Ukraine

Nathan Schumacher

I’m a plumber from Iowa. I’m going to Ukraine to live with my fiancé in L’viv in June. I have just learned that I may have to live in her apartment with little or no heat the winter following. I had seen an article about the co-op heating, and boiler stations in ex-Soviet Union countries. In fact I didn't know that hot water was not always available in the summer, until I read one of the postings here. I will be in Ukraine all of this summer, and I will try to figure out a heating system problem in my fiancés apartment. It seems that it is hot water heating, and is a co-op heating system throughout the building, but the people in the building do not co-operate together like they should. People have heat upstairs and downstairs from my fiancés apartment, but her apartment, which is between these floors has no heat. They still have to pay for heat, but it seems that many of the people in the building have installed heating systems separated from the hot water system, because it’s expensive to calibrate the system. I have been installing hydronic systems for many years, but I’m sure the system there is a little different. I would like to troubleshoot the system in the building, but after talking to a plumber there, it seems I may have a problem isolating the system in this apartment, and I'm not sure yet how to start troubleshooting the system without running it. The individual apartments do not have thermostats, it seems that everyone originally got the same temp throughout the building weather they liked it or not. I think it would be a big problem to run it in the summer because of the heat of course, but I also think it is troublesome to troubleshoot it in the winter too. Overall, I think it will be easier in the summer. I will see when I get there where to start, but I really need some advice. Is there anyone that has experience in these Soviets systems that might be able to give me some advice?

DanHolohan

It looks like

it's going to be even chillier there:

Russia cuts natural gas shipments to Ukraine

Clif Heeney_2

Soviet Style Heating System

Nathan!

I live in Tallinn, Estonia which was formerly part of the USSR. I think that if it is a typical soviet style apartment building then it will be similar to what was built throughout the USSR. I have not visited any heating systems in one of the old apt. buildings here, but could do that in the next few weeks, if that would help you. In any case, all that I have ever seen is vertical loops through these apartment buildings. One loop going straight up serving all of the bathrooms. One loop serving all the radiators in all of the living rooms, etc. Just a simple loop, with a tee going off to each radiator and one right back into the return. The only horizontal loop is the one in the basement serving all the vertical ones. I am a simple plumber, not a Wethead, so please forgive my lack of proper nomenclature.

If this apartment building is the same as what I have seen in Estonia, Latvia, Russia then it does not seem to me that people are even able to install their own hot water heating system that are separate from but utilize the hot water from the boiler or district heating. They may have gone to electric radiators, which is a common upgrade, but that would have no effect on the hot water heating problems in your fiance's apartment. If they do utilize vertical loops as I described, and if the apartment below and above has hot water at the radiators, then it seems to me that the problem would have to be the valves at her radiators.

If I have only muddied the water or if you have any further questions then please ask away!

Clif

jim_159

apartment heat

bring along 1-2 small electric heaters
atleast the bedroom will be warm