'I know this is petty': Roommates share thermostat with neighbors, neighbors keep setting it to wild temperatures, cue revenge

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Apr 15, 2023 4:00 PM EDT

I can't imagine having to share a thermostat with crazy neighbors. As I'm sure we all know, despite the fact that all humans are technically warm-blooded mammals, people seem to run on wildly different temperature preferences. I've had roommates that absolutely loathe A/C (or perhaps they pretend they do to avoid having to pay a higher energy bill… but dude, when it's 90 degrees, it's necessary…). I've also had coworkers in a shared office space insist that the A/C be on full blast all the time, even in the dead of winter. What is wrong with people?!

 

These Redditors posted about their experiences of having to constantly reset the thermostat because of their neighbors, who spoke a different language and who were pretty conflict-avoidant. They shared their tale via this thread on Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit. Keep scrolling below to see what people had to say in the comments section! For more stories like this, check out this post about a raging Karen at Barnes & Noble. 

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  • 01
    Automotive tire - "Since we share a thermostat... You 63 HEAT SETTO can see where this is going."
    via Dan LeFebvre
  • 02
    Font - Roommates set the thermostat to 50°F when it's 35°F outside MOC For context, I share a 5-bedroom home with 4 other small families. My "neighbors" are from a Spanish-speaking country and don't know English very well; the language barrier is large between us.
    via u/CamoMaster74
  • 03
    Font - The way this house was built (in 2015) does not allow for very good ventilation between rooms or floors. Additionally, the HVAC system does not have thermometers in each room. Instead, it's combined with a thermostat, one of which is located in the hall I share with my neighbors. It reads 68°F (20°C) on average, but that's with both bedroom doors closed. Thus, the temperature in either one of our rooms can vary drastically. Since we share a thermostat... You can see where this is going.
    via u/CamoMaster74
  • 04
    Font - The landlord has expressed his wishes to keep the thermostat above 60°F (16°C) as long as it's colder than that outside. Easy enough, open the window when it's hot and close it when it's cold. My desk is next to both of our windows, so that's primarily been my responsibility.
    via u/CamoMaster74
  • 05
    Font - Both parties tend to avoid conflict so we haven't discussed this face- to-face, or even through text. Every so often, my roommate and I will notice that it's uncomfortably hot or cold. Every time we've checked the thermostat, it's been set to either 80°F (27°C) or 50°F (10°C).
    via u/CamoMaster74
  • 06
    Font - Naturally, we set it back to heat to -64°F (18°C) and cool to ~70°F. Apparently, this does not suffice for our neighbors. They have been, over the past month, been continuously setting the thermostat back to 50°F (10°C) even when it's been below 40°F (5°C) outside.
    via u/CamoMaster74
  • 07
    Font - But, here's the kicker: The A/C wasn't even running until yesterday! The air coming out of the vents has been cold because most of our HVAC system is in an uninsulated garage. This knowledge was gifted to us by the landlord, who also doesn't speak Spanish, and he assumed we would pass the information to our neighbors.
    via u/CamoMaster74
  • 08
    Font - Yet again, as predicted, they set the thermostat to 50°F (10°C). But this time, we let it run like that all night, making sure to grab all the blankets from the shared laundry room. Remember, when the temperature in a room changes while the door is closed, the thermometer can't tell until the door opens. They sleep with their door locked. So, all night, the HVAC system was blowing frigid air into their room. We woke up the next morning with the thermostat set to "66° -- 70°". Sweet sweet
    via u/CamoMaster74
  • 09
    Font - I know this is petty, but man oh man is it nice to have a comfortable temperature to SLEEP in. Edit: We do use Google translate occasionally. We've never tried to change the thermostat at the same time and they don't really bother to text often
    via u/CamoMaster74
  • 10
    Font - Dizzy_Eye5257. 18 hr. ago. edited 16 hr. ago I'm sorry, I can't get past the 4/5 families in a 5- bedroom house..... But I am glad that you won that round
    via u/CamoMaster74
  • 11
    Font - DaBooba +2. 19 hr. ago I wish more people understood how thermostats worked. You are doing your best to spread the knowledge :)
    via u/CamoMaster74
  • 12
    Font - tmccrn 17 hr. ago I would recommend to the homeowner that they get a programmable thermostat and lock the program, but not the temperature settings. Program at least four times in to reset the temperature (if you can kind of know when people tend to mess with it, I recommend about an hour later. Don't lock the temperature, because it will be tampered with. I would, if it were me, program the settings to be as accommodating as possible within the acceptable temperature ranges.
    via u/CamoMaster74
  • 13
    Font - I had to do this for an office that has an unknown person setting extreme temps. What I observed is that the temperature was cranked down twice a day after outside work was done, so I programmed the setting right before work to the economic ideal, the noon setting slightly lower (but higher than what they would invariably change it to at 11 when getting back into the office) and the same at 3. At 5:30 pm (half hour after close but allowing for those occasional late customers) it would be
    via u/CamoMaster74
  • 14
    Human body - R johnandahalf13 - 16 hr. ago I can't imagine sharing a thermostat with neighbors.
    via u/CamoMaster74
  • 15
    Font - doorknob60. 16 hr. ago Some people don't understand how thermostats work, and are just impatient I guess. "I'm cold, I'm gonna set it to 90 so it warms up". If it's 65 inside and you want it to warm up to 70, setting it to 70 will get you there at the same speed as setting it to 90. Except only one of those will turn it off at the appropriate time haha.
    via u/CamoMaster74
  • 16
    Font - tofuroll 11 hr. ago I think OP couldn't communicate to the family what they were doing wrong, and so OP'd fix it themselves, never informing the family of it. As a result: 1. The family didn't know and 2. OP was stuck fixing it, until... OP decided not to fix their mistakes and let them deal with the cold consequences of their misconception.
    via u/CamoMaster74
  • 17
    Font - theyarnllama 12 hr. ago . You grabbed blankets from the shared laundry room. Are the blankets shared? Is this some weird sort of commune? I don't want to share blankets with people I don't know. Temperature battles aside, this whole story gives me worry lines.
    via u/CamoMaster74

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landlord neighbors malicious compliance temperature reddit thread Reddit roommates entitled people
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