Am I going to wake up IN FLAMES because of an electrical prob in my apt?
December 4, 2014 5:04 PM Subscribe
So, I woke up to part of my apartment without power. The maintenance man has strung up extension cords so now many, many electrical things (lamps, computers, refrigerator, wifi) are all getting juice from a single outlet. This feels unsafe. Is it? See inside for more blah blah blah.
The maintenance man is probably not a licensed electrician. I'm certainly not. I'd like to tell my landlord tomorrow that this set up is not safe and that I'd rather not die in a fire, but I don't have any real knowledge to assert that. Does anybody have that Knowledge? BONUS QUESTION in the course of dealing with this today, maintenance let slip that the breakers are shared by various apartments on this floor, so I am paying for somebody else's power, somebody's paying for mine, etc. WTF and WTH so should I tell my power provider about this?
THANK YOU
The maintenance man is probably not a licensed electrician. I'm certainly not. I'd like to tell my landlord tomorrow that this set up is not safe and that I'd rather not die in a fire, but I don't have any real knowledge to assert that. Does anybody have that Knowledge? BONUS QUESTION in the course of dealing with this today, maintenance let slip that the breakers are shared by various apartments on this floor, so I am paying for somebody else's power, somebody's paying for mine, etc. WTF and WTH so should I tell my power provider about this?
THANK YOU
IANAE, IANYE: I wouldn't do this. Seems crazy unsafe, and that at a minimum you'd trip a circuitbreaker.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 5:19 PM on December 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 5:19 PM on December 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
Last time I had an electrician in the house, he noted that I shouldn't plug anything else into the same outlet as the refrigerator ever (as in, the other outlet in the pair, even). This is absolutely something you need to tell your landlord to get a professional for immediately.
posted by Etrigan at 5:22 PM on December 4, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 5:22 PM on December 4, 2014 [6 favorites]
This is incredibly stupid. If it hasn't thrown the breaker already, then your breaker/fuse is bad or it'll randomly blow over and over because you're WAY overloading that outlet.
yes, this is unsafe, this is really stupid. this is the kind of things they make jokes about in movies like a christmas story for a reason.
i've had so many bad experiences with generic "maintenance guys" who aren't a licensed anything creating unsafe situations and ruining stuff.
so should I tell my power provider about this?
Yes, and call the city inspector. There's probably a lot of against code* or against the city codes/bylaws/etc for a rental stuff going on here.
I lived at a place with shared power like that once, and the way it worked was that the power was included in the rent. At least where i am, if you don't have separate meters for a utility you're not allowed to individually bill it out. Like either the landlord rolls in to the rent or everyone pays some flat rate "utilities" fee, and even that can be kind of grey area(water/sewer/garbage being that way is normal, power and gas can be if it's the same every month).
I don't consider this safe, this is scary. You could have the wiring in the walls MELT, or an extension cord melt. I've seen this happen, i've seen them burn. I am not exaggerating or making this up.
I'll also note i'm a person whose done a lot of stupid irresponsible shit and has a high tolerance for janky "fixed it!" kind of BS if i did it myself. This is still nope^2
*and i'm aware code applies at the time the building was built, but there's rules you need to pass for a certificate of occupancy etc. i sort of kinda maybe might know what i'm vaguely talking about
posted by emptythought at 5:31 PM on December 4, 2014 [6 favorites]
yes, this is unsafe, this is really stupid. this is the kind of things they make jokes about in movies like a christmas story for a reason.
i've had so many bad experiences with generic "maintenance guys" who aren't a licensed anything creating unsafe situations and ruining stuff.
so should I tell my power provider about this?
Yes, and call the city inspector. There's probably a lot of against code* or against the city codes/bylaws/etc for a rental stuff going on here.
I lived at a place with shared power like that once, and the way it worked was that the power was included in the rent. At least where i am, if you don't have separate meters for a utility you're not allowed to individually bill it out. Like either the landlord rolls in to the rent or everyone pays some flat rate "utilities" fee, and even that can be kind of grey area(water/sewer/garbage being that way is normal, power and gas can be if it's the same every month).
