This is the third time we’ve gone without heat. Every time we ask they give us shit about using too much fuel. We rent 2 rooms, each with 2 heaters, but only 1 works. We tell them and they ignore us. Whenever we run out I dread asking again.
We have a kid. We leave the other room closed because we can’t keep it warm. This isn’t any way to live. I’m not the only renter whose had trouble, but everyone else seems to just want to lie low and move on.
I grew up with an abusive family, and this feels eerily familiar. Fortunately we’re moving out next week, but this is inhumane!
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1ptu4hf
Posted by dice-warden
34 Comments
Hi there,
You don’t report them : you sue them. You can report the situation to your Mieterverein so that they can advise you on further actions.
Not enough context. Doesn’t sound abusive. If you really use 900 euro worth of oil and it’s always low they have a right to either ask or charge you. Do you have pauschale or Vorauszahlung?Â
I feel like there’s a bit of information missing – the heaters in individual rooms need to be refueled? What kind of heating do you have? Do you pay for the amount of fuel you’re using or is fuel covered by a blank fee included in rent?
To me, it reads as if you just pay a blank fee and now the landlord feels like you’re using the heater in inappropriate, wasteful ways, costing him money.
landlord sounds pretty nice tbh.
1. You do not report a landlord. You have to get a lawyer or be member at the local or national Mietverein.
2. How long have you been living there? Died you cahnge your heating behaviour? Is there a technical reason you need more oil (no mainatence on the oil heater so its becomin inefficient maybe? Landlord has to check it regulary)
3. How is the house constructed? Is it old? Renovated? Insulated or not?
4. How are the heaters supplied? Are these Oil chimneys?
Four heaters in two rooms wont amount to 900 euro Nachzahlung. I know because I had a house with oil burner that consumed 5000+ L oil per year. On normal years we paid around 3000 Eur per year, during the onset of Ukraine wars we paid 5000 euro per year. But that was for heating an entire house with 160sqm plus 70sqm basement.
Sounds like you share the heating with the landlord. Do you have separate meter for your heaters?
Asking to talk over tea is abusive?Â
You sound like a nightmare tennant.
Buy small thermometers and put it in different parts of your home. The temperature shouldn’t be less than 18°C otherwise it could grow mold.
Check how warm it is for a period of time and you could have arguments to go to the mietverein, even when you say that half of the heaters doesn’t work…should be enough.
whats abusive about this and why is your landlord paying for energy cost
I don’t understand how he is Abusive – landlord seems nice and legit. You can meet him and tell him your requirement and your usage. He is offering to meet in person as well.
Can you please tell us what kind of heater it is ? And how you are using it. Maybe something is broken etc.
If you pay what you use they must give prove of you wasting that on their Invoice/Nebenkostenabrechnung (e.g. all apartments have separate measure unit). Or you pay lumpsum. In neither case you are obliged to ask for oil, it should be taken care of by them.
450 euro extra in a month sounds impossible unless the heater is broken. I have 245sqm and spend maximum(!) 350euro total Oil per month during the 4-5 winter-month and half in Autumn/Spring. My heater is from 1997, so quite old.
You are inhumane, not your landlord.. Fkn pathetic. I feel bad for your kids, really
Doesn’t seem to be abusive though. You could always get these potable electric heaters that work really well.
wait are you using an oil heater in your enclosed rooms… because if you are your in danger of Carbon Monoxide PoisoningÂ
Landlord seems like a reasonable nice person, willing to talk and to solve the problem..
You on the other sound absolutely insane. I bet you leave the heating on when nobody’s home..
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Both of you have valid points. This is not abuse. Go turn the heater off, make them a cup of tea and fugure out together if the counter is still working and is there a leak or whatever. Call a hausmeister too. Call anyone who knows anything about oil heating ffs.
Your landlord wants to talk to you to figure this out. Why are you still texting? Talk to them and find out why it’s cold in your apartment and why they are getting such high readings.
Like what’s with society these days, that yoh avoid real life conversations and jump straight to screaming about abuse and lawyers at a simple request to try to solve the situation.
You know there’s no one that can be angry at an extremely kind person. If this is the first time, let them come over for tea and be as kind as you can, be honest. If they’re still dicks then just go to court
You are unhinged. Nothing in these messages are abusive, unless we are missing out on further info. Previous life experiences aren’t always indicative of the present. You might need help with compartmentalising your trauma.
You’re moving out next week which is good for both parties tbh, I would say just move on at this point.
I feel that both sides have valid points but the guy is trying to offer numerous attempts to resolve the situation, presumably so you and your child aren’t left in the cold. No he’s not entitled to meet with you for tea but you know… meet in the middle somewhere?
