WIBTA if I asked my neighbor to be realistic about what A/C can accomplish in a heat wave?

r/

It’s been a hot summer — often humid and in the upper 90s — and my neighbor is committed to having a 68-degree apartment. This means she repeatedly cooks her poor air-conditioning unit, which crashes, and the landlord has to fix it.

I know that doesn’t sound like any of my business.

Here’s why it’s my business: Every time the neighbor maxes out her air conditioning, the landlord has to enter my apartment to get up on the roof to try to fix her air conditioning. She has crashed her air conditioning roughly every other week this summer, which means the landlord calls me as early as seven in the morning, sometimes waking me up, to come and fix the unit before the heat of the day strikes, is in and out of the apartment with extension ladder, toolbox, and sometimes workmen when I’m getting ready in the morning, trying to work from home during the day, or in the evening when I’m trying to relax. Sometimes, the process of fixing the air conditioning takes hours and involves the landlord and workmen repeatedly tramping in and out or making multiple visits in the same day. It’s not the end of the world or anything, but, after several go-rounds, I’m sick of it. It also stresses out my dog.

It’s just obvious that this A/C unit cannot deliver 68-degree bliss during big heat waves. I’m not sure why she hasn’t figured this out. My A/C is set at 78-79 degrees (and — look, I know I sound like Jimmy Carter here — but it’s a still big improvement on the outside temperature and humidity) and I’ve had zero issues with my unit. No one else in the building has had any issues either and we’ve all been dealing with the same type of A/C unit and the same weather. WIBTA if I ask her to please set more realistic expectations and stop crashing her A/C and disrupting my peace? The 8AM call on Sunday morning was the last straw for me.

Comments

  1. AutoModerator Avatar

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    It’s been a hot summer — often humid and in the upper 90s — and my neighbor is committed to having a 68-degree apartment. This means she repeatedly cooks her poor air-conditioning unit, which crashes, and the landlord has to fix it.

    I know that doesn’t sound like any of my business.

    Here’s why it’s my business: Every time the neighbor maxes out her air conditioning, the landlord has to enter *my* apartment to get up on the roof to try to fix her air conditioning. She has crashed her air conditioning roughly every other week this summer, which means the landlord calls me as early as seven in the morning, sometimes waking me up, to come and fix the unit before the heat of the day strikes, is in and out of the apartment with extension ladder, toolbox, and sometimes workmen when I’m getting ready for the day in the morning, trying to work from home during the day, or in the evening when I’m trying to relax. Sometimes, the process of fixing the air conditioning takes hours and involves the landlord and workmen repeatedly tramping in and out or making multiple visits in the same day. It’s not the end of the world or anything, but, after several go-rounds, I’m sick of it.

    It’s just obvious that this A/C unit cannot deliver 68-degree bliss during big heat waves. I’m not sure why she hasn’t figured this out. My A/C is set at 78-79 degrees (and — look, I *know* I sound like Jimmy Carter here — but it’s a still big improvement on the outside temperature and humidity) and I’ve had zero issues with my unit. WIBTA if I ask her to please set more realistic expectations and stop crashing her A/C and disrupting my peace?

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    Welcome to /r/AmITheAsshole. Please view our voting guide here, and remember to use only one judgement in your comment.

    OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:

    > 1) I haven’t taken any action yet, but I am asking if I would be the asshole if I asked her to please be more realistic and not set her A/C so low
    2) I might be the asshole because it’s her A/C

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  3. PhotoForward2499 Avatar

    NTA – but maybe your landlord needs to simply upgrade the old AC units. They sound like crap and should not be dying every other week. That’s a convo you should have with him! He is tramping thru your apartment so many times, you are not getting what you paid for. Tell him it’s not right and maybe he needs to just change out both your old units and write it off as a business expense its got to be cheaper in the long run than the work crews fixing them bi weekly

  4. oop_norf Avatar

    INFO – do you not have any requirements (in law or rental contract) for the landlord to give notice before accessing your place?

  5. watchwatertilitboils Avatar

    NTA, but how does one crash their A/C? An A/C should be able to run at full power all the time, shouldn’t it? It may not be able to lower the house to your desired temperature, but why would it crash? I’ve only ever had window units. Is this a thing with central air?

  6. MarshmallowFloofs85 Avatar

    It sounds more like the landlord needs to upgrade the air conditioning unit, NTA but also she could very well get sick in anything above 70.

  7. OG_Fe_Jefe Avatar

    Nta.

    The land lord shouldn’t have to go through your unit to fix her ac.

  8. Uubilicious_The_Wise Avatar

    It’s up to the landlord to get a better aircon unit.

    YWBTA. Talk to the landlord rather than the tenant.

  9. Lynne1915 Avatar

    AC is supposed to lower the temperature safely to 10 degrees lower than the outside temperature. When you keep pushing it, lower it ices up and stops.

  10. firstWithMost Avatar

    Do you not have rules of entry? I own a few rental properties and we have to give a minimum of 48 hours written notice to enter. It can’t be on Sunday at all and on other days it can’t be outside 8 AM to 8 PM. That means entry cannot start before 8 AM and must finish before 8 PM. We have to give an approximate start and finish time, no turning up at leisure.

    Investigate the rules in your location.

  11. Frosty_Caterpillar38 Avatar

    NTA but the issue is with the landlord, you should ask for some compensation for dealing with it non stop