<p>My DS has a roommate that he shares an apartment with. The roommate has declared that he does not plan to use any heat this winter (lives in an area where it gets VERY cold) and does not feel that he should pay the heating bill. The apartment has electric heaters in each room.</p>
<p>How would you suggest he handle this? It’s absolutely ridiculous, and terribly unfair!</p>
<p>What does their lease say about shared utilities?</p>
<p>Maybe get a physics major to sit him down and explain that heat will travel through the whole apartment, and he’ll get the benefit of the heat even if he doesn’t want it. </p>
<p>But I would flat out tell him no. That is ridiculous, and the deal with sharing and apartment is that you split the utilities.</p>
<p>“Maybe get a physics major to sit him down and explain that heat will travel through the whole apartment, and he’ll get the benefit of the heat even if he doesn’t want it.”</p>
<p>I was about to say this. Yup. 50/50 split is fair no matter who is using how much. </p>
<p>I think he should chip in. That said, I have seen some situations where there’s been disagreement about the use of the heat, and I’d be pissed off to have a roommate wearing shorts and a t-shirt in the winter while keeping the heat at 80. My heat’s on 63 right now, and I don’t pay for it, so… Assuming that that’s not the situation, they should split it. </p>
<p>Also, it sounds like it’s part of the electricity bill, so it would be hard to figure out where to draw the line, since he is probably not claiming to use no electricity. There’s no way he’s not getting the benefit of others using heat, though.</p>
<p>Pffffft. That is the sort of arrangement that has to be agreed upon before he moves in. The person is SOL.</p>
<p>Gas heat is usually a lot cheaper than using electric heaters. Is there a choice or are electric the only ones. Very funny that he thinks you can sort the heat from the lights in that case.</p>
<p>It is sort of, theoretically, maybe, possible to calculate how much power his lights, electronics, etc. draw and use that to estimate his share of the bill. But he is still going to get heat from the OP’s kid’s heater working overtime to heat a larger space. Nice…</p>
<p>No doubt the building would require the apartment to be heated enough to prevent the pipes from freezing so he has to pay for at least some heat, but nice try!</p>
<p>Nice try but the ambiant heat will be there whether this cheapskate pays for it…or not. </p>
<p>I would say 50/50 on ALL utilities.</p>
<p>I had one housing situation that I extricated myself from rather quickly. When I moved in I set up a phone line and another new roommate asked to add her line to what I had set up. I said okay. Come bill time she tells me she pays in installments, that they don’t expect anyone to pay the full amount. I told her we’re paying the full amount. Meanwhile, we were both renting rooms in a house from a guy who ran his business, with employees, out of the place. His business used a lot of power and water. He wanted to split the bill evenly between the three of us. It was a cool house and they were fun people, but this was a headache I didn’t need. I moved.</p>
<p>I’m bookmarking this thread for kiddo. If she decides to move out of her very nice housing that includes all utilities (the overages get billed 50/50 to each roomie), this is a potential headache she can get herself into.</p>
<p>Whose name is on the bill for electricity? </p>
<p>And since its electricity…how in the world will this roommate pay his share for using lights, power for computer, his share of the fridge power, even the doorbell?</p>
<p>^^thumper, theoretically one can multiply the wattage of an appliance by the number of hours it is kept on and by the electricity rate to get the $$ it costs to run the appliance. So that calculation can be done to roughly estimate the portion if the bill. But… The only variable in that equation is the hours, and that number is going to get disputed. </p>
<p>Well…yes, it is possible…but really…who is going to do that? </p>
<p>QB…how much less does this room mate think he will be paying? </p>
<p>This is why in cold climates it is always a good idea to get an apartment where heat and hot water is included in the rent, if possible. Prevents unpleasant surprises and disputes.</p>
<p>I must say that, as a person who likes a cold bedroom and cool rooms in general, I would be unable to live with someone who cranked the heat up to 75+ so s/he could dress as if we were living in Tahiti. S sublet a room in an apartment where the other occupant was a really nice guy from Thailand. He kept the public rooms at about 80 in Jan/Feb and wore shorts and a t-shirt. Luckily, S was able to control the heat in his own bedroom, and he didn’t have to pay for it.</p>
<p>Conslation…I believe this apartment has electric heat. Since that is the case, each roommate can adjust the temp in their bedrooms to their comfort level. </p>
<p>But they should be splitting the electric bull evenly because of,the common living spaces, and common things on the electric bill…like the fridge, lights, stove, dishwasher, hot water, etc.</p>
<p>This roommate is being a jerk.</p>
<p>I’d go to the pipe freezing argument. They CAN’T not use the heat.</p>
<p>Maybe the roomie can keep all his perishables in his cold room and not use the fridge either. ;
</p>
<p>Is this a new roommate, a stranger or does your son know him? Does he really like to be cold or does he have a tight budget, money troubles? If he won’t use heat in his bedroom, but will get the benefit of the heat in the common room (since he can’t make your son not use heat), maybe a compromise can be reached? For example if the electric bill normally is $50 a month and in the cold months goes up $30, then maybe roommate can pay 1/3 of increase and your son 2/3? So your son would pay $45 and roommate $35. So each would pay $5 more or less of the half of the bill for the benefit of heating their bedroom, or not.
And I would agree that the temperature stays around 70 F in the living room.</p>
<p>The roomie will use light and refrigeration and wall sockets for charging electronics I presume.</p>