for many years, i lived in a 100 y.o. building which contained my rent stabilized apartment. towards the end of my time there, my winter apartment temperatures reached 90+ degrees. i contacted the super who reiterated it was an old building. eventually, i reached the owner, who hired a plumber to stop by. turned out the radiators had valves costing <$5.00 each which had to be sporadically replaced. once that was done, i stopped sweating in 20 degree weather.
28
My son lives in a pre war building and it does get warm inside his 5th floor unit, in winter. He has solved his problem by keeping the bathroom window slightly crack open, his mirror doesn’t fog up while showering and the apt smells fresh through winter.
7
Open the window a couple of inches from the top.
6
Open windows! Works for me!
4
Leave New York.
For what you spend on your co-op you can rent (or own) a single family home elsewhere in the US.
I love visiting your city but I cringe at what you folks spend to live there.
9
If you don't have a shut off valve on each radiator, ask your super or manager to install them as soon as possible. "Cooling down" the apartment through opening windows is a complete waste of heat and energy.
20
Wow. I don't believe this. You mean you don't have thermostatic radiator valves in the US-of-A?
In Germany all rentals, coops and condos, that have central heat distributed via water/steam and radiators, are required by law to have thermostatic radiator valves. They pay for themselves in just a couple of years. You save lots of money (and energy) when you stop over-heating parts of the building. And everybody is much more comfortable. It's a complete no-brainer.
Now of course the land-lord (or the whole co-op board) has to poney up the money to pay for the valves, whereas the savings go to the tenents. That is why the government has to step in and make it a law. The invisible hand of the market is never going to get you thermostats.
You need to live in a country like Germany, with government of the people, by the people, for the people. Then you get thermostats.
Now in case somebody thinks "that's socialism": In Socialist East Germany they didn't have thermostats. In many buildings they didn't even have on-off valves. In West Germany we had on-off valves, and then got thermostats - in the 1970s.
20
@TD: You write "Now of course the land-lord (or the whole co-op board) has to poney up the money to pay for the valves, whereas the savings go to the tenents."
That's NOT how it works here! If it's a landlord, the landlord pays for the valves AND saves money on heating costs. If it's a co-op, the shareholders pay for the valves and the same shareholders save money on heating costs.
And, BTW, we do have thermostats here, thanks! To my knowledge, thermostats do not have any political affiliation.
15
How much pollution is emitted every winter by oil-burning furnaces that overheat millions of apartments across the Northeast and Midwest? It must be staggering, and a huge contributor to climate change.
18
I heard once that the reason NYC apartments are overheated is because when many buildings went up, the Spanish Influenza was a major concern, and people believed that fresh air would stave it off-- thus every apartment was heated so that you could be comfortable with the windows open in the dead of winter. Not sure how true it is, but having a historical reason for my discomfort seems to help a little...
10
Regulating heat in each apartment is probably impossible, but thermostats can be placed in representative units -- or the coldest apartment in the building, if need be -- to govern the heating cycles. When the temperature is 82, there won't be any heat.
Instead of opening the windows, try a new coop board.
11
In some buildings, heat in individual Apts can be turned off. We had the heat turned off and the radiators removed in our Apt, but the pipe attachments are still there is any future buyer wants to use them. We heat our space with small electric heaters, very cautiously used, and large vats filled with water boiling on the stove. We check the water every 35 minutes. At night, we just use a lot of blankets. Anything is better than the hideously extreme very dry heat that made my fingers swell and bleed.
5
I’m in a retirement community. NOT in NYC. But we have the same problem. Summer and winter.
In the 5 winters we’ve spent here, we have NEVER turned on the the heat. Daily, we have windows open. Even so, sometimes it gets too hot. The corridor is often heated to 82 degrees. Yes, I can even check that down the hall where there’s a thermostat, which is locked. Or I’d change it.
In summer, the corridor can get to 85 degrees. (And we used to have a neighbor who loved 85 degrees year-round, which affected us too. Sadly, she is now deceased. Sort of sadly...) So in summer the air-conditioning is on 27/7, just to keep it at a comfortable level in our apartment.
