apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I have the secret. My problem was the same, exactly. Lasko makes a big flat fan that fits in the window. And I must disagree with Maxwell, I don't think it should blow out. Blow it in. Some of that nice cool air outside needs to come inside. I placed mine in the bedroom windowsill and it cooled the entire apartment perfectly for years. We left it on practically all the time. After 10 years it broke, and I'm buying a new one. Go to Google. Click on Froogle. Type in "Lasko Fan" and it's the first on that pops up. You will never be sorry.

Three things seemed to help in my situation: a circulating fan, cracking the window, and a really good humidifier. Last year my husband and I splurged a bit on a Vornado model and it was the best investment we've made. After countless humidifiers leaking and breaking and needing costly filters, this unit was excellent, easy to clean, and only required one filter change. Another thing that helped was switching from a heavy down blanket to a lighter version. It loses some of the thick puffy look but keeps us warm at night without waking up with a fever!

I saw on this old house the installation of a thermostatic valve for a radiator. Its a valve that turns on and off with the temperature in the room. You might ask your Super if they would allow the installation of something like that.

Umm, in addition to completely turning the radiators off, why don't you tell your building management about the problem? I'm sure that with the rising costs of oil, electricity, and gas, its likely that they would look into fixing your problem

You should know that if you don't have electrical heat, it's bad to turn them off on your own. If there's steam in the pipes because the heat's on, or some water left over from steam because it was on, and you shut your radiator, water will build up, settle into areas of the pipes it's not supposed to settle in, and over time you will get loud clunking noises when the heat goes on and off. Then, the landlord blames you, or the person who moves in after you and complains about the mysterious gnomes hammering in the walls. The only solution often involves opening up your walls and the ceiling of the person below you (can you tell I've been there? not good)

The problem isn't the radiators, it's the steam pipes. I went to Home Depot a couple of weeks ago and bought fiberglass/foil pipe wrap. I wrapped it around some of my pipes and then covered the whole mess with duct tape (sadly, this actually looks a lot better than the wrap alone). My apartment is easily 10-15 degrees cooler, and I haven't even gotten around to covering all the pipes yet.

our co-op board just did an email survey to check if anyone was not warm enough/too warm, especially those of us on the top floors. they let us know that getting too warm and opening a window was far less heat-efficient than preventatively limiting how many radiators were turned on most of the time (this is the first i'd heard that leaving the radiators off was bad or clunk-making for the pipes; the board is actually suggesting we do it).

i think if i were braising in my bed, i'd open the window anyway--but i really appreciated their effort to be economical, given that there was talk of the rising cost of heating oil having a negative effect on the building's finances. maybe your landlord would be willing to save money, be nice to the planet and make you more comfortable by stepping down the heat.

I am not condoning anything based on this information, because it's way environmentally unfriendly, but IN THEORY, weatherizing to keep the heat *in* entails REMOVING any large barriers in front of your heat source - so I imagine the converse would be good to keep heat OUT. You could use a simple plywood screen, for instance, or a dresser - just make sure there's a couple inches of total clearance, so you don't light your building on fire. Also - it also helps weatherize tp put a reflector behind your radiator to make the heat reflect *into* the room... so putting one on the FRONT of your radiator would cause it to reflect heat back into (and out) the wall.

Beats having the window open, anyway. But at least try calling the landlord.

Ask your landlord? Talk to the super?

Please! This is New York. My landlord could care less that I'm roasting alive every night. And he could care even less that he's being so wasteful.

Ask your landlord? Talk to the super?

Please! This is New York, my landlord could care less that I'm roasting alive every night. And he could care even less that he's being so wasteful.

Wow. I'm actually jealous of your predicament. We have zero heat and are freezing our asses off. And predictably, my landlord is extremely concerned about the situation. She's right on top of it. Yeah, right.

Dear Radiator Police -
My pro advises me that it is actually failing to have your valve either fully open or fully closed that causes the banging. My pro being a very caring, attentive, competent, experienced live-in super. Anybody out there care to recite credentials and opinions on this?
And at least in our building, plenty of the 80-some units are freezing while others swelter, so talking to anyone about the temperature of the boiler doesn't fix anything.

Sharon is right -- it's a matter of keeping the radiator valve fully open or solidly closed. Beyond that, steam heating pipes require periodic "bleeding" which, in the case of my building, requires many many complaints to super and landlord. But I must say, using the expense line this year ("you are burning oil all night long...") seemed more effective than ever before!!!

you may need a "trap job". it's a themostatic disc at the "exit" end of the radiator [on a "2 pipe sytem"] otherwise it's further down the line and probably several apartments [on the same "zone"] are sharing the same problem. somebody's paying for the heat going out the window...

