Rental Property Investor · Mine Hill, NJ · Member since 2014 · 229 posts · 396 votes
We have a nest thermostat,which is awesome because you can limit it to whatever temperature you want. Currently I have it locked so it can go no higher than 73 degrees. In my own home I do not ever set it higher than 68. By law in NJ if the landlord has control of the thermostat you must keep the heat to at least 68 degrees from 6am-11pm and 65 degrees at all other times. So I think 73 is more than reasonable. I received the following text last night, how would you other landlords respond? I want to keep the tenant happy, but if I raise it any more I feel upstairs unit will complain that it is too hot, I also want to keep the Natural Gas costs to a reasonable level.
Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
10y
If you are paying for heat and it exceeds the required temperature you can just say no. It does have to reach the required temperature in all rooms at a certain distance above the floor. It can be set correctly and still be too low in actual temperature (but i doubt that is the case). More likely there is an issue in a particular room or they just like it hot. Have them check vents are good and open and windows are closed. If they are complaining about a specific room troubleshoot that. If the bedrooms are closed it may be the thermostat room shows it is warm but heat isn't getting to a room that is closed off. I would first check the actual temperature is as set and the tenant does not have a room specific complaint. If all is well explain that is the legal temperature and you will not be keeping it higher, did they just move in?
If you remotely see it is above require temperature and you like to text you can just say it show x temperature as required-is there a problem with a particular room? check vents.
Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
10y
I assume you pay for the heat? The picture shows the heat is set to 73 and it looks like it's actually 74 in there. I have no idea how they could be cold. That is comical. Explain to them that 73/74 is plenty warm and well above the state's requirement. Maybe try to word it more soft than that...but yeah. If they have a true issue with that, let them move out and pay for their own heat elsewhere.
Rental Property Investor · Mine Hill, NJ · Member since 2014 · 229 posts · 396 votes
10y
Yes I pay for the heat. We do have a clause in the lease, that should the gas bill ever go above $250/month, the extra would be evenly charged between the two units. But yes I believe at 74 degrees its hard to complain that its cold...
Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
10y
If you are paying for heat and it exceeds the required temperature you can just say no. It does have to reach the required temperature in all rooms at a certain distance above the floor. It can be set correctly and still be too low in actual temperature (but i doubt that is the case). More likely there is an issue in a particular room or they just like it hot. Have them check vents are good and open and windows are closed. If they are complaining about a specific room troubleshoot that. If the bedrooms are closed it may be the thermostat room shows it is warm but heat isn't getting to a room that is closed off. I would first check the actual temperature is as set and the tenant does not have a room specific complaint. If all is well explain that is the legal temperature and you will not be keeping it higher, did they just move in?
If you remotely see it is above require temperature and you like to text you can just say it show x temperature as required-is there a problem with a particular room? check vents.
Investor · Woodbridge, VA · Member since 2015 · 476 posts · 197 votes
10y
I am with you here, I like it cold in my house. 68 is comfy and occasionally if my wife complains ill bump it up to 70ish. But not all people are like us. do you pay the utility bills? is it in the lease that you can limit the tenants thermostat control? do both units share the same thermostat and hvac system? Just some things to think about.
Also I work in an office building as an engineer and what the definition of comfort is for almost any office is 70-75 degrees and 50% RH (relative humidity), so its safe to say that your tenants are right in that zone and should have no complaints.
Personally if I were too limit my tenants HVAC it would be 74 for heat and 70 for cooling. any court in the country would find that reasonable. you might just have to tell your tenant to suck it up. But if you would like to address it go and take some temperature readings around their unit and verify that what the thermostat shows is the actual temp for the space.
@Colleen F. is spot on. We go though this similar dance in our student houses once or twice each autumn when the heat first starts being used. The problem usually turns out to be one of: closed register, furniture over registers or bedroom doors closed (with dirty cloths on the floor blocking the draught under the door). Only once in the past 3-4 years was it an actual problem with the HVAC system (a battery had died in a remote sensor).
If you are handy with numbers, you can calculate the incremental costs associated with keeping a space of X sq ft one degree at a certain temperature. I modelled one of our student rooming houses (1400 ft^2) and every degree over 20C when the ambient outdoor temperature is -10C (warm winter day or night) costs ~$15/month. Prior to the house being retrofitted (air sealed and more than doubled the insulation), that cost would have been $25/month.
Architect · Papillion, NE · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 840 votes
10y
I would go over the unit and take temperature readings in every room to double check the thermostat readings. Maybe the thermostat is defective but I doubt. This also shows the tenant you are trying to understand the first hand. Does the system have a humidifier on it? Increasing the humidity in the space will help the space feel warmer. Does the rental have insulation in the exterior walls? If not, then here is part of the problem.
When I lived in my rental the first winter it the exterior walls where supper cold and I had the heat set at 72 and it was still chilly in the house. I found out the exterior walls has no insulation in them which is not uncommon for a house built in 1935. I filled up the walls with "open cell" spray foam insulation. This blocked all the street noise and provided me with R-22 insulation value! Between the new insulation and new furnace the following winter the thermostat as set at 69!
Investor · Coeur d'Alene, ID · Member since 2016 · 551 posts · 218 votes
10y
To satisfy her complaint I'd go over and take a look to make sure the tenant wasn't doing anything dumb, i.e. leaving a window open in one room. You'll notice when you walk in if its cold or not and go from there. You going over there shows at least that you are trying to accommodate and care.
I have two daughters and a wife that are always cold so I understand, but I don't want to pay high energy bills either. My wife loves it when I tell her to put on a sweater. Then she goes and turns up the heat.
HVAC Tech · Fort Wayne, IN · Member since 2015 · 423 posts · 223 votes
10y
That's a pretty fancy thermostat for a rental. You can set temp limits with the Honeywell Pro 5000. They cost $50. You can't control it from your gadget tho.
Rental Property Investor · Mine Hill, NJ · Member since 2014 · 229 posts · 396 votes
10y
@Kevin Manz, Yea what I love about the Nest Thermostat is that I can set and change limits all from my phone without having to go intruding into the home. I can see what temperature it currently is in the house and what they have it set at. I can update the schedule as I please remotely. I can also see the history of the temperature in the apartment.
Thanks for the advice, yea I asked to meet with the tenant and posed a lot of possible solutions to remedy the issue.
"Solutions
-Bleed the air out of all the radiators: Bleeding the radiators is a necessary maintenance step, usually done at the beginning of each heating season. Overtime air bubbles get trapped in the radiators, this makes them less efficient and less heat gets pushed out of them. It is a very simple process, and I can do this when we meet. This should help to get the unit warmer.
-Consistent Temperature: Is there a certain time of day that the house seems particularly cold? Before we were having the house on a schedule, where the house would be warmer during the morning and evening, and cooler at night and midday. We can keep the house consistently warm throughout the day and night if you think it will help.
-Sealing all Windows: We can make sure all window storm doors are securely closed, and wrap all windows in an insulating sheet that will prevent any drafts from coming in, this might be making the unit feel colder than it is. The only downside to this is, while the insulating sheet is up you cannot open the windows as they are sealed.
-Insulating the Doors: We can put a layer of Weatherstripping on the Door to prevent cold drafts from coming in."
One nice thing about the Nest thermostat is that you can program it to run the circulating fan for a few minutes every hour. I think I had mine set to 15 min every hour (or maybe it was every 2 hours). Doing that dramatically improves the consistency of heat throughout the house, IME. Try it!