http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=353x2032A one-sentence recapitulation; this was the primitive who was living with his girlfriend on the premises of a relative who lied about her assets in order to get welfare; the Johnson's baby powder primitive must have since moved.
djohnson Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sat Jul-12-08 07:11 PM
Original message
Crazy landords? Not looking forward to Winter.
I am in renter's Hell, and pay rent money to a married couple who inherited a 7 unit building.
They are required by law in Chicago, in the Winter, to keep the temperature above 68 degrees or so.
They suckered me into maintaining the gas boiler room (plus cutting the grass, picking up litter, etc).
Here's the issue. The boiler turns on and off based on a thermostat, which BTW is clearly located close to a heater somewhere, so it registers as much warmer than what the tenants actually experience. Last winter the tenants were always cold, and the owners apparently can't handle the gas bill. They complained that their bill went from $1200 to $1400 per month. So, they've designated that I have some magic ability to control the thermostat in such a way as to lower their bill. They say, "oh, when it's a little warmer (like 58 degrees outside) turn the thermostat down". Like that's gong to do anything. Are they totally nuts of is this just my imagination?
Doesn't the thermostat determine whether or not the heat needs to be on? And the actually heat in the apartments is either above or below what it should be, but with a thermostat, I don't see the point spending all my time changing it in their imaginary attempt save them money. If they want me to freeze out the tenants, shouldn't they just be upfront about it instead of making up imaginary tails? I think they are assholes. But they are millionaires and I'm poor so I must be wrong and they must be right.
Warpy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Mon Jul-14-08 11:34 AM
Response to Original message
1. The thermostat registers the interior heat and when it falls below a certain level, the boiler fires. The only connection with the ambient temperature outside is that on warm days the building will lose heat more slowly and the boiler will fire less often. This isn't true on warmer but windy days, where heat loss by convection is increased.
Tell them it's out of your hands and that they need to consult a heating specialist on ways to cut the bill. They won't like what he tells them, but they'll listen to an expert over some worthless prole they have cutting the grass and picking up garbage.
It might be time to spring for a more efficient boiler and tighten the building. If they just want to keep milking a cash cow, though, expect them to do neither but continue to whine at you and try to blame you for the fact that gas prices have doubled since last year.
In any case, they will not be happy this winter and there is nothing you can do about it but move.
