As outside temperatures drop, temperatures in dormitories are becoming more noticeable — especially when students in large Boston University residence halls find they cannot control the temperatures of individual rooms.

Larger on-campus dorms were not engineered to allow residents to control the heat in their rooms, said William Walter, assistant vice president for Shared Services Facilities Management and Campus Planning.

“It was typical when these buildings were constructed to set up the mechanical [and] heating systems without individual room temperature control,” he said in an email.

With the majority of on-campus buildings having centrally controlled heating systems, heat is available from Sept. 15. Buildings are set to keep rooms at a minimum temperature of 64 degrees, Walter said.

“The heat is regulated by ‘zones,'” he said. “The amount of heat is determined by the outside air temperature and time of day.”

College of General Studies sophomore Kate Given, who lives on the fourth floor of Sleeper Hall, said the temperature in her room is significantly colder than her friends’ rooms on the 10th floor of the same building.

“The most heat that I get seems to be generating from the back of my MicroFridge,” she said.

BU spokesman Colin Riley said in an email that although he could not provide a breakdown of university heating costs, energy costs in general have increased dramatically in recent years. The university currently uses heating oil and natural gas to heat its buildings.

Given said she recognizes that if students in larger dorms were able to control the heat in their rooms, the university would be faced with a higher heating bill.

“Honestly, if we were able to control our heat, people would be always leaving it on,” she said. “Our buildings were what, built in the ’70s?”

Students living in 1019 Commonwealth Ave., 575 Commonwealth Ave., Myles Standish Hall, Shelton Hall, the Student Village and renovated brownstones can regulate the heat in individual rooms, Walter said.

Bay State Road resident Alex Lin, a College of Arts and Sciences freshman, said controlling his room temperature is not an important issue.

“I don’t change it very often,” he said. “I don’t have a problem with my heat because I could care less.”

Walter said the university investigates each complaint and works with the Office of Residence Life to provide information about the various systems in buildings across campus.

“The Facilities Management Staff receives all calls 24/7 for service and repairs including temperature complaints,” he said. “Each call is logged, and staff is dispatched to investigate the complaint and make adjustments.”