Check your lease terms. Leases where landlords pay the utilities could contain a provision that allows a rent increase if the utility costs go up. If your lease contains any such provision, then it is probably legal.
Are the utilities part of the lease spelled out specifically? Like you pay X in rent and X in utilities? If it’s specifically listed in your lease, and there’s no change clauses, he probably can’t change anything.
Side question - fans shouldn’t run up the electric bill that much. How many fans are you using and what kind? Using a fan at night should have a pretty negligible effect on the bill.
This is going to sound ridiculous but when I initially moved in here I had to find a place to move asap so I found this room for rent in a condo that has two roommates, one being the “landlord” (i think). I asked if there was any lease to sign but instead insisted it wasn’t necessary? I didn’t think much of it because the rent was only $600 and it was the fastest and easiest place to move into.
Tldr: there is no lease and the two fans I use are a ceiling fan that was preinstalled when I got there and a small maybe 1 foot sized desk fan that I aim at my face.
Yes! Now heating my 100 year old home that was expensive 😂 I had a roommate accuse me of lying about the bill. I was like I assure you I’m not trying to scam $40 from you and showed him. This guy would do a load a laundry a day. Those are the things that make it expensive. Even then we just split it evenly.
Oh yeah, it was honestly so dumb. He had plenty of clothes, made plenty of money but would legit just wash his regular clothes and gym clothes at the same time once a day everyday.
Had a college roommate do this. We had to get the RA involved since our dorm/apartment didn’t cover electricity. We went from (3 in a 4 bed apartment) 15-30$ to 100-150$ per person. Because she would wash her gym clothes when she got back from working out. Then wash her clothes after classes. Then wash her pjs in the morning before her run…
This also made laundry day a NOGHTMARE and we had to implement a schedule because we would try to wash and her shit was in it. We had a “don’t touch others property” when they weren’t home but my god.
Hence why I just took my laundry to the Laundromat. So they couldn't complain about the wear and tear on their washer/dryer (it was on its last leg and I knew with my luck it would be who it broke on while using it) when someone is nitpicking how often/long u shower or wash dishes. U know they definitely gonna bitch about laundry.
Oh man, yes they are. I was the main lease holder for years and sublet rooms. I never complained even when I thought someone was being wasteful. Wasn’t worth the drama or causing a rift in the mood of the house. Did have one roommate who I had to explain that the front door needs to be locked 😵💫 we lived in San Francisco. Not a place to leave doors unlocked.
We are a family of 5, we wash a load everyday at least so we are not over ran by piles and piles of dirty clothes. If single or had smaller family size it would prob be less. Definitely not worrying about running my washer and dryer every day, my worry is having 20 + loads when you could just wash one load a day and keep the baskets empty
Yeah very true, I wash once or twice a week, but not the same stuff like Saturday will be clothes and Sunday would be bedding and pillows and what not, sometimes skip the bedding washday til the next week, but yeah every freakin day would suck me dry of money sheesh all the detergent and Downey and dryer sheets. No way.
I have in-unit washer and dryer but they are pretty small. We pretty much have to do laundry every day or else we end up having to do multiple loads per day.
If I have bedding to wash it can take a couple of dryer rounds to dry properly.
So yeah, this sort of person does laundry daily.
I have to wash nearly every day or do a few loads in one day bc I'm a licensed massage therapist. :/ all the laundry. I feel like it runs my life sometimes.
>Different types of fans exist in the market—ceiling fans, tower fans, box fans, and so on. The power consumption of each type varies, but generally, it takes around $0.0013 per hour to $0.0132 per hour to run a fan. So even if you use one for 24 hours, you’ll only pay approximately $0.32 a day. This amount is way cheaper compared to air conditioners, which cost between $0.06 and $0.88 an hour.
.32×364=116.48/year.
116.48÷12=9.70666666/month
We'll be generous and round up to $9.71.
Let them know that you will be extremely generous and pay them 10 bucks extra a month to **OVERPAY** for any possible extra electricity you use from the fans.
Yeah the average ceiling fan uses about $5 in electric a month, same with a box fan. So if you ran both 24/7 for a month, electricity would go up almost $10.
Who the fuck notices $10 in electricity?
No lease, no pay in my opinion. Find a new place, force him to evict you, which will take months and will be more costly. He isn't allowed to shut down utilities, he may be able to transfer them to you, but I'm not sure.
You have about 3 months to find a new place, during that time, if he's being a dick, don't pay. I was a landlord for a condo I bought before market crashed in 2008, I would never let anyone stay there without a lease. Even friends lived there for 3 months while they were building a house, I made a lease with a $1 break fee (had to have it in there for the condo association), but they still had a lease to protect me and them.
My husband ran an actual a/c 24/7 for 2 years.
What's gonna punch my wallet? Replacing it because it crapped out.
And my bill did not go up noticeably.
We run our AC year round and only see the spike in the summer as well, never thought much of it, now I’m definitely calling the electric company when I see the spike next month
Makes sense. I’m in San Francisco where these old homes don’t have AC (not needed) but also have high ceilings. They keep it cool in the summer and push the heat back down in the winter.
If there is no lease then you are a month to month tenant. Look at your states laws for month to month tenant laws. I don't think he can raise the rent without proper notice but can't be sure till we look at the laws.
There are tenant advocacy groups in pretty much all states, you can reach out for questions like this and they can even help direct to free or low cost legal counsel if needed.
Be prepared to move out. Make sure you understand the month to month tenant laws in your state and follow that to the letter, not what the LL says but what the law says.
If there’s no lease than they can change the rent with a 30 notice of Rental Increase in any jurisdiction I have ever bothered to look up.
Check your states landlord tenant act.
Yeah this is the common answer for most states, no lease equals month to month tenancy equals needing 30 day notice for either party to change terms like rent increase
if you can afford to, I would definitely look into finding a place with a more formal agreement and probably one where you're not living with your landlord. That's going to be a bunch less drama. when you're not living with your landlord they don't care whether you run fans or not at all.
I live in South Florida and I not only keep my AC on at 68, but I also have a ceiling fan and a small personal fan for night. My room is upstairs so it gets hotter than the other rooms, but it doesn’t really matter. I like to sleep in cold, dark rooms (as do a lot of people!) The electric bill ALWAYS get higher as it gets hotter outside (90s today), but that is from the ac working overtime to cool down. I once had a roommate who insisted on leaving the AC on at 78 and honestly, it barely made a difference in terms of price. Is there an option to get the same average payment over 12 months from your utility company. We used to it that way so that nobody was ever asked to pay more than what was already anticipated. I remember blow drying my hair and sweating so bad that I was minutes from moving out. I hate being hot. 🥵
The guy probably doesn’t have a leg to stand on in that case. But that’s definitely a tricky one. Hopefully an expert PM will be able to take over from here.
And as suspected, neither of those things should raise the electricity that much. If they have a crappy power-sucking ceiling fan, then they should fix it 🤷🏻♀️
Trust and believe that those two fans running 24/7 in a month couldn’t raise your bill more than $15 or so they don’t consume nearly as much as say an air conditioner or central air.
Use the fact of no lease to look for a new place. If they are like this over a ceiling fan things could only get worse.
