Heat Mindfully  [20.10.22]

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The university fears additional costs in the millions for electricity and gas. All state institutions are called upon to make a contribution to avert possible supply bottlenecks in winter. And when it comes to climate targets, the motto has long been: Get going! Under the motto "Together mindful", the Online Courier reports on energy-saving measures, tips and background information.

The first cool days have brought a small foretaste of the upcoming winter. In view of the explosion in energy prices, many people at home are still hesitant to switch on the heating or turn it up to the usual temperature.

The same motto also applies in the office or lecture hall because 1 °C more room temperature means approx. 6% more heating energy. The degree of heating is not left up to the university itself, but is specified by a binding federal energy-saving ordinance.

How warm can it be?

At the University of Hohenheim, the following applies during the day (7 a.m. - 7 p.m.):

- Offices, lecture halls, during use also meeting rooms and tea kitchens: max. 19 ° C

- Adjoining rooms in which no permanent workplaces are set up: max. 16 °C

- Corridors and foyers: are not heated

At night and on weekends, the temperature must also be lowered to a maximum of 16 °C in offices and lecture halls.

A special regulation applies in the Central and Departmental Library: here, the rooms remain heated to 19 °C in the evenings and on weekends until one hour before closing time.

University asks employees for help

The flow temperature in each campus building is lowered by the heating plant at night and raised again in the morning. Nevertheless, the actual room temperature can currently only be reliably controlled centrally in a few rooms, including the lecture halls, for example.

In most other rooms, however, especially in the offices, the university relies on the support of the employees. For nights, heating controls must be manually turned down to level 1-2 in the evening and turned back up to level 2-3 in the morning.

University pushes for hydraulic balancing

The background to this is the current state of the heating systems: for years, the university has been pressing the State Office for Property and Construction to carry out "hydraulic balancing".

This involves adjusting the radiators in all rooms and hydraulically balancing them with the heating system. This ensures that the radiators are always supplied with the correct amount of heating water and that the efficiency potential of the heating system is fully exploited. Without balancing, when the thermostat is turned up, too much heat is drawn off in many rooms - i.e., heated unnecessarily - despite the central night settings.

When does it get warm in the morning?

 "Where central control is possible, such as in the lecture halls, we make sure that the heating goes up early enough in the morning so that by 8 a.m. it has already reached 19 °C and no one has to freeze," emphasizes Chancellor Dr. Katrin Scheffer. "As far as the seminar rooms are concerned, we hope to be able to make this possible to a large extent as well with the support of the building cleaning service."

In the offices, however, a warm-up phase in the morning is unavoidable due to manual control. Especially on Monday morning, after the weekend setback, people should therefore not forget their sweaters, cardigans, or a blanket.

"We are well aware that the specifications demand a lot from the employees this winter. We therefore continued to work flat out to ensure that the hydraulic balancing is carried out as quickly as possible. However, we are dependent on the State Office for Property and Construction, which is responsible for the campus buildings, for implementation. In view of the huge renovation backlog and the complexity of this project, we unfortunately have to assume that the balancing will not be carried out this year," says Scheffer.

Finding the right thermostat setting

In most cases, 19 °C is achieved via level 2-3 on the heating controller. At night, on weekends and during other absences, valve position 1-2 can usually be selected.

Attention, even those who mean well with energy saving: As a rule, the regulators should not be turned down lower than level 1. This is because it then takes too long to heat up again. Offices that are temporarily unused (e.g., due to working from home, vacation, illness, etc.) remain in night mode.

"The valve settings mentioned are only guide values," explains energy manager Sabrina Abt. "How warm it actually gets at level 2, for example, can vary greatly from radiator to radiator due to the spatial environment - keyword: blocked radiators - and the age of the thermostats. In order to find the right setting, it is necessary to check the actual room temperature in all offices with a thermometer. This measurement should be taken neither too close to the window nor too close to the heater - ideally near the desk."

Facilities that do not have thermometers on hand will be able to obtain thermometers through janitors and energy conservation volunteers in the coming weeks. More information on this will follow shortly.

"By the way, even if it's cold in the office in the morning, you should resist the urge to turn the heating valve to a higher setting to speed up heating," Abt adds, "Because the radiator doesn't warm up faster this way, it just ends up heading for a higher target temperature."

If the temperature of 19 °C is not reached or in case of other technical problems, the hotline 0711 459-22044 or a fault message via MORADA will help.

Airing out the rooms quickly

One golden rule for saving heating energy is particularly important this year, according to the energy manager: "Tilted windows are taboo during the heating season. Instead, airing out rooms quickly is the order of the day. This means that all windows in the room should be opened wide at the same time for about 3 minutes so that the air can be exchanged quickly and the walls do not cool down unnecessarily. During this process, it's best to turn the heating down completely for a short time."

Text: Leonhardmair / Translation: Neudorfer

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