<p>We live in the northeast and the winter is coming, my roommates are those people who need heat no matter how warm it is, I never touch the heat and always leave it off,like 52,but my roommates want them to be 68 or 70,the consequence is that the utility bill goes up,and I do not want to pay for them, what should I do? Should I let the landlord know to let my roommates pay the difference? What if they don’t pay?</p>
<p>You need to work it out with your roommates, it’s not your landlord’s problem. It is not unreasonable to have heat at 68 in the winter, but it is unreasonable to have it at 52. This is a down side of sharing an apartment with someone. Roommates generally share all utility costs equally.</p>
<p>I have concluded that I have lost around 30 bucks last month just for them, I am cent-sensitive,how should I negotiate with them? One of them is pretty easy to talk to, the other one is not.</p>
<p>52 degrees would be way too cold for most people. 68 degrees is quite reasonable. We heat our house to 68 degrees in the day (when we are home) and 62 at night.</p>
<p>Another problem is that one of my 2 roommates has her OWN HEATER. The electric bill doubled last December, I wasted 15 bucks last month on her…</p>
<p>52 is ridiculous. A child living in a house kept at 52 degrees would be removed by the authorities. You’re out of line for suggesting that there be no heat.</p>
<p>As others have said, keeping a home at a temp of 52 during winter in the northeast is ridiculous and you shouldn’t have the expectation that any reasonable roommate would agree to that. 68 is what most people like, although 65 or 66 might be reasonable. I doubt you would find ANY roommate who would agree to 52. If you want to make unilateral decisions about issues like this, it’s best to live alone.</p>
<p>Alright, I will try 64, the heat is all set,and what about her own electrical heater? It is very clear on the utility bill that the electric bill is more that doubled last December(when she hasn’t moved in yet).
And by the way,the gas is very noisy, I go to bed at 9:30 every day and the heat is noisy,what about turning the heat to 60 when I go to sleep?</p>
<p>And if my roommates agree to pay what they need, I wouldn’t care about how high they set the heat at all,even though it is noisy at night,but I wouldn’t complain about that any more.</p>
<p>52 degrees is unreasonable, if you cannot afford this living situation perhaps consider a different option when your lease is up.</p>
<p>I think it’s your responsibility to pay your share of the bill for a reasonable temperature, whether or not it’s what you prefer. 68 is completely reasonable. It would sound ridiculous if you said, “I never use lights in my room so I don’t want to pay my part of the electricity bill.” That’s what you sound like.</p>
<p>If you want her to pay for what you think are use of resources only for your roomie’s benefit, you’ll need to examine all of your apartment life to be fair. Does one roommate take longer showers? He should pay more. Do you study late into the night? You should pay more. If you only take showers once every three days, shouldn’t you pay less? If you don’t cook at home, you should pay less. It isn’t fair for you to focus on just this one thing. You have to use common sense.</p>
<p>Wanting to keep a house at 52 degrees is not in the realm of normal behavior. You’d be hard pressed to find a house full of people who would agree to that. I suggest that you get your own place as soon as you can afford to.</p>
<p>You’re being unreasonable. Keep the heat at a reasonable temp. during the day (68) and let the last person going to bed turn it down (somewhere between 64-66 degrees). If the temp. in the apartment is suitable, your roommates won’t need to use the space heater. </p>
<p>Utilities should be split evenly.</p>
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<p>Or pay more since it will stink?</p>
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<p>Then it is reasonable if I agree to let them set the room temperature at 65 and ask her to remove the space heater right?</p>
<p>No. 65 is much lower than most people would consider reasonable in the winter. The temperature your room mates have set is not unreasonable at all. When you are sharing an apartment or a house with other people you are all responsible for an equal portion of the bills. If you don’t like it then you need to find your own place and live on your own (which will cost you much more). No one is going to want to room with someone who does not want to pay their share of the bills. (And the landlord is definitely not going to care that you don’t want to pay.)</p>
<p>Alright then.</p>
<p>No, it is NOT reasonable to ask someone to remove the space heater, any more than it’s reasonable to suggest someone not turn on a hair dryer or curling iron. How much electricity do you think is being used by the space heater anyway?</p>
<p>You’re the one being ridiculous. I suspect you kind of know this, though. You didn’t seriously think that people would think your roommates should acquiesce to 52 degree temperatures.</p>
<p>A space heater does use a lot of energy. If the room temp is at 68 and she uses that on top, I would think that you have a legitimate reason to talk to her about electric consumption. How about asking her to get an electric throw blanket and use that instead ?</p>
<p>Jupiter…68 is actually the temp many of us set for the winter in colder climates. I’m sorry but my opinion is you should pay your share of the costs of ALL of the utilities. </p>
<p>You are sharing all of the costs of living in this apartment. </p>
<p>Cost out how much it would cost you to have your OWN apartment and pay ALL of the costs…all of the rent, utilities, heat, cable, etc. If it’s less expensive than paying what you are paying now and the money issue really is getting to you, then FIND YOUR OWN PLACE.</p>