There is isn’t much we can do about this. And winters are actually best, as the forced air is not causing “forced dust” on a constant basis.
But it’s difficult to regulate an apartment by opening windows. It’s not possible when it’s snowing. And at night you can’t be sure how low it will go or how hot it might get - cuz you’re asleep. Or trying to be.
Well, it could be worse.
7
I live on the second-to-top floor of a building with steam radiators. By the time the heat gets to me, apartments on the first few floors may be too warm. Seems as if that’s pretty easy to understand.
6
When I lived in an overheated Manhattan apartment there was no way to regulate the temperature in winter. I would crack a window in an attempt to cool the air, but an arctic blast would blow through the crack, creating a different kind of discomfort. So I would close the window within minutes, the first oscillation in a never ending cycle of futility. The only way I found to get comfortable in winter was to move to California. Unfortunately other people had the same idea and the state if full now.
27
I turn off my radiators - there is a knob that controls the water supply to the radiator and I turn it on and off depending on whether I want heat or not. This is supposed to be against the building's rules ("only the maintenance person is supposed adjust the radiators"), but what they don't know doesn't hurt them.
It's just the nature and problem of radiator heating: it has two settings - on and off. It also means that the hot water is set very hot in the winter which erodes the rubber washers in the taps, which is why apartment faucets all drip.
10
I'm surprised (and a bit disappointed) that you didn't mention the stack effect, and how opening your windows can make it hotter!
Hot air rises. When we heat the air inside a building, it rises and creates increased pressure at the top and decreased pressure at the bottom. The increased pressure at the top forces the air out of the building through the cracks, the opening at the top of the elevator shaft, and any open windows.
The decreased pressure at the bottom brings in more cold air--especially through window AC units left in all winter. Some apartments on the first floor can never get warm.
When the upstairs neighbor opens the window, more heat escapes, and more cold air comes into the lower units. The downstairs neighbors get cold and complain. The super turns up the heat. The upstairs neighbors open a second window. More heat escapes and more cold air comes in below. And the downstairs neighbors...
Sometimes there's one small problem somewhere in the building (faulty steam trap?) that starts off this self-reinforcing loop.
This hasn't always been a problem. In the past, many tenants didn't even get adequate heat. But now, there is the state Multiple Dwellings Law which requires all units to be heated as specified in the law with severe penalties. (This law sorely needs to be rewritten.)
The best recommendation is to hire a mechanical engineer for an energy and comfort audit. They can sometimes fix small problems that have oversized impacts.
14
In my case, my NYC apartment was too warm as well, so I had the super take out one of my two full-sized radiators 30 years ago. I've never missed it since and gave me its valuable floor space for other uses. I turn on the other one perhaps once a year on the coldest day. The other warm apartments keep my apartment temperature just fine in the winter without my radiators percolating and spitting.
14
The energy waste is what mostly irks me. Sure one can open the windows, or use a fan, but it's just more wasted energy. Worse cases is when it is so hot that some people (I know some, for real) have to turn on the A/C, while the heating is going on full strength. It's staggering how one of the most "green" places in the US is so incredibly wasteful in something so simple and basic that most of the rest of the world has figured it out perfectly well.
35
@po: I invite you to provide a citation or other proof that "the rest of the world has figured it out perfectly well." Because they haven't!
6
Someday I'm going to do research on how past generations of NYC apartment dwellers dealt with this same problem -- because it has to have been a problem for at least the last 50 years, and maybe a century. But WAS it a problem? Everybody I know in our complex (9 16-story buildings, 1950 vintage) just keeps their windows open a crack (or wider depending on how hot it feels indoors), and maybe that was always the protocol for urban apartment living. I suspect that the only reason it is perceived as a "problem" nowadays is because we're all used to the idea of central HVAC systems that operate automatically, and only work efficiently if all the windows are tightly shut; and many people just can't wrap their minds around systems that actually require periodic physical adjustment. In the warmer months, we choose to live without AC units, so we have a similar summertime protocol, which involves keeping blinds drawn in certain rooms during the heat of the day, and making other adjustments at night to take advantage of cool breezes. It's not rocket science, but it DOES take thought, and effort, and attention, and most people can't be bothered.