I don't consider this safe, this is scary. You could have the wiring in the walls MELT, or an extension cord melt. I've seen this happen, i've seen them burn. I am not exaggerating or making this up.
I'll also note i'm a person whose done a lot of stupid irresponsible shit and has a high tolerance for janky "fixed it!" kind of BS if i did it myself. This is still nope^2
*and i'm aware code applies at the time the building was built, but there's rules you need to pass for a certificate of occupancy etc. i sort of kinda maybe might know what i'm vaguely talking about
posted by emptythought at 5:31 PM on December 4, 2014 [6 favorites]
Response by poster: yow ok. i guess unplug the fridge, at least?
thanks for probably saving my life
posted by angrycat at 5:40 PM on December 4, 2014
thanks for probably saving my life
posted by angrycat at 5:40 PM on December 4, 2014
Definitely unplug as much as you can before going to sleep, and get an electrician in asap.
posted by Koko at 5:40 PM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Koko at 5:40 PM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
It sounds like most of those things can be turned off and unplugged until you can get someone out to fix whatever's up with your power.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 5:40 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by kinddieserzeit at 5:40 PM on December 4, 2014
It's impossible to say if it's immediately dangerous without knowing the loads connected. If you're in the US it's likely a 15 or 20 amp circuit. You should unplug anything unessential and periodically feel the cord to see if it's warm. Yes, this needs to be repaired fast.
If you indeed share individual circuits with another tenant, that's a big problem if you are the payer for a metered billing. But I wonder if the maintenance person meant your circuits are in a box along with other tenants, in other words you share a box.
posted by werkzeuger at 5:40 PM on December 4, 2014
If you indeed share individual circuits with another tenant, that's a big problem if you are the payer for a metered billing. But I wonder if the maintenance person meant your circuits are in a box along with other tenants, in other words you share a box.
posted by werkzeuger at 5:40 PM on December 4, 2014
Scratch that, brainfart. You should have your own meter, therefore your own panel.
posted by werkzeuger at 5:42 PM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by werkzeuger at 5:42 PM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: i unplugged all the stuff so no worries, no fire, thank you
yeah we each have our own panels but if you shut off a fuse in one apartment, the power goes off next door. it's messed up
posted by angrycat at 5:45 PM on December 4, 2014
yeah we each have our own panels but if you shut off a fuse in one apartment, the power goes off next door. it's messed up
posted by angrycat at 5:45 PM on December 4, 2014
The big risks here are 1) the wiring to that one outlet isn't up to code and will heat up under the load enough to start a fire in the wall or 2) the extension cord from the wall isn't rated for the current being pulled through it and will start a fire in the room. These are both real possibilities and you should absolutely get the situation rectified as soon as possible. In the meantime you should unplug everything that isn't essential and minimize the number of things you run at once (e.g. unplug the fridge for a bit if you need to turn on the computer, run the lamps one at a time and on their dimmest setting.)
Because of the overbuilt, idiot-tolerant requirements of the electrical code I would put the chances of a fire starting as pretty low even if you turned everything on at once and went to sleep, but "pretty low" is much different from "zero" when you're talking about losing everything you own or dying in a house fire. If I were in your position I would leave the fridge plugged in overnight (presuming it's full of perishables) but make sure all the other stuff is unplugged or powered off.
posted by contraption at 5:52 PM on December 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
Because of the overbuilt, idiot-tolerant requirements of the electrical code I would put the chances of a fire starting as pretty low even if you turned everything on at once and went to sleep, but "pretty low" is much different from "zero" when you're talking about losing everything you own or dying in a house fire. If I were in your position I would leave the fridge plugged in overnight (presuming it's full of perishables) but make sure all the other stuff is unplugged or powered off.
posted by contraption at 5:52 PM on December 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
(First making sure that all extension cords feeding power to the fridge are rated for 15 amps or more.)
posted by contraption at 5:55 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by contraption at 5:55 PM on December 4, 2014
It sounds pretty unsafe.
