Preset Thermostats and Heating Issues

[Lori Marra]

As a landlord, I need to know what I can/should do about complaints from some tenants about the heat in their apartments.

Three months ago I acquired a 6-unit apartment building in Western NY. The building was structurally very sound but tired. After a month of owning the apartment, a pipe burst in one apartment (vacant, thank goodness), and was repaired. At that time, I had the hot water boiler system checked. It's very old and needs replacing, but is fully functioning. All the lines were bled and it is working fine. Right after this, one tenant complained that the apartment was very cold. I checked all the lines and found one needed to be bled. I did that and it was working fine.

Next I installed preset thermostats because several of the tenants were turning their old thermostats to 85-degrees. I am paying heat (the boiler is not broken into separate billable zones yet).

Since I replaced the thermostats, the two tenants who set their heat up at 85 have complained about their apartments being too cold. I had a boiler specialist come in and check the system and that apartment. He did some adjustments to help. It is an old, drafty building, and I've suggested that tenants cover windows with plastic.

I am still receiving calls and emails from these two tenants about their apartments being cold, but I know their thermostats are working and they are set at and registering 71, which is the maximum setting.

Do I need to do more? If so, what? If not, how can I respond to these two tenants?

Also, I have an RFQ out to have this very old boiler system replaced in the late Spring. This will be a minimum interruption because the tenants are mostly students.