What are my rights as a tenant in this situation?

“So apparently when it gets cold enough, they will set the heat downstairs at 70 and that’s what it stays at all winter.”

Apparently? Did you actually talk to your landlord about it and express that you would like to be able to request that he turn on the heat when you think your son is too cold? You might find that he is more understanding than you expect. Or, you might suggest paying more so that you can compromise on the temperature of the building.

Or, you might try living with it for a while. You will likely find that your definition of “a comfortable temperature” shifts. I know that I am far more comfortable living in a cold space than I was when I was younger and didn’t care who was paying the heating bill.

As to your actual rights as a tenant, we can all tell you what our rights are in our respective provinces/states, but you are more likely to get a relevant answer by checking with whatever rental board covers the area that you live in.

Not sure what kind you would need to get for them to be safe around your son, but…..space heaters. As for your tenant rights (which is of course what you DID ask about), I’m afraid I don’t know.

First thing you should do is get a thermometer and document the temperature in your apartment several times a day. Heat is a habitability issue. if they aren’t turning it on because its not cold when their shop is open, you may have a case for breaking your lease based on the fact that it is not habitable. I’m not sure how cold it would have to be to qualify though.
If it becomes to hot in the winter you might also have a case that it is to hot to be habitable.
You might also have a case because they misled you by not disclosing that the thermostat you saw when they rented it to you was inoperable.
The problem is, enforcing all this. Is there a separate electrical meter or do they provide electricity as well? If they do, you might want to get some space heaters and keep the place warmer.
I don’t know if you can go to small claims to get permission to break a lease or not.
If you are sure that you can’t handle a winter like his I would express (in writing) your concerns to the landlord and ask permission to be released from the lease. It is always much better to be released than it is to have to fight it out in court.

Buy a couple of space heaters.
I have never heard of such a thing, insane and maybe illegal.
It is one thing to include utilities in rent but entirely another to control the tenants actual warmth/cooling facors. I am in CA. and have never, ever, heard of such a thing in my life!

I’d check with an attorney if I were you.

We used to live in a very drafty house, with one wood stove for heat. That first year my house plants froze, and I vacuumed in a down coat, hat and mittens. With the exception of that one room with the woodstove and baseboard heat in the bedroom where the kids were, We managed to keep the pipes from freezing, but that’s about it.

The kids all wore coats hats, and mittens inside the house if they were cold. (My youngest was 3 at the time). My point is poor heat is inconvenient, but not a big deal in the grand scheme of things unless you or your little one has a health condition.

Let us know how it turns out.

Possible this is illegal.

Check with your local tenets union.

If you want to get out of the lease, I would check with the building department. If its uninhabitable then they can condem it and you will be out of the lease.
There could possibly be a problem with zoning, (also a building department issue) having a residence above a body shop with toxic and flammable materials like paint and bonding agents. These are the big guns. I would first try to negotiate with the landlord to be released from the lease.

Are you complaining that 70 degrees is too cold? A very small space heater will bump it up for you at relatively low cost..

Can you do anything about the windows? Leaky window will lose a lot of heat. Do you have the storm windows down? That will make a big difference.

Oddly enough, I have experienced this before. I rented an apartment was really two bedrooms with a door cut between them and one turned into a kitchen, with all utilities paid. The landlord had complete control of the temperature, until I bought my own space heater. I bet his electric bill went sky high.

I believe 70 degrees is standard room temperature. I usually like my room a little warmer in winter, but that’s just me. My first two apartments (the only apartments I ever rented in my life) were heat provided by the landlord and controlled by the landlord and they were fine. These were legitimate apartments in nice buildings. I have friends who live in places like this, and they’re usually decently heated.

I would talk to the landlord, and if that gets you nowhere, I would go for space heaters. I wouldn’t expect too much sympathy in court because as I stated, 70 degrees is standard room temperature.

70 is very reasonable. I have heard of this happening before…even an entire apartment building that is controlled by one main thermostat, tenants don’t have much say….but honestly….70 is not high or low, it’s average. If you want it warmer, a space heater seems reasonable. If you were keeping your heat at 74 all the time your bill would be fairly high anyhow. So paying a little extra for electric space heaters would probably even out in the end. I get it with the baby, and I’m a cold person in general too. But, blankets on blankets!

