Section 2 - Reporting Faults
On-campus maintenance problems
If you have a maintenance problem in your on-campus accommodation, please report it online at:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/accommodation/studentaccommodation/faults/
If your problem is urgent e.g. no electricity, please contact the Student Information Centre or outside of their opening hours contact Community Safety (see contact details).
Heating
The heating systems are controlled centrally by the University to achieve a room temperature of 19°C to 20°C. Please do not use heating appliances other than those provided by the University.
In many residences, you can use the numbered radiator valve to adjust the temperature.
If your room is cold then:
- check the other radiators in your flat first - it may be that the heating is not due to come on
- check that your radiator valve is on its highest setting - you might just need to turn this up
Please don't report a faulty radiator until you have checked that the other radiators in your flat are working.
If your room is too warm then please turn down the radiator valve in your room before opening the window to cool your room.
Due to the age and variety of our residential halls, the times when buildings are heated may vary. Not just throughout the day, but throughout the year in response to the changing seasons.
What time is the building heated?
At present the Radiator Heating Time schedules are:
|
|
Mon - Fri |
Sat - Sun |
|
All Residences |
07:30 - 10:00 (20'C) 10:00 - 15:00 (16'C) 15:00 - 23:00 (20'C) 23:00 - 07:30 (16'C) |
07:30 - 14:00 (20'C) 14:00 - 16:00 (16'C) 16:00 - 23:00 (20'C) 23:00 - 07:30 (16'C) |
The radiators can cool down during scheduled heating time periods. This will occur when the room temperature has reached the maximum pre-set of between 19 C and 21oC.
How is the building heating controlled?
The building heating is set to come on when the outside air temperature (OAT) falls below an average of 15oC over a 48 hour period and is below 16⁰C short term. The closer that the OAT is to 16⁰C the lower the flow temperature will be in the radiators. The overall radiator output temperature will modulate up and down in line with the OAT: if the outside temperature is mild/warm the radiator will be cool and will become hotter as the outside air temperature becomes colder. This can make it seem like the heating is not working, as the flow temperatures are a lot lower than you would find on a domestic heating circuit.
When the heating is on, room temperatures will be controlled to a set point of 21oC. Set point is a pre-set temperature that the heating system aims to maintain. This set point is campus wide and cannot be altered for individual rooms. The radiator can become cool if the room is up to the correct temperature, or cold if the heating is not scheduled to be on. If the radiator is truly cold to the touch when the heating is scheduled on, and the OAT is low, then there may be an issue with the heating.