Lodger cranks up heating to 25

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My partner left a few years ago and I had time off work for burnout and now in a less stressful (lower paid) role so on a tight income. I rent 2 rooms to help cover my mortgage and bills (about 40%).

The house is heated to 18-21 degrees depending on the room / personal preference, using Nest thermostats (called TRVs) on each radiator. It is lowered at 11pm until 5.30am, meaning it's warm for about an hour after going to bed and it heats up for a few hours before the lodgers get up.

One lodger is very happy with this and prefers a cooler room so sometimes turns it down.

But the other constantly overrides this and heats his room to 25. When I've tried to speak to him about it he answers his door in a tshirt and is only wearing normal socks. The rest of us have warm clothes, slippers and big fleece hoodies on winter evenings, and use fleece blankets to stay cosy on the sofa.

We seem to be in a battle of wills. He goes along with my suggested times and temperatures in discussion but has done everything including claiming his radiator and the TRV don't work, disconnecting the TRV but trying to make it look as though it's connected, saying it won't connect and pulling the little pin out with a pair of pliers to force the heating on. He leaves it on all night. The thermostat when it's reading says 25-26.

The other issue in this old Victorian house is that the heating pumping out all night causes banging in the pipes and keeps myself and the other lodger awake, or wakes us up in the night. So we prefer lots of layers and a quiet night unless we're in a cold patch.

I've offered him extra duvets and blankets (his looks thin) and a hot water bottle but he refuses. I've asked him to discuss the times he wants the heating on and to talk about the heating.

He says the temperature reading is wrong so I gave him a wireless thermostat which showed the same temperature as the TRV and showed it was correct.

I've explained about the increasing cost of gas and showed him my bills. I've showed him the temperatures in the rest of the house and that we are comfortable.

This is the second winter we are having these issues. Last year his sister died so I just kept my mouth shut and left him to it but I felt really unhappy.

Do I just suck it up, winter will be over soon and I'm not making a loss. Or do I tell him it's not acceptable and ask him to leave? Or is it better the devil you know, this is the only issue.

A friend suggested a locking cover to go over the TRV, I'm so irritated it's tempting but is that really ethical? And anyway would he then just get an electric heater? I don't go into his room and I would never snoop.

He's a 44 year old man having to rent a room and it must be his sanctuary and private space.

Do I just let him win the battle and chill out?

Tell him you will have to put his rent up to accommodate the higher energy bills.

disconnecting the TRV but trying to make it look as though it's connected, saying it won't connect and pulling the little pin out with a pair of pliers to force the heating on

That sounds dangerous. I wouldn't tolerate a lodger interfering with gas / electrical appliances. I would evict for that alone

If a lodger wishes to be warmer than you're willing to pay for, then they could buy a portable gas heater like this www.bbqgaslondon.co.uk/indoor-gas-heaters/glow-warm-indoor-heater

Well, yes. This.

I'd be interested to hear HIS version of events. Not because I disbelieve the OP, but I'd love to know what he has to say for himself.

His version of events will be I am paying a lot of money to rent a room and the landlady won't turn the heating to a reasonable level. She just tells me to put a blanket over myself, but I think I should be able to be warm enough without huddling under a blanket during the day.

Update - she has now agreed to turn it up to 21 degrees!

An irrelevant assumption. You have no idea what his financial situation is or what he'd choose to spend his money on.

“But not the much more reasonable 25 degrees I have been altering the thermostat to, so I can sit around in a Tshirt in the middle of December.

Oh I have also been interfering with my landlady’s smart radiator valves including using pliers to pull parts out. But that’s justified right as I pay money so can do what I like.”

Higher rents won’t solve the pipes banging and that could push other lodger away.

Ask him for a formal chat somewhere that isn’t outside his door, let him know that it’s the last chance and emphasise banging pipes etc as much as cost.

My concern is that he’s incredibly sneaky and I would never trust that in my home.

I think you have to take your own assumptions about what is a 'normal' temperature out of this completely.

The fact is that he's comfortable at 25 degrees, and 21 degrees is 4 degrees cooler than he would like it.

Whether you think that's right or wrong, that's just the situation.

Imagine your landlord had turned everything down to 4 degrees below your comfort level, and was insisting that you should just use a blanket. You'd feel hard done by.

Temperature is entirely subjective and if he's saying he's uncomfortable then believe him. Why would he say this if he was perfectly comfortable and happy with the temperature?

You should just tell him that up to 21 degree is 'included' in the rent, and charge him extra for the extra energy to bump up to 25. It's pretty straightforward.

Well it's not in his tenancy agreement not to - OP was not clear about it when he started living there. There should have been a set agreement about this from the off.

He isn’t properly clothed in cold winter weather though is he.

Shod I expect someone who hails from colder climes to wear their usual indoor attire, in a centrally heated house, then think it reasonable to put air con on to cool down?

It’s exactly the same thing.

Dress (yourself and your bed) appropriately for the environment you are in.

She is making it clear now. And he has been ignoring her.

He'd be long gone were it my property . . .

All of this is personal preference and there should have been an agreement from the start - OP is at fault for not being clear.

This is not complicated and there is no need to make judgements about people's chosen temperature/ attire. You just tell him that anything above 21 degrees will be chargeable.

He's already moved in at this point though, under the assumption that he can do what he wants with the heating as he wasn't told otherwise.

It's not surprising he would feel a bit put out about a sudden imposition that wasn't made clear when he moved in.

OP simply needs to give 2 weeks' notice of increased charges. If he doesn't like it then he can move out.

Has he been living in cloud cuckoo land to not know about the energy crisis? Any intelligent lodger would think that their rent would probably go up or that walking around with hardly any clothes on would probably not be a good idea.

How selfish to think that OP should pay extra for him.

Yes he shouldn't have done that but OP is also at fault. They both are.

So he's not heard nothing about the energy crisis?

He's suddenly shocked that OP has to be more careful with the heating.

Not heard anything not nothing

OP did not have a clear agreement.

When letting out a property/ room, you can't make assumptions about what people know, how they like to dress or what temperature their body feels comfortable at.

You assume that your lodger could be anybody and put an agreement in place accordingly.

Definitely give him notice to leave. Don’t get in an argument just tell him you need that room for something/someone else.

He’s lying to you and using pliers on your property without your consent, and deliberately forcing ip your bills. He’s a bully a liar and a thief and not someone I’d allow in my house.

What is so hard about putting a jumper on and some socks? If you are paying your own bills then whack it up to 28 degrees with your vest and thong on. Don't be a twat and expect someone to be out of pocket.