One of our biggest and easiest recommendations for building owners and managers is to arm their supers with a thermometer. It is such a small investment that yields such savings and rewards. Everyone has a different comfort level in terms of heat. Some people want to have 80F and some want 68F. When a tenant complains they usually say “I’m cold, the heat must be off”,”The radiator is cold, the heat must be off” but this doesn’t give any information to the owner, technician, or super. NYC mandates that building’s provide 68F. Many no heat calls can be solved without a technician.
The super can test the temperature and determine one of the following - is the heat sufficient, is it completely off (sometimes the building heat can be on but the apartment’s radiator is off or has a broken air vent), is the heat level sufficient but not comfortable for the tenant, etc.
In our company we use the Testo thermometer and recommend every building provides one to a super, shareholder, or tenant.
Below are pictures from a recent “radiators aren’t working” call.
