Housemates won't put the heating on

[JennyWirral]

I'm sat here bloody freezing here because my housemates won't put the central heating on.. Apparently it's too much money.

I live in a house with 3 other housemates

Actually it's worse than that.. someone has physically sabotaged the settings unit of the boiler...

Go and buy a plug in heater and plug it in to your room, they are quite quick to heat a room, we have one in the attic as it’s under renovation and doesn’t have a radiator yet! I understand they are worried about the cost but you need to be warm!

Sabotaged the settings how? Can you get a small blow heater for your room?

Not blow heater (fan heater)! They cost a fortune. Get a small oil filled radiator.

I'd let the landlord know. I bet they won't be too happy that the house is going unheated and someone's sabotaging equipment.

If someone's sabotaged the boiler be careful you don't get stung for the eventual repair costs of it!

My mum is bringing me an eclectic heater for my room..

Thank god

the central heating control wall unit has had the cable attached to is ripped out

Definitely tell the landlord, you could get mold growing if you never ever put the heating on.

Yeah fuck that shit... Get your heater on from your mum. Not a blow fan one as they might hear it and it's noisy anyway. Nice toasty room for you

It is a lot of money, OP, so they are not wrong.

But there needs to be a compromise.

Ripping the thermostat off the wall is not it.

We used to go to the pub rather than put the heating on but I don’t know if that’s fiscally sound.

Let the landlord know.

BUT are you being at all unreasonable? I had a housemate at uni who would walk around in tiny shorts and crop top and insist on having the hearing on. 🤔

Oil fired heater/radiator. My boiler is broken and we have some in the rooms we use. They do not cost that much to run and if I was you I would make sure they never find out.

I think that is a totally sound argument 😂.

They need to get the thermostat sorted. The landlord might withhold everyone's deposit.

I like the idea of an eclectic heater!

Are you already wearing layers?

Ripping out the thermostat cable is extreme. I’d be worried about the cost of having to contribute to replace that.

There will surely be cold snap periods when the heating will need to be put on. Periods when you can literally see your breath In front of you. Damp, mould issues, etc.

Is the boiler allowed to be on so you have running hot water?

I am being really naive here I think and I have actually been a student 3 times (but only suffered shared accommodation twice). When I rented a room in a shared student house- and the same for friends- we payed a monthly rent which was inclusive of for each room. So a 4 bed house would usually become a 5 bed with one of the living rooms and the rent be split per room including bills.

There is no hot water either..

But I go tot eh Gym every day so i take a shower there before work so I'm not bothered.

There’s no hot water?! Fuck that I’d be on the lookout for a new gaff!

They’ve actually vandalised the boiler? Really? What does your LL have to say about that?

You cannot live without hot water or heating. Pretty sure it's illegal for your landlord not to provide this, you need to report them to your landlord. Once fixed a compromise needs to be reached between you, perhaps just have the heating on for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening perhaps?

So they've damaged the boiler to save on heating costs? That makes sense

How are your housemates coping? Imo if there's 3 of you and you've made a majority agreement to try and reduce the heating then you should go along with that, wrap up and use a hot water bottle if you need to. If you start having issues with condensation etc then you call a new house meeting and point out that could be a breach in your tenancy agreement and you need to turn it on more. But I wouldn't be going behind my housemates back and then expecting them to pay for you to run an expensive heater in your room on the sly, no.

Id look for somewhere else to live Op as that sounds thoroughly miserable.

It surely can't be that much between four of you to have the heating on for an hour or so. Vandalising the boiler is stupid behaviour and will probably cost a fortune to fix.