NY Times Article on Minimum Heat in Apartment Bldgs

Jim_19

Sunday's NY Times had an article on NYC residents who live in some older apartment building that are not being heated adequately. The article pointed out that there are THOUSANDS of apartment building built during the 40's and 50's that have never had hearting system replaced or updated. The article also pointed out that the NYC government agency responsible for policing landlords only requires that the heating system be able to maintain a temp of 55 degrees on extremely cold days.

For those of you in the Big Apple, can this be true? If I was renting an aparatment and the heat dropped to 55%, I'd start breaking up the furniture for firewood!

Phil_6

From the NYC govt homepage....

By law, owners must provide adequate heat between October 1 and May 31. During this period, between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., if the outside temperature is below 55 degrees Fahrenheit, owners must heat apartments to at least 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., if the outside temperature is below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, owners must heat apartments to at least 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Owners must also provide hot water at a minimum constant temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit all year round.

Boiler Guy

Min temps

I only wish we could get away with those temps!
Out here in Winnipeg we have to maintain 68 - 70F from Sept 10 through April 30 -- 24/7. This leads to a lot of oversized boilers being installled just to compensate for the few days a season where you really need it.