HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA: 'Feels like a fan': Tengah home owners raise more issues with new centralised cooling system

[The_King]

 

 

SINGAPORE: Some Tengah flat buyers who signed up for a centralised cooling system have complained of issues ranging from it not being cold enough to condensation and leaks. 

These home owners have taken to Telegram chatgroups to discuss their concerns, with at least two videos circulating of water leaking from the cooling units in new flats. 

 

Tengah, a 700ha site in the west of Singapore, was marketed as Singapore's first and largest smart and sustainable town, with the centralised cooling system a key feature of this push.  

The cooling system presents an eco-friendly alternative to conventional air conditioning. Instead of using refrigerants to remove heat, it uses chilled water piped into homes from centralised chillers on selected housing blocks.  

While already adopted commercially, the concept is new to public housing and optional for home owners. Those who prefer conventional air-conditioning units can install them instead.  

National grid operator SP Group manages the sign-ups, installation and maintenance of the system and works with air-con manufacturer Daikin, which is responsible for installing indoor units, diagnosing and resolving reported issues. 

According to a website set up for Tengah residents by SP Group, 10,675 households have signed up for the cooling system as of Aug 23 – equivalent to nine out of 10 home owners. 

 

Those who bought flats in Plantation Acres and Plantation Grange – the first two projects in Tengah – began collecting their keys in end-August. As of Sep 26, 295 out of 2,333 units within these two precincts have collected keys, according to figures from the Housing and Development Board (HDB).

CONDENSATION, LEAKS

Several residents CNA spoke to said they have seen condensation or water leaking from their cooling units. 

A home owner, whose flat in Plantation Grange is under renovation, said he noticed a few drops of water on the floor and condensation on the cooling unit even before he turned it on. The issue was resolved after the team connected a valve within the system, said the 29-year-old, who gave his name as Manny. 

A Plantation Acres flat owner who wanted to be known as Ms Lim said she noticed condensation on one of her units when she switched it on. The 34-year-old also found a hole in her trunking, which she asked her interior designer to fix. 

Condensation on an indoor unit of the centralised cooling system: (Photo: CNA reader)

A third home owner, who also gave her surname as Lim, said water dripped from the unit in her bedroom.

 

"Water was accumulated inside the blower unit and when I touched the base of the blower accidentally the water just flowed down. It was slowly dripping thereafter," the 38-year-old freelancer said. 

One video circulating in Tengah residents' chat groups showed water trickling from a cooling unit and pooling on the floor of the living room. Another video showed water leaking from a gap in the trunking used to conceal the cooling system's pipes. 

In reply to these issues, SP Group said it has a "systematic and convenient issues reporting and rectification process for residents". 

Home owners can scan a QR code from an SP Group notice stuck on the walls of their flats to report defects. The notice states that issues will be assessed and an appointment to review the defect will be scheduled by the next business day. 

According to an SP Group spokesperson, the majority of feedback received has been resolved as of Oct 6. The reply did not go into details of specific feedback and how problems were resolved. 

The indoor centralised cooling system unit within a resident's Tengah flat. (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting) Chilled water pipes running into a flat from the front door. (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting) The indoor centralised cooling system unit within a resident's Tengah flat. (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting) Chilled water pipes running into a flat from the front door. (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting) The indoor centralised cooling system unit within a resident's Tengah flat. (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)

NOT COLD ENOUGH

A common complaint from residents CNA spoke to was that the cooling system's airflow was not as cold as conventional air-conditioning. 

Plantation Grange flat owner Manny said the cooling system was not the "usual cold". 

"It's cool. It's definitely better than if you don't turn it on, but it is not as cold as normal temperatures in air-conditioning." 

He said he turned the temperature down to 16 degrees Celsius, but felt that this was comparable to temperatures of between 23 and 24 degrees Celsius with conventional air-conditioning.

The 34-year-old Ms Lim said that even at 16 degrees Celsius, with turbo mode and full fan speed, the cooling system felt more like a fan. 

Since collecting her keys on Aug 29, Ms Lim has switched on the cooling system at least five times for at least half an hour each time.

The system has a cooling capacity of 9,000 British Thermal Units (BTU) – the standard measure for cooling capacity for air-conditioning. 

