2008 Woodie Awards
Residence Hall weather reaches uncomfortable lows
Alyson Browning
Issue date: 4/20/07 Section: News
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Whether the students are hot when the heat is on or they are cold when the air-conditioning is on, they are always complaining about the temperature in the residence halls. Something the students do not know is that everything that can be done is being done.
Bob Glidwell, director of the Physical Plant, took some time to explain the little known facts about heating and cooling at Southwest Baptist University.
When is the heat turned on / off?
"We watch the temperature forecasts in October to see if the temperature is going to be consistently in the 40s or lower. We do make sure we do not switch over too fast due to a short temperature change. We try to wait and see if it will stay at ta consistent level and not overreact."
When is the air turned on / off?
"We use the same procedure as we do for the changeover for heat, except we see if the temperatures will be at a higher level consistently."
Why can't heating and cooling be on at the same time in the dorms?
"In Leslie, Landen, Beasley, Plaster and Woody-Gott, we have heating / cooling called a two-pipe system. We can only have either heating or cooling, not both, because we will either have hot water traveling through the two pipes (one for supply and the other for return to the main unit) or cold water. If the system was a four-pipe system, we could have cold and hot water going at the same time which would allow us to have heating and cooling at the same time."
What is the cost to heat / cool the dorms per year?
"We spend over $500,000 for electricity and propane for dormitories (lighting, cooling, heating, etc.)."
What would it cost to run heating and cooling concurrently?
"We can not do this at this time because of mechanical limitations. The cost would be very prohibitive to retrofit each of the dorms I mentioned above."
Has the school looked into running heating and cooling at the same time?
"Not for the dormitories mentioned above due to the extreme cost."
Bob Glidwell, director of the Physical Plant, took some time to explain the little known facts about heating and cooling at Southwest Baptist University.
When is the heat turned on / off?
"We watch the temperature forecasts in October to see if the temperature is going to be consistently in the 40s or lower. We do make sure we do not switch over too fast due to a short temperature change. We try to wait and see if it will stay at ta consistent level and not overreact."
When is the air turned on / off?
"We use the same procedure as we do for the changeover for heat, except we see if the temperatures will be at a higher level consistently."
Why can't heating and cooling be on at the same time in the dorms?
"In Leslie, Landen, Beasley, Plaster and Woody-Gott, we have heating / cooling called a two-pipe system. We can only have either heating or cooling, not both, because we will either have hot water traveling through the two pipes (one for supply and the other for return to the main unit) or cold water. If the system was a four-pipe system, we could have cold and hot water going at the same time which would allow us to have heating and cooling at the same time."
What is the cost to heat / cool the dorms per year?
"We spend over $500,000 for electricity and propane for dormitories (lighting, cooling, heating, etc.)."
What would it cost to run heating and cooling concurrently?
"We can not do this at this time because of mechanical limitations. The cost would be very prohibitive to retrofit each of the dorms I mentioned above."
Has the school looked into running heating and cooling at the same time?
"Not for the dormitories mentioned above due to the extreme cost."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Brittany Adams
posted 4/21/07 @ 1:43 PM CST
I don't understand. In what dorms are people complaining? This is not presented in the article. I always thought the students in the dorms could adjust the temperatures in their rooms. (Continued…)
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