Electrical heaters in Greenwich against fire code
In News
Residents of Greenwich donuts received bright yellow notices after winter break warning them to "exercise caution when utilizing electric outlets above or near these electric heaters." These notices did not pop up out of the blue, but were the result of an inspection of the electrical heaters and outlets by the Amherst Inspection Services before winter break.
Greenwich mods currently have electrical baseboard heaters. Roughly three inches above many of these heaters are electrical outlets. This is a potential problem because electrical cords, when that close to a heat source, become very warm, and there is potential for them to catch on fire. According to the inspectors of the Town of Amherst, in order for this situation to be technically up-to-code, the heaters must be changed from electric to hot water. Hampshire has promised to change the heaters by 2008.
Amherst inspectors said that the situation is a legitimate hazard, but Charles Ekdahl, the head of Hampshire's Physical Plant, said he does not believe that "there is a serious hazard as the condition is today, and for thirty-five years there has not been one incident" related to electrical cords near the heaters. Ekdahl added that, "If students are made aware of the potential hazard, the condition is even more safe. The hazard of bedding and other flammables falling into the heaters is more likely to cause a fire than an electrical cord, and this has happened once since I have been here. Bedding caught on fire in an Enfield apartment many years ago, maybe 15 years ago, in 45 or 46 on the first-floor bedroom facing east. The real fire hazards in bed rooms are candles." So far Hampshire has avoided a major heater-related disaster.
Simply removing or disabling the outlets near the heaters is not a long term or efficient solution. In fact, doing so would most likely result in students using more power strips or extension cords or simply overloading the other outlets in the mods, which in themselves pose many fire hazards. Because Hampshire has to change the heaters by 2008 according to an agreement they reached with the Amherst Building Inspectors, disabling the electrical outlets would just be a stopgap measure. Ekdahl said that it would be "a big waste of money and man power" and that the best plan would be to find the resources to change the whole heat system at once. This solution would cost less than a piecemeal process of dealing with the hazard.
Aside from the fire hazard there are other reasons why a change from electrical heat to hot-water heat would be beneficial to the Hampshire community. Hot-water, natural-gas heating systems are much more efficient than electrical system. Using hot-water heat would help shrink Hampshire's ecological footprint and energy bill. In the long run such a change might end up saving Hampshire money. This change is one that the college is required to make, but expediting the change might be a part of campaigns for better campus sustainability. Student groups, such as New Leaf, are already working with the Physical Plant and other departments of the school to improve campus sustainability.
Ekdahl says he intends to begin work on "chang[ing] electric heat in Greenwich to hot-water, natural-gas heat...this summer by building heat shacks attached outside of each building that has electric heat in Greenwich and to install[ing] the boilers, and, if time allows, to run[ing] the main circulating pipe in the crawl space." Physical Plant already has its hands full with renovating Enfield mods and the bathrooms in Dakin. There are only two plumbers on staff at Physical Plant. Once the heat shacks and boiler rooms are constructed, the mods will have to be changed one at a time, with new pipes having to be run into each room. Another concern is whether or not the funds-Ekdahl estimates that at least $50,000 is needed-will be available for this change. If the money is not supplied, Physical Plant will be forced to take the temporary measure of disabling electrical outlets near the heaters.
Fire safety regulations are emphasized by the house offices, and inspections are conducted to ensure that the student's have not created a dangerous situation in their living spaces. Repeat inspections are done to ensure compliance with fire code. However, the heaters pose a hazard that students can only try to compensate for, a hazard that is the school's responsibility to take care of. Even if the current electrical heater and outlet set up is a remote hazard, it appears the college is only holding itself to a minimal standard for student safety in this regard.