Either way, much more likely is that the outlet eventually shorts, triggering a circuit breaker which does something annoying like shutting off your fridge for an entire day or taking out your TV right in the middle of that show you like.
posted by Sara C. at 6:01 PM on December 4, 2014
Either way, much more likely is that the outlet eventually shorts, triggering a circuit breaker which does something annoying like shutting off your fridge for an entire day or taking out your TV right in the middle of that show you like.
posted by Sara C. at 6:01 PM on December 4, 2014
Notify your power provider and city inspector. Simultaneously.
Unless your landlord is paying all electricity for everyone, this is illegal in every jurisdiction I know of.
posted by jbenben at 6:09 PM on December 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
Unless your landlord is paying all electricity for everyone, this is illegal in every jurisdiction I know of.
posted by jbenben at 6:09 PM on December 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
Yes, horribly unsafe. I had a relative die from a fire started under similar circumstances.
posted by Eddie Mars at 6:20 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by Eddie Mars at 6:20 PM on December 4, 2014
Re: your update, it's really good that you're taking care of the immediate problem with the cords and that you're going to communicate how unsafe this is with your landlord. Don't let him talk you out of it fixing the problem, this is a dangerous situation.
Also, you're absolutely correct to ask WTF is going on with this power situation because that's not right at all. There's no conceivable reason that you should be paying for anyone's electricity but your own. The financial and legal ramifications are huge in this instance, but what's scary is that this indicates a wild and reckless disregard for safety and city codes on your landlord's part.
Follow jbenben's advice and call your power company and contact your city's housing inspector or equivalent office ASAP. For the inspector, that's probably tomorrow morning, but your power company likely has an emergency phone number. I would call them now if you're still awake and talk to them.
posted by i feel possessed at 10:10 PM on December 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
Also, you're absolutely correct to ask WTF is going on with this power situation because that's not right at all. There's no conceivable reason that you should be paying for anyone's electricity but your own. The financial and legal ramifications are huge in this instance, but what's scary is that this indicates a wild and reckless disregard for safety and city codes on your landlord's part.
Follow jbenben's advice and call your power company and contact your city's housing inspector or equivalent office ASAP. For the inspector, that's probably tomorrow morning, but your power company likely has an emergency phone number. I would call them now if you're still awake and talk to them.
posted by i feel possessed at 10:10 PM on December 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
Also think about the food: you might lose a fridge's worth of food!
posted by devnull at 11:02 PM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by devnull at 11:02 PM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
> Also think about the food: you might lose a fridge's worth of food!
previous AskMe about running a fridge on an extension cord
A refrigerator with the compressor going typically runs at a few hundred watts, and almost certainly draws less than half of the 15 amps a receptacle should be able to handle if wired to code. The reason fridges are generally given a dedicated circuit is that the compressor takes a high inrush of current for a fraction of a second when turning on. This can be enough to trip a breaker if the circuit is shared with a lot of other devices (and can also "brown out" those devices, especially if they're plugged into the same wire run as the fridge) but is generally not a safety concern as it isn't sustained over a long enough period to generate significant heat. The risk of leaving the fridge connected is approximately on par with bringing home a new halogen floor lamp and plugging it into that receptacle, and especially overnight with all the computers and lights off I would feel ok about it. I'm not saying there is no risk at all (I mean, who knows who wired the place and what kind of standards they followed when they hooked up that outlet) but I consider myself a pretty cautious person and I personally would elect to leave the fridge plugged in rather than allowing the food inside to spoil out of an abundance of caution.
Things I would be more worried about than this (but also still do personally) include: leaving battery-powered devices such as mobile phones plugged into their chargers overnight, leaving small appliances and electronics plugged in when not in use, starting a gas clothes dryer and leaving the immediate vicinity. All these things are fire risks, and people do die from fires started by them, yet most of us continue to do them because we judge the risk to be small enough that the hassle of unplugging the TV after each use isn't worth it.
