<p>OP
You’ve gotten the same feedback from both the parents and the college students for the parallel threads you posted. Sorry, but you are being unreasonable. Dont expect your roommates to wear slippers, blankets and earmuffs b/c you don’t want to pay your portion of the utility bill.</p>
<p>Thre are different kinds of space heaters (ceramic, electric coil, etc) that probably use differing amounts of power. Perhaps you and your roommates can discuss their paying slightly more on the utility (electric/gas?) bill if they want the temperature much warmer than you do (say 72 degrees) but be prepared for the possibility that they may decline. Most college students are on a tight budget, but don’t nickel and dime your roommates. It will make for bad relations and that no fun at all. It has its price as well.</p>
<p>And remember…if you start to “parse out” the heating cost…someone might say any of the following.</p>
<ol>
<li>let’s measure the fridge and prorrate some of the utilities for that.</li>
<li>let’s count everyone’s number of showers AND the length…oh and if they use hot or cold water.</li>
<li>let’s see how long the door is left open when folks enter and exit.</li>
<li>let’s count how long you leave EACH light on in your room, the wattage and power use for that.</li>
</ol>
<p>You get my point.</p>
<p>Just split the costs. What did you think you would be doing when you agreed to SHARE an apartment with others?</p>
<p>I agree that 68 deg is the norm for cold climates although in some places it would depend on your insulation etc. If insulation & weather stripping are poor- then 68 wouldn’t be enough to be comfortable even with a sweater.</p>
<p>I expect this is not the only issue- there seems to be a disconnect between the roommates- how have you resolved other issues?
You can generally go to your utility website and see what is the typical cost for energy for your sq footage- that should give you an idea if your costs are above standard.</p>
<p>It seems like something else is going on- did you research what expenses were average before you got an apt?</p>
<p>My daughter to my knowledge hasn’t had any trouble with her roommate & she keeps the temp like she is in Tamil Nadu!</p>
<p>I do think it is very reasonable to turn the heat way down at night, in our family we prefer big quilts and breathing cooler air so our thermostat is probably at 50 in night. I don’t want to breathe heater air when I sleep.</p>
<p>The winter that we had a completely empty nest we kept our thermostat at 55 during the day and used space heaters in just the rooms we used. With all the kids at college and the tuition bills, we felt it a smart way to cut down, but I would never do that with other people here! In our case an electric heater in one or two rooms was cheaper than gas heating the entire house.</p>
<p>We have always heated during the day to 64-65 and in the evening to 66-68 when people are sitting around. Yeah, we are stingy on heat, but always turn on a room heater when people are here.</p>
<p>I just want to point out that if the OP has recently arrived from another country, this might be cultural. For example, here in the UK nearly everyone has the heat on a timer so it turns itself off completely at night (believe me, you would do this too if you had to pay so much for gas). Foreign students in the UK usually find this unbearable. </p>
<p>I do agree that 52 is totally unreasonable though.</p>
<p>This OP says he is in the northeast. We live in the northeast. Already we have had three really cold snaps of weather where the HIGH temps have been about 20 for several days running with lows overnight in the single digits…and we are in SOUTHERN New Engand.</p>
<p>If you turn your heat down to 55 at night and the temps get that low in your house it can take a mighty long time to heat it up in the morning. </p>
<p>We have an electronic thermostat that automatically turns the temps up and down. DS had one in college but the reality was that someone was awake almost ALL the time…maybe not between 2 and 6 a.m. but the rest of the time…someone was always awake. Class schedules varied, roommates stayed up late…whatever. The programmable themostat really wasn’t much help.</p>
<p>My D1 mentioned that her dorm in London is always freezing-not only that, but the water in the shower doesn’t get that warm either. She says she is always so cold. I told her to go buy an electric blanket, but she’s such a little miser she didn’t want to spend the money. So she wears sweatpants and sweatshirts over her pj’s at night. She’s looking forward to coming home for many reasons, but a hot bath and warm, comfy quarters are things she has mentioned being so excited about.</p>
<p>Your obsession to make them pay is poisoning your relationship with them, alienating them, and you will be an outcast.
I’m sure this is not the only point of contention between you and your roomies-the number of squares they use to wipe, abusing their share of soap, running the water when they brush their teeth, the length of their showers, how much mayo they use on their sandwich, blah, blah, blah.
Start looking for a single apartment for Fall 2011-you’ll have no friends to live with if you keep harping on the $30/month.</p>
<p>*f you turn your heat down to 55 at night and the temps get that low in your house it can take a mighty long time to heat it up in the morning.
*</p>
<p>Good point & by the time it gets warmed up everyone is off to school.
Better to have a consistent temp and only turn down a little at night.</p>