16
I had this isssue and I disconnected one of my radiators. Bring in less heat, save energy, be comfortable.
14
Try San Diego!
4
One of the things I miss most about NYC after moving "to the rest of the world" is the very hot heat, usually included in ones rent in an apartment.
"Out here" we live in drafty "houses" and have to micro-manage the thermostat because YOU USE IT - YOU PAY FOR IT.
Ditto with the SHOWERS in NYC - which are are often on the same industrial boiler systems as the heat - endless hot water after those cold winter days.
20
I experience the same problem when the temperature outside is in the 50 degrees range. I called the management company for my building to complain and they said "if it's too hot, crack a window open." I responded by saying "I'm sure the building owner won't like the idea of paying large oil heating bills when it's not necessary. Doesn't the boiler have a thermostat that can be set to a certain temperature that will cause the heat to automatically shut off?" Within a half hour after I spoke to them the heat was turned down.
13
There are ways to mitigate overheating. One is a thermostat system placed inside the building in various apartments. This regulates the temps as it would in a house, calling for heat only when those thermostats dip under the set point. It may work well in some buildings, but not all. It is worth looking into. Of course, this assumes that all valves and radiators are in proper working order. In a very short time, the landlord will save money and residents will be more comfortable. And, it saves energy and best of all, human capital!
8
I live on the NW side of a Manhattan high rise, with radiators I can’t control in the LR and the BR. For years, I have had to open windows - and sometimes put on the AC - to keep from suffocating during the winter. (My windows do not open on the top, so I can’t use that solution.) I hate the waste of energy, but I like being able to breathe. A couple of years ago, I bought one of those silver emergency/reflective “blankets” (about $15 on Amazon), folded it in half (silver side out), and covered the LR radiator so that the heat reflects back into the wall, gifting my neighbors. I still get some heat in the LR - and I still open the windows slightly sometimes because I like fresh air - but the apartment very rarely feels overheated now.
13
I live in a six story, 67 unit building from the mid 1950s. It has a single pipe steam system as nearly every building of this size and era. Larger radiators were provided on the upper floors as they tend to be colder and smaller ones lower down. Even so, I believe everyone on the two lowest floors have their radiators turned off, while I have all of mine on the upper floor turned on. The usual aim is to have a "balanced" system where steam reaches each radiator at the same time. Obviously, this is impossible here. Changing the heating system would likely cost more than the building is worth and is not an option. I find my apartment comfortable and the temperature never goes below 72 and rarely over 80.
9
@David: Exactly: the aim is to have a balanced system! We hired a steam heating consultant for our building some years ago; he provided very helpful solutions.
If a building has single-pipe steam heat, most of the radiators will have that small pointy-topped valve on the far end. What most people DON'T know is that those valves are available with DIFFERENT SIZE HOLES at the top (where the steam escapes). The answer is for the lower-level floors to have radiator valves with a very small hole (makes it take longer for those radiators to get hot), and the upper floors have radiator valves with a large hole (makes the heat shoot up to the top of the building, thus "balancing" the heat).
This is a very do-able and inexpensive "fix" for any overheated and underheated rooms, and it can be customized not just by what floor you're on, but also for southern exposure rooms that get more sun versus northern exposure rooms that tend to get colder. It also works to balance heat in a building that may have an extension that's more exposed (and/or less well insulated) than the main part of the building.
You can also mix-and-match valve sizes as needed within any given apartment. There is no need to remove radiators, and you're not tinkering with the main "on/off" control (the one at floor level) for any radiator.
10
One solution we had was to request that half of our heat sources be turned off. There is only the on or off option available but it made a big difference in at least limiting the amount of heat that can pour into our space. Otherwise it's a matter of constantly fiddling with windows, clothing the entire day long. The worst is a rainy day because then the windows can't even be cracked at times - the other day the indoor thermometer in our bedroom said it was 78 in there. Miserable.
