I was just thinking about doing this. I always find it weird that the riser pipes in my apartment heat up at times unrelated to when my radiators are on. The time-of-day temperature fluctuations also annoy me (because if I open a window to cool off and then the heat turns off for the night, I can never get warm again).
All in all, HVAC was my biggest surprise when moving to NYC. I lived in Chicago before where every structure I ever lived in had central heating and air conditioning. Set the thermostat, enjoy. Moving to NYC, I have to screw around with steam heating and window AC units. (The corollary is that nobody in NYC has anything nice because NYC is the thing that's nice. If only I cared in the slightest.)
Exactly! I'm also working with an old NYC apartment building. Once I get radiator control working, I also would love to automate opening and closing my window, but actuators to do that can get pricey...
All in all, HVAC was my biggest surprise when moving to NYC. I lived in Chicago before where every structure I ever lived in had central heating and air conditioning. Set the thermostat, enjoy. Moving to NYC, I have to screw around with steam heating and window AC units. (The corollary is that nobody in NYC has anything nice because NYC is the thing that's nice. If only I cared in the slightest.)