You do need knowledge of the quirks of older heating systems.
An engineer friend called to ask me some questions about old steam-heating systems, particularly those of the New York City variety.
She was writing a paper on what to watch out for when considering an energy management system for an older building with either one- or two-pipe steam heat. She mentioned there were lots of case studies on newer buildings, mostly provided by the folks selling EMS packages, but she couldn’t find any scientific research on older, steam-heated buildings. You know the sort where they had two identical buildings, each with the same problems, and they put an EMS in one but not in the other.
I told her I didn’t think two such buildings existed with the exact same problems, and knew of no unbiased research.
She told me that she knew of a building where they installed the EMS, watched it for a while, and then turned it off to see what would happen.
“And what happened?” I asked.
“They saw a 3° difference in temperature. Up in some spots, down in others.”
And that made us both wonder if the EMS was worth what it cost to install and maintain. Perhaps they’d be better off spending the money on basic maintenance – good air vents, steam traps, pipe insulation, stuff like that.