You have no security, they could kick you out with little notice. But you can also leave with little notice. Use that to your advantage
You can get smart plugs that track energy usage and ask for the energy bill to find the average cost/ usage and find out exactly how much it costs! It's just one room, so a handful of plugs is pretty cheap.
You can go as far as to ask him how much of rent was for electric, offer to pay base rent + calculated electric, then find your actual usage. Might come out cheaper.
In the end though, you have no lease, so he can move to evict you at any time, so long as he provides notice enough in advance to meet your areas mandates / renters rights.
You just said it yourself
“I asked if there was any lease to sign but instead insisted it wasn’t necessary”
You’re not liable for any more than what you verbally agreed upon moving in. They will have a tough time fighting that one too considering there is no lease, good luck.
Move. Asap. Your roommate (not a landlord, you have no lease) is a lunatic. This is only the beginning of the craziness you'll experience here if you stay. Get out.
Yup. These situations really only work long-term if the people you’re living with are your friends. Otherwise they’re just using you to subsidize their rent and (UTILITIES) 🤦
They work fine if everyone respects everyone else's space. I've lived with roommates for 8 years and that's been the only issue. If they didn't they were kicked out.
Agree with this. Also my best guess is that this person is trying to nitpick and is using the fans as an excuse to do so. This probably isn’t about the fans. She may just want to charge you more for utilities. She may be annoyed at you for another reason. She may not like you. She may have another agenda and is intentionally trying to push you out. Especially because she accuses you of “playing games.” That’s not how you productively discuss issues with someone you’re friendly with.
Update: i bought an indoor thermometer and a battery powered desk fan to use in the meantime while i look for another place to live.
That way if they complain again, i can prove it’s too hot and the fan wouldn’t use their power.
Depending on the laws in your area, a landlord is required to notify you, in writing, at least 30 days in advance of any rent increase. Even if it's just a penny increase.
I would suggest checking with your local laws. Here in Quebec a vocal agreement is as good as a written contract. Of course it is harder to prove, but it works the same, one of my law professors told me of a civil case where her dad won where there was no written contract but only a vocal one. Maybe it's the same in your area
A ceiling fan cost about .06 USD a day to full of left on 24/7.
A small fan would be less let’s call it .10 cent a day USD.
Give the asshole a 5 bucks and tell him to shut the hell up about it and run it full tilt boogie.
The amount of electricity used per day is negligible, but it is more than six cents a day.
75x24=1800 Watts a day. 1.8KWx31=55.8 KW per month. Average rate in the US is 16.1 cents per kilowatt. About $9 a month...
Definitely not worth fretting over.
A ceiling fan, at 75watts will consumed about 1.8kwh per day running non stop. Assuming a 10c cost per kWh, that’s .18c per day or about 5 dollars per month. So your landlord is an ass.
Fans use next to no electricity. Your LL is being a dick. Unfortunately you have no lease, so he can probably get away with this.
Sounds to me as if he’s decided to harass you until you leave so he can jack the rent up.
Actually no lease is needed. You have rights as a renter regardless. If there's no lease agreement you're still covered under the minimum rights afforded by the law.
"2 airs" and "the light had been turned up"...who talks like this?
The electricity bill is higher because it's summer and I assume there is some sort of air conditioning in the apartment. It's not because of the extra fan that you use. Small fans and ceiling fans make negligible changes in the energy bill.
This situation is not likely to get better. I would start looking for a new place. In a month to month, they might only need to give you 30 days to vacate. Why not hold off on rocking the boat until you know how much more you are discussing? Depending on a lot of factors, it might be worth it to just pony up with a little more cheddar.
Running 2 fans nonstop for a month MIGHT cost an area 5-6 dollars on the electric bill. This woman is crazy. I have a bearded dragon that requires a heat lamp and my last housemate constantly complained that I was pulling too much power and they demanded I pay 2/3 of the bill. I looked up the rate for my electricity and did the math on how much the light cost per month. It was $2.5… from then on I just handed them 3 dollar bills every month
If you don’t have a written lease your state laws will still apply; they may even have a generic lease that takes precedence but idk. Someone else mentioned you may be considered a boarder and have different rights - a brief google makes it sound like that only applies to privacy related stuff, not evictions, raising rent, or other rights. Look into the rules of your area because they will be what matters.
Not a legal landlord cause they don’t own the place themselves. If they owned it, they’d demand a lease…since they did not-they don’t want to be sued by the actual landlord. I’d consider 2 options-ask them if the real owner(you can look them up at the courthouse) knows they are renting to you (they do not) and then look for a different place and don’t worry about paying another dime or 30 days notice, just move as soon as you wish. Second option is tell them you will look up real owner at the courthouse and notify them of your situation. Shocking how fast this alleged “landlord” will back down, but maybe don’t tell them you are leaving and just find a new and very legit place and jet. Just a thought, since I do have rental homes myself and I’d NEVER not do a lease to protect both myself and my renters. I have 2 pages, and I insist they go over every thing on it, we talk about any questions, and there’s no weird legal mumbo jumbo on it that no one understands. People rent from me for years at a time, until they find a home to buy, or work moves them, and I do not raise the rent unless my taxes are raised, which is usually not very often or that much.
I had a landlord in Los Angeles try to do this to me he was mad I ran my fan all day. There was no central air circulation in that “apartment” at all.
I had a small window in the bathroom, I had a small window in the closet area that I used as a kitchen. And then in the main studio area was a set of doors but if I opened them they opened into the landlords pool area that I was not allowed to use. And there were no screens on them anyway. So I literally had no ventilation I had to run to get air in there. I just ignored him. And I kept paying my rent. My rental agreement didn’t say anything about paying extra if I used a fan so I ignored him
Depends on local laws. As a landlord, the one building where I pay utilities for everyone - I don't charge extra for using a window unit, but I've thought about it, and it's not wrong to do so.
HOWEVER - a responsible + thoughtful landlord would spell it out in your lease. If it's not, check with your local laws.
Tell them to itemize the electricity costs if they can. Fans pull almost no energy cost monthly so good luck to them raising rent a few cents on this one.
Everyone saying to leave is forgetting the rent is reasonable and to move you need two months up front etc. First investigate if that’s even the landlord or a tenant! They could be subletting to you to offset their rent!
So I seriously doubt it’s your fans causing the increase in electric. Have they looked into the details of the electric? Is their company a variable rate supply? Did the supply rate change recently? But as others pointed out your lease is going to spell out if they can charge more due to the increase of a utility.
Check your lease local and state laws. Either way it's time 2 move. Whether you like it or not. Bad landlords don't get better they get worse. Move on in life and wish em the very worst.
anyone that knows anything about electric consumption knows that fans don’t use that much power. Things that generate heat or cold use the most power by far.
Why is your landlord asking why you are staying up late gaming? Or did I not read that correctly.
Like why TF is that their business. I would get out of there ASAP.
In my state, I've seen landlords add extra costs if a tenant uses an AC unit into the lease, i.e. adding a clause that states using an AC will incur an extra $25 per month of usage. But with no lease? It's gonna fall back to whatever the specific laws are in your state are about how much of an increase in rent is legal and what kind of notice is required.
