# Cooking smell in AC



## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

We are staying in a new building in Mankhool, Dubai and we have observed that smell of cooking in some other apartment enters our rooms through AC. I have complained to maintenance several times and every time they say they observed some leakage in ducting and fix it but the problem remains unresolved. I need to know whether it is normal problem in most of Dubai buildings having central air conditioning or this is an issue that has a permanent fix ? If the management is unable to fix it, what is the recourse I have ? It's an entirely new building.


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## Visp (Mar 23, 2013)

Most likely it means the ACs weren't installed properly, or the vents weren't, or some other significant structural problem. There's not going to be much you can do about it.


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

Visp said:


> Most likely it means the ACs weren't installed properly, or the vents weren't, or some other significant structural problem. There's not going to be much you can do about it.


Is there any recourse available if the maintenance is unable to fix the problem ? Are there any third party contractors that can help me identify the issues in air conditioning in the apartment ? The lease unfortunately can not be terminated before full 12 month term but I am wondering if RERA can help me if maintenance ignores the issue ?

Finally, may I know if there any decent buildings in Dubai which do not have any issues in air conditioning.


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Sorry but its always obvious when someone of a certain group of nationalities are cooking with onions or certain fishes as the corridors transfer the smells, even if the aircon doesn't.


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## Sunder (Mar 11, 2014)

currently_indian said:


> We are staying in a new building in Mankhool, Dubai and we have observed that smell of cooking in some other apartment enters our rooms through AC. I have complained to maintenance several times and every time they say they observed some leakage in ducting and fix it but the problem remains unresolved. I need to know whether it is normal problem in most of Dubai buildings having central air conditioning or this is an issue that has a permanent fix ? If the management is unable to fix it, what is the recourse I have ? It's an entirely new building.


Is the problem in only your apartment or most of the apartments on your floor ? It is not a normal problem in Dubai. I too stay in Mankhool and never faced this problem.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi,
It all depends on the type of AC system used and also how well it has been installed.
If you are in building with district cooling - then you stand best chance of avoiding smells from other apartments - as each apartment receives chilled water that is converted to cold air with Fan coil units.
When we first arrived in Dubai we stayed for one month in a brand new apartment and we could smell cigarette smoke from the other apartments. We also had no control of temperature in two rooms and it was just like the Arctic!! This apartment block had typically badly installed standard central AC system - not district cooling.
Cheers
Steve


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

Sunder said:


> Is the problem in only your apartment or most of the apartments on your floor ? It is not a normal problem in Dubai. I too stay in Mankhool and never faced this problem.


I know atleast one more tenant on the same floor who tells me that the smell also enters his bedroom and he complained about the same. Many apartments are still unoccupied so far in our floor. The entire corridor has foul smell of onions some times. Once I asked the maintenance guy for the cause of smell in corridor and he said smell may be leaking from the bottom of doors !!!! These are the kind of answers you hear sometimes.


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> It all depends on the type of AC system used and also how well it has been installed.
> If you are in building with district cooling - then you stand best chance of avoiding smells from other apartments - as each apartment receives chilled water that is converted to cold air with Fan coil units.
> When we first arrived in Dubai we stayed for one month in a brand new apartment and we could smell cigarette smoke from the other apartments. We also had no control of temperature in two rooms and it was just like the Arctic!! This apartment block had typically badly installed standard central AC system - not district cooling.
> ...


How do I find the type of cooling system in our building ? I suspect it is the standard ducted central air conditioner. In our 1 bed room apartment, we only have single temperature control for the whole apartment.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

currently_indian said:


> How do I find the type of cooling system in our building ? I suspect it is the standard ducted central air conditioner. In our 1 bed room apartment, we only have single temperature control for the whole apartment.


Hi,
Look on the roof for the air conditioning cooling tower or cooling fans.
If not present - then likely to be distric cooling.
If you are in Mankool - then it is not a district cooling area.
Cheers 
Steve


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> Look on the roof for the air conditioning cooling tower or cooling fans.
> If not present - then likely to be distric cooling.
> If you are in Mankool - then it is not a district cooling area.
> ...


Just curious, which are the areas in Dubai which have district cooling, and which are the areas & buildings which have no indoor air quality issues ?


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

Also the vents look somewhat rusty from outside, is that also normal for vents to be rusty ?


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

currently_indian said:


> Just curious, which are the areas in Dubai which have district cooling, and which are the areas & buildings which have no indoor air quality issues ?


Hi,
Some areas with district cooling include all of the Palm, Marina, Downtown, business bay, Tecom, Discovery Gardens etc. etc.
A lot of buildings seem to have issues with cooking smells, smoking smells, mould, condensation and other issues related to poor installation or maintenance of AC systems.
It is always worth asking existing tenants about AC and maintenance issues before moving to a new building.
Cheers
Steve


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> Some areas with district cooling include all of the Palm, Marina, Downtown, business bay, Tecom, Discovery Gardens etc. etc.
> A lot of buildings seem to have issues with cooking smells, smoking smells, mould, condensation and other issues related to poor installation or maintenance of AC systems.
> It is always worth asking existing tenants about AC and maintenance issues before moving to a new building.
> ...


