Thermostat War/Roommate troubles help

<p>Hi. I'm a junior girl living with three roommates in off campus (but run like a dorm) housing. My roommate from last year, along with our suite mate who I kind of knew decided to rent an apartment for the fall, winter, spring, and summer semesters. It's not a lease I can get out of easily. The fourth roommate was a random assignment. Well, my roommate from last year moved out in a very secretive, almost accusatory way to live with her boyfriend of two months. My suite mate from last year was pretty mad and hurt about my roommate doing this because they were pretty good friends. We got a new random roommate that we had no say in choosing. She seems nice enough, and I don't have any problems with her.</p>

<p>I do, though, have a problem with my roommates turning the temperature in the apartment up to 74 F +. All of them like it really, really warm. Last week I came home and saw that the heat was on (it was 68 F outside) up to 75 F. I told my roommates that this was too hot and I turned the system's fan off and the temperature down to 73 F. My suite mate from last year proceeded to turn the heat back up to 75 F and tweet nasty things about how she should've just lived with all random roommates this year and how living with girls sucks and whatever. I don't have a twitter, but I know she tweets about her personal life a lot, so I checked later in the week when she was making it a point to not talk to me. </p>

<p>I have told her repeatedly that most houses are kept at 68-72 F. She insists that room temperature is 74 F, so the apartment will always be at least that warm. She says at home she keeps the temperature at 78 F, so it's wrong to ask her to keep it much colder. My family keeps it 66-68 F, but I'm not asking for that. She also told me black people like it warmer (I'm white, and she's half black and half white.), so I just have to deal with it. I have come home to find the apartment at 78 F when it was 70 F outside, which I think is insane. </p>

<p>I talked to my original roommate about the temperature and she said she also likes it hot (only 73 F though) and that I need to just open a window. The problem is that the window only opens three inches, and even then it's very loud (there's a pretty active nightlife and deliveries and trash pick up go all night). I suggested wearing warmer clothes or buying a space heater (they're $15 at Walmart), but she said that they shouldn't have to adjust for me. I told her that I would really like it 70-72 F at least at night, and she said we should all meet to talk about it. She seemed pretty set on keeping it 73 F during the day, which is something I think I could handle if it were cooler at night. The new random roommate told us she's anemic and likes it warmer, but I don't think that she's changing the temperature and she seems open to a compromise. I have literally only talked to her one time for 10 minutes, though, so I feel a little weird confronting her about this.</p>

<p>I don't think that it's fair that they're asking me to live outside of the norm so that they can wear tank tops and shorts all year, which is what they wear in the apartment. Rent is $800 a month, and I feel like I'm not getting a fair deal. I'm gone every weekend, so they get free reign of the thermostat for two days! Am I being unreasonable?</p>

<p>Should I think about moving out? Finding someone to sublease to, much less someone to sublease from is difficult, especially in late October, since most people have already figured out where they're living. </p>

<p>They're good roommates besides this, and we've had no other problems except for my old roommate moving out unexpectedly. I want to make this work, partially because none of them will be there over the summer when I will be. I'm hoping that they won't sublease, or that the new people will be more reasonable about the temperature. The whole situation is just weird, and I'd really appreciate some advice.</p>

<p>Oh, god, I had this argument with my last roommate.</p>

<p>Here is the bare truth, the crux of the issue, THE deciding factor in all temperature wars ever, and you should definitely point this out to them:</p>

<p>IF THEY ARE COLD THEY CAN ALWAYS PUT MORE CLOTHES AND BLANKETS <em>ON</em>. YOU CAN ONLY TAKE SO MANY CLOTHES <em>OFF</em> AND STILL BE HOT. The temperature should ALWAYS go with the minimum comfort standard of the hottest person due to this very simple rule.</p>

<p>When you are nearly freaking naked sitting there in your room sweating and they are toasty-comfortable in their rooms in their normal clothes, that is a PROBLEM, it means they need to put on a sweatshirt or grab a BLANKET out of their closet, it is very simple and always possible to easily be warmer by putting on more clothes vs it is IMPOSSIBLE to get any cooler than wearing the skimpiest clothing possible and turning on a fan - and I absolutely cannot sleep if I am too hot.</p>

<p>Only I wanted ours at 73 and told her I would compromise to 74 (which I could stand with no clothes + a fan on) - she would turn it up to 78. Often randomly in the middle of the night and then I’d wake up in a puddle of sweat.</p>

