Steam heating Hell
My building is heated by steam- (or hot water?) filled pipes that run along the bottoms of the walls. There is no knob or other way to turn the heating off– it’s all controlled by a thermostat in the ground floor unit of the townhouse — and I’m on the 2nd floor and was much…
My building is heated by steam- (or hot water?) filled pipes that run along the bottoms of the walls. There is no knob or other way to turn the heating off– it’s all controlled by a thermostat in the ground floor unit of the townhouse — and I’m on the 2nd floor and was much too hot last winter. My landlord said the entire heating system is a single “circuit” so he can’t just turn off the heat on one floor.
It’s starting to cool off again…
Has anyone had any experience with this? What can I get my landlord to do about it?
We went through this whole question last winter in our five floor co-op, circa 1890. I did a lot of research and the answers were pretty fascinating – especially to a chick from California who never imagined myself becomming the keeper of the boiler.
Here’s what I learned…
Our building was originally heated with coal fires in each room. At some point in the 1900’s, a coal fired boiler system was installed with radiators and steam heat. The boiler was stoked once each day with coal and fired up at which point it would burn very hot all day and then at night, the fire would be allowed to die and residual heat would warm the building. During the day the heat would be pretty intense and windows would be opened because it was believed that fresh air was good for one’s health (weren’t they smart!) In the evening, the windows would be closed and heavy drapes drawn to hold in the heat. Coal fires in specific rooms were still an option if needed. Incidentally, the huge radiators that we are all blessed with, are also a bi-product of that time, when they needed the extra capacity to adequately heat. Today, we all insulate and replace the old leaky windows with new double-paned windows that reduce heat loss and keep more heat in. This disrupts the ‘balance’ of the system.
What we’ve done is replaced some of the larger units with smaller ones, and installed thermostatic valves in rooms where we need heat, but want to regulate it more (bedrooms at night). They cost about $150 each for a good one. I won’t repeat the other advice given, but will add it’s important to always have all the units on to maintain the balance.
Perhaps your landlord will put in a smaller unit or spring for a valve control? If you tell him you want to respect the balance of heat in the building, but still be comfortable, perhaps he’ll appreciated it. If not and you plan to live there a while, just spring for it yourself or work out a deal where you pay less rent. If none of the above works, enjoy the fresh air from cracking the window – it’s good for you!
I’d get pipe insullation from your local hardware store and wrap those pipes. I’ve done this before in apartments with exposed risers that let out too much heat. It works.
Me again (poster).
First, thanks to everyone for the posts.
I’m pretty sure it’s a hot water system. There are no radiators, just long pipes running beneath ugly metal plates along the edges of the walls.
My landlord uses some general-purpose handyman rather than a plumber who knows heating systems. He’s not a bad guy– I’ll try asking him to hire someone who knows what he’s doing.
if you’re going to turn off your steam heat radiators, don’t turn the valves off completely (at least don’t leave them that way). Turn them all the way off, then turn them back a quarter rotation. The valve should remain fully seated, but this will help keep it from sticking.
Open a Window!
You can turn off your steam radiator but you shouldn’t. We turned ours off too (we own the house) but then we had to replace various parts of the boiler to fix the damage we’d caused to the system.
I managed to turn my old steam radiators off when my pad overheated but learned the hard way that they should be turned off when actually off to begin with. Else the valves leaks.
The advice about steam versus hot water heat is backwards. In fact a steam radiator needs to be on or off, never in between. But is unclear from your post what kind of heating system you have. I am guessing that you have some sort of continuous loop hot water system. I know nothing about them. If it were one pipe steam systems, you could turn off individual radiators (or all of them). There are also (I saw it on This Old House) individual thermostatic valves which can be inserted before each radiator, automatically turning off the steam to that radiator when a room reaches a certain heat.
And slick? as a landlord, I think it is perfectly reasonable for tenants to want to live in a comfortable apartment. Nothing in the OP’s comments suggested unreasonableness, and indeed the landlord and tenant’s interests are parallel in this issue.
my advice is to thank your landlord for giving you adequate heat.