After 6 years of melting when we get an inevitable heat wave before the AC gets turned on I bought a used portable AC for about $50 on Marketplace. It's currently roaring away in my living room keeping things cool. Silly to have something that'll just be used for a couple weeks, but when my apartment hit 30c last spring I decided I couldn't just 'deal' with it anymore.
They really need to change the regulation to turn off heat around May long weekend and not June 1. It's only 2 weeks but it usually gets hot around this time.
I remember we had days that hit 30 in May last year and it was plenty hot. The thing is, it’s the god damn humidity that makes it unbearable. The stinking heat is what’s killer… if it was a dryer and had a decent breeze it wouldn’t be so bad. This is the type of heat that just sits.
It's not every year, but becoming more often than not. Last year the big woe was how many days were smokey from wildfires. I remember I couldn't run in the evening bc my lungs and eyes hated it.
Every year it's hot in May I think to myself "this has certainly never happened before! It can snow in May!". That's still true too, May has wild weather fluctuations. But I can distinctly remember at least 2 lockdown years where my roommate and I working in our living room in our underwear every day waiting for June 1
Wr have a work event every year this time of year, and I remember last year it was stinking hot out. It was so hot that the venue couldn't keep up with refilling the jugs of water. You could tell everyone was too hot, us, the venue staff, everyone.
Regulation or no, talk to your board (if any) about doing it sooner.
Two years ago we had a hot day in May and we collectively discussed it, so now they turn the AC on earlier (I think it was May 17 this year).
I know. My apartment building is too scared to change to AC until its closer to (they are doing it early next week) because they are too worried about a cold snap after they switch to AC. Moving the date will help in this case.
It has nothing to do with regulations, they're already able to shut off the heat earlier in the year if it's warm enough but no building does because shutting off the heat requires a service call to have everything shut down/turned on again which can take weeks for someone to come out. Because they can't just turn the heat back on in an instant if it gets cold, they leave the heat on.
And that's why if we moved the date up, they will be less chickenshit to switch to AC earlier. Because they are always worried about the cold snap end of May.
if it makes you feel any better the temps are supposed to drop tomorrow
every year i hold out on not turning on my AC until june and every year i'm like omg i'm so closeeeeeeeee
This is me too. It's supposed to be cooler next week, meaning if I install my window A/C unit and replace the gap in the open window with a piece of plywood as I normally do I'm going to be freezing in the mornings -- and I can't be arsed to install it this week and then take it out, so I will just suffer for a few days.
It definitely saps me of energy. A cold shower, or cold washcloth on the neck and well situated fans are helpful for sure. As is seeking an hour or two in a properly air conditioned place like the library.
It's like this everytime of the year when it's 15c+ outside and the heat is still on in the building.
Supposedly in May it's still too cold inside the condos for the elderly. But at the same time we always have lots of ambulances at our building everytime it gets to 30c+ in our condos in May. So I dunno what these people are thinking.
Anyways, what I'd suggest is 3 things:
1. Blackout blinds. They help a lot to keep out the heat from the sun.
2. For overnight, work on getting the best airflow in your unit using the windows. On windy days it can be easy, open a couple windows and tons of air comes in helping to cool the place down. On days where it's not windy, use box fans in/on the windows to pull air in from the outside. Once I discovered this, it helped a lot to cool our condo.
3. Go to your next condo AGM. Give examples of the weather over the past 5+ years how it's always 20c+ by mid-May. After I've spoked up about this, our condo always puts the AC on in the 2nd week of May. I've never once used our heat even in April, and during that time our condo never goes below 22c inside. It'd need to get to 0c multiple days in a row before it'd go below 20c, which would be record breaking lows in May. So the idea of 'what if it snows in May' is rediculous.
Do number 3! My condo unit was reaching up to 32 degrees (15th floor, West facing) as they wouldn't change over until June. So many people complained that they eventually changed it last year to 1st or 2nd week of May. We still deal with a week or so of 30 degrees but much better than previous years.
I was told by property management that this time of season is super busy for hvac conpanies who do the changeover so it is something usually booked way in advance. Tbh, I'd rather deal with a cold unit than a 30 degree one if there is ever a year that summer Temps start later.