We use ceiling fans in the rooms that have them to push air around since still air feels worse. In the spaces that don't have them we bought Vornados - they aren't fans but air circulators. It does make a difference - and makes a difference during air conditioner season as well.
I would rather be cold than hot - I have solutions for getting warmer. The absolute worst though is watching someone in my building marching to complain that their apartment is cold wearing short sleeve shirt, shorts and flip flops.
21
We live on the top floor of a pre-war building in Queens. We had the same problem years ago. The super explained that none of our radiator valves worked because previous tenants had tried to regulate the temperature by partially closing them. They don't work that way; they're either open or closed. If left half open the rubber or leather gasket is destroyed and then the valve is open no matter which way you turn it. Being a condo, the cost of new valves would have been on us. The super had me stick a nail in the radiator vent hole. That limits the circulation so less heat is produced. Not ideal, but it definitely helped. Several years ago, the board installed thermostats in the coldest rooms in the building, our bedroom being one of them. That, and switching to natural gas, has saved the building a lot of money. The temperature in our apartment is 68° to 72° all winter. It feels colder sometimes from the draft coming in through the 30 year leaky double pane windows, but that's a different problem.
10
@Ralph If your radiator steam valves are in bad shape, you would do well to have them replaced. Eventually, they will start leaking and the water will go down and damage the ceilings of your neighbor. In some valves, the gasket can be replaced, though this depends on the design. Turning the valve half way open is a common mistake and leads to clanking. Steam is denser than air and will not easily enter a radiator unless the air is allowed to vent. The nail is intended to keep the air in the radiator, but is not an ideal solution.
15
I think this is an only in NYC solution. I live in a 1910 townhouse and the temperature runs from too hot to too cold, especially at night. My solution? An air conditioner with a thermostat so that if the room gets to hot, the air conditioner goes on. Not cheap and not energy efficient -- and somewhat stupid -- but it works.
15
Too many old buildings in this city with antiquated systems attempting to juryrig corrections.. Tear down those brownstones and post-war co-ops. Built new buildings with efficient mechanical systems.
@landless: Good thing you're not in charge!
There's a reason brownstones command a huge price premium and it has to do with the fact that they're built solidly and are aesthetically pleasing, as opposed to modern floor-to-ceiling glass box condos that must be a nightmare to heat OR to cool
20
To all those who insist all you have to do is open the window - and to all those who reply that even after opening the window, it's still uncomfortably hot in your apartment --
Hot air rises to the highest allowable point - your ceiling, in this case - and will fill the area below as it requires more room --
If you really want to vent the hot air in your apartment you should open (pull down) the upper sash on the window so it's opened at it's highest point --
The hot air will immediately vent out and escape through the upper opening - and, as it does so - it will create room for the hot air below (at your living level) to rise up towards the ceiling and escape through the opened upper sash --
Yes - I know -- in may older apartments, those windows have not been opened for years - and may be difficult to open due to layers of paint or other issues --
However if you can find a way to pull down the upper sash on your window - I guarantee your apartment will cool down in about thirty minutes --
If the windows operate easily - you can actually use that as method to control the comfort level in your apartment - pulling down the upper sash when it becomes too hot - then closing it when you want to warm up a bit --
Opening the lower window might provide you with a breath of fresh cool air - but it's really not an efficient method to lower the temperature caused by steam heat from an overactive boiler ...
41
@Howard G
Actually, you should open both the upper sash and the lower sash - then the hot air goes out and the cold air comes in - that's the way sash windows are supposed to operate, they set up air circulation.
17
@RJ -
Very good point - thanks for adding it in...
2
Goof grief!! Open some windows if needed......and, use a SMALL box fan or two to gently distribute the air all around the apartment. This works for me in my small house, with similar problems, and a not so balanced heating system.
JimF from Sewell
7
@frazeej
The questioner said she did open the windows, and it was still 82 inside.