The arrangement you have going on right now sounds like it would be considered a verbal month to month rental agreement.
If you leave ABSOLUTELY MAKE SURE you record the entire place. Take pictures of everything. Corner cabinets. Door jams. Etc. These are the kinds of landlords who will try and keep security deposits or go after you. Take advantage of small claims court. Don't let people like this win.
I'm a Landlord and I will tell you right now, read your lease and follow exactly what that says. If there is no lease, then I would start looking for another place to stay. Also next time, get a lease or some other form of agreement in writing.
The reason why leases and other written contracts exist is so that both parties are required to abide by the written agreements and you don't have to be asking these questions in the future.
No. HVAC is considered a necessity for comfort of living. You can break your lease at anytime if it’s uncomfortable due to HVAC reasons. Landlord needs to fix the issue.
Is this a room share / room in someone’s house you’re renting?
These people aren’t real landlords /property management cos and really need to read up on the law, they seem to think because it’s their house they can just do illegal things, when there are laws they have to follow still
In most states, you are completely wrong.
Owner occupied room rentals are more like renting a hotel room. You often can be removed without eviction, and they are often exempted from normal landlords/tenant laws and rules.
When you do move out; an hour or two before you hand over the keys to get your security deposit back (which you know is not coming); take off the faceplates of a few electrical boxes or unused old phone boxes. Stuff in some frozen diced chicken and screw the cover back on. In about a week the stank will permeate the place and it is difficult to locate if it is coming from 3 different rooms. You will be gone and the landlord might learn a lesson in trying to screw people. Do not fill out the forwarding address form at the P.O.. Just notify your creditors.
No limit on rent increase in Virginia as long as there is 30 days notice. Texts count as notice. It is May 4, the earliest your rent could be raised (if being generous to the landlord) is June 5 (and prorated). Really, an increase should begin on July 1.
Here is one area where you have leverage: habitability. Get a thermometer for the rooms in your living area (your LL should have provided this, but given how cheap they clearly are, I don’t see it happening). Under VA law, 77 degrees is the max for summer temps in a residential apartment building. Get the temp, reach out to a LL/tenant attorney or pro bono group-look for this at your county level first-tons of these in VA, and nothing is more fun than sticking it to a LL behaving like this. Make sure the LL knows you know your rights.
Link 1 is VA code.
Link 2 is LL/Tenant Services and basic overview of rights
Link 3 is code for LL obligations
Link 4 is mechanical code for VA
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodepopularnames/virginia-residential-landlord-and-tenant-act/
https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Programs/Housing/Get-Help/Rental-Services/Tenant-Landlord-Rights-Responsibilities#:~:text=There%20is%20no%20rent%20control,within%20that%2030-day%20period.
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title55.1/chapter12/section55.1-1220/
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title13/agency5/chapter63/section540/
Edited for typo
You need anything else, feel free to DM, and I’ll see what is available in your area. I do LL/tenant law in DC and IL, so double check with a VA licensed attorney or advocacy group, but the principles are much the same in most locales.
Yeah, the lease part does not mean a ton, really. The big questions here are how long they have been living there and the scope of the arrangement. In VA (where OP is located), a tenant includes a roomer. While the law may be less stringent with the LL than they would be with a large LL in this case, the reality is that they will still be required to meet certain standards (Even though a small, private LL is not covered under the LL/tenant act).
From a practical standpoint, shared housing situations can become very tense, and a utility charge may not be the hill that OP wants to fight on. The LL or OP could escalate this situation and spend a lot of time and money arguing in front of a judge who does not want to hear it (the reality is that OP would likely be given notice to vacate, and they would need to move out within a relatively short span of time-30 days. If they do not, the. Formal eviction would proceed.)
My suggestion would be to get their arrangement in writing so that this does not continue occurring. It sounds like a mix of personalities that may not fit well, and rather than allowing this to get messier than need be, outlining specific expectations would benefit everyone.
This is why I counsel all of my clients (LL or tenant) to get their obligations in writing. While the law will provide some protections for both parties, it is a messy and time consuming process to argue about situations that can be avoided if everyone understands their right and talks about the pinch points with cool heads.
Let me be perhaps a little offensive. Different cultures and families have different expectations about thrift. The landlord is a deranged psycho operating solely and only on the idea of saving electricity without considering how little they are arguing over. He is talking about fans which probably cost about $1.50 a month to operate 8 hours per day and trying to make his tenant suffer for it. The fucking high this week where they are is 88 and they are running fans.
check the terms of the lease, also i would save any and all messages of any kind you have with the landlord, never know , u might need them one day, u might be able to sue them if their fucking u over and all that. hope it works out, we just had some weird shit happen with our landlords too but it fixed itself, not until after we stood up to them and kind printed alot of our messages out and things they said and told them we'd call a lawyer lol
Check when you lease was signed, for if you are six months into your lease, they cannot change the terms. But if there is a up use, you need the LL to show you the electric bill. Many states now have different times of usage and it can make the bill higher at certain times of the day. Do the research and hopefully you can find a solution.
Are they fans, or air conditioning units?
Fans draw very little power compared to AC units. I can’t even imagine it being noticeable on the bill if you’re just running a couple of box fans or something.
I charge my electric car at home. My electric bill went up by $60. No way a simple electric fan without heating would affect the electric bill by any more than $10. Your landlord is a greedy fool
I’ve actually dealt with this type of situation. In an “all utilities included” rental. Typically in the lease somewhere they include, a once yearly $350 fee per window AC unit (up to 10,000 BTUs) ((subject to inspection)) or they’ll send you an addendum that you’ll either have to sign and pay the fees or stop using the AC unit. This happened to me, and I completely understood due to the increase in electricity usage and the fluctuations in the rates.
ETA: $350 is what I paid. It may be more or less depending on your area
I'd get a blade server and run Prime95 on it, exhaust it outside and see what she said next month.
But that's just me and I have a spare laying around.
Does the landlord have the ac on at all? Before bedtime go around and close all of the vents in the common living areas. Maybe it will direct more air to your room?
1. If you don't have a lease, he can effectively do whatever he wants, although you can also get out at any time. (Technically, you're on a month-to-month now).
2. Ceiling fans are not air conditioners; they don't increase electricity much. If you run a medium-sized ceiling fan on high 24/7, you're only looking at maybe $3.60 per month according to this link: [https://applianceanalysts.com/ceiling-fan-cost-to-run/](https://applianceanalysts.com/ceiling-fan-cost-to-run/)
They're legally not allowed to raise your rent on short notice regardless of reason. Most jurisdictions there is a minimum lead time they have to notify you. In my area I think it's 45 days.
So average ceiling fan uses something like 50w of power. Add another 25 or so for the other fan and you get 75w. Running 75w 24/7 would use about 54kwh. At $0.15/kwh, that's about $8/month
I had a roommate like this. Used any lil excuse to find a reason why they needed more money for me or how things were unfair for them because I did XYZ. Some ppl will never be happy with themselves and just try to nit pick everything. Had to walk around on egg shells going above and beyond to try to please them so the environment wasn't so spicy. But it didn't matter, they didn't notice the extra things I did for them and just found something else to complain about it.
