Apparently, I unitentionally started a war with my upstairs neighbour. The apartment where I live in a tri-level house that has been split into three apartments: mine (which has two bedrooms), the apartment upstairs (which has three bedrooms) and one apartment in the back (which has one bedroom). So far, the only major downside is that one person has control of the thermostat and that is the apartment above mine.
A few months back, shortly after moving in, I noticed that during the winter months, there were days that the heat got turned off – even if the individual who lived upstairs was home. I was told that if it got too cold or too hot, I’d be able to ask for the temperature to be readjusted accordingly. I tried that a couple of times, but it didn’t make any difference. As a result, I asked the landlord about it and for a few days, everything seemed fine. However, it went back to getting cold again because the furnace was intentionally being turned off again.
As the season changed, and the AC was brought online, there were days that when the AC came on, it stayed on. Usually, it would be on for multiple hours at a time without cycling on/off like an AC should (there was one weekend where it ran for a straight 36 hours without cycling on/off). It was then that the reasoning became apparent: the individual who lived upstairs liked it cold and ran the system accordingly. The landlord brushed off the possibility, only because the temperature had been set on the thermostat (as well as turned to ‘auto’). However, after the landlord left for work, the individual upstairs would change the settings and turn the entire building into an icebox.
For a three week period (beginning in early May), the AC would come on almost every single day and stay on. There were two days where it got so cold that I had to put my son in winter fleece PJ’s and wrap him in a blanket to keep him warm. I ended up telling the landlord that the AC was acting weird and there may be a problem with the sensor on the thermostat. The landlord did try to reiterate that the thermostat was on ‘auto’ (so it shouldn’t be running so much) and I could always asking the tenant upstairs to readjust the temperature. However, I emphasized that the AC was on constantly (usually 7+ hours a day without cycling) and it was doing so on a daily basis, so I would literally be asking every single day for the temperature to be readjusted. I was then told that if the AC ‘acted up’ again, let the landlord know so an HVAC tech could be brought in. The AC acted normal for the next few days, but after three days of ‘normal’, it did it’s thing again and ran for multiple hours straight (the temperature in our apartment went from 22 degrees celcius to 18 degrees celcius in a matter of hours). As a result, I told the landlord. It hasn’t been a problem since, but I’ve been given the cold shoulder from the neighbour upstairs ever since this whole thing got brought up. What exactly will happen as we go forward, I do not know, but I have a feeling that I haven’t heard the last of it.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation that you had to speak up about? Was it the result of someone else’s actions?
Island of Misfit Mamas 