Ohio University wants students to make sure their windows are closed and heaters unobstructed as temperatures fall - and complaints about dorm heating rise.
Facilities Management has received 111 heat-related maintenance requests - 87 from residence halls - since the quarter began Monday, said Shari Smith, manager of the Facilities Work Center. About 85 percent of the problems were fixed by 3 p.m. yesterday.
Students often forget to close their windows completely, or they block heaters in their dorm rooms with personal items, which leaves the rooms cold, said Christine Sheets, executive director of Residential Housing. Not all the blame lies with students, though.
At least two floors of Weld House were without heat Monday because of maintenance problems in its ventilation system. The problems revolve around the university's heat system, which boils water and uses the steam to heat buildings.
Sometimes there are air bubbles in the system that cause air blockage
said Greg Coen, assistant director of maintenance and operations. We just have to bleed them out.
Sheets said such problems occur sporadically in the university's heating system.
Resident assistants in Weld House declined to comment, but freshman Isabella Zettler said her neighbors have had problems with heating, and that the issues seem most common on the second floor.
In the fall it was super super hot in here she said. Now
my neighbors are complaining because they can't sleep
it's so cold.
Other work requests involved a few other problems with heating equipment, including problems with heater valves in Bromley Hall.
Sheets said her office is also working to educate students about how to properly keep their rooms warm. In several cases, she said, students have been blocking their heaters, restricting the flow of heat into their rooms.
Students should keep personal items at least a foot from their heaters
Coen said, preferably nothing in front of them at all.
Coen said he recommends students make sure their windows are properly shut, adding that a number of students have been leaving the tops of their windows cracked open unintentionally, filling their rooms with cold air.
Smith said about 75 percent of the work requests have involved air coming through windows.
It's easy in warm weather to
frankly
forget to close windows completely
Coen said. With the wind the past few days
students will quickly notice a difference in the rooms. He added that air conditioning units in windows have a setting to block out heat.
We've been offering students plastic for their windows
Sheets said, noting that the windows are a major source of heat loss and the university is seeking to educate students on blocking them.
However, Smith acknowledged the problems are not entirely with students.
We do want them to have heat - sometimes it is a mechanical problem
