Should you still keep the heat on? It's the law for some Mass. residents
Instead, some landlords are required to keep the heat going — even if the weather outside is 80 degrees.
For many apartments without window units, especially apartments in Western and Central Massachusetts, landlords have to switch between running heat or air conditioning for the entire building. When to change over to A/C is based on a specific date.
'If you're living in a large building or even a semi-large building with an HVAC system, it's not always easy to switch between cooling and heat,' Ethan Masscoop, a clinical instructor in environmental health at Boston University, told GBH.
Heating season is finally coming to an end though.
The final day to keep the heat on in Massachusetts is May 31. Although, the local boards of health can decide to change the date of heating season, instead ending on May 15.
Heat will then turn back on starting Sept. 15.
'That means officially we have three months of spring, summer, and fall in Massachusetts,' Mass Landlords, a non-profit for owners and managers of Massachusetts residential real estate, states on its website. 'The rest is legally considered the dead of winter!'
Prior to April 2023, heating season lasted until June 15, meaning landlords couldn't turn on air conditioning until then.
Mass Landlords said they worked to change the date 'in response to climate change.'
Representative Bud Williams previously told Western Mass. News he hopes one day every tenant will have their own A/C unit.
'I understand the frustration,' Williams told the news outlet. 'When you're in those apartments and it gets to 90 and you're there, doesn't matter if it's for one day or two days and you have to live through it and bear through, it's almost unbearable.'
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