When it's freezing outside, the temperature in apartments in multi-storey buildings often leaves much to be desired. Residents are forced to constantly wear warm clothes, turn on electric heaters, and sleep under layers of warm blankets, which causes significant discomfort. What to do if it is very cold in your apartment? Where to turn in such situations?
The problem of insufficient heat in the room can be solved in two ways: on your own or with the help of utility services. Don’t know how to properly cope with the current situation and what to do?
If your apartment is cold in winter, first try to solve this issue on your own. Perhaps heat leakage is due to old windows or defects in the design of entrance doors.
What temperature is considered normal for a home?
Payment for heating in full can be made if a stable temperature is maintained in the apartment throughout the entire month. There are standards that indicate how warm your home should be in winter.
In accordance with the law of the Russian Federation, the temperature in the apartment must be maintained from 18 to 20 degrees, if the temperature outside is -30. When the thermometer readings are within -31 and below, heating of apartments should increase to 20-22 degrees Celsius.
It is also worth considering that during emergency work, your home cannot be left without heating for more than a day. One-time shutdowns of radiators are allowed for no more than 16 hours, and the average temperature in the apartment should not fall below 12 degrees.
The law provides for minor deviations from the standards. Temperature increases are allowed within 4 degrees. It can be 3 degrees colder in the apartment only at night, strictly until 5 o’clock in the morning.
It's cold in the apartment: reasons
What to do if the temperature in your home is lower than specified in the standards? First you need to find the causes and eliminate them.
Heat loss is facilitated by:
- old windows, the cracks of which let the cold in;
- insufficiently insulated balcony;
- thin walls prone to freezing at low outside temperatures;
- worn out old type batteries;
- very cold floor or ceiling;
- poorly installed front door;
- drafts;
- insufficient heat supply to the boiler room.
We replace old windows
Wooden structures of the old type have already become obsolete. Such windows have impressive gaps, and even closed windows fit so loosely that in a strong wind you can see the curtains fluttering. Here we have found one of the reasons why it is cold in the apartment. What to do? Of course, it is worth replacing the old window frames.
Modern double-glazed windows can protect your home from drafts, low temperatures and retain heat. You should not install them yourself - in this case, there is a high probability of incorrect installation, which will lead to their depressurization and the formation of cracks - trust the professionals.
If you already have plastic windows, but there are clear signs of drafts, you should call a professional. Perhaps there is some kind of defect, or the reason lies in the destruction of the mounting foam from the outside under the influence of precipitation. The rubber seal or any structural element may also be deformed. All these problems are easily eliminated and can be corrected.
Wooden window
If it is not possible to install high-quality double-glazed windows, you can try to insulate the old window. The simplest, but short-lived method is to use cotton wool and regular tape. Very easy and economical. Cotton wool is carefully pushed into all the cracks, and tape is placed on top of the cleaned and dry window.
Also, adhesive foam insulation will help in the fight against heat leakage from windows. It is also easy to use. All problematic window joints must be sealed with insulation, pressing it well. This ordinary material is capable of retaining heat efficiently, but has a significant drawback - its strength is destroyed under the influence of moisture.
You can also try using silicone caulk, window putty, or rubber sealant. These are more reliable ways to retain heat.
Is the apartment still cold? What to do? The best thing to do would be to install new plastic windows or look for another cause of the leak.
Wall insulation
A cold apartment can cause a lot of trouble. What should residents do? Think about high-quality wall insulation. They can be finished both inside and outside. And it is best to carry out this work during repairs.
Insulation is glued to clean, dried surfaces at the junctions of ceilings and walls. This procedure should be done in all corners. If there are visible gaps between the panels, they should be sealed with cement, foam or gypsum mortar. Tow is packed tightly into very large recesses, and a layer of plaster or foam is applied on top.
External insulation is carried out only by specialists - industrial climbers. The procedure is carried out using polystyrene foam and mesh, which are attached to the wall with special glue. A layer of high-quality façade paint is applied on top.
Problem - cold balcony?
Do you feel constant drafts and don’t know what to do? If the apartment is cold, pay attention to the balcony - most likely the problem is there.
Contact a reliable company that will take care of the heat in your home. The balcony is covered with foam plastic from the outside and inside. First, they sheathe its facade, and then insulate the internal walls. Also, some companies choose mineral wool or expanded polystyrene as materials that will perform heat-saving functions.
On the balcony, the areas under the window, floor, ceiling and walls are mainly subject to insulation. The procedure is carried out simultaneously with glazing the window with high-quality double-glazed windows, which will retain heat in the apartment for a long time and eliminate the appearance of any drafts.
