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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Lodger - Ainu to increase rent?

54 replies

bouquetdiva · 28/10/2017 09:22

I had a new lodger in September. We have central heating. I noticed that he was using an electric radiator in his room and explained that I had not budgeted for the cost of this and that as the house is centrally heated it should not be necessary. I said to let me know if he was cold. He agreed not to use it again but this morning when I got up, the electricity meter is whizzing round so I know he is! Should I either put the rent up by £50 per month to cover the cost or give him notice to leave?

Thoughts please!

OP posts:
Sugarcoma · 28/10/2017 09:24

Is one electric fan really going to cost you £50 a month extra? Hmm

FlouncyDoves · 28/10/2017 09:26

Seems a lot to hike the rent by - what is the alternative for them if they’re cold in their room? Would you be happy to have heating on?

SleepFreeZone · 28/10/2017 09:27

Electric blanket instead?

mando12345 · 28/10/2017 09:27

No YANBU that would annoy me that he is ignoring your instructions.
I would give him notice to leave.

PaperdollCartoon · 28/10/2017 09:28

How good is your central heating and is it actually on? People feel temperatures differently as well. Have you actually talked to him about how hot/cold it is in the house to him? Those electric radiators do eat loads of electric, but I doubt it’s £50 a month.

abbsisspartacus · 28/10/2017 09:29

Just say you cannot have it on in the room because of health and safety is it pat tested ? How old is it

Heratnumber7 · 28/10/2017 09:31

Check a current electric bill against one from previously and see what the difference actually is.

We have one cold bedroom. The radiator is at the end of the line, and over the garage, and the room never seems as warm as the rest of the house (or perhaps it’s hauntedWink)

whoareyoukidding · 28/10/2017 09:32

Tbh if you've already asked him to stop and he is still doing it, I think you should give him notice. If you can't trust him (and he is in your home) then it's no good.

pasturesgreen · 28/10/2017 09:37

£50 per month?! Are you fucking serious?

Is the central heating actually on? What sort of temperature do you keep? Not everyone feels the cold in the same way.

Lelloteddy · 28/10/2017 09:44

Electric heaters absolutely eat electricity. Especially the fan assisted ones. Would a compromise be for you to buy one of the low wattage static ones?
If he’s otherwise a decent lodger it might be worth trying to find a solution. If he’s a piss taker, show him the door.

Thymeout · 28/10/2017 09:50

Ring your supplier with a meter reading. They will know how much the difference will cost and should be able to give you a projection going forward. I would certainly charge him extra. An extra heating appliance can easily notch up £10 plus p.w.

NameChangeFamousFolk · 28/10/2017 09:54

How good is your central heating and is it actually on? People feel temperatures differently as well. Have you actually talked to him about how hot/cold it is in the house to him? Those electric radiators do eat loads of electric, but I doubt it’s £50 a month

This. It's bloody miserable being cold, and he obviously is! Have you checked his radiator? Is the heating on all day, or just at set times?

Original poster
bouquetdiva · 28/10/2017 09:54

It is a big static electric radiator. The house is really warm with the central heating on. I am annoyed as he absolutely promised not to use it again and is still doing so!

OP posts:
ArseholesOnToast · 28/10/2017 09:58

If it's a 2kw electric heater (some are higher) and he's got it on say three hours a day then that's approximately £25 extra a month depending on how much you pay for electricity. If he's got it on all day then that's way more than £50 a month extra.

It would annoy me that he's lying about it but in the other hand it is miserable being cold.

thatdearoctopus · 28/10/2017 09:59

Well, to be fair, you don't know for sure he is still using it; you are assuming he is because of the meter whizzing, but could that not be something else in the house you've not thought of?

Hellywelly10 · 28/10/2017 10:04

How much is he paying a month now?

susiesuesue · 28/10/2017 10:05

What you think is really warm and what the lodger thinks is really warm are too different things. I lived in a house once where my landlord thought 20 was pretty tropical and I spent all my time in bed trying to stay warm - and quickly moved out.

If there is no way to make only his room warmer using the central heating then I would find out what the temperature actually is in his room and, if it's quite low, see if you can come to some compromise - maybe provide him with a cheaper form of portable heating and split the extra cost.

dangermouseisace · 28/10/2017 10:06

I'd be really annoyed if I couldn't control the temperature of my own living space as I wished. Remember, he is paying rent and the room is his 'home' although it is in your house. If it were me lodging, and I was cold, I would be worried about making everyone else's living spaces too warm and costing even more money by putting the heating on too high. As pp's have said, his room might not feel as warm as the rest of your house.

Even if he had his heater on 24 hours a day for the entire month it wouldn't come to £50 a month! That is OTT.

SaucyJack · 28/10/2017 10:07

"The house is really warm with the central heating on."

One can only assume then that you're not putting it on enough.

What time do you and he both get up? Is it set around your routine, meaning that it's freezing or only lukewarm when he gets out of bed.

YANBU to not want him to use an expensive electric heater, but it's not really on to evict him for wanting to be warm in his own home.

worridmum · 28/10/2017 10:09

My former house mate though 18 degrees was too hot and really warm and liked the tempture being closer to 10 degrees and it was horrible one persons hot could be another's freezing

carefreeeee · 28/10/2017 10:10

Check he doesn't have the window open all the time. If he's feeling the cold you can't stop him using it but you should discuss the cost with him and perhaps charge him a bit extra.

MikeUniformMike · 28/10/2017 10:14

Is he in a bedroom that's over a garage? They tend to be cold.

TheNaze73 · 28/10/2017 10:16

YANBU, charge what you want if they don’t like it, they can go elsewhere.

You’re not a registered charity

Lelloteddy · 28/10/2017 10:16

20’ IS tropical Wink

Etymology23 · 28/10/2017 10:17

My house is usually around 18 degrees, pop the heating up to 20 and we think it's boiling! I usually put it up when guests are over because I know I was just hardened by growing up in a house where the heating brought the house up to 16 degreees in the day and 12 at night.

If we had a lodger I'd have to accept that I had to heat my house to 20 almost all the time. I don't so I can keep it where I want.

(As a side not I was always confused by the "turn the heating down, put a jumper on" suggestions for saving on the heating when I was growing up on the grounds that I was generally already wearing vest, t shirt and 2 jumpers plus thick socks and sitting under a blanket if I was on the sofa! I now realise this was not aimed at households where the heating was set to 16!)