(Photo by Ralph Orlowski/Getty Images)
Don't let a heating malfunction ruin your winter.
Don't let a heating malfunction ruin your winter.
Don't let a heating malfunction ruin your winter.
Don't let a heating malfunction ruin your winter.
Don't let a heating malfunction ruin your winter.

Working to Keep Your Building’s Heat Going in the Winter

March 11, 2015
We’ve seen the stories all winter long: the heat shuts down in a building and tenants are cold, children are unable to attend schools due to safety issues and work is canceled.

We’ve seen the stories all winter long: the heat shuts down in a building and tenants are cold, children are unable to attend schools due to safety issues and work is canceled. Don’t let these inefficiencies via heating malfunction ruin your winter. Habitat Magazine recently published an article on keeping your building’s heat running through the whole winter.

For outdoor piping, the article gave these suggestions:

Cold water pipes running to and from a rooftop water tank or cooling tower are often heated using an electric coil, known as heat tracing, wrapped around the pipe to keep the water inside from freezing and the pipe from bursting. A layer of insulation is wrapped around the heat tracing, which is plugged into a ground-fault circuit-interrupter on the roof. A routine roof check should include making sure the heat tracing is plugged in and none of it is exposed by insulation that is worn away or missing.

Your board may also want to call on trained professionals to provide an overall look at your building on an annual or semi-annual basis and identify any potential trouble spots, especially ones that can become more vulnerable during a harsh winter season. 

Visit Habitat Magazine’s website to read more. It’s the end of winter now, but next year will be here before you know it; preparation is key.

Related

(Photo by Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images)
The sharing economy could be a good idea for facility managers and building owners.
The sharing economy could be a good idea for facility managers and building owners.
The sharing economy could be a good idea for facility managers and building owners.
The sharing economy could be a good idea for facility managers and building owners.
The sharing economy could be a good idea for facility managers and building owners.