My thermostat controls my AC unit and my neighbors AC unit

[sfdowning]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? South Carolina

 

[sfdowning]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? South Carolina

The landlord just made me put the electricity for my daughter who is in college in our name as she just moved in... so I didn't think anything about it. He dropped by to fix something the other day and told her not to turn the thermostat up to 78 during the day which she did to save energy as she is out for 8 hrs at a time. He said a girl in another somewhere around us would get hot and that her AC was controlled by our thermostat. This sounds really sketchy to me and I'm trying to figure out how to proceed from here. I spoke to an AC professional this morning who said it sounded to him like the units were zoned meaning they shared ductwork and Air. His face scrunched up when I told him what I was dealing with and he said it was dangerous because if the person we shared air with had MRSA or tuberculosis we would be susceptible to any diseases they would have. I like the apartment and don't really want to move her out as she's about to start school and this will be very disruptive. This man has done a few other things like taking the oven and stove out and replacing them with an old beat-up hot plate that doesnt work and an old toaster oven for the "full" kitchen. I removed them and put in something that worked and wasn't ready for the dumpster. I don't really trust him and I want to find out if we are paying for this girl's air conditioning and what else he has connected our meter to.

 

[HRZ]

SUggestion ...shut off the AC and turn off ALL breakers to her unit and see what happens next ....ideally the main breaker which services her unit...if there is no main breaker for her unit I suspect lots of " issues " about separation of services .

LL does not sound credible

BTW if unit had oven and whatever and LL switched them out for junk...I'd pray to the lightening bolt to somehow cause them to fail and demand new functional units ...after reading fine print of lease of course.

BTW does lease require tenant to sign up for electric ? Read it!

I don't buy the MRSA air points...but I do get the distinct possibility of other services loaded onto daughters bill.

Seriously , shut everything off and see what happens....post back .

 

[FarmerJ]

Time to count meters & apartments you know 4 meters 3 apartments means each apartment should be on own meter and one for say a laundry room ,boiler room, common hallway and exterior lights. If say there is not a house meter but just one for each apartment then its time to do the turn it off and see. like say take one single width breaker , turn it off and go find which outlets and lights don't work, then do it again and again with each breaker (note what turns off) then its time to turn off double width breakers , electric cook stove can be on as little as a 30 amp breaker or a 40a or 50a, electric hot water tanks can be 20 or 30 amp, electric clothes dryer 30amp. central air ive seen running on 20amp (220V) breaker. at night if breakers are turned off or say the main for this apartment someone else can watch on the outside to see what windows go dark. Also I gotta ask , if the LL took the stove out doesn't it make you wonder if that aprtment is not legal? you know like how some people cut up houses into apartments when the place isn't zoned for it? The city it is in can tell you how many residential units the place is zoned for or how many apartments are there especially if counting meters doesn't add up or if one of the neighbors comes to see why their lights went off . Let us know what you discover .

 

[sfdowning]

Thanks for the thoughtful replies! This will play out over the next few weeks. I dread dealing with it...but I now have concerns about her safety, esp since there's no firewall between these units, just a wooden staircase, and it's got gas heat. Will get a carbon monoxide detector. I wI'll be going to do the breaker turnoff...great idea. Debating on whether to get the City involved as one of our high ranking officials owns units next to ours...just not sure how to proceed or if I should let it go and move out after the school year is up. It's adjacent to the USC campus in Columbia SC...great location, a great find but questioning safety.

 

[sfdowning]

The lease says LL supplies water and gas. LL texted my daughter yesterday and told her not to worry about leaving AC down bcuz the girl in the unit with no thermostat pays the AC and gas bill. He also suggested he "adjust their vents to throw more air on the other units side if we were cold"....meaning they share ventilaton for sure, which I thot was illegal. Wondering if these things are in the UBC. Will try to contact a friend who's a MEP engineer.

 

[sfdowning]

This apt entry door is an interior wood door. I feel like an idiot bcuz I didn't think to look for this stuff...I have an architectural design degree...just not used to her living in older units and their associated problems. This can o worms is growing.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

" His face scrunched up when I told him what I was dealing with and he said it was dangerous because if the person we shared air with had MRSA or tuberculosis we would be susceptible to any diseases they would have."

This is a fairly ridiculous statement. Ever work in an office environment and wonder why fiddling with the thermostat in your office appears to have no effect on increasing or decreasing the room temperature? That's because many places have "dummy" thermostats when in truth, one thermostat controls several (or more) rooms/areas. And that includes hospital areas away from actual patient rooms (isolation rooms for those diagnosed with airborne diseases such at TB have different ventilation systems).

Remember...air (and heat) blows OUT, not IN.

Again, a more important concern is whether you're paying for the roommates air (and heat in the winter).

Gail