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All this few days of bitter cold then a period of warm weather cycle is hard on pipes and other things as well. The constant "freezing" then "thawing" within short periods of time causes stress, especially on certain types of material such as cast iron.
Thanks for the tips! My friend has started letting the water drip. The space heaters did the job and she was able to take a shower. But there's no long-range solution. The super told her, good news: the temperature will be higher tomorrow. That's the plan, I guess! Pray for better weather!
She's bummed because she's on a tight budget, and she pays for heat. She can't afford to run the unit while she's at work. And she hates to waste water too, but she'll do what she has to do.
Thanks for the tips! My friend has started letting the water drip. The space heaters did the job and she was able to take a shower. But there's no long-range solution. The super told her, good news: the temperature will be higher tomorrow. That's the plan, I guess! Pray for better weather!
She's bummed because she's on a tight budget, and she pays for heat. She can't afford to run the unit while she's at work. And she hates to waste water too, but she'll do what she has to do.
I would think landlord is tired of dealing with it too. Anyway maybe it can be repiped so it doesn't run through a cold wall?
We have old housing stock. Most apartment buildings aren't insulated or have only a little insulation, maybe only roof.
Much NYC housing especially tenement and low rise apartment buildings are masonry (brick, reinforced concrete, etc...) which by nature is not insulated. IIRC in fact you shouldn't insulate brick structures because of some reason (would have to look it up).
Know peeps who live in brick/concrete buildings on the UES and you can feel the cold coming through the street facing/outer walls.
The main problem IMHO is that originally going back years apartment buildings had huge coal boilers that were oversized. Though later converted to oil or natural gas those things still gave out tons of heat in relation to the size of building. Especially if new energy efficient windows are installed and other such upgrades.
Today however it is possible to install sophisticated controls on boilers/heating systems in theory in the name of saving energy. However it also allows property owners to fine tune heat so they are within legal NYC minimum requirements (which in the eyes of many are already pretty low for comfort), but aren't heating up the place to the extent some tenants are opening windows to cool off.
Recall it was just a few months ago many of us were complaining about having too much heat. That was when it was 60F or so outdoors. But yet LLs had the heating systems on because the law mandates.
Much NYC housing especially tenement and low rise apartment buildings are masonry (brick, reinforced concrete, etc...) which by nature is not insulated. IIRC in fact you shouldn't insulate brick structures because of some reason (would have to look it up).
Know peeps who live in brick/concrete buildings on the UES and you can feel the cold coming through the street facing/outer walls.
The main problem IMHO is that originally going back years apartment buildings had huge coal boilers that were oversized. Though later converted to oil or natural gas those things still gave out tons of heat in relation to the size of building. Especially if new energy efficient windows are installed and other such upgrades.
Today however it is possible to install sophisticated controls on boilers/heating systems in theory in the name of saving energy. However it also allows property owners to fine tune heat so they are within legal NYC minimum requirements (which in the eyes of many are already pretty low for comfort), but aren't heating up the place to the extent some tenants are opening windows to cool off.
Recall it was just a few months ago many of us were complaining about having too much heat. That was when it was 60F or so outdoors. But yet LLs had the heating systems on because the law mandates.
That's the thing, I'm in an old tenement with very drafty windows. I know that in a few days, with the temps expected to rise, I'll have my windows wide open due to the building heat blasting. This makes it difficult to cover my drafty windows with plastic for insulation all winter long. I'd have to tear it off for these warmer days.
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