Roommate Cranks Heat to 80 Degrees, Gets Tricked by Hot W…

Here’s what happened when a roommate cranks heat to 80 degrees while refusing to wear winter clothes. Her fed-up roommate used a pot of hot water to trick the thermostat. The results were exactly what you’d expect.

When Your Roommate Cranks Heat to 80 Degrees: The Backstory

Two roommates share a three-bedroom apartment in Phoenix. One has anemia and claims she’s sensitive to cold temperatures. However, she walks around in tank tops and shorts during winter.

The other roommate also has thyroid issues and cold intolerance. Nevertheless, she puts on layers like a normal person. Meanwhile, their third roommate moved out, leaving them to split utilities for the entire apartment.

The Heat-Cranking Incident

The cold-sensitive roommate started setting the thermostat to 79-80 degrees. She refused to wear more clothes, buy a space heater, or find alternatives. In addition, she doesn’t understand HVAC costs and ignores electricity bills.

At first, they compromised on 76 degrees. However, the heater still ran three times between midnight and 1 AM one night. As a result, the fed-up roommate took action.

She changed the thermostat’s temperature offset from 0.5 to 2 degrees. Furthermore, she locked the settings so her roommate couldn’t adjust them. Then she discovered the thermostat location.

The thermostat sits on the living room wall. On the other side of that wall is their pantry. Consequently, she fills a pot with hot water each night and places it on the shelf behind the thermostat. The heat tricks the sensor into thinking it’s warmer than it actually is.

What Reddit Said

Most people praised the creative solution to the heating problem. They pointed out that someone clearly never learned to “put on a sweater if you’re cold.” However, some users worried about potential mold growth from the hot water pot.

Others questioned whether the trick would actually work. Nevertheless, the original poster provided evidence showing the heater ran only twice with the pot versus five times without it. In fact, the temperature sensor even registered 77 degrees on the first night.

A few commenters suggested the roommate’s financial irresponsibility was the real issue. After all, she’d already received eviction notices twice in four months.

The Verdict

Overall verdict: the fed-up roommate found a clever solution to an expensive problem. Sometimes you have to get creative when dealing with unreasonable people. This story shows that when your roommate cranks heat to 80 degrees unnecessarily, a little thermodynamics knowledge goes a long way. For more creative solutions, check out our revenge stories and roommate drama collections.

From r/pettyrevenge (10,954 upvotes)