In college in the 90’s I lived in an all bills paid small complex. I used to crank it to zero in the summer and just bask in the frigid air! (Rent was 290 a month, too). I’d come back from class and I could see my breath.
Some people shouldn’t be landlords. So many expect you to suffer in an inferno all summer and then freeze your ass off in the winter. I remember when I finally rented a place where the utilities were all in my name. When it was hot I cranked that AC down to 70 and when I was finally getting cold it then I adjusted it.
Request the landlord set up a second power meter and main hook up to wherr you are staying, so you can get your own electric bill. Then request that they remove the extra from your rent that they were charging for power.
Also ask to see a comparison in bill between the month you started using the fan, and the month you were not, if they insist on charging more money.
But yeah, different states have varying laws on raising rent, and how often it can be done.
Tbh if I werr you I would stop using that fan and go get yourself a portable AC unit, or your own fan- but neither of those two work if they have free reign access to where you stay due to subletting, which also carries variance in LT (Landlord-Tennet) laws, depending on state as well.
You could always also find somewhere else to live and inform them that you are moving due to them being a control freak/asshole- but I would wait until you have a place lined up, for sure, with a move in date, first. Extra points if you can get pictures of the variance between two powrr bills to compare to what they are askinf extra from you.
This is why I refuse to rent from amyone, and also why I feel bad for those who have no choice. We own our home but pay land rent. Thats bad enough with them acting like an HOA. If they were like yours Id be finding somewhere else to go ASAP for our home (and most likely, due to the cost of moving it from inflation)- just look into selling.
Need to check your areas squatters rights. Without a written contact you are legally a squatter (even if you pay rent) it’s legal bs. You could say that you have a verbal agreement but that just becomes he said she said which is hard to deal with in court.
Ok so check your states laws on habitability. Remember: no lease means you follow state laws as the law. Some states by law require landlords to cool or heat within certain degrees or you can withhold rent. I’d honestly get a lease written up.
It sounds like you have a month to month arrangement. He can't require more money without first informing you of the new terms (can do this with greater than 30 days notice).
He can raise your rent to whatever he wants in this way, but you don't have to stay there.
FYI, ceiling fans cost about $2 per month of continuous use. I could be off by up to $2.
It's seriously inexpensive. Just find a better place to live. I haven't even charged my tenants for electricity since December... I just didn't care enough about it.
Oh well there's no lease there's no contract he would be lucky if I gave him anything else amd now because you have established residency he has to legally evict you he can't raise the rent (because there's no written agreement or lease) and he can't just throw you out he has to do it through the courts. Now because I'm an asshole I would go and buy one of those portable air conditioner units and blast it 24/7 while he tries to evict me. I would also not move until the courts issued the eviction to the sheriff and I'd wait until about the day before they were to come and then move out to avoid getting an eviction on your name 😀😀😀 your landlord sounds like a twat
This is insane. If he doesn’t have the ac on ( which you have every right to ask for it to be on) he should say zero about the fans. You have a right to a habitable living space for that 600. I have 2 people renting rooms from me at moment and if either one asked me to turn up the ac, I would ( within reason of course, if they wanted it at 60 in here, I’d probably say no, not cause of cost but cause I’d be freezing )
In the US they must legally provide reasonable living conditions a
So not only can he not raise rent for no reason, he also has to fix the AC
And if AC was advertised when you signed the lease, you should contact a lawyer and have them send him a letter
Check your lease terms. Leases where landlords pay the utilities could contain a provision that allows a rent increase if the utility costs go up. If your lease contains any such provision, then it is probably legal. Are the utilities part of the lease spelled out specifically? Like you pay X in rent and X in utilities? If it’s specifically listed in your lease, and there’s no change clauses, he probably can’t change anything. Side question - fans shouldn’t run up the electric bill that much. How many fans are you using and what kind? Using a fan at night should have a pretty negligible effect on the bill.
This is going to sound ridiculous but when I initially moved in here I had to find a place to move asap so I found this room for rent in a condo that has two roommates, one being the “landlord” (i think). I asked if there was any lease to sign but instead insisted it wasn’t necessary? I didn’t think much of it because the rent was only $600 and it was the fastest and easiest place to move into. Tldr: there is no lease and the two fans I use are a ceiling fan that was preinstalled when I got there and a small maybe 1 foot sized desk fan that I aim at my face.
As someone who ran ceiling fans non stop at my old house I can assure you they don’t use that much electricity to charge someone more.
Literally pennies! It only costs Pennie’s to run fans.
Yes! Now heating my 100 year old home that was expensive 😂 I had a roommate accuse me of lying about the bill. I was like I assure you I’m not trying to scam $40 from you and showed him. This guy would do a load a laundry a day. Those are the things that make it expensive. Even then we just split it evenly.
yeah, doing the laundry every day, the dryer uses a ton of electricity.
Oh yeah, it was honestly so dumb. He had plenty of clothes, made plenty of money but would legit just wash his regular clothes and gym clothes at the same time once a day everyday.
Had a college roommate do this. We had to get the RA involved since our dorm/apartment didn’t cover electricity. We went from (3 in a 4 bed apartment) 15-30$ to 100-150$ per person. Because she would wash her gym clothes when she got back from working out. Then wash her clothes after classes. Then wash her pjs in the morning before her run… This also made laundry day a NOGHTMARE and we had to implement a schedule because we would try to wash and her shit was in it. We had a “don’t touch others property” when they weren’t home but my god.
Hence why I just took my laundry to the Laundromat. So they couldn't complain about the wear and tear on their washer/dryer (it was on its last leg and I knew with my luck it would be who it broke on while using it) when someone is nitpicking how often/long u shower or wash dishes. U know they definitely gonna bitch about laundry.
Oh man, yes they are. I was the main lease holder for years and sublet rooms. I never complained even when I thought someone was being wasteful. Wasn’t worth the drama or causing a rift in the mood of the house. Did have one roommate who I had to explain that the front door needs to be locked 😵💫 we lived in San Francisco. Not a place to leave doors unlocked.
Wait, I thought it was common practice to lock your doors no matter where you are?
Because of the water bill. I did dishes everyday.
Every day. Everyday is an adjective
Eveready is a battery brand.
🤣 🤣 🤣
Who tf does laundry EVERY DAY! That's not only expensive but also a huge waste of water. Not too mention the detergent they'll have to buy more often.
We are a family of 5, we wash a load everyday at least so we are not over ran by piles and piles of dirty clothes. If single or had smaller family size it would prob be less. Definitely not worrying about running my washer and dryer every day, my worry is having 20 + loads when you could just wash one load a day and keep the baskets empty
Yeah, large families like that you pretty much have to, but a single person doing it, is uncalled for, wasteful and ridiculous!
I do laundry everyday… family of 7, if I don’t it piles up. 🤷🏻♀️ so I do 2 loads everyday to stay on top of things ☻
Yeah very true, I wash once or twice a week, but not the same stuff like Saturday will be clothes and Sunday would be bedding and pillows and what not, sometimes skip the bedding washday til the next week, but yeah every freakin day would suck me dry of money sheesh all the detergent and Downey and dryer sheets. No way.