<p>I’m kinda the opposite, in that I like the apartment pretty warm but my roommates keep it cold. What do I do? As frenchie said, I grab a blanket or put a sweater on if I’m getting cold. Then if I’m the only one home I turn the heat on a little, and adjust back down when one of them comes home.</p>

<p>I do think that asking for the apartment to be cooler is more reasonable than forcing someone to deal with temperatures higher than they’re comfortable with, if nothing else for what frenchie said about being able to put layers on. I agree that you should bring that up to them if you haven’t already.</p>

<p>Thanks for the replies, guys. I tried telling my old suite mate to put on more clothes when she had the apartment at 75 F with the heat on and she told me that she already did. She was wearing capris and a tank top with a thin shirt over top. She’s weirdly hostile about the whole thing.</p>

<p>Shut up. You are worked up over 2 or 3 degrees on the thermostat? Do you know the magic answer to solving that? Take the temperature your roommate wants; add it to the temperature that you want; and divide by two!</p>

<p>I am currently living with a fundamentalist Christian who watches TV 12 hours a day and doesn’t keep the room very clean.</p>

<p>LOL Apparently my roommate’s not the only weirdly hostile one. I’ve had to deal with a roommate a little like that too. My roommate freshman year always slept with the tv on we while she was holding the remote and would have sex with her boyfriend while I was trying to sleep in the bed next to her. I never really said anything to her, so I think all the anger’s coming out now.</p>

<p>Wait until they move to a place where they get to pay their own utility bills.</p>

<p>when i lived in a suite my one suitemate and her roommate had this problem. the one suitemate liked it colder and would leave the window wide open when it was freezing cold outside. mind you we live upper north where the winters get very cold. so my other suitemate would shut the window cuz she didn’t want freezing cold air blowing in to the room and then find out she opened it again. and this would keep going on.</p>

<p>But temperature? I don’t see how that is a problem. Either wear a sweater or shorts and a T-shirt in the room. I would rather live with a respectful person in other areas who kept the room at a near refrigerator temperature than my roommate.</p>

<p>I’m going to pick really big nerds as roommates from now on to make sure the sex thing never happens that you described. That sounds even worse than the TV. Thank god for the descriptions they provide.</p>

<p>Lol… yeah because nerds (even big ones) never have sex. </p>

<p>Honestly, if it’s just a few degrees, let it go. There are worse things that could happen. Get a fan.</p>

<p>My former roommate told me to do whatever made me comfortable (which honestly wasn’t really having the room cold as much as having air moving) because she would be cold regardless. And if I wasn’t in the room for a while, she’d turn the fans off.</p>

<p>My lawd, this is happening right now. I literally walked in 5 minutes ago and yelled at my roommate to quit turning the thermostat to 75 (no response, closes door, I think he is in a ****y mood). We’ll see when I come back this evening if it back to 75.</p>

<p>I’m black and I love the room to be 70 and below. I understand you pain since I get hot very easily and you’re roommate is being silly.
However…
Buy a fan? You recommended that they buy a heater, so why can’t you buy a fan? I think your roommates are being a over dramatic about temperature; however, if they won’t comprise then just buy the fan and stop worrying about the temperature.</p>

<p>time to get a one bedroom apartment or an efficiency.
I hate people who like it to always be hot up north , nothing worse then waking up parched, dry cracking skin.</p>

This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Maybe if the electric bill doesn’t exist, this would make sense. If you think that it should be set at the lowest most comfortable setting, than you can pay the whole bill. If not, fans use significantly less energy than overworking the thermostat bc you like to set it unreasonably low. The average temp for summer according to US department of energy is 78 and according to ASHRAE the average for COMFORT is 76. 73-75 is completely reasonable. If you’re a freak who needs it at 70, then pay the whole bill.

@pitachip23 : You appear to not understand the facts. I also think the first sentence of your post is inappropriate, but I see that it’s your first and maybe you will learn. OP said that it was 68 outside and the heat was set to 75. Her suite mates are the ones who are costing HER money. She is not trying to run the A/C to lower the temperature.

I wasn’t talking to the OP. I was talking to the first reply in the post.

@pitachip23 you do realize you resurrected a 3 year old thread right? This is obviously going places.

Ha ha. Fooled me too. Hey, moderator, lock this one?