Do you know some names of buildings in these areas which do not have poor installation issues & have good maintenance ? From my experience, not many people care about these issues so feedback from existing tenants is not reliable.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

Not quite true.

Most of the Marina and just about all of Downtown are not district cooling. TECOM is not district cooling. In the Marina only JBR and one or two other buildings are district cooling.

Business Bay, the Palm, Disco Gardens, JLT are the main district cooling areas. 

To our newcomer, be aware that district cooling means you pay separately for the air conditioning on top of your regular DEWA bill. It adds hundreds, even much as a thousand, per month to the utilities expenses. In your current place you pay zilch for the A/C as it's provided by the landlord and covered by his maintenance fee (or the building owner's operating expenses). 

Do not make the assumption that just because you live in district cooling means you will avoid the problem of smells. There are apartments in DC schemes that reek of sewage, for example. And nothing you can do about it.

Just do due diligence when looking for a place to live. Spend time walking the corridors and sniffing the air. Truth be told, if you live in a building/area with a very high concentration of South Asians, you are going to have the persistent smell of frying onion and curry. 


UOTE=Stevesolar;8494954]Hi,
Some areas with district cooling include all of the Palm, Marina, Downtown, business bay, Tecom, Discovery Gardens etc. etc.
A lot of buildings seem to have issues with cooking smells, smoking smells, mould, condensation and other issues related to poor installation or maintenance of AC systems.
It is always worth asking existing tenants about AC and maintenance issues before moving to a new building.
Cheers
Steve[/QUOTE]


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## crt454 (Sep 3, 2012)

Will you can think that person that's cooking that he is inviting cockroaches to your apartment


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

The last two blocks I was living in the Palm didnt have district cooling.

WE had chiller fees which was for the apartment chiller unit to cool the air and our aircon was completely independent of everyone elses.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

Sounds like district cooling to me....

You still paid separate chiller fees, no? Which is the main point. 



twowheelsgood said:


> WE had chiller fees which was for the apartment chiller unit to cool the air and our aircon was completely independent of everyone elses.


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

My misunderstanding then - I thought district cooling meant your cooling came 'from the district' in your fees i.e. my apartment is 'self-cooled' and not piped in common with every other apartment in the building.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

District cooling means your air is piped in separately from a central plant. Every apartment in a DC building has the air con piped in separately and as such every apartment pays its own cooling charges based on usage as well as a flat annual charge payable 2-3-4 times a year, depending on the agreement.

Non-DC buildings tend to have one central AC unit for the entire building so there's no separate measurement of a/c usage by unit, thus the a/c charges can't be passed along to the tenant as a separate fee and the cost of the a/c is covered by the owners as part of his maintenance fees.

I don't know the ins and outs of your building's situation but the Palm has always been known to be district cooling, it even has district cooling plants. Rule of thumb, if it's Nakheel (as the Palm is) you have district cooling. If it's Emaar (Greens, for example, or Downtown) you don't have district cooling and your air con is "free" with your rent. 

How did you pay this separate chiller charge? 



twowheelsgood said:


> My misunderstanding then - I thought district cooling meant your cooling came 'from the district' in your fees i.e. my apartment is 'self-cooled' and not piped in common with every other apartment in the building.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

twowheelsgood said:


> My misunderstanding then - I thought district cooling meant your cooling came 'from the district' in your fees i.e. my apartment is 'self-cooled' and not piped in common with every other apartment in the building.


Hi,
District cooling means that all buildings in a district are cooled from one square looking district cooling plant building.
It pumps chilled water (at 4 degrees c) to each building and the cold water is converted to cold air by individual FCUs in each apartment/office.
The FCUs - Fan Coil Units are water to air heat exchangers.
The district cooling company measures the volume, incoming temperature and return temperature for each building and bills accordingly.
Interestingly - if the return water temperature is too cold (below 15 degrees c) - the district cooling company penalise the building owners for not extracting enough cold from the water!
Many buildings are badly commissioned or not fully occupied - so this happens regularly.
Cheers
Steve


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Wot Steve says ...... we pay chiller fees to Palm Utilities based upon usage and return amounts.

Interesting - thank you.

I find it funny when people complain about the smells of onions cooking in a part of Dubai where onions have to be as common as potatoes in Ireland  When I lived near Mankhool, all I could small was onions - inside and outdoors.


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

Interestingly, maintenance have been able to fix the smell inside after putting some pressure. The smell outside in corridors is 80%-90% gone.


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