Landlord Thermostat Recommendations?

Question

I'm looking for a good landlord thermostat. In the multi-family I own, two furnaces heat four apartments, so there is no way for me to divide the heating bill amongst the tenants. So, my best bet is to make the apartments as efficient as possible and control the heating from remotely. I'm looking for something that gives me remote access and isn't hackable by the tenants. If they aren't paying for the heat, they have no incentive be smart about the heating bill. So, it falls on me to monitor it. Any good thermostat products out there I should know about?  Thanks for the help!

Shaun C. · Answer

Wifi Thermostats are all I will ever put in. You can set the temp, login remotely and make sure it's still set at that temp. Put a clause in your lease that states that any deviation from the set temp (xx degrees - xx degrees) will result in a $250 fine. That's what I will be doing in my duplex when I leave that doesn't have separate systems.

Deanna McCormick · Answer

is it hot water boiler system,,?? we had a control on our boiler in basement that only we could access,, we disconnected the theromstat in the unit and set the boiler at the temp we wanted,, kept it at about 70.. we had a new thermostat put in the boiler room.

Talk to a good Plumber if it's a boiler and find out what your options are.. We had another building that was a zone system we took it off zone and ran that boiler also by a setting on boiler. We had total control of heat in the builiding..

Johann Jells · Answer

If you haven't solved this problem yet, and your boiler is not a cold start, a good solution is a tank hot water heater in addition to the boiler so the boiler doesn't run in summer.  You run the output of the boiler coil into the WH, so in winter the input is already hot and the tank is mainly storage, and you've great decreased the recovery time, making more hot water available for the tenants.  You'll save a lot of energy in standby losses from keeping that boiler hot all through the warm months.

Max Pierre · Answer

@David Dachtera,

The website you recommended for the thermostat is a great website. Thank you for sharing.

William Conrad · Answer

Thanks so much everyone. All this insight is super helpful. Maybe the easiest is the low-fi landlord thermostat with an automatic set back. But the clause in the lease about not touching the wi-fi thermostat is interesting too. Really great stuff and much appreciated. Have a few options now. Thanks again.

Patrick M. · Answer

I am with @Colleen F., I love the pre-set version that goes to 68 degrees in the morning, resets itself at 9 to 65, then on again to 68 after work and back to 65 at night. Love it. You can raise it to 71 at any point in time, but it will reset at the given interval. They were a huge contributor to slashing the heating bills.

David Dachtera · Answer

@William Conrad,

Based on @Colleen F.'s post, I found: https://www.landlordstat.com/

Maybe they have something you can use.

Maybe if you could find a remote temperature sensor disguised as a heat / smoke / CO2 detector and have the active part in a secured space around the furnace(s), ...

Landlord Thermostat Recommendations?

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