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Updated over 7 years ago,
No separate meter or main breaker in duplex
hi there, I am currently a tenant and am concerned about my units safety. My unit does not have its own meter and has a breaker box with most of the outlets and lights within my unit, but no access to the main breaker. The main breaker is in my neighbors unit who is often in and out of the hospital sometimes for a week or more. My landlord lives about an hr away which concerns me if I ever needed access to that in an emergency. I also do not have a thermostat to my heat in the unit which leaves me no control over that. I also do not believe the electrical is up to code because my contactor friend told me there are supposed to be electrical outlets every 4 feet I believe. And I have only 2 in one bedroom and 3 in the other that are also on the same breaker as the overhead lights. This concerns because of an overload on each breaker. I feel like it is because recently I plugged in an ac unit and notice when it kicks on and my light is on it flickers for a second. I also have wall heaters in the 2bd and the ba, but not in the kitchen/living room, which I think is to get around the lack of control over the central heat, but I'm afraid to use them because when I first moved in I believe the one in the bathroom overloaded the main breaker and it had almost caught on fire! All my lights were periodically flickering and I notified my landlord immediately because I knew something was wrong. They came by, tried to fix it from my unit, ended up killing the power to half my unit for about 3 weeks before coming back to figure out it was the main breaker was fried and charred like it had tried to catch fire. I am curious about the legal parameters of all this and if this is something I could break my lease over, because its just my daughter and I and I would really rather just move out than deal with all of this through the winter. My lease is up in 6 months. Any advice is greatly appreciated!! I have tried to do research, I can't find any permits were pulled for the electrical through the county at least, but will call the city on Monday. I'm in Sandy, OR btw. Thank you!