Jackson Gore Heat Pump Thermostat Replacement Project Receives Overwhelming Approval at Special Owners Meeting

At a special Owner meeting on Saturday, October 25, owners overwhelmingly approved the replacement of all 309 thermostats and 309 heat pumps in residential units of the Jackson Gore campus due to a growing failure rate and inefficiencies of the existing units resulting mainly from age.  The existing heat pumps were installed in the early 2000s, with the completion of Jackson Gore Inn, Adams and Bixby Houses.  The thermostats are slightly newer but still dated with older technology. Total cost of the project is $1,992 million which will be funded entirely through Association reserves and paid out roughly in eight installments starting in November 2025 and extending through April 2029.  No special assessment is projected.

The project phasing has been designed to occur in off season periods and prioritize the highest heat pump failure rate locations starting with the fourth floor of the Inn followed by replacement of units on the 3^rd and 2^nd floors of the Inn, Adams House and finally Bixby, it being the newest of the three buildings.  Project completion is estimated to be in April, 2029.  All 309 thermostats will be replaced throughout the three buildings this fiscal year  while 80 heat pumps will be replaced this fiscal year, 80 heat pumps over the next two fiscal years and 69 pumps replaced in the last fiscal year.

In addition to avoiding the growing failure rate of the heat pumps, inconveniences and potential loss of rental income to unavailable units, the project will have another major benefit. The new thermostats, which will all be installed this fiscal year, will allow central monitoring of an unused unit to determine that temperatures are at an optimum level while the unit is unused.  We project this will result in major energy savings going forward.

Main contractors for the project include Thermal Environment Sales (TES) out of Clinton NY for the heat pumps and Enernet Corporation for the thermostats. Both are trusted, insured and reliable vendors who we have extensive experience with or who come highly recommended. The heat pumps are manufactured by Daiken and thermostats by Thermokon

Every effort will be made to minimize any disruptions and inconveniences as installation has been scheduled for off-season, non-peak periods over the 4-year implementation schedule.