Tenant notices a $700 increase on her monthly electrical bill, then discovers her landlord secretly planted two space heaters in the attic to keep the water pipes from freezing: 'I've paid about $6000+ for these space heaters.'

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Mar 2, 2025 9:00 PM EST

These space heaters are more than just a fire hazard, they are a financial burden on a tenant who was none-the-wiser about paying $700 more per month on her bill. 

Many of us default to blaming the energy company when our electrical bill comes out to more than normal. If you live in a city like I do, there is only one option for electrical providers, so they pretty much dictate the pricing in whatever way they please. Unfortunately for us regular folks, that means our electrical bills fluctuate and can sometimes be shockingly astronomical. But this $700 increase caught the eye of a watchful father when he went to visit his kid's apartment. 

Through scouring the fine print, this handy-dandy dad found some discrepancies that lead to an all-out search in the house for the usage discrepancy—a search that would ultimately lead this tenant to discover that their landlord had secretly set up two space heaters, running 24/7 on full blast in the attic. 

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  • Cheezburger Image 10473591040
    via -aniaostudio-

    I don't know about you, but space heaters kind of freak me out. They're a desperate need in the wintertime, of course, but something about exposed toaster coils set up in my shoebox apartment next to all of my flammable throw pillows just doesn't sit right with me. So I can only imagine this tenant's surprise when they discovered they had two of these bad boys, running on high in the attic, covered in dust and debris and just waiting to burn down the house in the middle of the night. 

  • "Just discovered landlord had two space heaters running 24/7 in the crawl space making my electric bill $700+ for the past year"

    I'll try to shorten this the best I can. I live in a one bedroom apartment. It's a house that was converted into two apartments. February of last year, my electric bill went from a usual $150 to about $600. Around this time
    via QueefElizabethIII
  • there was a lot of controversy surrounding my local electric provider about them raising their rates, everyone was protesting and saying their bills were unfairly going up. This is my first time living on my own so I believed I too
    via QueefElizabethIII
  • had become a victim of a corrupt electric company raising their rates. I continue paying these insane bills over the next year ranging from $600-$700+ thinking it's my new normal. I'm then sitting down with
    via QueefElizabethIII
  • my dad and ask him to look over my bills just to see that all looks normal. He's shocked. My kWh have tripled compared to the previous years I've lived there. This was not just rates going up.
    via QueefElizabethIII
  • Cheezburger Image 10473601536
    via Japan Photos

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • We begin investigating. We eliminate a meter issue, wiring issue, faulty water heater, water pump, etc. During this whole process my landlord is no help at all as he is
    via QueefElizabethIII
  • selling the house. He says he has no idea what it could be. It has since sold so he's not even in the picture anymore. While doing my own investigative work on my hands and knees in the crawl space, doing tests and
    via QueefElizabethIII
  • switching breakers off and matching them up, I hear a faint fan noise shut off as I switched a breaker off. In the corner are two small space heaters set to max covered in dust and cob webs. We
    via QueefElizabethIII
  • are assuming my landlord put them there last winter to keep the pipes from freezing and never shut them off and I've been paying for them this whole time. I haven't done the exact math but
    via QueefElizabethIII
  • at this point I've probably paid about $6000+ for these space heaters. Is there action I can take against my old landlord for this?
    via QueefElizabethIII
  • PassionPrimary7883 Yes, talk to a lawyer. And let the buying realtor know.
    via PassionPrimary7883
  • Ok-Emu-8920 That also seems like such a fire hazard!?? I'm glad you didn't have a fire!
    via Ok-Emu-8920
  • Spinach Apprehensive Dude as someone whose house burned down in the middle of the night, I'd be P ED. You're lucky he didn't burn the whole place down. We found heaters in our attic for probably this reason. It's too dusty up there for heaters and stuff to safely run.
    via Spinach Apprehensive
  • chrisdillian If you approach the landlord about it, perhaps do via email, as it will be recorded and evidenced, and 2, suggest you found air heaters, before mentioning the bills, so they are more likely to
    via chrisdillian
  • reply to admit responsibility. Then take things from there, but you need them to admit it with evidence if you are to stand a chance at fighting for that money back, otherwise what's to say they'll just say you plugged them in.
    via chrisdillian
  • Slic3dTuRd Wow that's horrible. Sounds like dad really came through too. I hope you can recoup the money.
    via Slic3dTuRd
  • HammerMeUp That may be the worst landlord fix I've seen. Worse if they're plugged into the same circuit. Probably would throw the breaker, but that is an even bigger hazard if it wasn't throwing the breaker
    via HammerMeUp

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crazy landlord tenants heaters tenant landlords fire hazard rent bad landlord renting winter frozen Electrical tape pipes reddit thread Reddit space heaters Renters
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