Thermostats replaced

Housing takes measures to avoid abuse

September 24, 2007 —

Students in the University Village won't be able to cool that sudden hot flash or warm up that unexpected chill with the same ease that they used to.

Over the summer, Campus Facilities took out the original analog thermostats and replaced them with digital thermostats that have set limits for heating and cooling.

According to Ron Portwine, director of Auxiliary Operations, this change in thermostat control is due to past problems with students abusing the thermostats by setting them too cold or too hot.

"Over the years we've experienced some extremes on each end and had some equipment damage and some unit damage as a result," Portwine said.

"A couple years ago we had a situation over Christmas break where residents turned their thermostats down to 50 in a cold weather period. The pipes froze, flooded the unit out, and caused thousands of dollars worth of damage."

Digital thermostats were first installed in the University Village expansion, and the same installations will take place in the rest of the University Village and in Pine Grove. The First Year Suites and Living Centers already have a similar control over the temperatures in the individual rooms.

The U.S. Department of Energy recommends that heat settings should not go above 68 degrees and cooling settings should not go below 76 degrees. With this taken into consideration, Campus Facilities have the controls set so heating can't go any higher than 70 degrees and cooling can't go any lower than 74 degrees.

Resident concerns were brought up regarding the limit on the cooling settings, mentioning that while it may be 74 degrees downstairs where the thermostat is, the upstairs bedrooms may be warmer. Due to this issue, converting the rest of the University Village and Pine Grove Apartments has been stalled until a better solution is found.

Campus Facilities is currently monitoring upstairs temperatures to see what it is at different times of the day to fix the air flow problem.

Undercutting bedroom doors is one solution that Campus Facilities think may solve the air flow problem. If the doors were undercut, this would allow air to travel back downstairs with more ease.

"If you are in your bedroom at night and the air is on and the door is shut and there's air coming out of the vent, there is no way for air to get back to the furnace to re-circulate then it quits replenishing your room," Portwine said.

For residents who are uncomfortable upstairs, it is recommended that they have the furnace fan running.

"The furnace fan will help the system tocirculate air," Steve Hocquard, assistant vice president of campus facilities said.

Energy conservation was another reason why the heating and cooling control switch was made in the University Village and Pine Grove Apartments.

"Not doing anything was not an option," Hocquard said. "Energy conservation is a necessity with the cost of fuel and utilities."

Portwine agreed that conserving energy was a necessary change to be made.

"We all need to be good custodians of our natural resources," he said. "Our intent is to not do it at the cost of the comfort of the residents."

The University Residence Association does not have an official stance on this issue, but it wants what's best for the residents.

"It is the leadership team's belief of URA that the heating and cooling units should be locally controlled by residents," URA President Shane Williamson said. "The leadership team is not against some sort of regulation, but the current system needs to be changed."