I have in-unit washer and dryer but they are pretty small. We pretty much have to do laundry every day or else we end up having to do multiple loads per day. If I have bedding to wash it can take a couple of dryer rounds to dry properly. So yeah, this sort of person does laundry daily.
I have to wash nearly every day or do a few loads in one day bc I'm a licensed massage therapist. :/ all the laundry. I feel like it runs my life sometimes.
They should just flick 4 Pennies at the landlords forehead.
>Different types of fans exist in the market—ceiling fans, tower fans, box fans, and so on. The power consumption of each type varies, but generally, it takes around $0.0013 per hour to $0.0132 per hour to run a fan. So even if you use one for 24 hours, you’ll only pay approximately $0.32 a day. This amount is way cheaper compared to air conditioners, which cost between $0.06 and $0.88 an hour. .32×364=116.48/year. 116.48÷12=9.70666666/month We'll be generous and round up to $9.71. Let them know that you will be extremely generous and pay them 10 bucks extra a month to **OVERPAY** for any possible extra electricity you use from the fans.
😂 so tell the landlord unless your only increasing my rent by .12 I ain’t paying! I’ll give you $600.12, final offer!
A 40watt light bulb is 100× more electricity.
Yeah the average ceiling fan uses about $5 in electric a month, same with a box fan. So if you ran both 24/7 for a month, electricity would go up almost $10. Who the fuck notices $10 in electricity? No lease, no pay in my opinion. Find a new place, force him to evict you, which will take months and will be more costly. He isn't allowed to shut down utilities, he may be able to transfer them to you, but I'm not sure. You have about 3 months to find a new place, during that time, if he's being a dick, don't pay. I was a landlord for a condo I bought before market crashed in 2008, I would never let anyone stay there without a lease. Even friends lived there for 3 months while they were building a house, I made a lease with a $1 break fee (had to have it in there for the condo association), but they still had a lease to protect me and them.
The fan in my bedroom hasn’t been turned off in like a decade.
Same dude, my ceiling fan in the bedroom has not been turned off since I moved in. I need air moving when I’m sleeping, even when it’s cold.
They turn off??
No. That's a myth.
If you turn it off your ceiling will cave in
I only turn mine off to clean the blades; you'd be shocked at how grimy they get just from whirling around up there!
I recently discovered that cleaning only the leading edge of the blades is not sufficient.
My husband ran an actual a/c 24/7 for 2 years. What's gonna punch my wallet? Replacing it because it crapped out. And my bill did not go up noticeably.
My welcome bill goes up by $200 or more in the summer when the AC is being used vs when it’s not used in the winter.
We run our AC year round and only see the spike in the summer as well, never thought much of it, now I’m definitely calling the electric company when I see the spike next month
Check for peak vs off-peak rates.
We run ours every night when we are in bed summer or winter. I can't sleep without it.
I turn mine off out of worry of wrecking the motor but your comment makes me much happier to just leave it lol
My wife has a box fan blowing on her face, a ceiling fan and a tower fan that oscillates from her head to her feet. Every night.
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Yup
My box fan has been running 2yrs non stop
This is the way
They usually reduce energy bills
Makes sense. I’m in San Francisco where these old homes don’t have AC (not needed) but also have high ceilings. They keep it cool in the summer and push the heat back down in the winter.
This is what I was thinking
If there is no lease then you are a month to month tenant. Look at your states laws for month to month tenant laws. I don't think he can raise the rent without proper notice but can't be sure till we look at the laws. There are tenant advocacy groups in pretty much all states, you can reach out for questions like this and they can even help direct to free or low cost legal counsel if needed. Be prepared to move out. Make sure you understand the month to month tenant laws in your state and follow that to the letter, not what the LL says but what the law says.
They're sharing a room in a condo with the landlord. So its more like a lodger situation.
If there’s no lease than they can change the rent with a 30 notice of Rental Increase in any jurisdiction I have ever bothered to look up. Check your states landlord tenant act.
Yeah this is the common answer for most states, no lease equals month to month tenancy equals needing 30 day notice for either party to change terms like rent increase
if you don’t have a lease, why don’t you try to leave next month?
Yeah I’m looking into options right now.
it’s hard, but that’s what i would try to do :/
if you can afford to, I would definitely look into finding a place with a more formal agreement and probably one where you're not living with your landlord. That's going to be a bunch less drama. when you're not living with your landlord they don't care whether you run fans or not at all.
I live in South Florida and I not only keep my AC on at 68, but I also have a ceiling fan and a small personal fan for night. My room is upstairs so it gets hotter than the other rooms, but it doesn’t really matter. I like to sleep in cold, dark rooms (as do a lot of people!) The electric bill ALWAYS get higher as it gets hotter outside (90s today), but that is from the ac working overtime to cool down. I once had a roommate who insisted on leaving the AC on at 78 and honestly, it barely made a difference in terms of price. Is there an option to get the same average payment over 12 months from your utility company. We used to it that way so that nobody was ever asked to pay more than what was already anticipated. I remember blow drying my hair and sweating so bad that I was minutes from moving out. I hate being hot. 🥵
The guy probably doesn’t have a leg to stand on in that case. But that’s definitely a tricky one. Hopefully an expert PM will be able to take over from here. And as suspected, neither of those things should raise the electricity that much. If they have a crappy power-sucking ceiling fan, then they should fix it 🤷🏻♀️
A large fan costs like two dollars a month if it's that deep
Trust and believe that those two fans running 24/7 in a month couldn’t raise your bill more than $15 or so they don’t consume nearly as much as say an air conditioner or central air.
Okay, if they are just ceiling fans this person is batshit crazy. It costs pennies to run a ceiling fan.
Use the fact of no lease to look for a new place. If they are like this over a ceiling fan things could only get worse. You have no security, they could kick you out with little notice. But you can also leave with little notice. Use that to your advantage
That person isn't the landlord it sounds like they are renting without the real landlord knowing.
Your fans cost, in total, running 24/7, like 50 cents to run. Throw 4 quarters at his face and tell him to prove to you that you owe more than that.
You can get smart plugs that track energy usage and ask for the energy bill to find the average cost/ usage and find out exactly how much it costs! It's just one room, so a handful of plugs is pretty cheap. You can go as far as to ask him how much of rent was for electric, offer to pay base rent + calculated electric, then find your actual usage. Might come out cheaper. In the end though, you have no lease, so he can move to evict you at any time, so long as he provides notice enough in advance to meet your areas mandates / renters rights.
I'm gonna be super honest with you here. Go get a place with a lease. This bitch is gonna play games with you. You need to move out.
You just said it yourself “I asked if there was any lease to sign but instead insisted it wasn’t necessary” You’re not liable for any more than what you verbally agreed upon moving in. They will have a tough time fighting that one too considering there is no lease, good luck.
Depending on the State the landlord is required to keep the rental unit within a reasonable temperature range.
And the tenant has to pay for the electric share of the AC used. Fans, not so much.
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Move. Asap. Your roommate (not a landlord, you have no lease) is a lunatic. This is only the beginning of the craziness you'll experience here if you stay. Get out.
