What the heck, no air conditioning?! (Rome: crawl space, landlords, stats)

[Drover]

Yeah, most of the Conservatory is still out of commission, and by the looks of things it will be for a while. It's a miracle our cars came out of that storm unscathed. I thought I was going to have to ring up the insurance company.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by Drover

Here in Chicago "utilities included" could mean anything whereas "all utilities included" pretty much means heat, electric, and hot water.

The major problem here with "heat included" is that it usually means "multi-unit building with a central boiler/hot-water heating system that heats all units." And I have found they almost invariably fail to heat each unit uniformly. The major problem I had with my last "heat included" unit was that the pipes carrying the hot water to the two units above me ran inside my unit. So not only was I getting heat from my radiators, but heat from the pipes carrying the water up to the other units too. There were times that even with all of my radiators shut off it would still be 80+ degrees in my unit. But if I opened my windows, that gave management grounds to fine me and even enter my unit for "emergency" reasons to close them.

But then there would be other days when it was only in the mid-60s, and when I would call the on-site manager his response was "well my unit's just fine." Yeah, thanks jerkwad. Plus there's always the "transition" period in fall and spring where the system takes so long to fire up and actually start heating that they don't want to turn it on in the fall until it's consistently cold out, and they don't want to turn it off in the spring until it's consistently warm out.

In a previous apartment, the radiators were actually suspended from the ceiling -- which I suppose was great for my upstairs neighbor, but it wasn't the most effective way to heat the unit they were located in.

So to reiterate... "utilities included" = never again.

Radiators suspended from the ceiling--I have to admit, I've never seen this before, must be quite a sight...

I have had the overheated apt problem before, and I've just opened a window for a very short time; in the past, I've never had overly-instrusive landlords, so it really wasn't a problem..

As for the window unit, I think that I'll leave mine in until about October, just to be on the safe side; I'd like to be able to deal with surprises..

[EastBoundandDownChick]

My apartment building was built in the 1920s and even though it is completely rehabbed and gorgeous there unfortunately is no central air. But if you know what you're doing you can actually pay a lot less than people who use central air and stay just as cool and comfy. The landlord does offer portable units to rent each season for $100, however, I didn't see the point in that because I was able to buy a decent one for about $250 I can keep indefinitely. And it runs a million times better than the big ugly window units my landlord is offering us and has a nice sleek, modern look. You can find them even cheaper than that, especially if you look off-season. If you do purchase a portable one be sure to check its energy efficiency- it can make a big difference in your electrical costs depending on how much it uses. Mine is great- it keeps the place icebox cold and only adds about $20-30 per month in the summer, which is a lot less than many people pay for central air. I do live in a very small space though (studio) so it doesn't take a lot of power to cool the place down. It was a little weird for me to get used to at first as I've always had central A/C in the past. But after awhile it just becomes like anything else. Here are a couple examples I just pulled up of models that are reasonably priced:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Haier+-+Factory-Refurbished+7%2C000+BTU+Portable+Air+Conditioner+-+White/3104219.p?id=1218378592150&skuId=3104219 (broken link)

http://www.target.com/s/ref=sr_sort_...archRank=price

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...REP_PRC_MODE|0

The one I got was refurbished from Best Buy online- it's a DeLonghi model that retails for over $600 new. I am pretty happy with it, it looks brand new and runs great. It took me awhile to find it but it was worth it. If I was stuck without A/C around this time of year I personally would just rent until the end of the season and buy a refurbished portable unit sometime in January or February. Ebay is another good place to look although you really have to be careful about the sellers and what kind of quality you are getting. The Best Buy one is nice because they rigorously test their models according to set criteria, something you'd have to really question with individual sellers.

[MannheimMadman]

Originally Posted by EastBoundandDownChick

My apartment building was built in the 1920s and there isn't central A/C. The landlord does offer portable units to rent each season for $100. I didn't see the point in that because I was able to buy a decent one for about $200 I can keep indefinitely. And it runs a million times better than the big ugly window units my landlord is offering us lol. You can find them even cheaper than that, especially if you look off-season. If you do purchase a portable one be sure to check its energy efficiency- it can make a big difference in your electrical costs depending how much it uses. Mine is great- it keeps the place icebox cold and only adds about $20-30 per month in the summer, which is a lot less than many people pay for central air. I do live in a very small space though (studio) so it doesn't take a lot of power to cool the place down. It was a little weird for me to get used to at first as I've always had central A/C in the past. But after awhile it just becomes like anything else. Here are a couple examples I just pulled up of models that are reasonably priced:

Haier - Factory-Refurbished 7,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner - White - CPR07XC9 (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Haier+-+Factory-Refurbished+7%2C000+BTU+Portable+Air+Conditioner+-+White/3104219.p?id=1218378592150&skuId=3104219 - broken link)

portable air conditioners : Target Search Results

Search Results for portable air conditioners at The Home Depot

The one I got was refurbished from Best Buy online- it's a DeLonghi model that retails for over $600 new. I am pretty happy with it, it looks brand new and runs great. It took me awhile to find it but it was worth it. If I was stuck without A/C around this time of year I personally would just rent until the end of the season and buy a refurbished portable unit sometime in January or February.

You're lucky that you only have to cool a studio. I have two window units - a 5200 BTU in our bedroom, and and a 12,000 BTU unit in our frontroom. When we had that crazy couple of weeks of hot, humid weather, it killed my electrical bill. I think my bill shot up to $120 or so, which is a HUGE increase.

[EastBoundandDownChick]

Originally Posted by MannheimMadman

You're lucky that you only have to cool a studio. I have two window units - a 5200 BTU in our bedroom, and and a 12,000 BTU unit in our frontroom. When we had that crazy couple of weeks of hot, humid weather, it killed my electrical bill. I think my bill shot up to $120 or so, which is a HUGE increase.

Yeah, I hear ya and I know most people don't live in studios. I think the a/c unit's efficiency level makes a big difference though as does not using it continuously. I always turn mine off at night and sleep with just the fans on to save money, unless it's like insanely warm out (which is pretty rare). And I definitely don't use it when I'm out of the apartment. It's hard for me to understand people who just run theirs all the time nonstop. I just wasn't brought up to waste money like that lol.

[MannheimMadman]

Originally Posted by EastBoundandDownChick

Yeah, I hear ya and I know most people don't live in studios. I think the a/c unit's efficiency level makes a big difference though as does not using it continuously. I always turn mine off at night and sleep with just the fans on to save money, unless it's like insanely warm out (which is pretty rare). And I definitely don't use it when I'm out of the apartment. It's hard for me to understand people who just run theirs all the time nonstop. I just wasn't brought up to waste money like that lol.

For sure. I only run our bedroom unit at night (can't sleep when it's too warm) and the frontroom unit when we have guests. The problem with my apartment is that it's got a fairly open floor plan with few doors, so it's nearly impossible to cool quickly and efficiently. Both of our units are energy star compliant with an EER of 10.9 or something like that. We're so cheap that we'll just mostly suffer with the indoor temp around 87 rather than run the air.

Or, we do as they did in the old days, hang out on our stoop with a pitcher or iced tea or lemonade.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by EastBoundandDownChick

Yeah, I hear ya and I know most people don't live in studios. I think the a/c unit's efficiency level makes a big difference though as does not using it continuously. I always turn mine off at night and sleep with just the fans on to save money, unless it's like insanely warm out (which is pretty rare). And I definitely don't use it when I'm out of the apartment. It's hard for me to understand people who just run theirs all the time nonstop. I just wasn't brought up to waste money like that lol.

Exactly, although I run mine only overnight, and never during the day. There's no point in running AC during the day in an empty house; not only is is wasteful, but it also runs the risk of a power outage in some neighborhoods ( like mine, due to overuse and very old connections). Thankfully, we avoided this during this past summer; there are few worse things than coming back home to a dark neighborhood at 8:00 PM on a very hot/humid summer evening.

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by MassVt

Exactly, although I run mine only overnight, and never during the day. There's no point in running AC during the day in an empty house; not only is is wasteful, but it also runs the risk of a power outage in some neighborhoods ( like mine, due to overuse and very old connections). Thankfully, we avoided this during this past summer; there are few worse things than coming back home to a dark neighborhood at 8:00 PM on a very hot/humid summer evening.

It's dark at 8 pm in the summer where you live? Where is that? the North Pole?

20yrsinBranson

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson

It's dark at 8 pm in the summer where you live? Where is that? the North Pole?

20yrsinBranson

Yeah, it gets dark here around 7:30 in August. Real shocker to you, huh?

Has indoor plumbing hit Branson yet?

[bella ragazza]

I would move to a different area if I were you. Check the crime stats of the area. Regardless, I lived in Rome for 15 months without air-conditioning for 1500 per month. That really sucked. It's usually breazy but then again, you have smog :-(