In college my roommate and I live in a dormitory with ancient hydronic heating. Each room as a radiator that connected to a big boiler somewhere in the basement and we could turn or radiator off or on but that was about the extent of the temperature control. One of our study buddies had come over for study time one afternoon and she brought her pet hedgehog with her. We weren’t supposed to have any pets in our rooms but the little hedgehog could be hidden under a coat so no one notices. Besides, they don’t make much noise. I have to admit, we were having more fun watching the hedgehog explore the room rather than studying. And then a near catastrophe happened. The hedgehog crawled underneath the radiator and went to sleep. The radiator was on and very hot but the space was just large enough for a hedgehog and we couldn’t fit our hands under to get the animal. He turned off the radiator so it would not get any more heat from the boiler while we poked and prodded the hedgehog with hangers. Finally, out of desperation, our study buddy dumped a cup of cold water on her pet with the hopes of keeping it from roasting to death. The hedgehog immediately got upset and walked out from under the radiator. It was wet and annoyed but seemed to be completely unharmed. I don’t think any of us learned much from our books that day. We only learned that hedgehogs and hydronic heating don’t mix well. We were just glad for the happy ending, who cares about our midterms?
The different types of thermostats