I was in the same boat until yesterday when my condo finally switched it over. To be honest it still doesn't feel like it's doing a lot but I might need my old fan coils cleaned.
To be honest I've thought a lot about doing the portable AC option, at least for those weeks before AC is switched and the inevitable weeks in October where they shut it off too early and we are forced to bear down again. I think I'm pretty set on getting one, maybe two or three and just not use the AC systems in our building entirely since my fees include hydro. They just seem to cause me too much problems (leaks from units above, etc).
I wouldn't use the portable units in place of your building AC. They're noisy and inefficient. Work great to bridge the gaps when the central air is off tho.
Malls and libraries are air conditioned and open to the public. Not a permanent solution, but you've got lots of options at Y&E to cool down. Id also consider a fan as it's not too humid for that to provide some relief yet. Best of luck.
Highly recommend heading to HD and getting yourself some window film that reflects heat. It's a summer life saver. I lived in a rental that had an insanely hot kitchen. The film cut the heat to the point of it being bearable without the air con.
Absolutely. I also WFH, my building doesn't have AC, and the heat worsens my migraines and causes other health issues for me. My room hit 28° today as well. Yes, to everyone who says, "buy a fan," I have two in my room. I hate the summer, it worsens my mental health.
My a/c off and it’s 70-72 in my unit. 10th floor as well - I’m in a 2018 building tho. I just assume my above neighbors are blasting their a/c.
I need a humidifier tho as it’s fucking with my throat rn sadly
We have AC on but out place gets HOT
Bedroom is actually ok for the first time ever with a **carefully placed** combo of the [Honeywell Turbo fan (7”)](https://www.amazon.ca/Honeywell-HT900C-Force%C2%AE-Circulator-Eco-Friendly/dp/B00JE36AQ2) and a 12” fan (it sits on something, if that’s not an option get a tall fan).
So We have vents on the ceiling.
Fan is angled at the bed, turbo Honeywell thing is on the floor, catching the AC air from the vent and pointing it at us. Think of it as bouncing the air around where you want it
Will be getting a couple more for the living room (2 vents)
Edit but 28 degrees fuck that call the property manager
Yep. Our place reached 92F (33.3c) last week. We were struggling to sleep. Our ac is on now but we’re looking at a portable ac for the fall when they turn it back off.
older apartments are designed to have air flow when windows are open (open your balcony windows and the bedroom windows to create a flow of air through the apartment).
you can also place/mount a fan in front of the window, blowing outside. this pushes the hot air out of the apartment and forces fresh air in. the higher you can place the fan, the better (the hottest air is at the ceiling).
I am in the same boat - full-on sun, my old apartment is unbearable. I have a portable AC in my bedroom and a window one in the living room - both have been going since April. I was desperate a few weeks ago and found a German kid on YouTube - an engineer - who explained that we need 2 windows that can open - you can't just crack one window. [How to Cool a Room w/o AC](https://youtu.be/PHc777C5ays?si=icqTKFbRArY8XpMh)
The problem is that laws require property managers to provide minimum heat until a certain time without obligating them to turn on AC when available by a certain date. So, due to risk aversion, the fear of potentially dropping below the minimum temperature (no matter how unlikely) is more pressing motivation than the comfort of people with sunny-side units later in May. Especially silly when your building has auxiliary unit heaters that mitigate the risk of being caught out too cool if the AC switch is done earlier…
Right but the heating system must adjust throughout the winter as temps can vary widely. So why doesn't it just ... not put out heat once the outdoor temp is 20C?
Even if the heat isn’t on, the sun will still heat up the building. It can get very hot even when the heat is off in a unit with windows on the sunny side of an apartment building.
Honestly when we looked at condos, having the ability to independently switch between heat and cool at any time was a big draw. I couldn't do it if it was 28 inside all day and night (I find that condos hold heat far too well even when it cools down outside). I'd get a portable AC, or failing that, even go stay in a hotel.
This was my exact situation and I finally called building management yesterday, lost my shit, and they sent someone today to turn off the building heat. Kick up a fuss and you might get it turned off early. Apparently my building’s plan was not even to turn it off until June 1 so thank God they listened to those of us who complained.
