Unethical life pro tip: get an apartment that isn’t at the end of a hallway and has floors above and below. In some cases, you can turn off your heat completely and simply steal heat from your neighbors, leeching off of them like some sort of thermal mosquito. It won’t be as warm as is comfortable without bundling up, but it may be warm enough to get by just by bundling up. Watch out for freezing pipes though!
For an added techno bonus: install a smart thermostat connected to a camera pointed at the door with facial recognition tech built in. If anyone other than the residents walk in, the thermostat is automatically reset to 72F/22C. That way if you DO burst a pipe, and the landlord walks in, they won’t have any proof you did it!
I can confirm that this works. Outside temperatures are right around freezing right now. Indoors, we’re still hovering at around 23C and we have yet to turn on any heating. I wouldn’t call this unethical though. Homes are built this way by design so that you share the heating.
My old apartment was built this way, except it was to share cooling because we lived in a very hot area. I think the insulation or whatever it was supposed to be, was bad because the air conditioning guys were there all summer craning new units onto the top of the buildings. It doesn’t help that nobody would close the breezeway doors and we effectively had a bar of heat running straight through the building. (although maintenance did force the issue right before we left, they removed their ability to stay open.)
Yeah wouldn’t it also be like super cold inside from the temp not being 72F prior to them entering? I mean if it was cold enough to freeze the pipes and all, seems like just they’d be able to tell what’s what as soon as they opened* the door.
or… just set the heat only for 55 if the pipes are your only concern. You’ll still save a lot of money on heating, and you won’t have to deal with your stuff getting flooded.
good luck finding an apartment that A) will let you install a smart thermostat B) a camera and C) finding an apartment with a 3 pipe climate system as its usually 2 so you dont get to control if its heat or cooling year round.
In the US I’ve generally either had a single system (heat or cooling depending on climate) or a system capable of both controlled by me. I’ve never lived in an apartment where someone else controlled what was happening with my air.
Unethical life pro tip: get an apartment that isn’t at the end of a hallway and has floors above and below. In some cases, you can turn off your heat completely and simply steal heat from your neighbors, leeching off of them like some sort of thermal mosquito. It won’t be as warm as is comfortable without bundling up, but it may be warm enough to get by just by bundling up. Watch out for freezing pipes though!
For an added techno bonus: install a smart thermostat connected to a camera pointed at the door with facial recognition tech built in. If anyone other than the residents walk in, the thermostat is automatically reset to 72F/22C. That way if you DO burst a pipe, and the landlord walks in, they won’t have any proof you did it!
I can confirm that this works. Outside temperatures are right around freezing right now. Indoors, we’re still hovering at around 23C and we have yet to turn on any heating. I wouldn’t call this unethical though. Homes are built this way by design so that you share the heating.
my apartment is 25C right now with no heating on and its stuffy as fuck.
My old apartment was built this way, except it was to share cooling because we lived in a very hot area. I think the insulation or whatever it was supposed to be, was bad because the air conditioning guys were there all summer craning new units onto the top of the buildings. It doesn’t help that nobody would close the breezeway doors and we effectively had a bar of heat running straight through the building. (although maintenance did force the issue right before we left, they removed their ability to stay open.)
my apartment is like this and it heats up to like 80°F without any thermostat setting even when it’s below freezing outside
How is this unethical? I live in those conditions and if I turn my heat on I have to walk around naked, the heat from the neighbours is enough
A smart thermostat would likely have record of the set and actual temperatures.
Yeah wouldn’t it also be like super cold inside from the temp not being 72F prior to them entering? I mean if it was cold enough to freeze the pipes and all, seems like just they’d be able to tell what’s what as soon as they opened* the door.
Edit: Fixed a typo
or… just set the heat only for 55 if the pipes are your only concern. You’ll still save a lot of money on heating, and you won’t have to deal with your stuff getting flooded.
good luck finding an apartment that A) will let you install a smart thermostat B) a camera and C) finding an apartment with a 3 pipe climate system as its usually 2 so you dont get to control if its heat or cooling year round.
In the US I’ve generally either had a single system (heat or cooling depending on climate) or a system capable of both controlled by me. I’ve never lived in an apartment where someone else controlled what was happening with my air.