures of the previous and later outlets:

The later outlet style can be procured at «Boone Plumbing & Heating Supply Inc.» at 1282 Algoma Rd (near Star Top Rd)

Further the last West bedroom has a ceiling fan which help cold air mixing and further improves comfort at night.

6) I adjust the valves of the second floor outlets adjacent to the windows/exterior walls such and only as to maintain comfort on that floor;  The outlets away from the windows/exterior walls are all kept shut.

Results may vary from Units to Units and systems but at least this provides ideas to avoid going to expensive additional air condition capacity on the last floor using better balancing of the existing AC system.

7) As an option that I have not applied yet, there is still a possibility to slightly increase the furnace blower say by 10% to improve the flow of cold air to the last floor;  Of course this setting could be maintained year round as it will not adversily affect in the heating mode.

8) Note that my AC Condensing and Evaporator Units are the original R22 system (over 16 years old) that has never been serviced and still exhibits plenty of capacity.  So beware of AC salesman who only want to sell you a new system for alleged reduced capacity.

My 2 cents and hope this may give you ideas to balance your system to economically get more summer comfort.

UPDATE 27 July 2015 - Security in Kings Landing

Last month, I reported that unknown individuals and cars had been seen walking/driving in our community at night. They could be looking for an opportunity to steal something. Owners are therefore encouraged to keep their garage doors closed and cars locked at night. In addition, replacing burned-out light bulbs above your garage door will help improve lighting at night and reduce bling spots that could be exploited by potential robbers.

Unfortunately, we have had another car and home break-in in Kings Landing last night. Please inform your neighbors if you are going to be away and report any suspicious activity to the police.

LOST and FOUND (23 June 2015)

A set with three keys was found on the mailboxes. The owner can reclaim them at #37 Kings Landing.

Paint Color for Roof Deck Railing (26 June 2014)

Does your roof deck railing need painting?

After 15 years of continuous exposure to the elements, metal railings around roof decks are showing signs of fatigue. Unfortunately, contrary to the paint color for the front doors and garage doors in our community which are specified in schedule E of the Co-Tenancy agreement (African Night PL #2307), there was no color code to help owners choose the right color to re-paint their roof deck metal railings.  

Using a piece of the rooftop railing that had been protected from the elements and still possessed the original color, we have recently been able to obtain a perfect color match at Randall (corner of Bank and Queensway). For owners with rooftop decks who would like to paint their railings, the picture below contains all the information required for the staff at Randall to reproduce this color.

Rule for adding Comments to the Blog (4 Aug 2013)

Anonymous comments on this blog will be removed. Please indicate your name and unit number when adding comments.

Replacing Air Conditioning (28 June 2013)

Replacing R-22 Refrigerant and/or Air Conditioning Units

As indicated in the analysis conducted for the relocation of air conditioning units, research to find a new refrigerant that could use existing R-22 piping and equipment is ongoing. In fact, thanks to François Gagnon and his outstanding internet research capabilities, it appears that such a refrigerant from Dupont already exist... it is the ISCEON M099. The M099 can replace the R-22 refrigerant in the same AC equipment (evaporator, condenser and pipes).

Until recently, MO99 was more expensive than R22. However, today the trade price of MO99 is lower than R22 and DuPont indicated that availability should not be an issue.

Owners can watch this 2011 video to get a better understanding of how easily a certified specialist can replace R22 with M099 in your AC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKkmMpZAEvI

Owners who find additional information on this product and/or other similar products and AC service companies that service the Ottawa region, are encouraged to share this information on this blog.