Yup... steam radiators need to be turned all the way ON or all the way OFF to prevent problems. You should also NOT turn them off while they're hot, but wait until they cool down... otherwise, the steam gets trapped in there and condenses, and that contributes to the banging noise. (I know... turning the thing off while it's hot seems like the logical thing... but resist!)

I give up on both my super and landlord.

It is constantly 82F in my apartment. The radiators are red hot to the touch and so old that I cannot turn them off. I have to sleep with all the windows open which is difficult with the noise a city like NY.

I can't wait to move.

Most of my excess-heat problem was corrected when we switched supers; the new one was better with the radiator adjustment, even if he didn't pass the super exam.

As for the remaining heat, this is my current super's explanation: in order to heat the top floors of our 6-floor rental building, some lower units must roast.

I'm sure the new owner would dearly love to freeze us all out, but since the 6th floor boasts some of our more legally savvy tenants, the city won't let him. I am pro anything that legally reins in my LL, so I make lemonade. Cover the steam pipes, run a major humidifier etc. I wear shorts a lot; visitors think it's kewl, and it keeps me in a summer frame of mind all winter.

A thermostatic valve is the best solution to adjusting the heat in your apartment and also insulating the heat riser would be a good idea as well.

I have cast iron radiators that heat my home but the ones upstairs either get half hot or don't get hot at all. I did bleed them but no air or water came out. WHat can I do to fix them.

Mark

HELP ::: pipe people. The heat is fine in my loft but the sound is terrible. We can't sleep at night... the pipes bang all the time... is this normal? It sounds like a gun fight! Our landlord/ corporation doesn't seem to care... after months of complaining.
Does anyone know of a good sound insulation material and where we could find it?
any help would be awesome.
angola

Putting a towel or blanket over the radiator makes a big difference. If you have an exposed radiator you might want to build a plywood enclosure around two thirds of it.

Does anyone know where you can purchase (reasonably priced) raditor covers in NYC? I want to enclose my two steam heat radiators. They are very old and ugly and I cannot stand the sight of them, so I figured it would be best to cover them. I've done some research online and there are a couple of companies that manufacture radiator covers, but I'd prefer to go to a store and look and buy them in person. Anyone else in NYC ever done this and can help me out? Thanks!

Hi,

I just came across this post and noticed that my Bono photo is being used in it. Could you please either remove this photo or give proper credit (name and link)? Even better, next time it would be lovely if you sent me a quick email to ask if you could put the photo up!

Thanks,
Carrie

i have to agree there should be 2 fans in each part...one for blowing hot air out and one for bring cool air in...thats if you have cool air to bring in..not hot air..

this sounds like a job for a new pipes install or get the old ones check......angela..

an old roommate of mine insulated her steam pipes with sisal rope. it looks a lot better than black foam insulation. has anyone else tried this? is there any danger of the rope catching on fire? does anyone have any other suggestions for attractive-looking pipe insulation materials?
michelle

I, too, am suffering from way too much heat. I'm on the second floor of a 6 story building. I have tried turning off the valves, but they simply spin and spin, so I assume they are broken and non-functional. I cannot imagine the owner of this building would ever go to the trouble of replacing the valves, so I'm wondering what the solution might be, short of running the air conditioner all winter and suffering expensive Con-Ed bills. I'd like to know more about insulation I could place in front of and around the radiator. Anyone have any advice on this, or any other suggestions? I'm really desperate for ideas. Thank you so much!

I, too, am roasting in the unnecessary heat pouring out of the radiators. Please, any insulation help you can offer?

I'm way too hot right now not to bump this old thread. Anyone know where to get a radiator cover that restricts heat? All the ones I've found online only enhance the heat transfer.

I used some fiberglass insulation that is covered with a sort of adhesive paper. It is not very effective for reducing noise (from the pipe that takes the heat upstairs), but it DOES block some of the heat transfer. I think hot water heater "blankets" might be made out of similar material so that might help those with radiators that can't be turned off. I can't say for sure but that is what I'd try.

I just bought fiberglass insulation to put over my heaters (which are not actually radiators but send out hot air). Does anyone know if there is a serious fire risk? I had a friend who put an insulated sleeping bag over his and it helped alot.

bump

Does anyone know the answeer to the following question.. If the valves on cast iron radiators of lower floors are completely off/closed, would it send heat more efficiently to the higher floors?

michelle -- we saw several restaurants use rope to insulate their pipes, and just finished wrapping sisal rope around ours. i'd be curious if anyone else has done this and if it's safe. we're nervously watching them (since our pipes are very hot to the touch) and i'll report back...

furball,

how is the sisal experiment going?