High-quality radiators - comfort and warmth in your home
The cause of a constant lack of heat may be old batteries. What to do? If the apartment is cold and the radiators are barely warm, it is better to replace them. It is better to opt for cast iron or bimetallic products. These radiators are very strong, durable, and corrosion resistant. They are distinguished by high power, dissipate heat well and have a temperature regulator.
Good radiators can quickly solve the cold problem in your apartment. In addition, the service life of some of their types reaches 50 years. By replacing radiators just once, you will enjoy the warmth and will forever forget the time when you saw cold radiators in your apartment. What to do and what products to choose is up to you to decide.
Cold from the ceiling and floor
It happens that even with new radiators, windows and an insulated balcony, the temperature in the room still remains low. What to do? If your apartment is cold in winter, heat may be lost due to a thin ceiling or floor. This is especially true for the first and last floors of houses.
The ceiling may freeze due to insufficient insulation of the attic or deformation of the roof. Due to these factors, water may seep into the room, leading to mold and mildew. To solve this problem, you need to repair the roof and insulate the ceiling on both sides.
The problem of cold floors is solved in the same way. It must be insulated or the coating must be replaced with a warmer one. The best option to keep the floor warm is to install a modern heating system.
Checking the door design
If the front door does not fit well and there are gaps in it, about 40% of the heat can be lost. And in most cases, this is precisely why the apartment is cold. What to do in such a situation?
It is urgent to warm yourself, otherwise the winter cold will take you by surprise. First you need to make the door itself airtight. To do this, its inner lining is removed, and the empty space is filled with insulation.
Finishing a single-layer metal door is done in the same way, only in this case a layer of material or foam is glued to its surface, and fiberboard or plywood is laid on top.
Eliminating drafts
The door leaf is insulated, but it’s still cold in the apartment? What and how to do next? Proceed with insulation of other sections of the structure. It is necessary to seal cracks and gaps. Most often they occur when the door is installed incorrectly or when the building shrinks. The resulting space can be finished with a rubberized sealant by gluing it to the frame.
To prevent the cold from penetrating into your home, it is very important to choose the right material for sealing cracks. Buy a seal of optimal thickness - too thin will not have any effect, and a large width of the material will not allow the door to close.
All insulation procedures have been completed, but it’s still cold in the apartment? What to do? Solve this problem with utility services.
What to do if there are cold radiators in the house?
Before running to the utility company, you should talk to your neighbors. This problem may only occur in your home.
If there is a sudden shutdown of heat in the entire entrance, immediately call the housing and communal services department. Perhaps there was an accident on the heating mains, and utility workers were forced to turn off the heating to carry out repair work.
If the temperature has dropped only in your apartment, you should take this situation seriously. Most likely, the problem is related to a malfunction of the heating system in your area. Where to go if it’s cold in the apartment? Apply to the company that services your home.
After receiving the signal, a technician is sent to the problem apartment to inspect the heating system and find out the reason for the lack of heat. If minor problems can be eliminated, they are repaired immediately. By law, utility workers are given 24 hours to do this.
More complex problems are corrected within a week, after which heat should be supplied to the apartment within the standards.
Complaints and claims
If you are provided with low-quality services or after repairing the heating system in the apartment it does not become warmer, you need to make drastic decisions. You have the right to write a complaint and take it to the company responsible for supplying heat to your home.
After the phone call, you must make a written statement regarding your problem. It is usually provided in duplicate. Next, you need to go to an appointment with a company employee to consider your complaint.
You must keep one copy of the application for yourself. The second must contain notes on the date of submission of the document and the serial number of its consideration. These nuances are necessary in case you have to resolve your issue in higher authorities or judicial authorities.
Recalculating heating costs
According to the law of the Russian Federation, a written complaint is considered within three days. During this time, a specialist should visit your apartment and take the necessary heat measurements in each room. Please note that the measuring device must be located 1.5 meters from the floor and 1 meter from the walls. Based on the results obtained, an act is drawn up in two copies. This document is the main basis for recalculating heating costs in the event of poor quality work by the service company.
Despite the modern approach of many management companies to solving citizens’ problems related to heating, order in the housing and communal services sector will not be restored soon. Therefore, all residents need to know where to go if it’s cold in the apartment, how to properly resolve controversial situations and how to correctly fill out their applications.
Take care of the warmth in your home, because your comfort, mood and health depend on it!
With the onset of the heating season, many residents of apartment buildings experience serious discomfort and wonder: why is it cold in the apartment and how to make the apartment warm.
