The neighbors below you probably have their heat on, and you're getting warm from their heat.
The same amount of energy is being used whether you let the heat out or not (I believe), so why suffer? Open the windows. Your health and your cats' health is very important.
As long as your specific heater isn't giving off heat (you said it was cool to the touch), you're not wasting anything by making yourself comfortable.
On the contrary - the more heat escapes, the harder the downstairs heater has to work to heat up the building. It's clear that the insulation between apartments isn't keeping the heat downstairs. Think about it this way: If you thought the top shelf of your refrigerator was too cold and you cut a little window next to the top shelf to let some of that cold air out, wouldn't your fridge have to work harder to keep the whole inside cold?
OP, I'm not suggesting that you or your cats should suffer. This scenario is pretty typical in older buildings. I'd recommend talking to the downstairs neighbors about it if you feel comfortable doing so. Otherwise you don't have much choice but to open the windows, unfortunately. If you've got ceiling fans, run those (or you could set up a box fan in the middle of the apartment to circulate the air).
But do most of those older radiator systems have temperature controls? I know some do, but I know in one building I lived it, it did not. When they temperature outside reached a certain level, the super turned on the heating system. So if it's not trying to reach a certain temperature (as it might in a fridge), it shouldn't matter whether windows are open or not?
Yeah, that's the heat from her downstairs neighbors' heaters, which comes from some petroleum-fueled source, which contributes significantly to global warming. Most houses' exterior walls are insulated, but not so much on the interior walls. Thus, the downstairs neighbors are basically paying to heat the entire house, so if she starts letting the accumulated heat out her windows, their heaters are going to have to work harder to keep the house at temperature, meaning more energy used and more emissions.
(On the other hand, if she's found a magical self-heating apartment house, I'm moving in!)
If it's an inefficient old building, there's not much you can do but keep yourself comfortable.
Think of it this way: when it's cold out in the winter, and your neighbors are blasting the heat, the temperature might be perfect in your apartment. ;) You might not even have to turn heat on at all in the winter.
Yes, except their heat might actually be controlled by the landlord and they might be too hot as well! (But not willing to turn off their radiator b/c they'd rather be too hot than too cold).
This was the case for me when I lived on the first floor of an old building. (You could choose to turn off your radiator, but once it was on, there was no way to change the temperature -- it just put out what heat it was programed by the landlord to put out).
We eventually talked to all the tenets and took our collective request for the landlords to turn down the heat a little, which was complied with immediately!
If you open your window, it will make the furnace work harder, which will make your downstairs neighbors BOIL. That's what was happening to us, I think.
Actually, using a fan to circulate the air without opening the windows would do nothing to make the OP's apt any cooler, as the fan would just be circulating hot air.
We used to keep our windows open in our third bedroom apartment all winter. We lived above the sample apartment and leasing office, and they kept the heat on high 24/7. *shrug* I love fresh air and with the windows open it was the perfect temp, so I couldn't really complain.
I realize it's wasteful but they weren't going to turn down the heat, so I didn't have much of a choice.
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The same amount of energy is being used whether you let the heat out or not (I believe), so why suffer? Open the windows. Your health and your cats' health is very important.
As long as your specific heater isn't giving off heat (you said it was cool to the touch), you're not wasting anything by making yourself comfortable.
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OP, I'm not suggesting that you or your cats should suffer. This scenario is pretty typical in older buildings. I'd recommend talking to the downstairs neighbors about it if you feel comfortable doing so. Otherwise you don't have much choice but to open the windows, unfortunately. If you've got ceiling fans, run those (or you could set up a box fan in the middle of the apartment to circulate the air).
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(On the other hand, if she's found a magical self-heating apartment house, I'm moving in!)
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Think of it this way: when it's cold out in the winter, and your neighbors are blasting the heat, the temperature might be perfect in your apartment. ;) You might not even have to turn heat on at all in the winter.
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This was the case for me when I lived on the first floor of an old building. (You could choose to turn off your radiator, but once it was on, there was no way to change the temperature -- it just put out what heat it was programed by the landlord to put out).
We eventually talked to all the tenets and took our collective request for the landlords to turn down the heat a little, which was complied with immediately!
If you open your window, it will make the furnace work harder, which will make your downstairs neighbors BOIL. That's what was happening to us, I think.
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I realize it's wasteful but they weren't going to turn down the heat, so I didn't have much of a choice.
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