Heating - Steam

Hathorn, Johnson, May, and Prucha halls use steam heat. The heat in each room is limited by a knob on the steam valve. The knob may only turn one-half to three-quarters of a turn from closed to open. A small number of rooms on the top floor of these halls do not have knobs. These rooms are control rooms for part of the building. The facility's computer monitors these rooms to control the zone valves in the basement. When the control room is warm enough, the zone is turned off. When the control room is too cold, the zone valve opens, allowing heat to go to that part of the building. The room's knob can only limit the heat in the room when the zone valve is opened, it cannot turn the heat on. Your heater may "crackle and bang" when the zone valve opens due to thermal expansion. Please do not block the cool air flow into the bottom of your heater with furniture or other items.

If you are having problems with your heat or registers, during regular business hours 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday, contact the housing@uwrf.edu. Outside of these times, please contact your Resident Assistant.

Special Notes for Hathorn Hall

Special Notes For Center Hathorn

Center Hathorn has two control methods. Some heaters use a pull chain attached to a damper (door) which lays flat, on top of the heating coil, to restrict airflow. To open or close the damper, pull or release the chain. Some heaters have a knob on the steam valve below the heater, similar to the ones found in East and West Hathorn. Still other heaters utilize both mechanisms.

Control rooms in Center Hathorn Hall: 355 and 356

Special Notes For East Hathorn

Control rooms in East Hathorn Hall: 301, 304 and 325

Special Notes For West Hathorn

Control rooms in West Hathorn Hall: 357 and 382