Despite high oil costs and a week of high temperatures, the Office of Residential Life turned on the heat in College buildings over the course of the weekend. The decision was made in anticipation of a cold front moving in this week.
The heat, which can take up to two days to fully activate, was on in all buildings by Saturday, Director of Residential Operations Woody Eckels said.
The College factored the increased cost of oil into their heating decisions this year, Eckels said.
"I heard this morning that fuel prices are 68 percent higher this year than last year," he said. "We're budgeted based upon what people were predicting energy prices would be, and I'm sure we're not even close."
Despite the added cost, the heat activation date is only five days later than it was last year, Eckels said.
"Just because fuel is more expensive doesn't mean we're going to hold off and make people miserable," he said, adding that the heat is usually turned on between the end of September and the second week in October.
Should the forecast change, though, ORL will delay the heating process further. ORL is urging students to report overheated rooms so that the heat can be reduced, increasing students' comfort and decreasing the cost.
Eckels also said the prices should not affect the temperature set for the rooms, which will remain at 68 degrees. But due to differences in floors and room sizes, it can be difficult to keep heat distribution consistent, especially when heaters are first activated after having been off since May.
"It's a bit of a game," Eckels said. "Some rooms will overheat, and we try to time it at a time when people will want that heat."
The debate about when to turn on the heat will be less of an issue in the dormitories that are currently under construction. In those clusters, the dorm rooms will have radiant floors, Eckels said.
"The piping is in the floors, so it will be a very even temperature," Eckels said, adding that the new system will do away with the radiators and the familiar clanging sound students hear as the heat is being turned on.
The warm floors come with the additional benefit of maximizing floor space since students will no longer need to worry about how to arrange beds and desks without blocking the heat.
For now, Eckels and the rest of the ORL staff continue to gauge the behavior of the student body for best indication of when to turn on the heat. So far, ORL has only received one or two phone calls inquiring as to when the heat will be turned on.
"I'm still seeing half the windows open on campus when I'm driving into work," Eckels said.
