Climate Control | University Housing | SIU

We want you to be comfortable!

The rapidly changing weather in southern Illinois can make it challenging to determine when to change our facilities from air conditioning to heat and back again. We generally use a 10-day forecast and building temperature readings to determine when to make the switch.

If you feel your room temperature is extremely hot or cold, please contact your Resident Assistant to conduct a temperature check of your room.

ROOM TEMPERATURE CONTROLS

While all of our residence halls and apartments include air conditioning and heat, how these are controlled varies.

East Campus Residence Halls

Mae Smith, Neely and Schneider are cooled by a central chiller plant. While residents can adjust the rate of the air flow in these rooms, the actual temperature in the rooms is determined by the main heating system and the chiller plant. Our systems produce either all heat or all air conditioning, not both at the same time. To make the switch from one to the other is a very involved process that can take several days to complete. Once the switch is made, it can then take a few days for the temperature change to be noticeable in the rooms.

University Hall rooms have independent climate controls in each room, which means residents can make their rooms hotter or colder.

West Campus Residence Halls

These rooms are heated and cooled by units located in each room. When the outside temperature falls below 55F, we turn off the power to air conditioning at West Campus to prevent the units from freezing and flooding rooms. We will turn the power back when the outside air temperature gets back up into the mid-60’s.

Wall & Grand and University Hall

These rooms offer individual climate control throughout the year.