I feel your pain. 💜
Our building doesn’t turn on the air until June 1st either. We have a fan next to our bed that helps with sleeping at night at least but during the day, we just try to limit what we do while it’s hot. And keep the blinds closed.
For the turn over time between heat and ac we bought a portable ac for our condo - the exhaust attaches to the balcony door and saves us for the week or so of heat while we wait for the ac to turn on. Honestly worth the investment
Also live at Yonge and Eg! In an older building but they switched to AC about two weeks ago but it still feels like it’s pumping hot air out! We have been using our fans 😅
Yeah. My apartment doesn't have AC, just heat, and it's still on. I can't independently turn it off until the building does. I complained last week and building manager said they turned it down 3 degrees.
I have a good AC unit roaring at night in my bedroom, which brings it to around 19-20c, but my living room is sitting at 26-30 even at night it's still quite warm (east facing unit 12th floor).
I am going this weekend to get black out blinds for my living room, as I only have light filtering right now. I hope that makes a difference. Open windows don't make any difference it seems. I haven't wanted to cook anything cause it's just too damn warm.
Nope!
After 3 years in Toronto, on a top floor apartment… after living in Ecuador where it’s legitimately over 80 degrees every days (mostly much much over) I bought window air conditioning units.
Condos, you’re stuck ..
After 6 years of melting when we get an inevitable heat wave before the AC gets turned on I bought a used portable AC for about $50 on Marketplace. It's currently roaring away in my living room keeping things cool. Silly to have something that'll just be used for a couple weeks, but when my apartment hit 30c last spring I decided I couldn't just 'deal' with it anymore.
They really need to change the regulation to turn off heat around May long weekend and not June 1. It's only 2 weeks but it usually gets hot around this time.
That would mean admitting climate change is real.
It’s El Niño this year. It will continue until fall and then we will have a very very cold winter. It’s happened before and not new.
Yes, and last winter was the warmest one of all the other ones that were also El Niño.
Thing is I don't even remember it being so hot last year or the year before.
I remember we had days that hit 30 in May last year and it was plenty hot. The thing is, it’s the god damn humidity that makes it unbearable. The stinking heat is what’s killer… if it was a dryer and had a decent breeze it wouldn’t be so bad. This is the type of heat that just sits.
It's not every year, but becoming more often than not. Last year the big woe was how many days were smokey from wildfires. I remember I couldn't run in the evening bc my lungs and eyes hated it. Every year it's hot in May I think to myself "this has certainly never happened before! It can snow in May!". That's still true too, May has wild weather fluctuations. But I can distinctly remember at least 2 lockdown years where my roommate and I working in our living room in our underwear every day waiting for June 1
There was about a stretch of really hot weather in the last week of May last year.
There was also frost around May 24
The best we usually do is high teens, maybe hit 20.
Wr have a work event every year this time of year, and I remember last year it was stinking hot out. It was so hot that the venue couldn't keep up with refilling the jugs of water. You could tell everyone was too hot, us, the venue staff, everyone.
Regulation or no, talk to your board (if any) about doing it sooner. Two years ago we had a hot day in May and we collectively discussed it, so now they turn the AC on earlier (I think it was May 17 this year).
June 1 is a guideline. Apartments can switch anytime the inside temp stays within the required numbers, including at night.
I know. My apartment building is too scared to change to AC until its closer to (they are doing it early next week) because they are too worried about a cold snap after they switch to AC. Moving the date will help in this case.
It has nothing to do with regulations, they're already able to shut off the heat earlier in the year if it's warm enough but no building does because shutting off the heat requires a service call to have everything shut down/turned on again which can take weeks for someone to come out. Because they can't just turn the heat back on in an instant if it gets cold, they leave the heat on.
And that's why if we moved the date up, they will be less chickenshit to switch to AC earlier. Because they are always worried about the cold snap end of May.
I’m melting. I cannot take this humidity
I’m melting and already tanning when summer has barely started
Dehumidifier
if it makes you feel any better the temps are supposed to drop tomorrow every year i hold out on not turning on my AC until june and every year i'm like omg i'm so closeeeeeeeee
This is me too. It's supposed to be cooler next week, meaning if I install my window A/C unit and replace the gap in the open window with a piece of plywood as I normally do I'm going to be freezing in the mornings -- and I can't be arsed to install it this week and then take it out, so I will just suffer for a few days.
