Heat and Tenants
I keep the thermostat in my apt at a solid 68-72 all the time, day and night. One of my elderly tenants complains that the heat is still too low. I offered to help them remove their window A/C units to get a better air seal- is this reasonable? What else can I suggest before…
I keep the thermostat in my apt at a solid 68-72 all the time, day and night. One of my elderly tenants complains that the heat is still too low. I offered to help them remove their window A/C units to get a better air seal- is this reasonable? What else can I suggest before raising the heat? Could I suggest they get those plastic window sealing kits? FYI- The windows aren’t exceptionally old or inefficient. I would love any suggested alternatives to raising the thermostat again. Thanks!
give the tenant a $30 dollar oil filled electric heater with automatic shut off and thermostat.
and a 20$ per month credit to use it for Nov.-Feb.
total cost $110.
-they’ll think you really care.
-they’ll feel you have made a real effort to
address their problem
-they’ll be warmer.
-they’ll stop complaining.
or you could change out the windows at 300-400 a pop and
insulate the skylight for 500$.
the heater option is best if you determine on your own evaluation with a thermometer that the apartment is at a normal room temp. and the tenant is the picky sort.
It sounds like this elderly person needs to put on a sweater most other elderly people.
My mother is 83 years old and her apt has got to be near 83 degrees all day long. She complains when the temp goes below 80. Elderly have a disadvantage with sensation of cold: they lose their subcutaneous fat (natural insulation) and are often a little bit anemic which also contributes to the phenomenon. Has your tenant’s health been checked recently? She could have become more anemic of late.
I also know with my mom, that she only wears a tshirt and slacks around the house and will still complain that it is cold. Its a difficult thing to make them comfortable. I doubt raising the heat 2 or 3 degrees will prevent your tenant from feeling cold.
donatella, where is the thermostat?
I have this issue occasionally with a tenant on the top floor. I think that I need to do a little rehab work on the skylights in the spring- I think they are leaky. The radiators work ok but in transition periods when the boiler isn’t on continuously (not now) it gets a little chilly up there. Also we take out the AC since that causes a big draft. I got her a little plug in radiator for the transition times but if it is really cold, she calls me and I turn up the heat (my duplex gets a little hot though). This after having vents changed (slower ones downstairs and faster ones upstairs).
maxsdad has the right idea. You can make some progress toward even heat by going big on the top floor and small on teh first floor. Gorton D on the top floor, Gorton 4 on yours. Change the vents with the heat off and wrap the threads on the new vents with teflon tape. Spot check for drafts and weatherproof. Then measure temps on the top and your floor to see the differential, and see whether her radiators heat up all the way when yours do.
If you are still out of balance, you will want to check how fast your boiler is cycling. Make sure you are draining the gunky water out and letting the reuptake (or whatever it is called) kick in, weekly. Sometimes, too much rusty sludge will cause it to cycle on and off too fast.
If you can get the temp difference down to 2-3 degeres, suck it up and make her happy. Try splitting the diff.
If her apartment is 70 degrees – tell her to buy an electric heater and leave you alone
yanks, the thermostat on the ground floor is the first big problem. the boiler runs until the temp on the theromostat is satisfied. since its on the ground floor, as the heat rises it warms up that floor first before the others. the third floor might not have enough time to warm up before the boiler shuts down. there are a few options: put a temp sensor in the top floor apt and the thermostat wherever you want – the boiler run time will be determined by the temp in the third floor apt.
you can also leave the thermostat where it is and play around with different size vents on radiators. the radiator in the room with the thermostat should have the smallest sized vent. the top apt needs larger vents. but this is more of a ‘play -around with vents till it works idea’. in my opinion, ultimately the best solution is to put the sensor up top and install the correct sized vents on all radiators. not forgetting main vents on the pipes in the basement.
718- if the heating system is set up properly all apartments will be warmed evenly without problems.