Nesmith Hall
HEATING
Nesmith is heated with hot water from the Central Heating Plant. The hot water is
circulated through radiators. Nesmith has "individual room control" for
heating. A wall mounted thermostat is located in each room. When the
thermostat begins to call for heat, an automatic valve on each radiator starts to open,
providing a flow of hot water through the unit.
If rooms are not warm enough during the winter, those problems are often caused by furniture or other items blocking the natural convective flow of room air through the radiator. In addition to convection, the heating units in Nesmith also provide heat by direct radiation into the room. Furniture placed in front of the heater will block the radiant heat. Furniture or other items placed below or above the heater will block the convective heating.
If rooms are too hot during the winter, the wall mounted thermostat may be set too high or there may be an equipment failure that should be reported.
Room temperatures are automatically set back at night and on weekends. If you are using a room during those periods and want more heat, you can move the small metal lever on the bottom of the thermostat to the right. Moving the lever to the right will return the room to normal occupied temperatures. Please move the lever back when you leave. If you move the lever, and it immediately flips back to the left, the room was already in the occupied temperature mode.
VENTILATION
There is no building-wide fan-forced ventilation
system. Areas with fume hoods have local outdoor air "make-up" units.
DOMESTIC HOT WATER
Domestic hot water for sinks is heated by a steam
line from the Central Heating Plant. An electric recirculating pump continuously
circulates domestic hot water throughout the building, reducing the waiting time when you
open a faucet.
OPPORTUNITIES TO CONSERVE ENERGY
Do not block the heating radiators with any furniture or other items.
Do not use electric space heaters. Report problems with your heating system that
require the use of a space heater.
Keep heat-producing equipment (such as refrigerators, copiers, coffee pots) away from the
wall-mounted thermostat.
Keep windows closed and tightly latched during the heating season.
See the water conservation pages on this web site for ways to conserve water, especially
hot water.
Turn off all lights and electrical devices when leaving your area.
Turn off lights in common areas when not in use.