There can be many reasons for cool temperatures in your home. This includes insufficient heat supply and some construction defects that reduce the tightness of the premises and allow cold air to penetrate from outside.
Problems with building design, heating system or thermal insulation
Very often the cause of discomfort is worn-out heating systems. In many socialist buildings, heat is provided through outdated equipment that has not been repaired or replaced for a long time. In such cases, it is quite difficult to ensure a comfortable temperature in a single room without the use of additional heat sources or repair work that provides better thermal insulation of the room.
The reason that residents are freezing in their apartments is also poor-quality setup and regulation of equipment. This may happen in cases where the maintenance of heat supply systems is carried out by non-specialists or when the apartment heating standards for reasons of economy or other reasons.
It often gets cold in new buildings when mistakes were made at the design stage of the heat supply of the facility or during construction and installation work.
It often happens that there is illegal interference by private individuals in the design of heat supply equipment or unauthorized re-equipment of the system in their own interests, without taking into account the interests of other residents of the house living in neighboring apartments.
Residents can spontaneously perform the following actions, which subsequently worsen the heat supply to other apartments:
- Increase the number of radiators,
- Expand the heated area (for example, when equipping a warm balcony or loggia),
- Connect additional devices using a common heating system (equip heated floors, install thermal curtains, etc.).
The cold may be caused by the low energy efficiency of your residential building, as well as various violations of standards or construction technologies. Old houses are often characterized by low quality thermal insulation, and if the building has gone without major repairs for a long time, then the thermal insulation becomes unusable and practically ceases to perform its functions.
The new houses use the latest generation materials; they are very durable and resistant to negative climatic influences. If residents of a new building have a question: why is it cold in the apartment, then the reason may be either a violation of thermal insulation technology or that during construction they simply saved on materials, replacing them with unreliable and outdated ones. As a result, all the heat goes outside instead of warming the apartment residents.
What to do if it is very cold in your apartment?
First of all, you should check with your neighbors whether they are experiencing the same discomfort or whether you are alone in your problem. It is best to study the situation not only in your specific house, but also in neighboring houses, the heat supply of which is handled by the same management company. If the problem is global in nature, then solving it together will be much easier.
If the apartment has cold radiators, then be sure to measure the air temperature in each room of your living space. It is worth knowing that, in accordance with current standards, the temperature in rooms during the heating season should not be lower than 18C, and in corner living spaces - not lower than + 20C.
After you have made all the measurements, call the control room of your management company and make sure that your complaint has been recorded. If the reason why it is cold in your apartment is not known to the housing office, then a heat test in the apartment should be scheduled with the mandatory drawing up of a report. You should know that if the temperature in your home is below the established norm, then you have the right to demand that the Managing Organization recalculate utility bills for heat supply.
How to make an apartment warm
You can correspond with the management company and the state housing inspection, but this will not make the house warmer. Sometimes it takes years to solve a problem and it is much easier to take care of yourself.
Most often, cold enters our homes through window openings. It is best to install modern windows made of plastic, but if you do not currently have the funds for such improvements, then at least insulate your windows, seal the joints, cracks in places where the glass is adjacent to the frame and other cracks into which leaks leak. cold. Don't forget to also equip the entrance doors and window vents with seals.
It will be more difficult if your walls freeze and mold often appears in the corners. This fact suggests that there are voids in the walls and there are serious problems with thermal insulation. In order to fill all the voids, it is necessary to remove the layer of plaster and treat all the cracks with polyurethane foam. This way you will eliminate cold bridges.
You can also add additional thermal insulation to your apartment. To do this, floors, ceilings and walls are sheathed with plasterboard, all voids are filled with a layer of mineral wool (this is a reliable and inexpensive modern insulation), then the walls are plastered, and the floors are filled with concrete screed and decorative finishing of the surfaces is carried out.
This is a very effective way to make your apartment warmer, which, moreover, will help solve the issue of soundproofing your living space.
Heating bills are getting higher and higher: heat tariffs are rising, but the quality of heating does not always keep up with the price. Probably, many people would like their apartment to be warm and cozy, and the price for this would be small.
But what to do when the apartment is NOT warm (and maybe even cold), but large heating bills continue to arrive regularly. Agree, this is an offensive situation when you are actually required to pay for services that were provided improperly.
In any area of civil legal relations, issues of interaction between buyer and seller when delivering low-quality goods are determined by the civil code and the law on the protection of consumer rights. The necessary actions of a buyer when purchasing a bad product are well known. For example, if you purchase a faulty TV in an electronics store, then returning the faulty product and getting your money back for it is not particularly difficult.
