SSR Air Conditioner Problem

[keny]

We just got back from a 5-day stay at SSR from April 23-28 and had problems with the air conditioner in our room. Our trip to WDW was during a spring heat wave with day temperatures in the lower 90s. The thermostat in our studio room was controlled by a infra-red (IR) sensor which was suppose to keep the air conditioner running while the room was occupied, but turn the air conditioner off while the room was unoccupied. The problem occurred at night while we were sleeping. The room would be comfortably cool when we went to bed, but we would wake up sweating around 3 am because the IR sensor was not sensitive enough to detect us in the room. This was a problem during our entire 5-day stay.

I had read in earlier threads a couple months ago that other DVC members have experienced problems at DVC resorts with their room thermostats. We were aware of the IR sensor situation before our stay and asked the front desk staff during check-in how the sensor could be bypassed. Nobody at the front desk seemed to be aware that there were sensors on the thermostats so we didn't get our question answered. For the first couple of days we tried hanging balloons from the ceiling fan at night to simulate movement in the room, but this did not work. During the middle of our stay, SSR maintenance came to our room and assured us that the IR sensor had been bypassed and that the thermostat would allow the air conditioner to run continuously through the night. We continued to have problems with the air conditioner turning off for long periods of time for our remaining three nights despite having maintenance checking our thermostat and air conditioner for the next three days.

We were told by SSR maintenance that the IR sensors were installed as an energy saving device after a DVC member vote. I believe the idea is good if the system works properly. The maintenance staff informed us that the IR sensor should detect body heat while the occupants sleep, but may not detect the presence of sound sleepers during the night. I found that the sensor requires significant movement in bed to activate the air conditioner; this was even after it was supposedly placed in bypass mode.

I am interested in knowing if others have had similar problems with the room temperature at a DVC resort. With the summer season approaching, this is an issue that should be brought to the attention of DVC management.

 

[LeCras]

We are at SSR at the moment and have had no problems with the aircon at all. DH and I are staying in a 1BR and my family have a dedicated 2BR. Is it possible that the unit in your studio was malfunctioning? I'm only saying this because my DH hates it when the bedroom is too hot, and he hasn't complained.

Charlotte

 

[DrTomorrow]

keny - I see that was your first post; Welcome to the DIS and the DVC forums. Sorry your first post had to be a negative one; since you've been reading the DIS for months, it's too bad that there was nothing positive for you to post about. Where is your home resort, and how long have you been a DVC owner? Was this your first DVC stay?

I'm curious about one part of your comment: are you saying that the sensors detect heat or movement?

Oh, and has anyone else heard of the "DVC member vote" for HVAC sensors?

Again, welcome!

 

[bicker]

IR is pretty-much standard practice in the hotel business these days, probably because so many guests would leave their rooms without turning the themostat off. With the cost of energy so high, I suspect we'll be seeing a lot more of that sort of thing. If nothing else, I'm glad for the energy conservation it imposes, and I know as a member I'd be happy for the lower maintenance fees I'd be paying, but I don't remember reading about a specific vote about this at any of the DVC properties. I couldn't imagine there ever being a vote about an operational issue like this. Perhaps they meant that there was surveying done. That I have participated in, and I seem to remember there being a lot of questions about trade-offs between comfort and maintenance feeds. I voted for lower maintenance fees for many of the options.

 

[Sammie]

We never have problems with these systems but I will tell you that inaminate objects won't help.

The sensor utilizes Infrared technology and intelligent decision circuits to detect people, not motion; therefore, movement of inanimate objects has no effect on operation.

The infrared people sensor is highly sensitive and detects body heat, even if the guest is sleeping.

So I guess if it is shutting down completely when some are sleeping, they are not generating any body heat.

Sorry can't blame DVC for that.

 

[DisneyFreaks]

We haven't experienced this at any of the DVC resorts but we did have alot of problems at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We baked in the room each night. It was extremely hot while we were there so it was pretty bad. I think they must have the same sort of a/c at Coronado Springs also because we couldn't stay cool at night there either. This is why we always book our stays at the end of the year or very early in the year now. It's not as hot in Florida then. Our trip to SSR is in december. I hope they don't get hit with a heat wave. Sorry to hear you had an uncomfortable experience.

 

[MickeyCrazed]

We also had problems with the air conditioning at SSR.
Either the room was way too hot, or way too cold.
We could never get it adjusted to a comfortable temperature.

 

[Boston5602]

I stayed at POP the first week of Feb and I had the same problem. Come back to the room it would be warm and stuffy turn thermostat from 70 to 69 ----1 ONE degree and it wouold go from warm to freezing and still say it was only 69 something was wackyyyyyy

 

[DrTomorrow]

We never have problems with these systems but I will tell you that inaminate objects won't help.

The sensor utilizes Infrared technology and intelligent decision circuits to detect people, not motion; therefore, movement of inanimate objects has no effect on operation.

The infrared people sensor is highly sensitive and detects body heat, even if the guest is sleeping.

So I guess if it is shutting down completely when some are sleeping, they are not generating any body heat.

Sorry can't blame DVC for that.

Re: the underlined words - bet they don't have that problem in Vegas!