Let me clarify one thing first. I know I said 70 degrees is what the heat is set at but that’s downstairs in the shop. My thermostat could read 55 and it won’t make the heat turn on. It could also read 85 and it won’t stop pumping out heat. It is solely based on what the shops temperature is. So 70 would be comfortable for me if that was actually the temp in my own house. But it’s going to be rare that my house is actually 70.

@glacial Yes we spoke to the landlord about it. 70 is definitely what it’s set at. She claims our place will actually be very hot if anything once she regularly starts keeping the heat set at 70. Right now, being fall, it’s not always on. Unfortunately when they close up at 5:00 they don’t realize it gets colder at night and we have no access to the thermostat.

I could buy space heaters. Unfortunately we are responsible for the electric bill. Our rent is already very high. I’m not sure if we can afford a very expensive electric bill on top of it. And I’m unsure about the safety of space heaters in my son’s room. I’ve heard they aren’t very safe?

Assuming you can swing the cost, you could put the space heater on a shelf and run the cord behind a bookcase or dresser. A small fan in the room would help to move the air around so it’s not on the ceiling all the time.

These are the hazards of renting. Always stuff you find out after the fact.

@ItalianPrincess1217 I think you’re probably not going to find a legal way out of the situation. I would wait and see what winter brings. Your landlord is probably right that your place will be be warmer than downstairs; heat really does tend to rise to the upstairs unit.

Like you, I tend to distrust space heaters, so my solution would be good blankets and sweaters. I think you will be just fine. :)

Perhaps you can compromise with the landlord and use space heaters that run off the shop’s electrical circuits. That is, you could either use heavy-duty extension cords running through the floor to outlets in the shop, or (better option) have electrical outlets placed in a couple of your rooms, say, the living room and child’s room, which are run from the shop’s main panel board. (You still wouldn’t have access to that board if your space heater tripped a circuit breaker, so you’d have to be wise about not overloading that circuit.)

Otherwise, talk to the landlord about reactivating the second zone (in your apartment) that the thermostat must have been placed for. I cannot imagine a thermostat being placed “for show”. It seems more likely to me that there was a second heating zone at one time, which this thermostat controlled, but which is obviated through the main heating season for the reasons that the landlord states.

The first thing to do is talk, calmly, quietly and without reference to lawyers, courts and lawsuits, that “I’m unhappy that we’re chilly now – especially my child – and don’t like this arrangement for heat. How can we resolve this equitably?” Reasonable people will always find a way. If you think that she’s unreasonable – or if you are (which I doubt) – then you can always make plans to break the lease later.

The oil filled space heaters are pretty safe. I have had one for years. Even on full blast it doesn’t get hot enough to burn me. At least here one costs around 5 bucks a month to run. YMMV but I track electrical usage carefully and noted what my bill went up when it was the only variable. It will keep a medium sized room comfortable easily.

@CWOTUS brings up good points. Don’t go for “the talk” and mention lawyers, courts, etc. I wouldn’t even use the word “equitable.” I would just keep it to that you guys are cold, and especially for “the baby” you don’t want him to get sick. Is there any way they can turn the thermostat up a few degrees at night? Simple, to the issue, quick request, and see what happens.

Please consider posting an update when you do whatever you choose to do.

Thank you.
JCA
The Update Lady

I don’t recall you saying whether it is hot water baseboard heat but that seems likely. If it gets too hot all the time you can stick a towel in the space under some of the fins. That will reduce convection air flow and the radiator will put out less heat. Of course you can open the window but that is a waste of energy. Cutting back on the radiator output is quick and easy. Start by blocking about 10 to 15% of the radiator length.

@LuckyGuy Actually we have steam radiators. Not sure of any fixes for making them less hot but if you or anyone else has advice on that, please let me know.

Oh, I miss steam radiators! They provide a nice, even heat, and don’t dry out the apartment.