In the housing and communal services sector, consumer rights are also protected. But the interaction between the consumer and the supplier or provider of public services when delivering low-quality services will differ from the usual interaction between the buyer and the seller. This is due to the fact that if the management company provides a poor-quality heat supply service (for example, the apartment has cold radiators or the air temperature is too low), then the consumer does not have the physical ability to reliably consume heat.
But in this case, he has the right to pay less for the consumed heat. Or maybe you won’t pay for heat at all this month.
Unfortunately, few people know how to act in a situation where there are cold radiators in the apartment: where to complain and go to change the situation. Let's look at how the legislation stipulates the actions of the consumer when such a situation arises.
Standard values of air temperature in residential premises are defined in clause 15 of Appendix 1 to the “Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings”, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated May 6, 2011 No. 354. It is indicated that: there must be “ensuring a standard air temperature in residential premises - not lower than +18 °C (in corner rooms - +20 °C), in areas with the coldest five-day temperature of -31 °C and below - in residential premises - not below +20 °C (in corner rooms - +22 °C)".
In other words, the minimum temperature in apartment rooms should be no less than 18 degrees for non-corner rooms and no lower than 20 degrees for corner rooms. In areas of severe winter and cold weather - even higher by 2 degrees, respectively. That is, the temperature of the coolant in the radiators is not legally regulated: the apartment may have cold radiators and heating risers, but the temperature must be within the approved norm.
It is worth noting that in accordance with the same paragraph 15 of Appendix 1: “the permissible excess of the standard temperature is no more than 4 °C; the permissible decrease in the standard temperature at night ( from 0.00 to 5.00 hours) - no more than 3 °C ;
decrease in air temperature in a living room during the day (from 5.00 to 0.00 hours) not allowed.
What to do and where to complain if the radiators in the apartment are cold and the above temperature standards are not met? On the pages of the portal we have already described how to calculate the heating fee in an apartment according to the law.
Here we will tell you how this board works in law can be reduced.
The law defines in sufficient detail the procedure for a consumer to act when he is provided with a utility service of inadequate quality. In the previously mentioned “Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings”, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2011 No. 354, there is an entire section devoted to this problem. This section is number X and it is called “The procedure for establishing the fact of provision of utility services of inadequate quality and (or) with interruptions exceeding the established duration (clauses 104-113 of the Rules).
If the apartment is cold, then you need to do the following:
1. Call the telephone or hotline or the emergency dispatch service of the utility service provider (management company or HOA). A complaint about cold radiators must be registered by an employee of the hotline or emergency dispatch service and inform you of his name, surname and position and the registered number of your complaint about the low temperature in the apartment. You can apply in any other way, but you need to keep in mind that you may need to prove the fact of notification in the future.
2. If the employee of the emergency dispatch service of the contractor does not know the reasons for the cold in the apartment, he is obliged to agree with the consumer on the date and time of checking the fact of a violation of the quality of the utility service.
The time for the inspection is set no later than 2 hours from the moment of receiving a message from the consumer about a violation of the quality of the utility service, unless a different time is agreed upon with the consumer.
In other words, employees of the utility service provider must arrive at the apartment to draw up an act at a time convenient for the consumer or no later than 2 hours from the moment of application.
3. If for some reason the employees of the utility service provider did not arrive by the scheduled date to draw up an act, the consumer can draw up such an act independently. However, in this case, the act must record the air temperature in the apartment, and the act must be signed by the chairman of the council of the apartment building, as well as 2 neighbors - the owners of the apartments.
4. After drawing up such an act, the contractor is obliged to take measures to provide public heating services of adequate quality. These measures may be: resolving necessary issues with heating networks (boiler room) to increase the temperature of the coolant, repairing heating risers in an apartment building, booster pumps, and more.
If no action has been taken by the end of the month, and the consumer has not been informed about the start of the supply of heat of adequate quality, then the consumer has the right to apply for a recalculation of the cost of heating for the month.
If the apartment is cold, then the amount of recalculation of the cost of heating is determined as follows: for each hour of deviation in air temperature in the residential premises in total during the billing period in which the specified deviation occurred, the amount of the utility fee for such billing period decreases by 0.15 percent for each degree of deviation.
For clarity, let's give a simple example. The air temperature in the apartment at the time of drawing up the report was 16 degrees. Therefore, the deviation from the norm is 2 degrees. The period during which this temperature was maintained was 10 days or 240 hours.
The size of the reduction in heating costs will be: 2 degrees x 240 hours x 0.15% = 72%. That is, the cost of heating this month should be reduced by 72%. With the usual average monthly payment for heat being about 3,000 rubles, this month the consumer must pay 3,000 rubles - 2,160 rubles = 840 rubles.
