New units being installed to solve cooling issues at Skycourts

New cooling units are being installed at the Empower facility next to Skycourts to resolve the air-conditioning issue that has been dogging the 2,500-odd unit community.

Skycourts residents have been experiencing a warm welcome this summer as a result of insufficient cooling in their apartments.

An argument followed on who was responsible. The Home Owners Association put the onus on district cooling provider Empower, while the latter pointed the finger to the Home Owners Association, controlled by the developer National Bonds.

“I do not wish to be associated with the blame game that is currently going on between different parties involved, and I therefore do not want to be named,” says a spokesperson of the Home Owners Association.

He claimed that the repair work has been done and the cooling system is back to its old state.

“What I can say is that repair work has been done by Empower, and the problem should be solved at this point. It does not matter who is responsible; what matters is that the problem is fixed. There might be isolated incidents of insufficient cooling in some apartments, but the district cooling system should be fine now.”

But unsatisfied residents still complain of overcooled corridors, warm apartments and over-the-top capacity charges.

“Our corridors are still very cold, while the apartments’ temperature is higher. Why can’t this be regulated properly?” says S. Kumar, an Indian living in one of the Skycourts apartments.

According to Vikas Vasudevan, technical manager at Macro, the facility maintenance company at Skycourts, the explanation for this is very simple. “Corridors are being cooled automatically, while cooling in the apartment is regulated by the resident.
When he leaves the house, he supposedly turns of the chiller. The cooling system for the corridors is always on. This results in a temperature difference.”

To that, Kumar responded by asking why can’t the corridor cooling be regulated to say, between 20-25 degrees? This would release extra air-conditioning for the apartments.

High Capacity Charges

Previous to the incident of last week, residents have been expressing their dissatisfaction over the ‘high’ capacity fees, which they find unreasonable and not sufficiently explained.

An agreement was signed between owners and Empower, which was to provide district cooling. However, residents receive their bills from a third-party with whom they are unfamiliar.

Furthermore, it is doubted whether district cooling fees are legitimately charged. “This is not a district cooling unit in 1st place and why are we being charged on par with District Cooling rates,” wondered one reader in response to an earlier article on Skycourts on this website.

The arguments together make many residents of the Dubailand community doubtful whether they are treated fairly in their power consumption charges. 

“Technically speaking, each apartment has its own chillers, but these chillers are regulated as a district cooling system, and can thus be called district cooling. However, I do not know anything about the legitimate rates of such cooling system,” says Vikas commenting on the issue.

“The cooling system in Skycourts is a district cooling system, and the charges are accordingly,” says the Home Owners Association spokesperson. “If you compare the rates to other communities in Dubai, these fees are even considerably well-priced.”

At the time of writing Empower could not be contacted for comment.

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