Things were beginning to heat up for University of Tennessee students in the early days of spring as they awaited the switch from heat to air-conditioning in University buildings.

Twice a year there are several days when building temperatures don't seem to correspond with the weather outside and every year students make both formal and informal complaints.

Last August Knoxville experienced unusually hot temperatures reaching triple digits. Dorm residents living in Melrose and Strong Hall were left to face the heat without the peace of mind that in a few days cold air would relieve their suffering like it would for other dorm residents.

"It's not too bad until it gets up to 80 or 90 degrees. Then it's unbearable," said Melrose resident Marcus Blankendaal.

Extreme temperatures like those felt last August can cause serious health problems for students. Last
August a female resident of non-air-conditioned Strong Hall suffered from a heat stroke.
Incidents like this have influenced decisions to make changes to the halls said Darrell Lawhorn, General Superintendent of Air Conditioning Services.

Students will never get the chance to experience living in Melrose with air conditioning though. The building is being transformed into teachers' offices and will be fitted with air-conditioning.

Blankendaal finds the situation to be unfortunate. "It's messed up that they are fixing it for teachers when we have to live there," he said. Strong Hall will also no longer house students and will undergo renovations next year.

"The worst part was trying to go to sleep," said Blankendaal who lives on the third floor of Melrose.

The effects of losing sleep can develop into more serious problems. All aspects of life are affected by sleep loss. Grades can drop, relationships can become stressed, and normal healthy habits can be lost.

The human body isn't the only system feeling the effects of these extreme temperatures.

"Some systems are not designed for 90 to 100 degree weather and they break," says Lawhorn.

Twice a year maintenance crews make the switch in all University buildings with A/C and heater units.
But what most students fail to realize is that this isn't their unit from home. There's no flick of a switch for instant relief. As Lawhorn will tell you the switch is a process that takes time.

"In the spring, air-conditioning changeover may not begin until the outside temperature has reached at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit for three consecutive days." But that's not all that Lawhorn said they take into consideration. "We also look at ten day temperature projections before we can make the switch."

The requirements are slightly different in the fall in which the crossover may not occur until, "the outside low temperature has dropped below at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit for a minimum of three consecutive days," said Lawhorn.

But there are even more factors that are taken into consideration when switching the system over. The Facilities Service completes the switchover with two priorities in mind: to maintain the necessary temperatures to preserve equipment and research in progress and to serve the maximum number of people and events as possible says the Air Conditioning Services website.

According to their website, the overall policy is made necessary due to the wide swings in temperature changes that can occur in the fall and spring seasons.

Even after the temperature remains constant it takes crews another two to three days to complete the process. "There are two types of systems," said Lawhorn, "a four pipe and a two pipe system."
A two pipe system can only hold either cold water coming in and out or hot water coming in and out, Lawhorn said. Therefore to convert the system from heat to air conditioning, the water must be drained and refilled with the appropriate water.

These two pipe systems heavily alter the decision of when to switchover. Because of the amount of work and time that is put into switching over, crews watch temperature behavior very closely to make sure they get it right the first time.

This year Air Conditioning Services and other maintenance crews completed the transition on April 17th.

Students complaining about the heat often fail to realize all the work that goes into switching over.
The process is slow and takes time but once the appropriate changes have been made there is one more factor that needs to be taken into consideration said Lawhorn.

"Students need to understand that it is a mechanical system and you're not going to have 100 percent of it running 100 percent of the time."