It’s fall. Somebody had to turn the heat on in the residence halls; it didn’t happen on its own.

With a heating system as complex as the one it takes to heat all of the campus housing, it’s hard to imagine turning on the heat in all of the residence halls and not having any problems.
Those doubts were confirmed this season.

“We do our best to balance regularly scheduled preventative maintenance with system start-up and the cooler weather of the fall. This year, the rapid onset of cold weather and wide temperature fluctuations made this task more challenging,” said Dave LaBanc, director of Housing and Operations.

The sudden occurrence of winter-like temperatures was not the only issue.

“The heating pump for Lincoln D-wing was being rebuilt” and, as a result, part of the fifth floor in D tower in Lincoln Hall was without heat for three days. Since then, the issue has been resolved and “everything is working at this time,” LaBanc said.

“It is important to note that the heating system in the residence halls is not like a home system,” LaBanc said.

That being said, unless a student lives in Stevenson, they do not have any direct control over their heat.

“In Stevenson, students in the suites can turn the blower on or off,” LaBanc said. “The heating systems in the other halls are designed to automatically adjust based on outside air temperature.”

LaBanc offers one suggestion for trying to maintain a comfortable room temperature.

“All of our systems heat the air in the rooms, so it is important that students keep the area around their heating unit clear so air can freely circulate. Any blockage around the unit, including clothes on the floor in front of the unit, will reduce the ability of the system to properly heat the room.”

Junior biology major Cole Lightfoot, a three-year resident of Douglas Hall, said the heat in his dorm has been very reliable since he’s lived there. However, he has found that it gets too hot in the room.

“I usually keep a window cracked at least a little bit just to combat it and keep fresh air circulating,” Lightfoot said.

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