To do this, the consumer must write a statement to the utility provider, attach a copy of the completed report, indicate the date and registration number of his initial complaint regarding the cold in the apartment.
An example of a complaint about poor heating in an apartment.
After receiving the complaint, the contractor is obliged to recalculate the cost of heating.
If for some reason he does not want to do this, then you can contact:
1. To the state housing inspectorate with a complaint about the actions of the contractor.
2. To the authorities of Rospotrebnadzor.
3. Go to court with a claim to reduce the cost of heating and force the utility provider to properly fulfill its obligations to supply utility resources.
At the end of the article, I would like to wish you to live in a warm apartment with hot radiators, and the heating fee will not break your pocket.
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Heat supply
Winter is coming to an end, but in Russia the end of the calendar winter does not mean the end of the cold weather. Of course, this does not apply to Crimea or Sochi. But in other regions the end of the heating season will not come soon, and the issue of hot batteries will continue to be relevant. It’s all the more unpleasant when these same radiators, instead of heating the room, only take up space. So, what to do if your apartment is cold in winter?
Finding out the reasons
There can be many reasons why apartment heating is unsatisfactory. Very often these are worn out communications. For Russia, especially disadvantaged regions, this problem remains extremely acute. The networks are decades old; in many settlements, not only have they been replaced, but even basic repairs have not been carried out. So the wear and tear of infrastructure and communications can be critical.
Another common problem is an error in the design or installation of heating systems. This is a disease of the new Russia, where in the pursuit of the quantity of housing commissioned, its quality is often forgotten.
Another reason is the inept regulation of heat supply to apartment buildings. This is a question for the specialists who are responsible for the direction. They must be literate, knowledgeable and, no matter how funny it may seem, sober.
The low temperature in your apartment can also be caused by the activities of your neighbors, who, regardless of the other residents of the house, without agreement, increase the number of radiators, connect heated floors, and so on. That is, they simply transfer someone else’s heat onto themselves.
One way or another, the first thing you need to do in order to increase the temperature in the apartment is to concern the housing organization that manages your house. Here it would be nice to find out how things are going with your neighbors in the staircase, in the entrance and throughout the house. If the problem is widespread, it will be much easier to achieve a quick and effective response from the management company, and even more so from the HOA. In addition, you need to measure the temperature in your home. It is this data that can serve as the basis for contacting the Criminal Code.
Heating quality standards
According to the “Rules for the provision of utility services to citizens”, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 307 of May 23, 2006, the temperature in a residential area should be no less than +18 degrees, and in corner rooms - no lower than +20. In cold regions, where the temperature of the coldest five-day period of the year is -31 °C or lower, the temperature of residential premises should not be less than +20 degrees. But at the same time, the room must be well insulated, and the temperature is measured in the center of the largest room in the apartment at a height of 1 m. The deviation cannot exceed 3 degrees at night, while the permissible excess is no more than 4 degrees. During the daytime, temperature deviation is unacceptable. Accordingly, you need to measure the temperature correctly. To do this, you need to take a thermometer and hold it one meter from the outer wall and one and a half meters from the floor. The measurement takes 10 minutes. It is most effective to make a temperature graph by the hour. If you have recorded a violation of the temperature regime, you have every reason to contact the housing organization with a complaint.
First you need to notify the emergency dispatch service. It must be specified by the managing organization. The appeal can be either oral, including by telephone, or in writing.
The tenant must indicate his first name, last name, patronymic, residential address and describe the problem - the room temperature does not meet the standards. In turn, the service employee is also obliged to provide his last name, first name, patronymic, registration number of the application and time of its receipt. If the emergency dispatcher knows the reason why your home is cold, they should notify you. Thus, the management organization acknowledges the fact of non-provision of the service or its inadequate quality. This must be recorded in the log book. This mark serves as the basis for recalculating the payment for heating.
If he is not aware of the problem, then he must agree on the exact time of establishing the fact of non-provision of the service. This should happen within three business days. An inspection must then be conducted with the participation of the utility representative and the applicant. Based on its results, an act is drawn up that they must sign. This act also serves as a document according to which you have the right to request a recalculation. But management organizations often do not admit guilt and do not agree with the applicant’s claims. In this case, a secondary check must be carried out. Representatives of the state housing inspectorate and public association of consumers have already been invited to attend. And based on its results, an act is also drawn up signed by the consumer, executor, inspector and public representative. Having this act in hand, the consumer already has every right to demand recalculation. The act must indicate the violation of quality parameters, the time and date of the beginning of the non-provision of utility services.
