Residence Hall Cooling (A/C)

Air Conditioning

One of the best things about living in Los Angeles is the weather, but the end of summer and beginning of fall can also bring above average temperatures to the region. While the majority of Oxy's residence halls offer air conditioning (A/C), some of our classic residence halls do not have A/C built in, requiring other means to keep them cool on hot days. Beginning in Fall 2024 these halls include: Chilcott Hall, Haines Hall, and Stearns Hall.  E. Norris Hall offers built in A/C in all quad shared lounges, but not in individual rooms.

Each year Residential Education and Housing Services (REHS) and the Facilities Department takes several steps to make these halls comfortable:

1. From August to October, all residence halls without central A/C will have temporary A/C units installed to provide cool air to all community lounge spaces and hallways on every floor. While we are not able to provide air conditioning to individual student rooms, the cooled air in the hallways will keep student rooms much cooler.  This method has proven to be highly effective, and is successful at keeping students cool during the hot season.
2. We ask students to keep their windows closed and to lower shades and blinds during the day to reduce overall temperatures in each room. At night, windows can be opened to help vent heat from buildings. Combined with the additional cooling from the portable air conditioners, these measures will reduce overall building temperatures, especially overnight.
3. In order to properly power some of the portable air conditioners, generators have been placed outside impacted residence halls. The generators have been positioned to minimize impact on students. Signs and barricades will alert students to stay away from these units. 
4. Inside the residence halls, you may see temporary air conditioning units as well as large tubes in hallways, stairwells and lounges. The purpose of this equipment is to efficiently circulate cold air throughout all student spaces. It is also a filtering system for removing pollen and other airborne irritants that are common to Southern California. We understand that some of this equipment may impact the aesthetics of the residence hall, but our main goal is to ensure student comfort during the hottest months in Los Angeles. All of this equipment is professionally installed to safety standards. Safety signage will be provided for all equipment. We ask students to use caution when around the temporary equipment and refrain from touching, altering, removing or adjusting it. 
5. We recommend that students bring personal fans to campus, as those will aid in circulating air throughout the room. While we also permit students to bring evaporative coolers to campus, portable air conditioning units are not permitted because the power they require can cause power outages.
6. We will continuously monitor the weather throughout the region, and once the temperatures decrease for the season, typically in the beginning to mid-October, we will remove the temporary equipment from the residence halls.

The Occidental Promise has outlined “elevating the residential experience” as a priority for the College, and we see expansion of air conditioning to all student rooms as an important step toward this goal. In Summer 2024, Pauley Hall, Stewie Hall, and Berkus House saw the inclusion of central A/C, and more information will be shared with the community about future A/C plans.

Information about Evaporative Coolers

An additional option for you to use in your rooms to address hot temperatures is an “evaporative cooler.” These portable coolers can cool a room by up to 10 degrees, and can be purchased at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Amazon and similar stores. Evaporative coolers are only permitted in non air-conditioned res halls. If you choose to purchase a cooler, please note that approved evaporative coolers must have a self-contained water source and require no more than 120 volts of electricity at 300 watts.