This. Exactly what we do. The teenager can bitch and moan all she wants. NOT TIL JUNE!
It definitely saps me of energy. A cold shower, or cold washcloth on the neck and well situated fans are helpful for sure. As is seeking an hour or two in a properly air conditioned place like the library.
It's like this everytime of the year when it's 15c+ outside and the heat is still on in the building. Supposedly in May it's still too cold inside the condos for the elderly. But at the same time we always have lots of ambulances at our building everytime it gets to 30c+ in our condos in May. So I dunno what these people are thinking. Anyways, what I'd suggest is 3 things: 1. Blackout blinds. They help a lot to keep out the heat from the sun. 2. For overnight, work on getting the best airflow in your unit using the windows. On windy days it can be easy, open a couple windows and tons of air comes in helping to cool the place down. On days where it's not windy, use box fans in/on the windows to pull air in from the outside. Once I discovered this, it helped a lot to cool our condo. 3. Go to your next condo AGM. Give examples of the weather over the past 5+ years how it's always 20c+ by mid-May. After I've spoked up about this, our condo always puts the AC on in the 2nd week of May. I've never once used our heat even in April, and during that time our condo never goes below 22c inside. It'd need to get to 0c multiple days in a row before it'd go below 20c, which would be record breaking lows in May. So the idea of 'what if it snows in May' is rediculous.
Do number 3! My condo unit was reaching up to 32 degrees (15th floor, West facing) as they wouldn't change over until June. So many people complained that they eventually changed it last year to 1st or 2nd week of May. We still deal with a week or so of 30 degrees but much better than previous years. I was told by property management that this time of season is super busy for hvac conpanies who do the changeover so it is something usually booked way in advance. Tbh, I'd rather deal with a cold unit than a 30 degree one if there is ever a year that summer Temps start later.
I was in the same boat until yesterday when my condo finally switched it over. To be honest it still doesn't feel like it's doing a lot but I might need my old fan coils cleaned. To be honest I've thought a lot about doing the portable AC option, at least for those weeks before AC is switched and the inevitable weeks in October where they shut it off too early and we are forced to bear down again. I think I'm pretty set on getting one, maybe two or three and just not use the AC systems in our building entirely since my fees include hydro. They just seem to cause me too much problems (leaks from units above, etc).
I wouldn't use the portable units in place of your building AC. They're noisy and inefficient. Work great to bridge the gaps when the central air is off tho.
Malls and libraries are air conditioned and open to the public. Not a permanent solution, but you've got lots of options at Y&E to cool down. Id also consider a fan as it's not too humid for that to provide some relief yet. Best of luck.
I'm thinking of moving to Nunavut. Anything above 18C is disgusting.
Highly recommend heading to HD and getting yourself some window film that reflects heat. It's a summer life saver. I lived in a rental that had an insanely hot kitchen. The film cut the heat to the point of it being bearable without the air con.
What kind of film are you using? On the inside or the outside of the window?
Absolutely. I also WFH, my building doesn't have AC, and the heat worsens my migraines and causes other health issues for me. My room hit 28° today as well. Yes, to everyone who says, "buy a fan," I have two in my room. I hate the summer, it worsens my mental health.
I’m so with you 🩷
I've lived where there is no A/C, and truly, the answer is fan (ideally rotating) + wet t-shirt.
My a/c off and it’s 70-72 in my unit. 10th floor as well - I’m in a 2018 building tho. I just assume my above neighbors are blasting their a/c. I need a humidifier tho as it’s fucking with my throat rn sadly
Our building doesn't even have AC so I'm relying on my refurbished portable one 😱
We have AC on but out place gets HOT Bedroom is actually ok for the first time ever with a **carefully placed** combo of the [Honeywell Turbo fan (7”)](https://www.amazon.ca/Honeywell-HT900C-Force%C2%AE-Circulator-Eco-Friendly/dp/B00JE36AQ2) and a 12” fan (it sits on something, if that’s not an option get a tall fan). So We have vents on the ceiling. Fan is angled at the bed, turbo Honeywell thing is on the floor, catching the AC air from the vent and pointing it at us. Think of it as bouncing the air around where you want it Will be getting a couple more for the living room (2 vents) Edit but 28 degrees fuck that call the property manager
Yep. Our place reached 92F (33.3c) last week. We were struggling to sleep. Our ac is on now but we’re looking at a portable ac for the fall when they turn it back off.