What outcome do you want from reporting them?
Step one needs to be : working WITH your landlord, take up their offer of tea and discuss. If you’re cordial and polite, and they refuse to fix the heaters, then it’s time for the Mietsverein. But doubt you’d have much ground for complaint if you refuse to meet your landlord.
Tbh it might just be better to find someone new to live, as this situation is clearly causing you a lot of stress. Plus if you have to live in one room as a family, it must be crowded so can’t really be suitable.
I agree with many others that wrote that there is not enough info.
It sounds like there are some shared costs for the heating and there is no counter on each of the heating elements like in most apartments.
If there is a counter, the extra cost will be paid by you; so if the landlord (with whom you seem to share the apartment or building) want to save money for their own heating, the extra heating will be billed to you.
But if there are no separate counters and the price for heating is divided by half or by size of living space, it is understandable if they bring up the topic that you are using heat more than them. Then instead of asking them to pay for your needs of higher consumption, you should come up with some proposals on how to split costs in a more balanced way.
My landlady often complains that I use too much water. To my defense I pointed out that I have to waste a lot of water to have hot water at the first floor, while she doesn’t.
The key for dividing the expenses for water was half-half. Once I had to agree to pay 75%, even though I shower just once a week 😅
It’s hard to prove who is right and who is wrong in a shared living space. If they are right on the fact that they paid also your expenses for heating because of how they decided to divide the costs, then it’s bad from you for wanting to sue them and not discussing how to find an agreement. If you are trying to exploit the division of the expenses and charge them of your costs, then buy an electric heaterÂ
Is Abusive with us in the room ?
The usual situation is that you pay for the heat you use yourself. Â No reason for the landlord to complain about oil use.
This seems to be shitty accomodations. If you move out the next week, just do that abd forget it.
Maybe your landlord is right maybe he is wrong, at the end ypu will have to pay what you used.
So the Nachzahlung will be heavy.
Or are you refugees living with someone and they have just recognized the double amount of oil needed as they where only haveing one room heated before and now its two? So you habe doubled the amount, more background info would be nice.
VERY IMPORTANT! Make sure you bleed your heaters of air, or else you just gonna waste heat and not heat the room and the boiler will just run full power trying to heat the room.
THAT IS OFTEN WHY THE HEATER WON’T WORK AND YOU’LL FEEL COLD.
THE LANDLORD IS DUMB AND IS CORRECT THAT THE USE OF OIL IS HIGH BUT THE SOLUTION IS IN YOUR HAND!
This is not abusive. They just are confused why you need so much oil, which YOU have to pay anyways
Don’t you speak German , because that would help in this situation ….Â
I wonder if the efficiency of your oil heater is due to the chimney not working well. I would, in decent, nice, friendly demeanor, work with the landlord to troubleshoot the lack of heating.
If the consumption is abnormally high, without the expected result, then there is something wrong. Maybe you’re raising the temps, consuming the fuel but because the chimney isn’t working well, you aren’t getting the proper heat.
I feel people need to be cordial in order to achieve an outcome that’s beneficial to them.
If there isn’t cooperation, finger pointing isn’t going to get far and you have to resort to more formal, forceful approach.
The assumption that the landlord is uncooperative or the OP is finger pointing as the first step isn’t going to help.
GL
Honestly. From that snippet of the conversation. The landlord seems nice and you are acting like an asshole.
I’m pretty sure you don’t want to pay insane amounts of money on heating. So there must be a problem with the heating or your consumption.
In the end. You will have to pay all the heating bills not the landlord.
He could just organize refueling. You will have to pay tho
Still searching the “abusive” comment here.
Yeah, Mieterbund. Sue them.
And tell them they clearly have no Idea about heating properly. That also seems to apply to you though. Heating one room only does not only offer you new tenants in the form of mold but also will not reduce heating costs as much as you think. It’s not effective. If the system is calibrated for the whole flat then it’s heating curve and power expects these rooms. It might just use almost as much oil as usual only that the heat goes into one heater, which gets hotter, while loosing the rest.
Turning the heater of during the day also produces mold and costs more as heating up the walls take more energy than the rooms. Of course you can reduce the settings a bit, but not under 18°C.
Of course that all also depends on how modern that system is to begin with. There is too much context missing. We don’t know how you heat.or the system. Talk to them, have the system checked.
I don’t get it, someone is lying in this story. You don’t just consume 900€ extra oil with just one heater.
And btw it’s common that heaters are turned off at night, usually from 22-6, for that you have your blanket.
By any chance, maybe the heaters just need to be vented?! Heaters with air in it won’t heat up