Roommate Thermostat Wars - Need Advice

Parent Cafe
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<p>Parents, I would like to know if you have any experience with my situation or general suggestions. </p>

<p>Here’s the deal: I’m a grad student living in an apartment with two roommates. I’m from a cold-ish climate - think midwest or new england. They’re from a very warm country, but have been in the US for a few years. We go to school in a climate similar to the one I grew up in. We didn’t know each other before we moved in. </p>

<p>So, you can probably see where this is going. They like to keep the thermostat set at 70-72 during the day and turn it up even higher at night. I come from a house where the heat was set at 58 at night (or when we weren’t home) and around 62 during the day. I know this is on the cooler side of things, but it’s what is comfortable for me. </p>

<p>When I walk in our door now, I’m hit with a blast of hot air. I swear that 70 in our apartment seems much hotter than 70 in other indoor spaces/homes I’ve been to. When they go away for a few days, I just leave the heat off, and I’m perfectly comfortable. My roommates like to wear shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops around the house and then complain that it’s cold. One roommate even keeps his fan going all day and all night (I’m not sure if this for temperature control, smoking, or just white noise). </p>

<p>So, obviously we need to compromise. When I suggested it, they agreed. They wouldn’t go lower than 68, turning it up higher at night. One roommate even said if it were any colder, he would need to wear socks to bed. This is still a bit hot for me. Now I have to wear shorts/t-shirts, only sleep with a sheet, and crack my window. It just feels so wasteful. I’ve tried to explain to them that the majority of people turn their heat down at night because it’s more comfortable and healthier, but they don’t think that makes any sense. </p>

<p>I realize temperature is a very personal thing, with a range from around 58-70, but 70 just seems excessive in our particular apartment. If I simply turn the heat down, it gets turned back up within the hour. </p>

<p>Any suggestions/words of wisdom?</p>

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<p>I feel for you. Growing up in the Northeast I could never sleep in temps about 65 degrees. The only suggestion I could make is that you open your bedroom window so that you could breath fresh air and have a cool breeze. Temperature is such a personal thing that any other recommendation would leave your roommates miserable. It is easier to just open windows and be comforatable at night than freeze them out all night.</p>

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<p>I feel for you, also. I have a couple of health issues that make the cold utterly unbearable for me. That’s not the case for my family, so I bought myself a personal ceramic heater and haul it around with me so I won’t be cold. I also sleep on a heated mattress pad so my husband and kids aren’t overheated. I really do sympathize with your situation and logically speaking I agree with you. But I absolutely can NOT be cold. Or cool. Or anything other than baked.</p>

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<p>I live in Seattle and have no heat in my bedroom. It has heaters but they are broken. I have no issues at all with the cold temperatures. My wife on the other hand doesn’t care for it as much.</p>

<p>I think what you need are new roommates who like the same temperaature as you, or a way to turn the heat off in your room. It’ll save a lot on power cost as well.</p>

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<p>Let me take a wild guess: You guys don’t pay for your heat? good grief! Thermostat is 65 here during the day, down to 63 at night. Cold? Put on a GD sweater! We were cold at night and my wife, genius that she is, had this brilliant idea to put on a 2nd blanket. Now we are snug as bugs in a rug (as we say). Unfortunately, and I am not trying to make this a political thread, you cannot compromise with idiots, so I recommend you look for a new apartment.</p>

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<p>Happydad grew up in a tropical country, so I totally get your situation. 68 is cold by those standards. I expect that your roomies are happiest at 74 and up. Space heaters are on mark-down right now at Target, so see if you can convince them to pick up a couple. They could warm up their rooms that way at night without having to heat the whole apartment.</p>

<p>If you do decide to crack your own window a bit, put a draft-stopper under your door to keep the cool air inside near you.</p>

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<p>This sounds like a good household for a meeting to hammer out a 1-for-1 compromise. Example: If you’ll keep your own bedroom window open, they’ll use more than flip-flops all winter. If you remove your heaviest sweater indoors, they’ll buy a bathrobe to use for late-night dashes to the bathroom. Agree to try several temperatures on a trial basis, for a few nights, until you can all meet in the middle upon a setting. </p>

<p>Don’t vote as you’re outnumbered. Persuade them to count their vote as one, since they feel the same way. (Good luck on that part.)</p>

<p>You’d enjoy seeing the nursing home I once visited. The dining hall wall was lined with thermostats, every 10 feet. I was told there was no wiring behind any of them, but adjusting them made each resident feel more comfortable.</p>

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<p>70 all the time seems like a good compromise. 62 during the day seems cold to me.</p>

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<p>Why not buy your roommates some heated thermal blankets? This way they’ll be warm, you’ll be comfortable, and maybe you’ll make them feel guilty enough that they’ll comply with your temperature requests :-)</p>