posted by contraption at 12:20 AM on December 5, 2014 [3 favorites]
previous AskMe about running a fridge on an extension cord
A refrigerator with the compressor going typically runs at a few hundred watts, and almost certainly draws less than half of the 15 amps a receptacle should be able to handle if wired to code. The reason fridges are generally given a dedicated circuit is that the compressor takes a high inrush of current for a fraction of a second when turning on. This can be enough to trip a breaker if the circuit is shared with a lot of other devices (and can also "brown out" those devices, especially if they're plugged into the same wire run as the fridge) but is generally not a safety concern as it isn't sustained over a long enough period to generate significant heat. The risk of leaving the fridge connected is approximately on par with bringing home a new halogen floor lamp and plugging it into that receptacle, and especially overnight with all the computers and lights off I would feel ok about it. I'm not saying there is no risk at all (I mean, who knows who wired the place and what kind of standards they followed when they hooked up that outlet) but I consider myself a pretty cautious person and I personally would elect to leave the fridge plugged in rather than allowing the food inside to spoil out of an abundance of caution.
Things I would be more worried about than this (but also still do personally) include: leaving battery-powered devices such as mobile phones plugged into their chargers overnight, leaving small appliances and electronics plugged in when not in use, starting a gas clothes dryer and leaving the immediate vicinity. All these things are fire risks, and people do die from fires started by them, yet most of us continue to do them because we judge the risk to be small enough that the hassle of unplugging the TV after each use isn't worth it.
posted by contraption at 12:20 AM on December 5, 2014 [3 favorites]
we each have our own panels but if you shut off a fuse in one apartment, the power goes off next door.
Either the building's wiring is really funky and not up to code, or they took some shortcuts when wiring and the apartments are sharing some circuits. For example maybe you have a shared wall between apartments and a circuit in "your panel" happens to be in that wall. Well maybe they put a outlet in your neighbor's apartment in that wall and rather than running wire from one of their circuits they just wired it from yours to save on wire. So yes, you are paying for their power. What you don't have is a dedicated panel.
What makes your extension-cord situation unsafe is you don't have any idea what's going on in the wiring in the walls, and maybe the panel. If everything is up to code and you use extensions cords adequate to the power the connected devices are pulling (and don't put them under rugs or kink them or ...) then the panel breaker will protect you. However if you can't be sure the breaker is properly sized for the wire in the walls or is not functioning properly there are risks.
I'm a little curious about what caused the power outage in the first place. Are all the panels in some central place or are they distributed throughout the apartments? Do you know whether there's a breaker for that circuit in your panel? Maybe a breaker tripped in somebody else's apartment (who is gone and the maintenance guy doesn't have a key) and through the magic of your shared circuits you've now lost power? Most other explanations are scary.
posted by achrise at 7:27 AM on December 5, 2014
Either the building's wiring is really funky and not up to code, or they took some shortcuts when wiring and the apartments are sharing some circuits. For example maybe you have a shared wall between apartments and a circuit in "your panel" happens to be in that wall. Well maybe they put a outlet in your neighbor's apartment in that wall and rather than running wire from one of their circuits they just wired it from yours to save on wire. So yes, you are paying for their power. What you don't have is a dedicated panel.
What makes your extension-cord situation unsafe is you don't have any idea what's going on in the wiring in the walls, and maybe the panel. If everything is up to code and you use extensions cords adequate to the power the connected devices are pulling (and don't put them under rugs or kink them or ...) then the panel breaker will protect you. However if you can't be sure the breaker is properly sized for the wire in the walls or is not functioning properly there are risks.
I'm a little curious about what caused the power outage in the first place. Are all the panels in some central place or are they distributed throughout the apartments? Do you know whether there's a breaker for that circuit in your panel? Maybe a breaker tripped in somebody else's apartment (who is gone and the maintenance guy doesn't have a key) and through the magic of your shared circuits you've now lost power? Most other explanations are scary.
posted by achrise at 7:27 AM on December 5, 2014
Response by poster: update
landlord is not taking my concerns about safety seriously other than to instruct the maintenance guy to nail the extension cord up on the wall so that i don't run over it in my wheelchair. maintenance guy replugged everything on landlord's orders. the maintenance guy said an electrician will be here monday at the earliest.