Replacing batteries
If you show persistence and patience, you will eventually be able to receive a recalculation for heating. But this will not make the apartment warmer, especially if the problem is in thermal communications. Therefore, you need to take independent steps. If you know for sure that the reason for the low temperature is that the batteries do not last, you will have to change them. This can be easily checked - if the temperature of the battery is significantly lower than the temperature of the riser, then the batteries are slagged. Experts advise either flushing the radiator or replacing it with a more modern one with the ability to regulate the temperature. Here you should also consult with an engineer from the management company.
But you need to remember that replacing batteries requires disconnecting the risers. You need to submit a corresponding application to the Criminal Code. If this happens during the heating season, you may be faced with the reluctance of the management company to turn off the risers, since the rules prohibit this. Here you need to be persistent, citing your desire to live in an apartment for elderly people or small children. Again, if the problem is of a collective nature, then by cooperating with neighbors it will be much easier to achieve a solution to the problem. In any case, the best option would be to replace the batteries in advance during the non-heating season.
Total insulation
If the problem is not in the batteries, or it is not possible to replace them, you will have to carry out global insulation of the apartment. There are ways known to everyone, for example, to install plastic double-glazed windows. This will dramatically reduce the flow of cold air through the windows. According to the most conservative estimates, up to 25 to 50% of energy is lost through windows during the cold period. The most effective solution would be to install windows with low-emission coatings, which have the following advantages:
- They are much warmer, which allows you to save on heating costs.
- Energy-saving windows can create a comfortable microclimate indoors in the summer, due to which you can save on air conditioning.
- This design implies the presence of one chamber, which will more than surpass two chambers of a conventional double-glazed window, while reducing the weight of the structure, and therefore increasing the service life of the fittings and the window as a whole.
- Glass prevents wallpaper, furniture, carpets and other interior items from fading.
But if there is no money to replace the windows, then at a minimum you need to seal the window joints with sealant, provide the windows with sealants, and seal the junction of the glass and frame with sealant. External doors should also be equipped with a seal. Foam rubber is suitable for this purpose.
If you have a balcony, it would be a good idea to glaze it. Sometimes this measure leads to 15 percent savings in heat in the apartment. Another fairly simple remedy could be scraping the paint off the radiator and then painting it black, this will increase heat transfer. You can put a foil screen between the wall and the radiator; then, due to reflection, the battery will work more to heat the room rather than the wall. If the radiators are obscured by curtains, tables or other furniture, all this needs to be moved or removed. Then warm air will flow into the room without obstacles. You can throw a carpet on the floor. In principle, in Soviet times, and even now this is not uncommon, carpets are also hung on the wall. This method was used by the Mongols and other tribes in their tents precisely for the purpose of insulating the room. If the aesthetic side of the issue does not bother you, then you can use this solution.
But these are all improvised methods and do not require significant effort or investment. If you want to resolve the issue once and for all, there are more serious methods. To insulate the walls, you need to remove the baseboards, tear off the wallpaper, whitewash, plaster, and expose the walls. Wall joints must be sealed with sealant. Don’t be surprised if you find cracks, they need to be treated with foam, and if they are too deep, you will have to resort to tow or plaster. It can also leak from under the window sill; the joints there should also be treated. Experts recommend insulating walls with slabs of mineral wool or expanded polystyrene. They will make the apartment much warmer and quieter. But keep in mind that the apartment will become three centimeters smaller around the entire perimeter of the walls. Plus, all this work will cost money. Naturally, if you turn to the services of specialists, you will have to pay not only for the materials, but also for their work. In fact, all this work is comparable to carrying out repairs. But most importantly, after insulating yourself, do not forget to ventilate the room. The “volley” method works very well - when all the windows in the room open at once. In a short period of time, with this approach, the air is replaced without freezing the room.
Radical solutions
Many residents believe that it would be much more effective to completely abandon the use of the general heating system of the house, disconnect from it and install their own appliances. The most radical solution in this case would be the installation of gas equipment. But since the heating communications of an apartment building are a complex engineering system, disconnecting one apartment can lead to a disruption in the overall balance of this system. In addition, according to current regulations, the entire heating system, including heating radiators in apartments, belongs to the common property of the house. Therefore, you cannot decide to dismantle them on your own. And finally, there is Federal Law No. 190 “On Heat Supply”, which “prohibits the transition to heating residential premises in apartment buildings using individual apartment sources of thermal energy...” (Article 14, paragraph 15). Plus, the rules and regulations for the technical operation of the housing stock, prescribed in Resolution of the State Construction Committee of the Russian Federation No. 170 of September 27, 2003, do not allow the reconstruction of residential premises, leading to disruption of the operation of engineering systems and installed equipment.