Re: the bolded words - Sammie, you've ruined a good thing for me; I used to be able to put a smile on my face simply by imagining hundreds of DVC villas all over WDW with ceiling fans festooned with balloons spinning the night away....

 

[perdidobay]

Too bad they don't do what the hotels we stayed at in Ireland do, you use your room key in a slot by the door to turn on the electricity in the room, and when you took it out, it turned off all power..... but we found that you could use any card with a magnetic strip

 

[happymommy]

We just returned from the Swan (me, DD7 and DS9) and I had known about these motion sensors in the room prior to our visit. Here's how it went with us:

I found a maintenance man in the hallway when we were getting settled. I had him come in our room and I explained that DS has asthma (which he does and it was really bad for a few weeks this spring). I explained that the air needs to be constantly flowing to keep the humidity and heat down, and wanted to know how to bypass this system. He (lied, but must have been told to do so by superiors) said as long as the doors are bolted, the system will run. Well... we went out for the evening, and upon returning to the room, it was about 90 degrees in there! I called and they sent the SAME guy up to our room. I explained that this was unacceptable and it needed something done. Know what he FINALLY did? He TOOK OUT THE FUSE from the motion sensor. He explained it's to save energy, but agreed to do it. So, if you have a screwdriver I guess you could do it yourself, but next time I'm in a hotel room with one of those sensors, I'll make sure to have them take the fuse out (it's a little metal/glass piece). There is no "override" apparently or at least not at the Swan - just have them disable the motion sensor.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Keny,
WELCOME to the DIS
And, YES ! We had problems at OKW last August. We'd set the AC for 68/69 and around 3-4 am wake up sweating and with a pounding headache. The thermostat would be reading 72-73 ! It was very stuffy in our room considering it was summer and very hot/humid all week. We were not happy. Someone posted this suggestion (and we intend on trying it because we're at OKW again this August). We don't have this problem at our offsite timeshare (Vistana) :

On the thermostat, push the power button and the down arrow (that adjusts the temp) at the exact same time. If you do this correctly there will be the letters "bp" where the temp numbers usually are. You are now bypassing the sensors in the room. You can then set the temp to whatever you want and it keeps the room that cold whether you are in it, moving around or not. You may have to do this once a day as the thermostat tends to go back to sensor mode after 24 hours.

I'm really hoping this works or OKW maintenance will be getting alot of phone calls from me. My dh and ds have awful allergies and cannot deal with warm/stuffy rooms in the summer humidity. And I'm prone to headaches.

 

[DrTomorrow]

Someone posted this suggestion (and we intend on trying it because we're at OKW again this August). We don't have this problem at our offsite timeshare (Vistana) : [Press the power button and the down arrow at the same time]

I'm really hoping this works or OKW maintenance will be getting alot of phone calls from me. My dh and ds have awful allergies and cannot deal with warm/stuffy rooms in the summer humidity. And I'm prone to headaches.

Please be very, very careful, Maria; I've heard that if you press the power button and the up arrow, you initiate the auto-destruct sequence....

 

[MiaSRN62]

Please be very, very careful, Maria; I've heard that if you press the power button and the up arrow, you initiate the auto-destruct sequence....

Thank you for the warning and concern Dr T
I'm afraid I will have to take this chance......I will bid you all a fond farewell should I not return in August..... Ahhhh....the price we're willing to pay to be cool on our vacations

 

[lizanne]

keny, we had the exact same experience at SSR in late Nov/early Dec '05.

I thought it was me. I didn't know anything about the sensors. If it happens on future visits I'll have to let it be known. The only way it will be addressed is if they know it is a problem and people complain.

 

[ddave]

We have had this problem at SSR and BCV, not at OKW. BCV was a studio, and SSR was a 1br. We did not have this problem in 2br units at both SSR and OKW.

The last time we were at OKW in March, I tried the thermostat over ride but it was a different kind of programable thermostat. Actually didn't need it, it stayed cool.

If this happens again, and they do not over-ride/fix/disable, I will promise the manager of the hotel that I will be standing on their desk the next morning with a flame thrower when they come in. I WOULD NOT/WILL NOT put up with this for my entire vacation.

Sorry, pet peave

 

[Disneemomee]

Just returned from SSR from the week (easter) of the mini heat wave, and I must say the AC in our room (in the Paddock) was awesome. When we would return to the room from being out all day the room was a little warm but in about 10 minutes it was great, nice and cold. No problem during the night either, besides my daughter raising the thermostat becasue she was cold without it being brought to our attention, so we woke up warm and would have to lower it again, but no technical difficulties. Why are you guys so worried about the room, get outside and have fun. THE REASON WE GO IS TO NOT BE INSIDE! No harm, no foul, better luck next time. Good Luck! And have a magical evening!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Disneemomee says : Why are you guys so worried about the room, get outside and have fun. THE REASON WE GO IS TO NOT BE INSIDE!

At 3-4 am ? Do they have EMH at those hours now ? How 'bout Fast passes ? I'd like to get a little sleep during my vacation thank u very much
Go back and read all the posts.....the problem seems to be in the middle of the night when people are trying to sleep.....we wake up to a warm/stuffy room.