Landlords: what temps do you set your thermostats to?
Please let me know. This is for a small non-rent-stabilized building that we do not occupy with almost market rate tenants. We have it at 68 during the day (6am-11pm) and 62 at night. So this is above the legal guidelines for duration and temps at night. Is this nuts? Only 1 set of tenants…
Please let me know. This is for a small non-rent-stabilized building that we do not occupy with almost market rate tenants. We have it at 68 during the day (6am-11pm) and 62 at night. So this is above the legal guidelines for duration and temps at night. Is this nuts? Only 1 set of tenants are complaining. And they probably moved out of one of those big buildings that just pump heat all the time. But they are driving us nuts. Should we be turning up the heat to keep them hot and happy? What do you do? Thanks.
I JUST SENT THE COMMMENT BOUT THE HEAT SIGHNED HEATED. I DONT LIVE IN THE HOUSE,I CANT CONTROL ANYTHING FROM THE OUTSIDE
I HAVE A LEGAL 2 FAM HOUSE 2 SEPERATE T-STATS OIL IS SO EXPENSIVE,I(THE LAND LORD PAYS FOR THIS,NOT SEC 8,BUT A BEAUTIFUL HOME) THE RENT DOES NOT COVER MY MORTGAGE PAYMENT,PLUS IM STUCK WITH THIS HIGH OIL BILL,THEY ARE BLEEDING ME DRY.WHAT CAN I DO TO CONTROL THE HEATING SYSTEM,WITH OUT SPENDING LOTS OF MONEY?? SIGHNED
HEATED!!!
68/66 is reasonable. you should check your radiators – shut off valves and air valves – try to balance the heat. 62 is too low for market rate tenants. It is true everyone is different, one person will be cold and another hot no matter what you do, but at 62, you might have trouble keeping them if that’s your goal.
Remember that the thermostat and the temperatur can be very different. I keep a little thermometer next to the thermostat and it routinely shows that the thermostat show a temperature about 3-5 degrees under the ambient temperature read by the thermometer.
Count me as a wimp. I hate being cold. I live in my building and I am cold below 70 and very happy at 72. Even having set it at that level, last year my top floor tenants were trying not to be wimps and complain about being cold, until they did and I couldn’t understand it. I went up there and it WAS cold. Reason, I had the wrong valves on the radiators which during transitional times heated my apartment nicely (thermostat was there) but didn’t keep the boiler on long enough to take the heat all the way to the top. I changed the valves and everybody is happy. Ditto to others comments – give them what you give yourself. You don’t want people heating their own spaces. This assumes that the rents are covering your costs. Always negotiate a rate that will pay you enough to take care of people.
OP here. Thanks for your comments. Just to clarify the thermostat is on a much colder floor than this apartment, so it definitely is much higher than the number on the screen (68/62.) We just turned the temp up a few degrees to buy ourselves some peace. We have new double pane windows, a new efficient boiler and have had master plumber in to optimize our whole system in the past.
Your settings are fine. Make a visit to the apartments (preferably on a very cold day) to check the heat for yourself. Don’t be surprised if the cold tenant answers the door in a t-shirt.
My garden unit tenant in our brownstone (we live upstairs) has been very unhappy about the heat as well. And we actually keep ours a bit higher than yours up to 70+ in the morning and never lower than 68, even at night. I looked into it and called the city, and your legal obligation is for the temperature in the unit to actually be 68 degrees anywhere in the unit from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. — what you have your thermo set for doesn’t matter one bit to the city. If your tenants get wise and call the city, and you are found in violation, the fine is $500 per day. The temp in the garden unit was dipping down below 68 degrees several times during the day. For us, I was unwilling to turn the heat up any higher to guarntee 68 degree temp all day in that unit, so I bought my tenant two state of the art space heaters for about $60 bucks each, and gave her a $50 allowance for electricity for Dec., Jan., and Feb. Now the ball is in her court. The way I read the city regs this is legit.
You might be able to ad a temporary fuel surcharge for heat to the rent.
On the basis that the price of oil went thru the roof and it is a hardship to maintain the building properly.