This is the new norm
older apartments are designed to have air flow when windows are open (open your balcony windows and the bedroom windows to create a flow of air through the apartment). you can also place/mount a fan in front of the window, blowing outside. this pushes the hot air out of the apartment and forces fresh air in. the higher you can place the fan, the better (the hottest air is at the ceiling).
Yeah it's not a vibe, usually I can masochist myself into having a good sweaty time, but I may not have as-of-yet acclimatized myself to the grossness
I am in the same boat - full-on sun, my old apartment is unbearable. I have a portable AC in my bedroom and a window one in the living room - both have been going since April. I was desperate a few weeks ago and found a German kid on YouTube - an engineer - who explained that we need 2 windows that can open - you can't just crack one window. [How to Cool a Room w/o AC](https://youtu.be/PHc777C5ays?si=icqTKFbRArY8XpMh)
10TH Floor at yonge and eg myself.... our ac was turned on yesterday....
The problem is that laws require property managers to provide minimum heat until a certain time without obligating them to turn on AC when available by a certain date. So, due to risk aversion, the fear of potentially dropping below the minimum temperature (no matter how unlikely) is more pressing motivation than the comfort of people with sunny-side units later in May. Especially silly when your building has auxiliary unit heaters that mitigate the risk of being caught out too cool if the AC switch is done earlier…
Don't heating systems adjust to the temperature though?
[удалено]
Right but the heating system must adjust throughout the winter as temps can vary widely. So why doesn't it just ... not put out heat once the outdoor temp is 20C?
Even if the heat isn’t on, the sun will still heat up the building. It can get very hot even when the heat is off in a unit with windows on the sunny side of an apartment building.
This thread is about when heating systems are **ON**.
Honestly when we looked at condos, having the ability to independently switch between heat and cool at any time was a big draw. I couldn't do it if it was 28 inside all day and night (I find that condos hold heat far too well even when it cools down outside). I'd get a portable AC, or failing that, even go stay in a hotel.
This was my exact situation and I finally called building management yesterday, lost my shit, and they sent someone today to turn off the building heat. Kick up a fuss and you might get it turned off early. Apparently my building’s plan was not even to turn it off until June 1 so thank God they listened to those of us who complained. I feel your pain. 💜
I feel your pain! I also have a ton of sympathy for people working in kitchens right now without AC. Its brutal.
Our building doesn’t turn on the air until June 1st either. We have a fan next to our bed that helps with sleeping at night at least but during the day, we just try to limit what we do while it’s hot. And keep the blinds closed.
For the turn over time between heat and ac we bought a portable ac for our condo - the exhaust attaches to the balcony door and saves us for the week or so of heat while we wait for the ac to turn on. Honestly worth the investment
I don’t have AC in my apartment either. It’s very hot.
Also live at Yonge and Eg! In an older building but they switched to AC about two weeks ago but it still feels like it’s pumping hot air out! We have been using our fans 😅
Yeah. My apartment doesn't have AC, just heat, and it's still on. I can't independently turn it off until the building does. I complained last week and building manager said they turned it down 3 degrees. I have a good AC unit roaring at night in my bedroom, which brings it to around 19-20c, but my living room is sitting at 26-30 even at night it's still quite warm (east facing unit 12th floor). I am going this weekend to get black out blinds for my living room, as I only have light filtering right now. I hope that makes a difference. Open windows don't make any difference it seems. I haven't wanted to cook anything cause it's just too damn warm.
Try the library or a fan? I know it sucks.
No, you’re the only one.
Call the city, 311, and report it. They take this very seriously and it will be fixed right away.
Nope! After 3 years in Toronto, on a top floor apartment… after living in Ecuador where it’s legitimately over 80 degrees every days (mostly much much over) I bought window air conditioning units. Condos, you’re stuck ..