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July 29, 2008
Help! My neighbor's AC is dripping on us!
Over the past few nights, we have been kept up by the constant dripping of our upstairs neighbor's AC onto our AC. It's ridiculously loud, since the AC is 6 floors above us (it sounds like someone throwing rocks at our window). We spent a considerable amount of money putting our AC in our window and do not want to move it. Is there anything that our neighbor can do to fix his/her AC? We live in a co-op and I was wondering if there was any course of action I can take to have them either move their AC to another window or fix it.
Comments
Also, I've read about placing things on top of our AC to muffle the noise, but it would involve taking apart our AC mounting, which would cost us more money to fix.
Posted by: chnewbie at July 30, 2008 12:04 AM
If the "ch" in "chnewbie" abbreviates "Crown Heights", you have bigger things to worry about than a little noise!
Posted by: guest at July 30, 2008 12:45 AM
I've seen "artificial turf" like material used and it seems to work. They are glued down to the top of your A/C to prevent it from being blown away and are green in color by default but I'm sure you can spray paint it to the color of your A/C to match.
Watering dripping from A/C's is what A/C's do. Even with the drip hose attached.
Posted by: guest at July 30, 2008 8:00 AM
put an old piece of carpet on top or a towel....every high rise has this problem
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at July 30, 2008 8:25 AM
Perhaps your neighbor could put in one of those plastic tubes which would lead the drip to the side. I've seen them as I've walked around town.
Posted by: Putnamdenizen at July 30, 2008 9:22 AM
I know you don't want to hear this, but the solution is putting things on top of the a/c. Many hardware stores sell a foam pad with a magnetic backing that is designed for this purpose. The magnetic backing makes it stick to teh a/c. The foam gives the drip a soft landing.
A/Cs create condensation. The moisture they pull out of the inside air colelcts in the unit. When it is humid, they are going to drip. If they don't drip out, they'll drip in. So, short of getting the upstairs neighbors to move theirs, or moving yours, the answer is placing something on top of the a/c.
Posted by: slopefarm at July 30, 2008 9:23 AM
You seem to think that there is something wrong as you indicate that it needs to be fixed.
This is what a/cs do: remove moisture from the instide air to the outside. I think that the suggestions of putting something on top to muffle the sound are right on.
Posted by: SenatorStreet at July 30, 2008 9:54 AM
strange that you would assume that it's your neighbor that needs to do something.
YOU need to do something, as noted in responses.
Posted by: pluvious at July 30, 2008 12:45 PM
Recommend to them that they clean their AC filter. Solved the problem of a dripping AC for me once. Very simple to do. But that was an extreme case as the filter had not been cleaned for about 4 years. Worth at least trying.
Posted by: Turtlejam19 at July 30, 2008 1:15 PM
Those foam rubber pads work just fine. You could also ask your upstairs neighbor to install a drip pan/tube. I'd try the pads first, though.
Posted by: Bolder at July 30, 2008 1:51 PM
Well, I'm going to take the opposite approach. I believe that it is the dripper, and not the drippee, that needs to solve the problem. In fact we had a similar situation in our coop.
AC units do not have to drip, despite some of the comments above. Many units now use the heat of the compressor to evaporate the water that is removed from the air.
The problem can be solved by having him get a new AC that is dripless, or having him install and route a drain tube along the wall.
I would try and resolve it with him first, but if not I'd complain to the board.
Posted by: denton at July 30, 2008 4:11 PM
I think it is chnewbie's issue to resolve first and I don't think it requires a board intervention. I sit on a board and I am shocked at how often people want the board to resolve situations that really only required neighborly consideration in the first place. chnewbie won't move his/her unit because of the cost? that won't sit well when upstairs neighbors are told they have to move theirs. I am assuming they also incurred expense to install AC. approaching neighbors this way will quickly become a battle of wills. i suggest chnewbie at least try some of the mentioned solutions. so if and when he/she approaches her upstairs neighbors there seems to be the good will of "trying" to resolve the problem first. remember "cooperative" means working together for a common benefit.
Posted by: roofrights at July 30, 2008 5:23 PM
roofrights, I am interested in why it's the poster's responsibility to resolve. I see I am a minority of one, lol, but the OP is the aggrieved party. A coop is only a landlord under landlord/tenant law and in this case it may be that the OP's warrant of habitability is being violated and it may be that the corp needs to fix it.
Since you also have been on a board, let me ask you about a slightly different scenario, say the AC drips on an awning causing it to rot prematurely. Does the corporation have to suck it up and replace the awning? How about when the dripping AC, over time, damages stucco, brick, facade, etc.
If you're living in the Dakota or the Majestic do you think the board will allow your AC to drip down on the stonework? I think not.
Maybe a coop atty can weigh in here...
Posted by: denton at July 30, 2008 8:51 PM
Good freaking God. Its summer, everyone is hotter than hades. Give it another month and cool weather will return. You people who gripe about things like this just love to gripe. If it wasn't water dripping it would be something else - my neighbors ac unit is blocking a square foot of sunlight from my window box - I can hear my neighbors cat peeing in the litterbox - wah wah wah. Why not just put something on your unit or turn up the clock radio at night - or count drips until you fall asleep. In Williamsburg all I hear at night are police, fire, and ambulance sirens. My neighbor's a/c could be throwing a rod and I'd never notice. However, I am accustomed to it and would be hard pressed to sleep if it weren't noisy. Life in the city. Get over it. Or you could just do like all the other crybabies and go file a lawsuit or have the coop board try to buy out or sanction the tenant whose a/c does what every other a/c does in the entire country. Geez.
Posted by: wburghipstersaredirty at July 31, 2008 12:24 AM
Thanks for all of the constructive suggestions. I sucked it up and bought the AC cover (foam with magnetic backing) that slopefarm recommended. It cost $23 and you cut it to fit your AC. It has made such a huge difference and is probably a good investment, as we keep the AC there year round.
Posted by: chnewbie at August 2, 2008 7:17 PM
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