Cold apartment
Since December I’ve been calling my landlord and telling her the apartment is too cold. It ranges from 65 to 68 degrees during the day and 63 degrees at night. We live on the top floor of a brownstone. It’s a two-bedroom apartment with only two radiators; one in the kitchen and one in the…
Since December I’ve been calling my landlord and telling her the apartment is too cold. It ranges from 65 to 68 degrees during the day and 63 degrees at night. We live on the top floor of a brownstone. It’s a two-bedroom apartment with only two radiators; one in the kitchen and one in the larger bedroom. The second bedroom has no heating source. The heat does work but it is very weak. Only the top of the radiator gets warm, the bottom half never heats up. Before any of you landlord’s chime in with your “68 is warm enough†imagine waking up freezing at 3am and unable to get warm. It’s not a lot of fun.
As of yet my landlord’s one and only response is “I’ll take a look at it†but nothing ever changes. The boiler looks ancient but other apartments in the building are heated fine (in fact the apartment on the ground floor has turned one of their radiator’s off and opened their windows). So, my question is; is it the radiators? Can they be replaced? I think they are full of decades worth of gunk but I’ve read they can’t be bled. It’s one of those boilers where you have to turn a water valve to keep it full and working. I know it leaks because every couple of weeks it gets empty and the heat goes off in the entire building. I know the landlord is concerned about having any contractors or inspectors in because the building hasn’t been inspected since 1986 (I know this because that was the last time an inspector signed the building certificate posted in the hallway). She’s also done lots of hidden construction (turning one apartment into two, closing off doorways) which would cause some problems too. She’s not a bad person but I don’t think she knows what she’s doing when it comes to the heat (if, in fact, she’s doing anything besides giving me lip service and taking my $2700 every month).
68 wouldn’t be terrible if you were paying the bills, but the important thing is that for 2700 per month, you should be able to find a place that suits you in most ways. unfortunately, that could mean moving. i haven’t read all of your post, but if you are not rent protected, calling inspector’s is a good way to not have your lease renewed. also bear in mind, that if your situation is easily solved with a space heater or dressing warm, using 311 and city services unnecessarily does wrongly affect those truly in need. it is not always likely that someone will overheat a whole building to satisfy 1 area, especially when people are dying over oil. i hope you find a good soloution, and take advice from people who can countenance the entire situation and not give rash advice that may not be in your or anyone’s best interest. in the end, you probably can’t force your landlord to do anything, maybe you can motivate them, but its a good idea for us all to first consider that going to war, or even moving in that direction, is not always the first option to take.
Honestly, I am living in a house with no heat right now, and it’s not that bad. It never gets to be truly freezing because I’ve got houses on either side of me. I put on a sweater and have a space heater for cold days.
I definitely get up and it’s 55 degrees most mornings. I thought this would make me really crabby all winter. But you know? You get used to it.
I think I am going to rethink using my heat once I get it, and use it much more sparingly than I used to. I think I prefer not paying for heat to having heat.
I didn’t say 55 was fine, just that it’s the law. I was responding to the suggestion that OP take the landlord to housing court, and was pointing out that the landlord wasn’t doing anything to warrant housing court (at least with regard to the temperature). Have a nice day!
I’d love to see what the heat is like in the apartments of these people who say 55 is fine at night…somehow I bet it’s warmer in their houses. I call hypocrite.
It has been suggested that not wearing season-appropriate clothing can be confusing and depressing for people – that it is therefore not only responsible but healthy to wear sweaters in winter and short sleeves in summer, for example. So, I suggest lots of layers, a good quilt, and some hot lovin’ with Bob “Tough Love” Marvin. Yum!
I am a landlord and we have the heat up to 77 and sometimes have to crank it up to 80. Now, am sure you are all in shock – but its a verrrry drafty house, one in which I should have had insulated last year. anyway, i am charging my tenant $2500 a month for a duplex! When he calls and complains he’s cold – I put up the heat. Sorry, I disagree with keeping the heat at the mininum. Yes, my gas prices are high, but at least I am not causing an issue for my tenant to complain that he’s got a slumlord.
my advice, find a new place
I skimmed through the posts and not sure anyone mentioned old drafty windows. If the windows are drafty, tell the landlord, but b/c she doesn’t sound too eager to fix anything you’ll end up having to hang some heavy curtains in front of the windows. It really does help warm up a room to block the drafts from the windows. Give it a try.
I own a 2 family brownstone, and rent out an apartment, where it’s always much colder than in mine. Our furnace works well, but the system was just not designed well, and the rental apt is always cosiderably cooler than the rest of the house.
I explained that to my tenants on their first winter, when they complained that they were cold. I have to admit, first I couldn’t believe them, since it was very pleasant in my part of the house. Eventually I came to realise that the heating set up was not right and couldn’t be changed easily, so I bought them a portable radiator (electric) with a built in timer and reduced their rent by $40 a month. They are happy now and so I am.
You may want to try that – if the problem is in the design (in my opinion, very likely since so many are and 2 radiators only for a whole 2 bedroom hardly sounds enough) it may be really costly to rectify, so your landlord may not be willing to go that route. But if she understands your legitimate discomfort she may be willing to help you in ways that are not painlful for her.
Having said that, if you think the changes she did in the house grant an inspection I think you have the ethical obligation to report it. If someone where to die (not uncommon if there is a fire and the fire dept doesn’t have up to date details of the inside of the building and areas have been closed off) what would you think/feel?
As a landlord, I disagree with some of the postings above. If you are paying $2,700 for one floor of a brownstone, you deserve decent heat, and not the “minimum”. And if you are politely telling your landlord that you are freezing, she should be doing something about it.
We charge our tenants slightly below market and try to keep them reasonably happy. If their apartment was freezing, we would do something about it. You seem to be paying market rent (where is your apartment?) So if your landlord is not giving you any break in rent, she deserves to provide you with decent services. Otherwise, you should definitely look for a new place to live, and let the landlord live with the hassle of always having unhappy tenants paying high rents for bad service.
The advice to get a heater is wrong — they really are a fire hazard. I would hate to have my tenants having to use them and would far prefer having the heat fixed.