We kept all the radiators turned off except the tiny one in the bathroom. Since the apartment faced South, it was nice and cozy that way.
You would think a Coop would not want to waste its own money by over-heating.
14
I am sorry but seriously it's cold outside! If you open a window and your house is still "82 degrees" you should grab the fire extinguisher
2
I find it's hottest in my apartment when it's the coldest outside so I've always figured my super is trying to compensate by jacking up the heat. I just always find it comical that it can be in the teens outside but I have a AC running
5
Breed tropical fish and make money.
13
@Tarragon Mugwort, it’s just that in the summer, the building has no central AC and the 5th floor feels like a furnace, with table fan blowing hot air.
1
Open your window
4
You can regulate easy with opening a window slightly and you should always have a little ventilation for safety and for oxygen consumption.
5
@Alan Einstoss
You will never run out of oxygen in an apartment with closed windows.
12
How unfortunate that this article fails to mentions the appalling waste of fuel by overheated NYC apartment buildings. The problem is more than a disamenity, however much we can complain. According to a recent report by the Urban Green Council, the high levels of fuel consumption in our buildings is one of the biggest single contributors to the emissions produced by the city. Thermostatic radiator valves should be seen as more than a nicety that would make us all more comfy; in a world of climate change and escalating emissions, they---and other measures---are a necessity.
82
Open a window! Done. How about some real advice for the thousands of people in NYC who have insufficient or no heat?
14
I've found a dual window fan with multiple speeds and separate direction settings to be exactly the thing. Intake of course to cool. But also, let one side exhaust and turn the other off for mild cooling. When it's really cold, turn both to exhaust to block out the outside air from entering. Cheap fix.
https://tinyurl.com/y9sl7pdq
3
How is opening windows to let out the costly oil or gas-fired heat not insane? Climate change. Global warming. Extreme weather. CO2 into the atmosphere. Waste of money. Waste of fuel resources, in every direction. If years of complaining to the Board has no result then get a new Board. Put it on the agenda to be addressed. Hire a lawyer. DO something besides add to poor Mother Earth's misery.
74
@Rabble: Doesn't the air-conditioning of buildings in the Virgin Islands also contribute to climate change? Or did you get an exemption from the laws of physics?
6
I used to open the window of my old 4th floor walkup apartment when it got too hot. Then I saw that the windowsill and everything near it was being covered in a layer of black grime. Opening the window isn't a great solution given the amount of pollution that it lets into the house.
21
and what a waste of resources!
19
@Heather N Hate to break it to you, there is pollution inside and out. The worst kind is the tiny particulate matter, which is so small you can't even see what is getting into your lungs.
You could invest in an air filter if you are very concerned, but make sure you do your research. They are not all created equally, and the ones that really make a difference to your health tend to be the more expensive ones.
3
@Heather N Get an air purifier - wirecutter's got some good recommendations.
1
We have radiators recessed in the walls under the windows in our 1883 building renovated in 1938, and I have two of them permanently turned off, The one in the kitchen is always on, even though I want it off. I've asked several times to have the valve replaced, but they never have.
I'd rather be too cold—the answer is more blankets—than too hot, which makes for a sleepless night.
People who don't live in apartment buildings, or NYC, likely won't understand New Yorker's concerns about this perennial problem.
42
In my 30+ years of living all over Manhattan and Brooklyn, whether in rent regulated apartments or rented coop units, the issue of overheating and, much worse, under heating due to poor boiler control is a constant. Or when the boiler runs out of oil - how many times have we all heard that one?! Complaining about it to fellow tenants and the super or landlord is a given this time of year.
Over/under heated apartments is one of the 'joys' of living in NYC! And, like the weather, you can complain about it but there is little you can do about it!
11
And none of the NYTimes specialists suggesting installing air valves with various size vents? And none of them suggesting ensuring that the cut off valves in all apartments be checked to ensure that they are working?
No one asked whether the letter writer lives in the line immediately over the boiler, or closest to the boiler?
