How do I turn off my PTAC heat?
October 19, 2018 5:06 PM Subscribe
How do I stop the heat coming out of my McQuay through the wall HVAC system?
I have a "central air and heating" system (McQuay through the wall, not sure of the model number, PTAC system) in my apartment living room and bedroom. It has a switch for controllable heat and a switch for controllable cold air, both of which you can choose from 60-80 degrees, but when it drops below 55 the hot air comes out of it regardless and you can no longer use the AC.
This is really bad for me, as I have a few health conditions exacerbated by excessive heat and a med that frequently makes me feverish, and it is VERY hot even when I turn off the system because the whole building is being heated.
What do I do? Turning it off, there is heat all around regardless (for example, in the bathroom). It's not tenable for me to live like this through the winter, and opening the windows isn't something I can normally do to begin with and definitely can't do at night because of street noise and smoking.
Please hope me! My landlord's only advice is to turn the machine off, which I did. A fan is not helping because it just blows the hot air around.
I have a "central air and heating" system (McQuay through the wall, not sure of the model number, PTAC system) in my apartment living room and bedroom. It has a switch for controllable heat and a switch for controllable cold air, both of which you can choose from 60-80 degrees, but when it drops below 55 the hot air comes out of it regardless and you can no longer use the AC.
This is really bad for me, as I have a few health conditions exacerbated by excessive heat and a med that frequently makes me feverish, and it is VERY hot even when I turn off the system because the whole building is being heated.
What do I do? Turning it off, there is heat all around regardless (for example, in the bathroom). It's not tenable for me to live like this through the winter, and opening the windows isn't something I can normally do to begin with and definitely can't do at night because of street noise and smoking.
Please hope me! My landlord's only advice is to turn the machine off, which I did. A fan is not helping because it just blows the hot air around.
Somewhere there is a breaker/fuse that could be shut off to shut off the unit. Do you have access to a breaker/fuse panel? If yes, you can shut it off there. Certainly the landlord could. I'm assuming you can't just unplug it.
I don't understand why the unit would constantly blow hot air even when switched off, though. If it is hot, it is either burning gas or heating an electrical element, both of which are things that should be shut-off-able. Are you saying that it continues to produce heat even when completely turned off? Are you sure you are turning it off all the way? Is there a fan that blows even when the unit is switched off? That would be weird in my experience.
posted by Mid at 7:11 PM on October 21, 2018
I don't understand why the unit would constantly blow hot air even when switched off, though. If it is hot, it is either burning gas or heating an electrical element, both of which are things that should be shut-off-able. Are you saying that it continues to produce heat even when completely turned off? Are you sure you are turning it off all the way? Is there a fan that blows even when the unit is switched off? That would be weird in my experience.
posted by Mid at 7:11 PM on October 21, 2018
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posted by ch1x0r at 7:19 PM on October 19, 2018