Heat Control in Fahey and McLane Halls

The heating systems in the McLaughlin Cluster and in Fahey & McLane are the only ones of their kind at Dartmouth. There is hot water tubing buried in the 10" thick concrete floors with up to 200 feet in each room. Once the decision is made to turn on the heat, warm water will circulate through this zig-zag of tubing, heating the concrete floors and radiating heat into your room. All temperatures are set by a computer system which knows the temperature in your room and the temperature outside. There are no user settable thermostats in student rooms in these buildings and by design, all rooms will be adjusted to pretty much the same temperature, 68 degrees F. If you find your room to be unusually warm or too cold, please call the ORL Operations Office at 646-1203. We will send someone to check the room temperature with a digital thermometer. Should the heat be below 68 degrees, or above 70 degrees, we will have FOM try to make an adjustment. Because of the design of these systems, adjustments will be done a bit at a time and may take several hours before you notice a change. The lag is due to the "thermal mass" of the building's 10" thick concrete floors. Please keep in mind that this is a new system for Dartmouth and it will take us all some getting used to.

**Special note to residents of Fahey and McLane: There are two 1,452 foot deep geothermal water wells on the north side of the buildings. Water from these wells is brought into the building and cycled through a series of heat pumps. These "pumps" extract heat from this water and transfer that heat to the water in the tubing that is set into the concrete floors. It is estimated that 80% of the heat for these buildings will come from this source, while the remaining 20% will be derived from the College's steam system.

If you have any questions, call or blitz: Residential Operations, 646-1203.