In a word, if the problem is in the thermal communications of the house, and the radiators remain cold from year to year, then together with the neighbors you need to get the management company to replace the risers and equipment of the heating point. But it happens that the organization’s budget does not have funds to repair the in-house heating system and there is no way to get it to carry out such work. Well, in this case, you need to call a general meeting of owners and chip in. This may be quite expensive, but the problem will be solved.
With the arrival of autumn, cold weather sets in, the air outside cools down, and accordingly, the cold penetrates into the apartments. The supply of heating to residential buildings not only brings with it heat, but also causes new experiences, frustrations and unnecessary problems for residents. If you turn on the heating and the radiators are cold, you shouldn’t expect everything to resolve itself. There are several options you can take.
Look for the answer in the HOA
The first question that arises is: when the batteries are cold, where to complain? First, you should talk to your neighbors and find out how things are with heating in their apartments. If you have a common problem, and the radiators are cold throughout the house, then you need to contact the management company. The responsibilities of the management company include control over the provision of residential buildings with everything, including heating. The company has an agreement on your behalf with contractors providing these services. The essence of the document lies not only in the payment of debt on receipts, but also in the quality of the services received and paid for. The HOA's task is to find out why the contractor did not provide the building with heating within the prescribed period.
A valid reason for a general shutdown of heating
The cause of cold batteries in an apartment may be a major accident on a highway or a thermal power plant. In this case, utility organizations are forced to turn off the hot water supply to the area in which your house is located in order to carry out repair work.
What should residents do if there are cold radiators in the house? Where to complain if no one warned or informed about the shutoff of the coolant? In connection with a major accident that disrupted the supply of heat to the entire residential building, in addition to the management company, you should file a collective complaint with the GZHI (State Housing Inspectorate). This organization accepts calls 24 hours a day.
Collective complaint
Any complaint must be submitted in writing. When drawing up a statement from a group of residents of the house, you must collect their signatures - the more, the better. The complaint is written simultaneously to the chairman of the management company and to the housing inspectorate in two copies. The paper describes a problem with a requirement to resolve the issue of why heating was provided but the radiators were cold. One copy remains with the company as is, and the other with a stamp and date of acceptance is returned to you. It will serve as confirmation of the application in case of failure to take timely measures. It is acceptable to send a complaint by mail with notification of delivery to the recipient. Authorities are required to review the written request within the time period required by law.
Temperature according to sanitary standards
With the beginning of the heating season, residents are often faced with the fact that the battery is half cold or lukewarm. This indicates that the water supplied for heating the premises is not fully hot. To verify this, it is enough to determine the temperature in the rooms with an ordinary thermometer. Sanitary standards allow that a comfortable daytime temperature in an apartment should be at least 18 o C above zero with a slight excess of 4 degrees.
After accepting the complaint, a company engineer is sent to you, whose task is to identify the causes of cold batteries. To do this, he measures the temperature in each room, fills out a report form and gives a copy to the owners. If the readings are below the required standards, then utility companies must take appropriate measures.
Where else can you complain?
One can hope that after the accident is eliminated, heating will be supplied to the house. But often utility companies, when supplying coolant to the house, ignore complaints about the temperature being insufficient to heat the entire apartment. In this situation, when the radiators in the house are lukewarm or cold, where can one complain about the non-executive management company?
Do not forget that you have in your hands a report on insufficient heat supply drawn up by an engineer who came from the management organization. And you also have neighbors as witnesses who have the same problem. It is necessary to contact all authorities competent for utility issues. You should contact an official from the local government, to whom all housing and communal services are subordinate. You can make an appointment in person or send a complaint by email. Today such a possibility exists. You can also write In the application you need to indicate that you have cold radiators in the apartment, note the address and name of your management office. After this, Rospotrebnadzor experts send an order to the Criminal Code with a requirement to correct violations in the temperature regime. The request will indicate the period within which the problem must be corrected. If the requirements are not met, the management company will be subject to penalties.
The last authority that can hold the director of the management company accountable and thereby restore order is the prosecutor's office. The management company will be afraid to violate the requirements of law enforcement agencies.
Don't pay for what you don't get
Tenants who are dissatisfied and freezing in their apartments have every right to demand a recalculation of the cost of heating services. Confirmation will be a report drawn up by an engineer of the management company, which indicates the date of the call when the violation was recorded. Applications are accepted at the Unified Information and Settlement Center. The recalculation must be done next month. You can also demand payment of a penalty for insufficient heat. For each day that the temperature does not meet the standards, 3% of the total heating payment per month is deducted.