"To be honest, I'm not sure (if) it's a defect or it's really meant to be like that, because it's not conventional air-conditioning ... but I do know that my current air-con at my parents' place is 10,000 BTU and it's so cold.

"It's so far away from what I'm experiencing."

Others said they were satisfied with the coldness, or that their system cooled down eventually. 

Ms Nurul Atiqah, who is helping her fiance with his Plantation Grange flat renovations, said she encountered the same airflow problem when she first used the cooling system weeks ago. 

SP Group staff advised the 33-year-old finance executive to close all the doors and windows in the flat when using the cooling system. The airflow became colder over the next few weeks. 

Nurse manager Mary Ann, 47, who tried the system just once in her Plantation Acres flat, likened it to a fan but said she was fine with it. She was told that it would take about two weeks for the system to get colder. 

A home maker who wanted to be known as Ms Tan said that the airflow from the cooling unit in her bedroom was colder than the living room's, possibly because the latter area was larger.

"So far the few times I was there before renovation, I felt the (cooling system) was doing well for mine and I could even nap in the house. I could spend hours there because it was cold in the house and outside was very hot and dusty," the 37-year-old said.

 

SP GROUP TO CONDUCT CHECKS

In an email sent to home owners last week and seen by CNA, SP Group said it will conduct checks between Oct 9 and 31 for residents who have collected their keys.

A "remote system check" and a "performance check" will be conducted to ensure cooling consistency, the email said. Engineers will also "finetune" the units if needed, and feedback from residents will be addressed.

During this period of checks, SP Group will also waive all utilities charges for the cooling system. 

In response to queries from CNA, SP Group said: "Due to construction delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, HDB has an accelerated construction timeline to hand over the blocks in Tengah to residents before the delivery possession date."

It needs more time for checks to ensure the centralised cooling system runs smoothly, it added.

SP Group will also test the cooling units of flats where key collection is in the coming months. This process may take up to four weeks and residents may experience "some intermittency" in cooling in the meantime, it said. 

It assured residents that they would not have to pay for rectifications or repairs of the cooling system within a 12-month warranty period unless the faults were due to residents' negligence or tampering.  

HDB said it was aware of feedback from residents on the issues. 

"We understand that SP Group is working closely with the residents to address their feedback and to carry out any rectification works promptly. HDB is supporting SP Group in the process to ensure that the roll-out of the centralised cooling system in Tengah proceeds smoothly," a spokesperson said. 

Source: CNA/wt(cy)

[Coffee_O]

2 hours ago, The_King said:

"Due to construction delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, HDB has an accelerated construction timeline to hand over the blocks in Tengah to residents before the delivery possession date."

knn template excuses. simi lan jiao also due to covid knn. 

 

2 hours ago, The_King said:

Plantation Grange flat

 

2 hours ago, The_King said:

Plantation Acres flat

simi lan jiao name is this sia. no need know the address of the place i hear the name i know its a bird no lay eggs place liao sia LOL

[The_King]

7 minutes ago, Coffee_O said:

knn template excuses. simi lan jiao also due to covid knn. 

 

 

simi lan jiao name is this sia. no need know the address of the place i hear the name i know its a bird no lay eggs place liao sia LOL

mean it is Plantation for low ses

[The_King]

 

[aaur4man]

[DynamiteZerg]

It is a bonus feature. The aircon is giving them free water. Mai complain hokay?

[xixipee]

19 hours ago, DynamiteZerg said:

It is a bonus feature. The aircon is giving them free water. Mai complain hokay?

no wonder they say centralised aircon is environmentally friendly. less cold and get free water to drink 

[XianGe]

On 10/13/2023 at 1:23 PM, The_King said:

mean it is Plantation for low ses

Aka Kampong for peasants 

[XianGe]

Central aircon is for office environment where they always 12hrs aircon... Sinkieland homes not everyone on 24/7 so no point

[pigpigoink]

1 hour ago, xixipee said:

no wonder they say centralised aircon is environmentally friendly. less cold and get free water to drink 

 

they ask moi to sign up, save environment. then moi ish say moi ish no use aircon, isnt it more environmentally friendly? 

 

then they sort of like bo bian liao 

[XianGe]

2 minutes ago, pigpigoink said:

 

they ask moi to sign up, save environment. then moi ish say moi ish no use aircon, isnt it more environmentally friendly? 

 

then they sort of like bo bian liao 

Chiu defeated then flat