Landlord Not Providing Adequate Heat
Hi Brownstoners: I am a renter in brownstone Brooklyn. When the furnace is on it does a great job heating the basement and the first floor, a somewhat less good job heating the 2nd floor and a non-existent job of heating the 3rd floor (where I reside). I complain to the landlords – they live…
Hi Brownstoners:
I am a renter in brownstone Brooklyn.
When the furnace is on it does a great job heating the basement and the first floor, a somewhat less good job heating the 2nd floor and a non-existent job of heating the 3rd floor (where I reside).
I complain to the landlords – they live on all 3 of the floors below me; my apartment is freezing at all times. They won’t raise the heat because they are “dying” down there.
Last year they called National Grid because I was flipping out and bothering them constantly and they were told that unless they keep the thermostat up there just won’t be enough oomph to get the heat up to my floor (they used more technical terms).
What’s a girl to do? I pay a lot of money for the apartment and it’s basically unheated unless I pitch a fit and they temporarily send some heat up. I use a space heater but I think it’s unfair – it doesn’t do a great job in a 2 BR apartment and it increases my electric bill.
They replaced the furnace about 2 years ago so the unit itself is new, but it’s just not doing the job. The older one was actually better.
Any suggestions/guidance/advice is most appreciated!
The problem is, the boiler is not bled properly. I have the same problem with mine. He has to bleed the air out. What happens is they bleed it, run the water through it, but it doesn’t get over the hump at the top and start syphoning back down. If it doesn’t get over the hump there will always just be air in your pipes and so you’r will be cold.
If they do this PROPERLY, the system will be balanced.
Stop paying rent until it is done.
I am surprised as heat rises to the top and the top floor in my brownstone is always the warmest spot in the house. Make sure you have proper valves and that your radiators are on a little slant. Mine have wood boards under each to slant them a tad.I forget why the plumber came and slanted them all thru the house and changed the valves when I wasnt getting good heat. The radiators were getting lukewarm and others one side would get hot and the other side wouldnt. After he did that, I have had no problems since. The top floors are the hottest and the parlor and ground level are not overly hot but quite comfortable.
Maybe… the plumber that put in the boiler 2 yrs ago didn’t know about the illegal 3rd floor apartment, so the new boiler doesn’t have the cojones to heat what is essentially the attic.
Maybe…
I live on the 4th floor of a walk up, and yes it is always colder up there, we are the last to get the heat, but the first to lose the heat. I believe you have to have type “D” valves on the radiators, as they are different size holes for the air pressure or something. I had lived on the first floor of my building decades ago, and yes, it was a sauna….4th floor isn’t
Your LL will have to crank it up a bit for you to get the right amount of heat, but then sometimes the lower tenants boil….but at least they can open a window.
Go and buy a gel fuel fireplace. I use it in my basement and it makes the room toasty in 15 minutes and they fit anywhere. Fuel will cost you about $150 per season. Well worth it. And it’s pretty to look at.
As a landlord, here are my 2 cents:
Get a thermometer and keep a record for a few days of the temperature in your place, 3 times a day. We had a tenant who was always ‘freezing.’ As soon as we did this, we learned 2 things:
1. 70 degrees was her definition of ‘freezing’
2. The temperature fluctuated quite a bit in her apartment according to time of day, which helped us balance with the other apartments. So, in addition to explaining to her that we weren’t going to heat her apartment above 70, we also were able to make our other tenants more comfortable (that is, less hot!).
311 is an avenue available to you, should you find after measuring the temperature and (presuming they aren’t satisfying the requirements of the law) sitting down with your landlords doesn’t work. I would consider that last on my list of remedies, though–our tenants have never complained like that, but I have a feeling I would be kind of pissed if they did. Even if we technically deserved the call.
The additional information provided above is good and sound–chief among them, CALL A PLUMBER.
Good luck!
KJMR,
Call a reputable plumber in your area. They can most often find the problem quickly and propose a solution and price. Go with a plumber who will give you a fixed price to solve your issue and not a time and materials price.
The problems are either an undersized boiler, or an air venting issue. Possibly both. I hope it is the venting issue, for your landlord’s sake.
Some easy things to look at are changing the radiator vents on the lower floors, closest to the boiler to a slower vent gradually increasing the size as you move up and out through the building. The other is to look at the base of the risers in the basements. Here you will find a main pipe that the riser comes out of. Near the base of the riser you will see some more vents or one big vent that looks like an oil can. This is called the main vent. It is important because it allows the air to be evacuated from the main quickly which allows the steam to travel to that end of the main rapidly. The significance here is that the steam will be able to start its journey up the riser (and hopefully to your apartment) before the boiler’s firing cycle is over. Sometimes these vents get gunked up due to their location and improper installation. It may need to be changed along with the individual radiator vents.
Worth checking out as the cost of replacing an undersized boiler isn’t going to fly very well with your landlords. Besides, I seriously doubt they will do it at the start of the heating season.
Please keep us posted.
-SteamMan
Step 1 — Balancing. That means smaller vents on the radiators on the lower floors and bigger vents on your floor. (Vents are the little doohickeys on the end of the radiators.) Should redirect more pressure up to you sooner. You and LL can do this if you are careful, or bring in a plumber, but this is not a major undertaking. With good balancing, your radiators will warm up faster and LLs slower than now, so that buuilding heats evenly.
Step 2 — are any of your exterior walls or ceiling cold to the touch? Then you have an insulation issue.
Step 3 — Can you do a bit of cheap weatherproofing on your own? Check windows and outlets on exterior walls for drafts.
Step 4 — Go to heatinghelp.com and check out a radiator size chart. You might need bigger radiators, although not an issue if your radiators aren’t heating at all when the boiler is on.
Step 5 — Go back and read MP’s post on boiler size.
Ask your LL point blank if they would spend $400 in repairs to solve this problem. As a tenant who pays expensive rent 12 months a year on time, you are worth it.
I used to arrange for my own repairs and then sent the invoice with my lower rent that month.
Show them this forum link.