Appreciation post: my building super taught me the radiator valve trick that cut my heat bill by a third

Faith Black · 2026-09-30T20:45:04.229816+00:00

My apartment in Chicago has those old cast iron radiators, and my gas bill hit $180 in January because I was just cracking the valve wide open all day. My super, Frank, came up to fix a clanking pipe and saw what I was doing. He told me to open the valve all the way for 20 minutes in the morning to heat the metal up, then close it down to a quarter turn for the rest of the day. The radiator stays warm for hours on that little bit of steam. I tried it for a month and my bill dropped to $115. The apartment still feels the same. The part I did not expect is that my building burns less gas overall, which is the actual climate thing here. If you live in an old building with steam heat, try the 20 minute full open then quarter turn thing. What other cheap tricks do people have for old radiators?

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Appreciation post: my building super taught me the radiator valve trick that cut my heat bill by a third | Climate Action - Pinecone Attack