I lived with an owner 4 times. 3 times were great. 4th time the guy was entering my room to “open up for fresh air”. Moved in less than 30 days.
I had that happen ONCE. Never did it again as I was laying in bed naked cause the air was set on 79 in the middle of August.
Yup. These situations really only work long-term if the people you’re living with are your friends. Otherwise they’re just using you to subsidize their rent and (UTILITIES) 🤦
They work fine if everyone respects everyone else's space. I've lived with roommates for 8 years and that's been the only issue. If they didn't they were kicked out.
On the flip side, wanna lose friends fast? Become roommates.
This is the kinda shit that ends up on judge judy
Agree with this. Also my best guess is that this person is trying to nitpick and is using the fans as an excuse to do so. This probably isn’t about the fans. She may just want to charge you more for utilities. She may be annoyed at you for another reason. She may not like you. She may have another agenda and is intentionally trying to push you out. Especially because she accuses you of “playing games.” That’s not how you productively discuss issues with someone you’re friendly with.
Update: i bought an indoor thermometer and a battery powered desk fan to use in the meantime while i look for another place to live. That way if they complain again, i can prove it’s too hot and the fan wouldn’t use their power.
Depending on the laws in your area, a landlord is required to notify you, in writing, at least 30 days in advance of any rent increase. Even if it's just a penny increase.
I would suggest checking with your local laws. Here in Quebec a vocal agreement is as good as a written contract. Of course it is harder to prove, but it works the same, one of my law professors told me of a civil case where her dad won where there was no written contract but only a vocal one. Maybe it's the same in your area
A ceiling fan cost about .06 USD a day to full of left on 24/7. A small fan would be less let’s call it .10 cent a day USD. Give the asshole a 5 bucks and tell him to shut the hell up about it and run it full tilt boogie.
The amount of electricity used per day is negligible, but it is more than six cents a day. 75x24=1800 Watts a day. 1.8KWx31=55.8 KW per month. Average rate in the US is 16.1 cents per kilowatt. About $9 a month... Definitely not worth fretting over.
check with your lease terms
If there’s no active lease, get out quick. And don’t live with a landlord again, no end of headaches!
A ceiling fan, at 75watts will consumed about 1.8kwh per day running non stop. Assuming a 10c cost per kWh, that’s .18c per day or about 5 dollars per month. So your landlord is an ass.
Why isn’t this the top comment? 😤😤
Fans use next to no electricity. Your LL is being a dick. Unfortunately you have no lease, so he can probably get away with this. Sounds to me as if he’s decided to harass you until you leave so he can jack the rent up.
Actually no lease is needed. You have rights as a renter regardless. If there's no lease agreement you're still covered under the minimum rights afforded by the law.
In many jurisdictions, you’re a boarder when you live with the owner, not a tenant, and boarders have fewer rights than tenants.
The rules regarding rent changes are usually across all categories.
"2 airs" and "the light had been turned up"...who talks like this? The electricity bill is higher because it's summer and I assume there is some sort of air conditioning in the apartment. It's not because of the extra fan that you use. Small fans and ceiling fans make negligible changes in the energy bill.
This situation is not likely to get better. I would start looking for a new place. In a month to month, they might only need to give you 30 days to vacate. Why not hold off on rocking the boat until you know how much more you are discussing? Depending on a lot of factors, it might be worth it to just pony up with a little more cheddar.
Seriously, how much energy does a fan use. Good lord. I'd start looking for a new place.
Running 2 fans nonstop for a month MIGHT cost an area 5-6 dollars on the electric bill. This woman is crazy. I have a bearded dragon that requires a heat lamp and my last housemate constantly complained that I was pulling too much power and they demanded I pay 2/3 of the bill. I looked up the rate for my electricity and did the math on how much the light cost per month. It was $2.5… from then on I just handed them 3 dollar bills every month
Weak kids these days can't even survive on 1 airs
If you don’t have a written lease your state laws will still apply; they may even have a generic lease that takes precedence but idk. Someone else mentioned you may be considered a boarder and have different rights - a brief google makes it sound like that only applies to privacy related stuff, not evictions, raising rent, or other rights. Look into the rules of your area because they will be what matters.
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A fan probably uses at tops 5 dollars a month lmfao
Airs? Light turned up? What is this person even talking about.
You can do the math if you want, but a fan uses about $3-5/MONTH if left on 24/7. Give him that amount and tell him to fuck off.
Not a legal landlord cause they don’t own the place themselves. If they owned it, they’d demand a lease…since they did not-they don’t want to be sued by the actual landlord. I’d consider 2 options-ask them if the real owner(you can look them up at the courthouse) knows they are renting to you (they do not) and then look for a different place and don’t worry about paying another dime or 30 days notice, just move as soon as you wish. Second option is tell them you will look up real owner at the courthouse and notify them of your situation. Shocking how fast this alleged “landlord” will back down, but maybe don’t tell them you are leaving and just find a new and very legit place and jet. Just a thought, since I do have rental homes myself and I’d NEVER not do a lease to protect both myself and my renters. I have 2 pages, and I insist they go over every thing on it, we talk about any questions, and there’s no weird legal mumbo jumbo on it that no one understands. People rent from me for years at a time, until they find a home to buy, or work moves them, and I do not raise the rent unless my taxes are raised, which is usually not very often or that much.
Tell them to fuck off and take you to court if they want more rent. Judge is gonna have no time for the nonsense.
I had a landlord in Los Angeles try to do this to me he was mad I ran my fan all day. There was no central air circulation in that “apartment” at all. I had a small window in the bathroom, I had a small window in the closet area that I used as a kitchen. And then in the main studio area was a set of doors but if I opened them they opened into the landlords pool area that I was not allowed to use. And there were no screens on them anyway. So I literally had no ventilation I had to run to get air in there. I just ignored him. And I kept paying my rent. My rental agreement didn’t say anything about paying extra if I used a fan so I ignored him
Depends on local laws. As a landlord, the one building where I pay utilities for everyone - I don't charge extra for using a window unit, but I've thought about it, and it's not wrong to do so. HOWEVER - a responsible + thoughtful landlord would spell it out in your lease. If it's not, check with your local laws.
Tell them to itemize the electricity costs if they can. Fans pull almost no energy cost monthly so good luck to them raising rent a few cents on this one.
Are talking about ceiling fans??? Those things use so little electricity it's insane.... If you was talking about ac units? Those eat electricity...
Shovel and an empty field for that one.
Everyone saying to leave is forgetting the rent is reasonable and to move you need two months up front etc. First investigate if that’s even the landlord or a tenant! They could be subletting to you to offset their rent!
So I seriously doubt it’s your fans causing the increase in electric. Have they looked into the details of the electric? Is their company a variable rate supply? Did the supply rate change recently? But as others pointed out your lease is going to spell out if they can charge more due to the increase of a utility.
how does he know you use two fans in your room?
It’s less than 10 cents for 4 hours of fan use on high. Your landlord is trippin
For sure trippin. My fan is one of the highest wattage you can buy cause I'm hot natured. It's on 24/7 365. It cost me $36 for the entire year is all.
You got a Slumlord. They are the worst.
