legal question

[Iceburner 0]

so my gf just moved into a new appt...and everything was good, until she got her first heating bill. Having the temp set at 58 F her bill was over 300 bucks...thinking it was a shitty heating unit, she called and asked both the repair man for the housing unit and the company's repair guy (who made the heater). Both said the unit was "fine" just innefficient. So, she decides to use a space heater, but now the problem is that her and her roomate can only opperate 1 at a time before they blow a fuze, and even with the house temp set at 50 F the bill is over 250 bucks....my question is, is that even legal? She lives in WI fyi

[Squeak 17]

legal question are becomming common place on here, I think Nightingale and lawrocket shoould hang a shingle, and start charging

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[Iceburner 0]

lol, well i figured before paying for advice i'd see what ppl here had to say about it, and if it seemed to be a bit off the wall, i'd ask some lawyer friends that i used to work with...

[monkycndo 0]

Legal, no opinion.

But she lives in a fucking cold weather location.

Might be cheaper to offer to pay to install a more efficient heater.

Or get one of the portable radiant oil filled type heaters. They don't heat up quickly, but do stay warm a longer time once up to temp.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[Iceburner 0]

i know she lives in a cold place, i've lived there for 23 years...but even heating a 2 story house to 75 only costs 150 on average...and the people who live below her have a $70/month bill...but then again that's where the landlord used to live. just wondering if there's a lil law for cold weather states that would make a landlord put in a heater that works...i saw something that stated they have to provide a heater capable of heating the house to 65 degrees...which i guess tech. this one could do, for about 850/month

[billeisele 130]

a little help from your friendly utility person

1) check and make sure that the meter for her apartment is only reading usage for her apartment - we see this all the time where usage for an adjacent unit is going thru the neighbors meter - takes 2 people, make sure the neighbors are home and their lights are on, look at the meter and see if it is turning, have someone open the main breaker in the breaker panel, meter should stop turning

2) check the meter and see if it is correct, they are rarely wrong but it does happen, to find out how to clock the meter call your utility and they will tell you how to do this, using the water heater is easy because it should draw 4500 watts

3) what kind of heat does she have - heat pump? strip electric heat? gas or oil? if it is a heat pump then this could be a correct bill depending on how cold it is - when cold enough the heat strips will operate some

4) ask the neighbors about their bills, if yours is unusually high then something is wrong

if i get more info about the apt i can give more helps: size, # of floors, walls adjoining other apts, age of HVAC unit, type of unit, brand

Give one city to the thugs so they can all live together. I vote for Chicago where they have strict gun laws.

[Darktreader 0]

there is a problem, you need a professional to check it out, even if heat was running 24 hours for 30 days it shouldnt be that high in a an "apt" no matter what.
I had a similar problem in aug, in my 1275 sq ft apt my bill was 290 and they came in and said nothing was wrong the next month same thing 3 months later I had an electrician come in on my own and found that my AC unit had a short in the thermostat and the heater and ac where running at same time and at all times whether I had the thermostat off or not, the apt complex reimbursed me over 600, in back bills.

Have it checked.

"Before we waste time talking and getting to know each other, let's just have sex once and see if we're compatible"

[monkycndo 0]

Serious reply this time. If memory serves me, the building code requires that a residence be capable of being heated to a temperature of 70*F measured at 3' above the floor. That's the code. The hard part is that it doesn't say where in the unit the measurement is to be made or how long it should take to achieve that temperature. If the unit is heated by gas, the local gas company will often provide a heater inspection to make sure it is in good working order. If it is unsafe, they can red tag it which forces the owner to make repairs.

Most larger cities have a renters rights org that should be able to help with what a landlord is responsible to provide as basic utilities. Worth a search.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[AggieDave 6]

If the unit is taking a lot of power to heat, then maybe its leaking carbon monoxide...it would be worth paying a couple of bucks for a detector. If its leaking badly, then you *might* have legal recourse depending on your state's laws.

Eitherway I look at it as being under insulated with a crappy heater. Sucks to be you, Buyer Beware!

It took contacting the former realestate's broker for the last place that we rented with a followed through threat of legal actions to get any response out of the agent for our deposit. It worked out in our favor since neither wanted to go to court and they settled for $300 more then my deposit. In Texas in certain situations you can be awarded three times your deposit in court plus court costs. They would have lost, but it was worth staying out of court for 1/2 that amount. Which was nice for us, its buying us a new garage door.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[monkycndo 0]

I was renting and old victorian with leaky double hung windows. I installed some window film you tape around the windows and then heat the film with a hair dryer to tighten it up and remove the wrinkles. It made a HUGE difference in keeping the drafts out and the apartment was much warmer. The kit cost about $20 and did 8 big windows. Payed for itself in one months bill.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[Nightingale 0]

Quote

legal question are becomming common place on here, I think Nightingale and lawrocket shoould hang a shingle, and start charging

Lawrocket and I are both licensed in California, not Wisconsin.

[d_squared431 0]

She should call the power company and ask if they have her for the whole building and not just her appt. That happened to me a few years back. I was paying about 300 plus a month. Never thought much of it until the complex called to tell me that I never changed the electric over into my name(6mos after i since i moved in). I didn't have to pay rent for some time...
She can also get a print out of the past usage to see just how much the bill was per month and that way she can see why she is paying so much.

TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1
I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly

[Iceburner 0]

sorry it took me so long, but thanks for all the reply's.

she's on the second story of a 2 story house...she uses radiator heating (i know it sucks, but it shoudn't suck this much ) and the people below her have some other sort of heater. I'll have her look into some of the things you all described. And about the window film, it's the first thing i told her to do, and she's had that since November.... Thanks again for all your responses though.