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<p>Deal breaker for me.
Get new rommies before next winter.
Inside Temp over 65 in the winter suffocates and stifles me.
Too hot!</p>

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<p>I’d suggest finding some websites or asking around till you get a consensus about what an average temperature for a house is. I do think suggesting an electric blanket is a great idea, since most people like their houses colder at night than during the day. We have the thermostat set for 68 during the day and I think it’s 60 at night. Even with sweaters that’s really colder than I like when I am doing sit down work - especially in my office which has an uninsulated concrete floor and probably very little insulation if any in the walls. I think a good compromise would be 70 during the day and 65 at night, and they should get those electric blankets!</p>

<p>I do think that they should expect to wear shorts and flip-flops in the winter. They need some warm slippers too.</p>

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<p>I’d suggest that the roommates each get space heaters for their rooms. Turn down the thermostat at night, and then those who want more heat can turn on their personal space heaters on their own. With the door to their bedroom shut, their rooms will be nice and toasty. I bought a very nice space heater for about $40 recently that came with a remote control & built in thermostat – I don’t use the remote, but I can see how it would be nice for someone to have on their bed stand.</p>

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<p>I had a roommate like that once, it was awful. Same thing, wearing shorts while the rest of us wore proper clothing for the winter. I would start looking at moving out if you can. I would also tell them that if that is how they want things to go in the apartment, you should not have to be responsible for your portion of the rent that covers utilities or pay utilities at all if you pay them separately. </p>

<p>In the mean time, stop feeling guilty about keeping your room comfortable. Keep your window open, the room to your door closed and introduce them to sweat pants.</p>

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<p>70 is a very normal indoor temp. 65 is crazy except when sleeping. Dressing for outdoors indoors seems nutty to me. That is why we built modern homes–to be warm and dry. They keep our office around 70-72. Normal. Screw Jimmy Carter and his sweater.</p>

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<p>Made me laugh, barrons!</p>

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<p>Anongrad, if you are or get into a relationship, you need to be honest about how cold you like the house. I would freeze (and I have blubber) in the temps you want in the apartment. Really, it would be a deal breaker for me. You need to find someone who agrees with you to live with.</p>

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<p>I’m with your roommates…if it gets too cold, my feet turn to ice and then the rest of my body remains cold. No amount of extra layers of clothing or blankets can make me warm. I would not want to live that way. The last few years before I retired, my company decided to cut costs by lowering the temperature. I invested in Ugg boots to keep my feet warm, and sometimes I had to wear gloves to keep my fingers nimble. I also wore shirts and leggings under my clothing. I used to say I dressed as if I was going sledding to go to work.</p>

<p>Now that I’m retired, I so enjoy dressing like a normal person.</p>

<p>I could have more sympathy if you wanted the temp at 68 degrees, but 58 is just insane. I hope you can find roommates who enjoy the same temps you do.</p>

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<p>My freshman d is in a teeny dorm room with a controllable thermostat, and a roomie with very different thermal needs. Roomie is the one who prefers room much colder than d. They compromised on 70 degrees, but whenever d leaves the room, she finds the thermostat somehow gets turned to the low 60s. Frustrating for both parties. Space heaters are forbidden in the dorms. She is freezing. </p>

<p>So, for my freezing d, one of her Christmas presents was an electric Snuggie. A friend knit her an afghan. She purchased several sweaters and wooly socks and sleeps in a full-body sleeper. She also spends a lot of time in a friend’s (more thermally compatible) room or their wing’s kitchenette. It’s not a perfect solution, and she feels on the shorter end of the thermal compromise at times…but for peace, she has decided to bundle, and bundle, and bundle up. </p>

<p>And next year? She’s already booked a room with a different roommate…and this time, they were sure to check thermal compatibility! People just seem to need different temperatures. (I know my office of women in varying hormonal stages has…interesting temperature needs…)</p>

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<p>OP here. Thank you all for your advice. It is much appreciated. </p>

<p>We do have to pay for our own heat, which makes it that much more frustrating, but the main issue is that I’m too hot. </p>

<p>I realize that 58 is very cold for inside. Try telling my parents that! I always used to complain about it, but then I adapted, and my internal thermostat seems to have been ruined for life. Also, when we were home/awake, we “splurged” and set it at 62. </p>

<p>I would prefer somewhere around 64-65, but I understand people have different preferences. It’s just frustrating when I’m sweating and they’re walking around in shorts and turning the heat up.</p>

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<p>Fair enough. But you do realize it goes both ways, right? It would be a deal breaker for me if my future spouse wanted it 70 all the time. And I would say that the responses have been about 50/50 so far. Or half and half. 50 is definitely a bit nippy. </p>

<p>You can always put more clothes on, but there is a limit to how much you can take off. I also don’t have a ton of sympathy for people who sit still all day and then complain that it’s cold (I’m not saying you do this, just stating my opinion on the issue).</p>