"DerbyDad03" wrote in message
...

So let's say you and I live in the same building. Just my family and
yours for the sake of the discussion. My radiators are before yours in
the system. I decide to cover 1/2 of my radiators to keep the heat
down.

Wouldn't your apartment be hotter than before I covered my radiators?

CY:Yep.

Based on your explanation - which I am not necessarily doubting - the
water reaching your radiators would be hotter, therefore your
radiators would radiate more heat, which would mean that you would
have to cover more of your radiators than I did to maintain the same
heat, right?

CY: Yep.

Then the outside temperature goes down and I want more heat, so I
uncover 1/2 of the 1/2 I had covered. Now the water reaching your
radiators is cooler, so you need more heat for 2 reasons: 1, it's
colder outside and 2, the water reaching your radiator is cooler
because more of the heat is radiating into my apartment. Therefore you
have to uncover more of your radiator.

CY: True.

Now, extrapolate that out to 10 apartments or 50 or more. That seems
like a lot of constant covering and uncovering to maintain a
comfortable temperature in each apartment. Everytime someone makes a
change, the whole building is affected.

CY: Yes, very possible.

I think I'd stick with opening and closing windows which only impact
single apartments, or even single rooms within each apartment.

CY: If covering radiators affects other apartments, do you think that super
cooling the rads by exposing them to outdoor air will affect other
apartments? I enjoy this technical discussion, and hope we can bounce the
ideas back and forth. Pong! Coming your way....