Often, a complaint from the entire team of an unheated house is responded to in a timely manner and the problem is corrected on time. Things are more complicated for those who find that the heat is on and the radiators are cold only in their apartment.
Call to the dispatcher
If you are too busy or do not want to find out the reason yourself for fear of disrupting the heating system, then first call the service company. The dispatcher must introduce himself, write down your details, note the date of application and register the received application. Then a plumber will be sent to you, who will determine the cause of the lack of heat, and if this can be done quickly, he will fix the breakdown.
If you have a serious problem, then employees of the management company should call you and draw up a report in two copies and measure the temperature in all rooms. If there are no management employees, call your neighbors who will testify and confirm that it is cold in your apartment. Together with them, draw up a random act and record the current temperature.
Note the date of the first application and indicate that no one came to you. Sign with your neighbors and send the paper to the Criminal Code. There must be at least three signatures on the act. After correcting the violations, a report on temperature compliance with standards is drawn up again. At this point the procedure is considered complete.
Let's clarify the situation
At the beginning of the article, we found out where to complain when there are cold radiators in an apartment. But you don’t have to panic, but try to figure out the reason for the lack of heating yourself. If you find that the riser is hot and the battery is cold, this indicates that hot water is not flowing into it. Check the position of the tap providing coolant access to the apartment to see if it is locked. Maybe you just forgot to open it. Make sure that the riser is not blocked due to work in the basement.
Airlock threat
There are several reasons why there are cold radiators in an apartment with the onset of the heating season. And this problem occurs for many residents every year. Moreover, in one apartment building, some have good heating, while others are still cold. One of the most common situations is the accumulation of air in the system. If gurgling is heard in the battery, then it is coming from an air lock that needs to be released.
The air accumulated in the pipes prevents the free movement of water, which should continuously circulate to heat the room. In addition, air is not able to conduct heat. This results in the riser being hot and the battery being cold. The presence of air accumulations reduces the wear life of heating devices and causes rust.
Let's deflate
Usually, in a situation where there are cold radiators in the apartment, the residents vent the air themselves. For this purpose, there is a
Before opening the valves, you must first turn off the heating and place rags under the radiator, as dirty water will flow out with the air. The tap is opened using a screwdriver, which is inserted into a special hole and turned slowly. The air released from the special hole will come out with a hissing sound. When the air plug comes out, liquid should flow. The tap can be closed. Thanks to this method, the disrupted coolant circulation is restored. The valve is installed on all radiators in the apartment, but it would be logical to carry out the procedure only with cold heating appliances. The tap may have to be opened more than once.
It is more difficult when air has accumulated not in the room radiator, but in pipes located in the basement. You turn on the tap, but there are still cold radiators in the room? What to do? In this case, a plumber from the housing and communal services is called, who will open a special valve and bleed off the air that is plugging the riser.
The neighbors are to blame
It may also be that neighbors, caring about comfort in their apartment, illegally make changes to the design of the intra-house system - increasing the battery by several sections or installing another radiator. The incoming coolant fills the entire area of the heated device, while losing heat to the next apartment. As the water moves further through the system, it cools. As a result, it turns out that there are cold radiators in your apartment.
What to do with dishonest neighbors, and how to correct the situation? Taking an example, you can do the same. But this will lead to the fact that the coolant will cool faster, and the increased number of batteries will not bring the desired heat to the apartment. To establish justice, contact the housing and communal services department.
Why is the battery cold at the bottom?
The reason for partial heating of the heating device may be its incorrect connection, which causes uneven distribution of hot water. If connected incorrectly, some of the sections heat up, but the remaining area of the battery does not. The best option is considered to be a diagonal pattern. With a side connection, the coolant does not flow throughout the entire battery, but takes a short path, so the lower part of the radiator will be cold. It will be necessary to correct the situation and simulate a diagonal pattern using an injection tube. It lengthens the flow, due to which the battery heats up evenly. This can only be done by a qualified plumber.
Another reason why the battery is cold at the bottom may be that it is dirty. Scale and rust settle on the bottom and walls of the radiator, thereby narrowing the passages for coolant. In this case, the circulation of hot water is disrupted and the battery does not warm up completely. To clean the battery, you need to rinse it with water under pressure several times.
In any case, if there is no heating in your apartment, contact all authorities. By law, utility workers must correct simple violations in the heating system within 24 hours. Utility organizations must complete complex repairs within a week.