but i unplugged the extension cord after he left because, hey, my fridge is empty, and i'm getting a creepy feeling about all of this.
it's unclear what caused this. the maintenance guy has been here yesterday and today and doesn't know. they checked all the apartments that could be sharing circuits and tried them (which is how we confirmed that at least several of us are sharing circuits -- power went off in other people's apartments). However, each apartment has a breaker panel.
i need to preserve a friendly relationship with my landlord -- i mean unless that means dying in a fire, I guess. I'm hoping to move -- and now am really hoping to move -- in maybe a year, and I need a good reference from these slumlord assholes because my credit is in the toilet. So I am going to unplug things, grit my teeth, and starting letting people in the building that hinky shit is going on.
OR is the responsible thing to call PECO (power provider) because lord knows what is going on. They did a massive rewiring of the building five years ago, but the building itself is maybe 80-100 years old
posted by angrycat at 2:00 PM on December 5, 2014
landlord is not taking my concerns about safety seriously other than to instruct the maintenance guy to nail the extension cord up on the wall so that i don't run over it in my wheelchair. maintenance guy replugged everything on landlord's orders. the maintenance guy said an electrician will be here monday at the earliest.
but i unplugged the extension cord after he left because, hey, my fridge is empty, and i'm getting a creepy feeling about all of this.
it's unclear what caused this. the maintenance guy has been here yesterday and today and doesn't know. they checked all the apartments that could be sharing circuits and tried them (which is how we confirmed that at least several of us are sharing circuits -- power went off in other people's apartments). However, each apartment has a breaker panel.
i need to preserve a friendly relationship with my landlord -- i mean unless that means dying in a fire, I guess. I'm hoping to move -- and now am really hoping to move -- in maybe a year, and I need a good reference from these slumlord assholes because my credit is in the toilet. So I am going to unplug things, grit my teeth, and starting letting people in the building that hinky shit is going on.
OR is the responsible thing to call PECO (power provider) because lord knows what is going on. They did a massive rewiring of the building five years ago, but the building itself is maybe 80-100 years old
posted by angrycat at 2:00 PM on December 5, 2014
OR is the responsible thing to call PECO (power provider) because lord knows what is going on.
Ask the electrician what they think about the setup, and drop a broad hint that it would be much better for you if they call PECO about the possibly fucked-up metering.
posted by Etrigan at 2:06 PM on December 5, 2014
Ask the electrician what they think about the setup, and drop a broad hint that it would be much better for you if they call PECO about the possibly fucked-up metering.
posted by Etrigan at 2:06 PM on December 5, 2014
Send the landlord a cordial but prominently signed and dated letter laying out your concerns about the wiring in the building, and requesting that they bring in a licensed electrician to fix the illegally divided meters and review all electrical wiring for safety. Ask them to provide you with the electrician's name and contractor's license number, and give a realistic deadline by which you'd like this to happen (say, within two weeks or before the end of the month.) Keep a copy of this letter yourself, someplace where even a really openly scummy landlord would be unable to find and destroy it. It will be understood that this is you giving them a chance to fix the situation before going to the authorities, and will give you a piece of useful evidence against them if they try to punitively kick you out for being so annoyingly insistent about not paying them to live in a deathtrap.
posted by contraption at 3:04 PM on December 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by contraption at 3:04 PM on December 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
In your city or county there must be a government office that handles housing code and/or landlord tenant issues, and they must have a point of contact who deals with emergency issues - in particular, inspecting rental properties. Basically whichever government office is responsible for inspecting rental housing. You want to call that government office and talk to a real live person there and explain that you need an emergency inspection of your rental housing because you have an emergency issue here, with the electricity - this is dangerous and you can't live in these conditions. I had to do this once in the city where I was living, and once someone from the housing code office called the landlord's management company, the management company called me immediately, apologized and sent a real licensed electrician that same day, because they did not want the housing code office to come after them. Go directly to the city inspector. Call them.
posted by citron at 7:28 PM on December 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by citron at 7:28 PM on December 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
so that i don't run over it in my wheelchair.