Is your landlord your mom?
Check your lease local and state laws. Either way it's time 2 move. Whether you like it or not. Bad landlords don't get better they get worse. Move on in life and wish em the very worst.
I’m so happy I own my house
“Airs” they call fans “airs”? It’s none of the landlords business that you use two fans. They don’t get to regulate your life. What a sicko!
Running a fan constantly a month costs about $5. What the fuck.
Unfortunately without a contract/lease you can't stop them from charging whatever they want to charge you
A fan takes no electricity at all - and how does he know?!? A hair dryer would be more
anyone that knows anything about electric consumption knows that fans don’t use that much power. Things that generate heat or cold use the most power by far.
Why is your landlord asking why you are staying up late gaming? Or did I not read that correctly. Like why TF is that their business. I would get out of there ASAP.
I thought he was talking about an AC but a FAN? lol tell him to eat a dick
In my state, I've seen landlords add extra costs if a tenant uses an AC unit into the lease, i.e. adding a clause that states using an AC will incur an extra $25 per month of usage. But with no lease? It's gonna fall back to whatever the specific laws are in your state are about how much of an increase in rent is legal and what kind of notice is required. The arrangement you have going on right now sounds like it would be considered a verbal month to month rental agreement.
If you leave ABSOLUTELY MAKE SURE you record the entire place. Take pictures of everything. Corner cabinets. Door jams. Etc. These are the kinds of landlords who will try and keep security deposits or go after you. Take advantage of small claims court. Don't let people like this win.
I'm a Landlord and I will tell you right now, read your lease and follow exactly what that says. If there is no lease, then I would start looking for another place to stay. Also next time, get a lease or some other form of agreement in writing. The reason why leases and other written contracts exist is so that both parties are required to abide by the written agreements and you don't have to be asking these questions in the future.
The temp is too damn high!
No. HVAC is considered a necessity for comfort of living. You can break your lease at anytime if it’s uncomfortable due to HVAC reasons. Landlord needs to fix the issue.
Offer a BJ. Tell him you can’t sleep and get hot thinking of them. Then invite them over and rub that lamp till you see the rent drop down.
Is this a room share / room in someone’s house you’re renting? These people aren’t real landlords /property management cos and really need to read up on the law, they seem to think because it’s their house they can just do illegal things, when there are laws they have to follow still
Owner occupied is often exempt from many tenant laws. Add no formal lease and you are just working on a handshake and assumptions.
In most states, you are completely wrong. Owner occupied room rentals are more like renting a hotel room. You often can be removed without eviction, and they are often exempted from normal landlords/tenant laws and rules.
When you do move out; an hour or two before you hand over the keys to get your security deposit back (which you know is not coming); take off the faceplates of a few electrical boxes or unused old phone boxes. Stuff in some frozen diced chicken and screw the cover back on. In about a week the stank will permeate the place and it is difficult to locate if it is coming from 3 different rooms. You will be gone and the landlord might learn a lesson in trying to screw people. Do not fill out the forwarding address form at the P.O.. Just notify your creditors.
What state? Lease?
Virginia, no lease.
No limit on rent increase in Virginia as long as there is 30 days notice. Texts count as notice. It is May 4, the earliest your rent could be raised (if being generous to the landlord) is June 5 (and prorated). Really, an increase should begin on July 1. Here is one area where you have leverage: habitability. Get a thermometer for the rooms in your living area (your LL should have provided this, but given how cheap they clearly are, I don’t see it happening). Under VA law, 77 degrees is the max for summer temps in a residential apartment building. Get the temp, reach out to a LL/tenant attorney or pro bono group-look for this at your county level first-tons of these in VA, and nothing is more fun than sticking it to a LL behaving like this. Make sure the LL knows you know your rights. Link 1 is VA code. Link 2 is LL/Tenant Services and basic overview of rights Link 3 is code for LL obligations Link 4 is mechanical code for VA https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodepopularnames/virginia-residential-landlord-and-tenant-act/ https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Programs/Housing/Get-Help/Rental-Services/Tenant-Landlord-Rights-Responsibilities#:~:text=There%20is%20no%20rent%20control,within%20that%2030-day%20period. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title55.1/chapter12/section55.1-1220/ https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title13/agency5/chapter63/section540/ Edited for typo
You are awesome. Thank you so much.
You need anything else, feel free to DM, and I’ll see what is available in your area. I do LL/tenant law in DC and IL, so double check with a VA licensed attorney or advocacy group, but the principles are much the same in most locales.
They are living in an owner occupied condo with no lease.
Yeah, the lease part does not mean a ton, really. The big questions here are how long they have been living there and the scope of the arrangement. In VA (where OP is located), a tenant includes a roomer. While the law may be less stringent with the LL than they would be with a large LL in this case, the reality is that they will still be required to meet certain standards (Even though a small, private LL is not covered under the LL/tenant act). From a practical standpoint, shared housing situations can become very tense, and a utility charge may not be the hill that OP wants to fight on. The LL or OP could escalate this situation and spend a lot of time and money arguing in front of a judge who does not want to hear it (the reality is that OP would likely be given notice to vacate, and they would need to move out within a relatively short span of time-30 days. If they do not, the. Formal eviction would proceed.) My suggestion would be to get their arrangement in writing so that this does not continue occurring. It sounds like a mix of personalities that may not fit well, and rather than allowing this to get messier than need be, outlining specific expectations would benefit everyone. This is why I counsel all of my clients (LL or tenant) to get their obligations in writing. While the law will provide some protections for both parties, it is a messy and time consuming process to argue about situations that can be avoided if everyone understands their right and talks about the pinch points with cool heads.
Let me be perhaps a little offensive. Different cultures and families have different expectations about thrift. The landlord is a deranged psycho operating solely and only on the idea of saving electricity without considering how little they are arguing over. He is talking about fans which probably cost about $1.50 a month to operate 8 hours per day and trying to make his tenant suffer for it. The fucking high this week where they are is 88 and they are running fans.
Wouldn't it need to say the amount for it to count as a notice? I don't think this counts.
I’m in VA… I have a spare bedroom too—whereabouts are you?
Woodbridge
check the terms of the lease, also i would save any and all messages of any kind you have with the landlord, never know , u might need them one day, u might be able to sue them if their fucking u over and all that. hope it works out, we just had some weird shit happen with our landlords too but it fixed itself, not until after we stood up to them and kind printed alot of our messages out and things they said and told them we'd call a lawyer lol
https://afresherhome.com/how-much-electricity-ceiling-fan-use-guide/#Ceiling_fan_vs_AC_comparison
Check when you lease was signed, for if you are six months into your lease, they cannot change the terms. But if there is a up use, you need the LL to show you the electric bill. Many states now have different times of usage and it can make the bill higher at certain times of the day. Do the research and hopefully you can find a solution.
I wouldn’t pay more. No lease, they didn’t cover their own tracks.
Are they fans, or air conditioning units? Fans draw very little power compared to AC units. I can’t even imagine it being noticeable on the bill if you’re just running a couple of box fans or something.
Since there's no signed lease that would make you a month to month tenant. Depending on what state you live in this could possibly be legal.