If you live in a building heated with steam there are air valves installed on the end of the radiator - simply ensuring that the a valve with the smallest vent is installed on the radiators in this apartment will reduce the amount of heat. Cost? About $20 per valve. Borth Gorton and Hoffman make such valves.
As for cut off valves (which should be either completely open or completely shut) they should be operational. In my apartment, I have two radiators in a large living room with two exposures. Nontheless, I keep one radiator turned off unless we are visited by the Polar Vortex.
A final thing that the building could do, is to verify the amount of time that it takes for heat to reach the nearest line and the furthest line. They may need to replace, or add additional air valves in the cellar. Gorton makes No. 1 and No. 2 valves and they can balance the systeme so that there is no more than a 10 min. difference in heat distribution.
With respect to nightime heating, 55F was appropriate and comfortable.
One does not need to engage in insanely expensive thermostatic valves.
34
Thank you. Perfect. I do not know why landlords and coop boards don't try to save money by installing appropriate valves. And at night, 55 F. is plenty warm.
11
@manhattanite7: Oh yeah, 55 Fahrenheit is fine if you're an Eskimo. It's absolutely not appropriate for babies, young children, the elderly, and the infirm.
And, BTW, thermostatic valves are NOT insanely expensive.
6
There doesn't seem to be a happy medium. In my case I find that although the heat just reaches the "legal" minimum, it is way too cold for sleeping comfort in this excessively frosty weather...and there are so many warnings about space heaters that I am reluctant to try one. Comments about these heaters would be welcome!
5
@Dot, I'm pretty leery of portable heaters too and my apartment is usually too cold for me but unfortunately my apartment has a heating system that I have no control over at all. I keep an electric throw on the couch which does the trick for me and I sleep on top of an electric blanket which keeps me warm. When it was on top of me, I'd kick it off most nights and couldn't find it again if I became cold again. These don't worry me like space heaters.
6
@arkaydia Thanks so much for taking the time to reply!
5
@Dot
I bought a Vornado space heater recently. The new ones are much safer than in the old days. I turn it on only for a few minutes until the place warms up and turn it off before going to bed. It helps a lot, but expect a higher ConEd bill.
8
Here we have people complaining about too much heat in New York City apartments and then there are people who have no heat.
I'd rather have too much heat.
15
no you won't. been there. you can't sleep and your skin and nose dry out.
12
@xyz
Put a container of water, about an inch or two high on each radiator. Refill daily.
3
@xyz First World Problems. Been living in apartments my entire life. That was never an issue. Back to my point - if you think walking around in Winter jackets in your apartment is any fun think again and go look at what's been happening in New York City housing. Talk to those folks. I'm sure they won't hesitate to have a good laugh about your dry skin and nose.
7
Opening windows decreases room humidity as well as temperature, leading to painfully dry skin and nasal passages.
This seems to be lost in this discussion.
14
@5barris Huh? I have two indoor / outdoor (2 story house) with the outside and inside humidity.
The outside is almost always higher than inside. Outside air is much more humid.
Now if you're saying (and you didn't) that opening a window pulls more dry, heated (and less humid) air into the room then... But you lost that in the discussion it appears.
1
The northwest corner of the building will always require more heat then the rest of building.
A state of the art heating system with individual zones for each room can help heat the building uniformly.
In many older buildings with steam boilers and radiators there are only two settings for the entire building, on and off.
On until the coldest unit reaches the minimum temperature required by law regardless of what the rest of the building is.
11
You can swap old valves for valves designed to be placed according to where the boiler is in the house. You want more heat to go to radiators farther from the boiler; the ones closest always get hot sooner.
Ask any cat. Mine sits at the radiator that's right above the boiler at 7AM when the thermostat kicks on.
13
If given the choice, i prefer too much heat than too little. Many older buildings in New York have antiquated systems that do not function as originally intended. Management would rather just overheat than fix the problem. Even in a coop buildings, I have had to suffer with a horrible systems which would not be tolerated in other U.S. cities. The last apartment I had too much heat in, I kept the window air-conditioner installed so instead of opening a window, I just turned on the fan in the a/c for a few minutes.
