Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.

Apartment WAY Too Hot! Insulate Heating Pipe/Radiator?

Options
Linda_K
Linda_K Member Posts: 1
in Strictly Steam
I'm subletting a room in a rather small apartment that's heated by vertical pipes that run floor-to ceiling in three of the rooms.  As these aren't traditional radiators, there are no valves to shut them off.



When I moved in, only the pipes in the kitchen and my roommate's room emitted heat, and the apartment was a pleasant temperature.  Last week, the building's owner replaced the boiler, and now all three are running full strength, and the apartment is 97 degrees!  My roommate (who is on the lease--I am not) doesn't want to call the landlord because she's afraid the heat will be shut off again as it was when the boiler was being replaced. But I am going to go crazy if things don't get much cooler in here.



Would insulating the pipe in my room and say the bottom half of the pipe in my kitchen with fiberglass pipe insulation be enough bring the temperature in my apartment down at least below 80?  I'm normally too cold, so I like a warm apartment, but this is just too much!

Comments

  • question
    question Member Posts: 30
    Options
    Speak to the Landlord

    With the price of fuel these days, the landlord should be happy someone is letting them know there is a problem.
  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,576
    Options
    Much hotter

    Mr.question is right, so speak to the landlord, as I suspect there is quite a bit wrong with the new boiler installation.

    Unless the temperature is really cold, there should not be such a great amount of waste heat from the risers running through your apartment.

    Over-heating is always a sign on wasted energy/fuel$.

    Please direct the management here so we can advise them how to correct this problem, and stop spending so much on excess fuel!--NBC
  • StudyingHard
    StudyingHard Member Posts: 22
    Options
    Yes

    insulating the pipes will lower the temperature in the apartment.  But,  remember that once they correct the  boiler over-heating problem, you may have to remove the insulation to get warm again.   .... Not quite as easy as flipping the thermostat. :-)
    Ray - homeowner, Trane vapor/vacuum system, now running on gas, missing one or two original parts. Currently reading Lost Art cover-to-cover. Have already uncovered the footprints of a knucklehead. Studying Hard so that I know what they look like. Some remedies already in the making, others for next summer. Thank you to all of you for your help and support.
  • crash2009
    crash2009 Member Posts: 1,484
    Options
    Catch 22

    Yes, insulation will stop the heat.  Half inch thick will likely be enough.  Here is a shortcut to some insulation information that I have collected.  http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/137178/Insulation 



    Somehow, the management of the building needs to know whats going on.  If they are responsible enough to spend money on a new boiler for you, they must be responsible enough to get it right.  They cannot get it right without your input.  Usually if you have one apartment too hot, there is one apartment too cold. 
This discussion has been closed.

Categories