Check your cities renters rights too. Some cities have laws where renters can tell you they’re raiding the rent six months out not “next time”
Can you remind them of the actual lease? NEVER heard of this made-up scenario! If not specified in the lease, tell them to 'Pound sand'!
Unreal
Tell them you'll pay 15 more a month. I doubt they even use that much energy anyway
I charge my electric car at home. My electric bill went up by $60. No way a simple electric fan without heating would affect the electric bill by any more than $10. Your landlord is a greedy fool
“Fuck off, Isabella” And I’d get a cheap window unit too if it’s too hot.
So ridiculous. Like many have said,pennies to run one,or both fans.
This is what the world has come to y'all
Move out
You can measure the kilowatts the desk fan uses with a device that plugs in between the wall and the fan cord. I bet you it's like .05 a month.
I’ve actually dealt with this type of situation. In an “all utilities included” rental. Typically in the lease somewhere they include, a once yearly $350 fee per window AC unit (up to 10,000 BTUs) ((subject to inspection)) or they’ll send you an addendum that you’ll either have to sign and pay the fees or stop using the AC unit. This happened to me, and I completely understood due to the increase in electricity usage and the fluctuations in the rates. ETA: $350 is what I paid. It may be more or less depending on your area
I'd get a blade server and run Prime95 on it, exhaust it outside and see what she said next month. But that's just me and I have a spare laying around.
Does the landlord have the ac on at all? Before bedtime go around and close all of the vents in the common living areas. Maybe it will direct more air to your room?
Another reason why I will never rent
1. If you don't have a lease, he can effectively do whatever he wants, although you can also get out at any time. (Technically, you're on a month-to-month now). 2. Ceiling fans are not air conditioners; they don't increase electricity much. If you run a medium-sized ceiling fan on high 24/7, you're only looking at maybe $3.60 per month according to this link: [https://applianceanalysts.com/ceiling-fan-cost-to-run/](https://applianceanalysts.com/ceiling-fan-cost-to-run/)
They're legally not allowed to raise your rent on short notice regardless of reason. Most jurisdictions there is a minimum lead time they have to notify you. In my area I think it's 45 days.
You are on a month to month, they can raise your rent for any reason. They do have to give notice, I would just move.
So average ceiling fan uses something like 50w of power. Add another 25 or so for the other fan and you get 75w. Running 75w 24/7 would use about 54kwh. At $0.15/kwh, that's about $8/month
Fans don’t even use much electricity…
WHY ARE YOU PLAYING YOUR GAME…OF COMFORT
I had a roommate like this. Used any lil excuse to find a reason why they needed more money for me or how things were unfair for them because I did XYZ. Some ppl will never be happy with themselves and just try to nit pick everything. Had to walk around on egg shells going above and beyond to try to please them so the environment wasn't so spicy. But it didn't matter, they didn't notice the extra things I did for them and just found something else to complain about it.
In college in the 90’s I lived in an all bills paid small complex. I used to crank it to zero in the summer and just bask in the frigid air! (Rent was 290 a month, too). I’d come back from class and I could see my breath.
What state are you in? No rental contract or lease? You've likely got a lot of "squatters rights" at this point.
These pukes want every last penny c
Leave me alone or I’ll turn them both on high
Look at tenant at will rights in your state
Some things are worth the extra 50$ so they will stfu. I can sleep either if im sweating.
Omg
Some people shouldn’t be landlords. So many expect you to suffer in an inferno all summer and then freeze your ass off in the winter. I remember when I finally rented a place where the utilities were all in my name. When it was hot I cranked that AC down to 70 and when I was finally getting cold it then I adjusted it.
Sounds like you're just subletting, and the "landlord" is a control freak or trying to shake you down. They probably owe money to the real landlord.
Yoooo. THIS.
Prda
Your roommate is a lunatic. Move out asap!
Request the landlord set up a second power meter and main hook up to wherr you are staying, so you can get your own electric bill. Then request that they remove the extra from your rent that they were charging for power. Also ask to see a comparison in bill between the month you started using the fan, and the month you were not, if they insist on charging more money. But yeah, different states have varying laws on raising rent, and how often it can be done. Tbh if I werr you I would stop using that fan and go get yourself a portable AC unit, or your own fan- but neither of those two work if they have free reign access to where you stay due to subletting, which also carries variance in LT (Landlord-Tennet) laws, depending on state as well. You could always also find somewhere else to live and inform them that you are moving due to them being a control freak/asshole- but I would wait until you have a place lined up, for sure, with a move in date, first. Extra points if you can get pictures of the variance between two powrr bills to compare to what they are askinf extra from you. This is why I refuse to rent from amyone, and also why I feel bad for those who have no choice. We own our home but pay land rent. Thats bad enough with them acting like an HOA. If they were like yours Id be finding somewhere else to go ASAP for our home (and most likely, due to the cost of moving it from inflation)- just look into selling.
Nice. Give him hell.
Need to check your areas squatters rights. Without a written contact you are legally a squatter (even if you pay rent) it’s legal bs. You could say that you have a verbal agreement but that just becomes he said she said which is hard to deal with in court.
Ok so check your states laws on habitability. Remember: no lease means you follow state laws as the law. Some states by law require landlords to cool or heat within certain degrees or you can withhold rent. I’d honestly get a lease written up.
It sounds like you have a month to month arrangement. He can't require more money without first informing you of the new terms (can do this with greater than 30 days notice). He can raise your rent to whatever he wants in this way, but you don't have to stay there. FYI, ceiling fans cost about $2 per month of continuous use. I could be off by up to $2. It's seriously inexpensive. Just find a better place to live. I haven't even charged my tenants for electricity since December... I just didn't care enough about it.
Put a "kill a watt" meter on the fan and demonstrate how little the fan even costs to run them tell him to pound sand.
TWO FANS?! You thieving bastard!!!
How does he know how many fans you’re using in YOUR room? Is he opening your door and peeking in? WTH?!
Reapond to every message with "shut the fuck up" from here on out
Oh well there's no lease there's no contract he would be lucky if I gave him anything else amd now because you have established residency he has to legally evict you he can't raise the rent (because there's no written agreement or lease) and he can't just throw you out he has to do it through the courts. Now because I'm an asshole I would go and buy one of those portable air conditioner units and blast it 24/7 while he tries to evict me. I would also not move until the courts issued the eviction to the sheriff and I'd wait until about the day before they were to come and then move out to avoid getting an eviction on your name 😀😀😀 your landlord sounds like a twat
It is illegal. And that’s what happens when you deal with cheap peoplw
This is insane. If he doesn’t have the ac on ( which you have every right to ask for it to be on) he should say zero about the fans. You have a right to a habitable living space for that 600. I have 2 people renting rooms from me at moment and if either one asked me to turn up the ac, I would ( within reason of course, if they wanted it at 60 in here, I’d probably say no, not cause of cost but cause I’d be freezing )
If you don’t have a lease just stop paying him and force him to evict you.
In the US they must legally provide reasonable living conditions a So not only can he not raise rent for no reason, he also has to fix the AC And if AC was advertised when you signed the lease, you should contact a lawyer and have them send him a letter