17
I lived in an overheated walk-up studio apartment on the UES for a couple of decades. It was so relentlessly hot in there during the heating season that I wondered if the owner had his own private oil well somewhere - and this was with the radiator turned off. The problem was with the exposed vertical pipe in the bathroom which I had no control over - until I finally purchased insulation for it. Then the heat came through the insulation! I even sheepishly called the NYC heat hotline to complain when the heat was on even in late May. I was told "Sorry, there's no law against being too hot." To anyone wondering why I didn't move - I couldn't afford to.
51
Steam heat is actually very efficient. Con Edison even offers steam service to many customers in NYC.
4
@Lifelong New Yorker: Insulating ALL the riser pipes in an apartment (with the thickest insulation that will fit) will change the temperature of most rooms quite a bit.
3
I loved having the window open in the middle of winter when I lived in New York. It became more problematic in the spring when at least at the time the law required heat to be provided through Memorial Day even though it was very warm outside. Then, opening the window offered no relief.
12
Last year the De Blasio administration increased the legally required night time temperature in apartments 7 degrees, from 55 to 62. People in my building complain the heat is too hot. Windows are open. The boiler is kicking on and sending up steam practically all night. I had a fleece blanket over a light blanket. Now I'm sleeping with only a light blanket all winter, even during the Polar Vortex! It's not healthy. Lips are chapped in the morning. In the small low income co-op where I live the yearly increase in fuel costs is nearly $10,000. That's a double digit percentage increase and a burden on all New Yorkers. Everybody is gonna pay except the oil and gas companies. Landlords will be going to the Rent Stabilization Board asking for big rent increases because of heating fuel costs. Our little building is putting out a double digit increase in CO2 admissions.
This well intentioned, but misguided law should be reconsidered with public debate. It was 55 degrees at night seemly forever, and New York was fine.
83
The temperature sensor for most single pipe steam systems, and there are other kinds, is located on the exterior of the building. The reason for this seemingly strange arrangement is that it takes time for the boiler to send up steam. If the sensor was indoors, that area would have to get uncomfortable before the boiler would turn on. An outdoor sensor anticipates the need for heat and does not wait for the building to get cold. Most buildings leak air to some degree and a strong wind on one side could make some apartments cooler than others. Some companies sell sensors to be installed on the top floor which prevent the boiler from running if it was too hot there. Other types of heating systems such as hot water and two pipe steam systems allow greater customization of temperature. Many buildings use a heat timer, a micro processor device, that controls how often steam is sent up. This can be 9 mins./hr. at 55F, 30 at 28F and continuous at 5F.
15
We've discussed thermostatic radiator valves for our ten unit co-op, and I think it will lead to more comfort in the room. However our super says it may not save money/fuel, because the system is not regulated by the temperature in the apartments but by a thermostat in the hall.
10
@Frank Lynch
I agree with B above. There are radiator valves which allow the air in the radiator to escape slowly or rapidly.Those which allow rapid escape will allow the apartment to heat quickly. Those which slow the escape of air will heat the apartment more slowly. By placing slow venting valves in apartment which
oveheat, and fast venting valves in apartments which tend to be colder, the buildings heat can be more evenly distrubuted.
10
@Frank Lynch my single pipe low pressure system has benefitted from the good advice of South Shore Plumbing and Heating in Chicago where they recommend an East Coast company, Gorton, that makes quality steam vents to be easily installed, by number shown on vent, from nearest to boiler to farthest; also can be used to suppress regularly the hottest radiators/apartments. Since low pressure steam actually needs some
“make up air” also known by preservationists as “a draft”, opening windows is both useful and a waste. The Gorton vents are much cheaper than the thermostat-driven, the latter, installed as a trial several tenants ago in one regularly too warm bedroom, tenants have reported very mixed satisfaction.
For all those details, single pipe low pressure steam is still great heat! No
filters to clean! No floating dog hair! Put a pot of tap water on a radiator and hydrate your room!
8
@Frank Lynch your super does not want to do the work or spend the money. He is lying about that
1