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!
When some of the radiators, especially the farthest, chronically remain cold in a steam heating system, I like to do the math to see if the boiler is the right size.
You’d be surprised how many installers skip that process when replacing a boiler. National Grid is no better.
Two simple suggestions. If they have a digital thermostat, it may have different settings for electric/air/steam. These have different cycle times with steam being the longest (like 20 minutes). On my old thermostat you had to read the manual and hold down a bunch of buttons at once to get to the advanced settings. If they are running on a short cycle you will never get steam to the top floor. Next, have them insulate the riser pipes in the lower floors. That will make it more comfortable for them and make tyhe steam rise faster to you.
this is just the kind of stuff that i do …for a free consultation you can email me at errol832000@yahoo.com….but i need access to the basement and boiler or it is totally useless…btw you cannot bleed air out of a steam system manually…that is why the vents are called “automatic air vents”…they allow the air to escape ahead of the steam
Also- if I did sit down with them and they were open to an estimate (they can’t be enjoying my constant complaints thru the years) who might this awesome plumber be that can even make the top floor hotter than the bottom floor?!? That has me intrigued.
If there are any recommendations, please send them my way!
Again, much appreciated.
Wow- a wealth of great advice, thank you all.
First off – BOILER! Sorry, not a furnace. Radiators – steam – which I bleed myself to get rid of any air in the system.
I like the idea of weatherproofing the windows – but really – no heat is no heat – still, these are good additional measures.
They had National Grid come out and they re-balanced the system, but it didn’t help me. I would think that they have good plumbers – but maybe you’re saying a private plumber is even better?
I think if I called one, even for a free estimate, it wouldn’t go over well and they wouldn’t give him/her access to the basement.
It’s a tough situation. I love the apartment and don’t want to move. It’s a great place to live – 3 seasons a year!
First measure and document the inside temperature. If it doesn’t comply with the law, tell the landlord. Either there is a problem with the windows or the heating system needs to be rebalanced.
Double check the tops of your windows to make sure they actually shut. Ours do not, and it is difficult to see it. Sealing them with plastic (sold in the weatherstripping section of Home Depot) helps a lot but the only real fix is replacing the windows.
DO NOT heat your apartment by turning up the oven and opening the oven door!
This is dangerous. Sit down with your landlords and suggest they have the system balanced. An HVAC company will be able to do this at minimal cost versus the loss of efficiency and potential loss of rental income when you stop paying rent.
Good luck.
-SteamMan
Plumber, Plumber, Plumber, Plumber, Plumber, Plumber, Plumber, Plumber, Plumber, Plumber, Plumber, Plumber, Plumber, Plumber, Plumber,. Or boiler repair type guy.
A good plumber can make the top floors hotter than the bottom floor. It shouldn’t be expensive either. Estimate can be free.
Landlords can instinctively say no to repairs, upgrades or upkeep. A free estimate is an easy way to help them through this.
If you want to be more passive agressive, run your space heater off an extenstion cord into their back yard or basement . Or break their windows on halloween with eggs and they will run the heat a lot more.
PPS: I got an email from my neighbor saturday morning who said he was cold. My kids thermometer said it was 82 inside our apt and 48 outside. I spent money on insulating and good windows in my co-op.
PPS Remember Caulkgate? An Obama program was paying contractors $35,000 to caulk a house. He was right about the caulk. Wrong about getting a fair price.
First, know the legal side:
“Building owners are required to provide hot water 365 days per year at a constant minimum temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Between October 1st and May 31st, a period designated as “Heat Season,” building owners are also required to provide tenants with heat under the following conditions:
Between the hours of 6:00 AM and 10:00 PM, if the outside temperature falls below 55 degrees, the inside temperature is required to be at least 68 degrees Fahrenheit; and,
Between the hours of 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM, if the temperature outside falls below 40 degrees, the inside temperature is required to be at least 55 degrees Fahrenheit.”
According to this site, http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/tenants/heat-and-hot-water.shtml, you should call 311 if your heat is not up to these standards.
Another route is, if they say it’s too warm for them to keep your place warm maybe they could:
a. if radiators, turn off some of their radiators
b. if forced air, close some of their vents
c. if you happen to have a gas stove and they pay for gas, try cranking that up with the door open (while you’re home and keeping an eye on it). Perhaps tell them this is how you’re heating your place now.
In reality, a LL that acts like yours has so far isn’t likely to change. You might want to seriously consider moving when you can. I’ve been there and moving was the best thing we did. After that, I always did my best to investigate potential new places heat situation and how the LL handles problems. I sometimes knocked on the door later, after a showing and asked the current tenant (who were all leaving willingly so happy to talk) about heat and LL’s. I’ve also talked to other tenants in the building if there were any.