t***@gmail.com
2018-12-30 13:00:11 UTC
Even though this post is 15 years old, i am horrified to see you describe that you think of your tenants as "Not too smart". are you a slum lord? this is incredibly bias and lends me to think that you take advantage of your people. I'm going to find the sites for your properties and post a link/screenshot of this post in case you delete. horrifying.
In this case, two live thermostats is two too many, IMHO.
Your downstairs tennant ("DT") is a) not too smart
and b) incredibly selfish.
Smarts: They obviously don't know that "cranking it up" doesn't
make it get any warmer any faster.
Since there's only one furnace, I can only assume that there is
some sort of shared payment for the heat, or maybe you include it
in the rent? In any case, that's where the "selfish" part comes
in. Your DT thinks you or you and your UT should pay or the fact
that their child can't keep the covers on at night. With that
kind of mentality, I would also bet that your DT and child are
running around in bare feet while that furnace is "cranked up"
in the AM.
What I would do, as a solution? DT (by their selfish nature)
would never go for a programmable, so that's out of the question,
so you need to set a basic downstairs thermostat to somewhere
around 70 degrees and encase it in a serious locking enclosure
("serious" = something that DT can't pick with a paperclip.)
If that's not good enough for them, tough cookies. You are
fufilling your obligation to heat the place, they can move or
try and sue you, they have nary a prayer of winning.
Meanwhile, UT will now have a constant supply to deal with (not
the case when DT is constantly varying the temperature) so they
can begin to try and regulate their heat by tweaking register
openings. If it turns out -both- are too cold, unlock the cover
and bump it up by 1 or 2 degrees, then lock it up again.
HTH.
TP
Hi all,
Hoping for some suggestions on how to keep my tenants happy.
I own a house with a three bedroom rental suite down and another 3
bedroom up.
They are both heated by the same Lennox Pulse propane furnace.
There is a thermostat located in each suite. When the downstairs
tenant leaves the house for the day they often leave the heat turned
up after cranking it in the morning to take the chill off. The
That should tell you all you need to know...Hoping for some suggestions on how to keep my tenants happy.
I own a house with a three bedroom rental suite down and another 3
bedroom up.
They are both heated by the same Lennox Pulse propane furnace.
There is a thermostat located in each suite. When the downstairs
tenant leaves the house for the day they often leave the heat turned
up after cranking it in the morning to take the chill off. The
downstairs tenant has also started to leave the heat cranked up all
night in case the child kicks off his blankets in the middle of the
night.
...and that should tell you even more!night in case the child kicks off his blankets in the middle of the
night.
Unfortunately for the upstairs tenants they are roasting and have no
control with their thermostat to turn the heat down.
(Speaking here as a landlord)control with their thermostat to turn the heat down.
In this case, two live thermostats is two too many, IMHO.
Your downstairs tennant ("DT") is a) not too smart
and b) incredibly selfish.
Smarts: They obviously don't know that "cranking it up" doesn't
make it get any warmer any faster.
Since there's only one furnace, I can only assume that there is
some sort of shared payment for the heat, or maybe you include it
in the rent? In any case, that's where the "selfish" part comes
in. Your DT thinks you or you and your UT should pay or the fact
that their child can't keep the covers on at night. With that
kind of mentality, I would also bet that your DT and child are
running around in bare feet while that furnace is "cranked up"
in the AM.
What I would do, as a solution? DT (by their selfish nature)
would never go for a programmable, so that's out of the question,
so you need to set a basic downstairs thermostat to somewhere
around 70 degrees and encase it in a serious locking enclosure
("serious" = something that DT can't pick with a paperclip.)
If that's not good enough for them, tough cookies. You are
fufilling your obligation to heat the place, they can move or
try and sue you, they have nary a prayer of winning.
Meanwhile, UT will now have a constant supply to deal with (not
the case when DT is constantly varying the temperature) so they
can begin to try and regulate their heat by tweaking register
openings. If it turns out -both- are too cold, unlock the cover
and bump it up by 1 or 2 degrees, then lock it up again.
HTH.
TP