Warm Zones Save Only Half of Estimate

Harvard's "warm zone" experiment during Christmas vacation saved only half of official estimates in fuel and electricity costs, and flooding caused by burst pipes during the Christmas break will cost about $50,000, estimated figures released yesterday by a Harvard official show.

Richard G. Leahy, associate dean of the Faculty for resources and planning, said an operation "not as good as expected" limited the "warm zone" savings on fuel and electricity costs to only half of the projected $150,000.

In addition, damages incurred when pipes burst and flooded University buildings before and during the Christmas break, diminishing the savings by another $50,000 Leahy said.

Most of the flood damage costs come from personal student losses, which Harvard will make up to students from a special insurance reserve, Richard S. Mullen, Director of Purchasing and Insurance, said.

The reserve--which held $1,600.000 as of last June--is an accumulation of insurance payments made for each Harvard building over 27 years old.

"Our predictions of a $150,000 saving were not realistic; we discovered that buildings like Widener can't be kept at low enough temperatures and that we could only reduce the flow of steam in the pipes so much," Leahy said.

Leahy explained that officials based the projected savings figure on a model of dollars per day saved in monitored test houses kept at 10 degrees below their normal temperatures.

Officials selected these test houses to resemble certain houses and Yard dormitories, he said.

"It worked when they tried the same experiment at Yale two years ago," Leahy said. "Here we based our estimates on a theorctical, linear mode, and we found the practical realities were different."

Mullen said Francis A. Lawton, assistant for facilities, who will supervise all reimbursement for personal losses, will require students to present service or purchase receipts for all possessions they have had repaired or replaced.

Other costs incurred by the flooding include extra maintenance expenditures for new floor tiles, new radiators and overtime pay for maintenance workers, Eugene J. Arcand, assistant to the vice president of administration, said yesterday.

Leahy said the proposal to readjust the calendar to save money if the "warm zone" experiment was successful is now "completely dead." He said officials presently have no plans for heating measures during next Christmas vacation.