I'm sorry... your wheelchair?!? As in, you'd have difficulty evacuating if (at this rate, when) there's a fire? Oh hell no. Landlord relationship be damned, this needs to be fixed NOW. Call the city and power company, if they won't do anything or aren't there because of the weekend, call the police. At the very least this has lawsuit potential and should be documented. Also consider a call to local media if all else fails - this sounds like a nice "OMG death trap!!" piece for the right reporter.
posted by storminator7 at 11:16 PM on December 5, 2014 [2 favorites]
I'm sorry... your wheelchair?!? As in, you'd have difficulty evacuating if (at this rate, when) there's a fire? Oh hell no. Landlord relationship be damned, this needs to be fixed NOW. Call the city and power company, if they won't do anything or aren't there because of the weekend, call the police. At the very least this has lawsuit potential and should be documented. Also consider a call to local media if all else fails - this sounds like a nice "OMG death trap!!" piece for the right reporter.
posted by storminator7 at 11:16 PM on December 5, 2014 [2 favorites]
My other concern is not knowing if the breakers in the panel have been replaced to accommodate the extension cord job (like, replacing 15-amp breakers with 20- or 30-amp breakers so they don't trip, but not actually upgrading the in-wall wiring and outlets to handle that much load.) Definite fire hazard. You've given your landlord the opportunity to fix it; he's declined, so now it's time to escalate. I'm sure the local fire department would be very interested to see what's been done, and can take it from there.
posted by xedrik at 8:10 AM on December 6, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by xedrik at 8:10 AM on December 6, 2014 [3 favorites]
I'm sorry, but this is not acceptable. If your landlord doesn't care about how unsafe AND illegal this is, how can you even know the "electrician" they've hired is licensed? Also, why the hell aren't they getting an emergency electrician out there to fix this problem? By the time Monday rolls around, you'll have been without power in half of your apartment (the kitchen half, apparently, and that's a HUGE no-no) for 4-5 days. Not. Acceptable.
I know this is going to be a pain in the ass, but you have GOT to advocate for yourself here. I don't want to out your city, but apparently you can call 3-1-1 to find out who you need to talk to about this situation. PECO has an emergency number: 1-800-841-4141. Call it ASAP.
posted by i feel possessed at 2:05 PM on December 6, 2014 [2 favorites]
I know this is going to be a pain in the ass, but you have GOT to advocate for yourself here. I don't want to out your city, but apparently you can call 3-1-1 to find out who you need to talk to about this situation. PECO has an emergency number: 1-800-841-4141. Call it ASAP.
posted by i feel possessed at 2:05 PM on December 6, 2014 [2 favorites]
The gears in my head turned some more, and i remembered a specific instance many years ago when in a building that had some really stupid 3 stooges wiring, i ended up called the fire department non emergency number because the wall near my breaker panel was very warm and i could smell a weird hot electrical smell. What actually made me pull the trigger later in the day was that i saw arcing in one of my baseboards.
They came out and checked out all kinds of stuff, took temp readings, etc. Ended up basically writing my landlord a big scary "fix it now" notice that seemed to have some heft behind it.
After reflecting on it some more, this is a situation i would absolutely call the local fire department about. And i'd just go from there. Especially with them tacking the extension cord to the wall i'm sure they'll care and realize this is a "There, Fixed it!" type jimmy rigging thing. Make sure to bring up the weird shared wiring between units as well.
There's also, at least in my area, housing law about how long various stuff that's required for a certificate of occupancy(stove, fridge, heat, etc) can be broken/missing/down. And at least here, being jimmy rigged like this likely would not count as properly functioning since it's not safe. Part of the reason i'd call the fire department so you have an official record of "this thing was fucked up on X date". The laws might be way more lax(or stricter!) where you are, so that's more of a food for thought bit there.
posted by emptythought at 5:30 AM on December 7, 2014
They came out and checked out all kinds of stuff, took temp readings, etc. Ended up basically writing my landlord a big scary "fix it now" notice that seemed to have some heft behind it.
After reflecting on it some more, this is a situation i would absolutely call the local fire department about. And i'd just go from there. Especially with them tacking the extension cord to the wall i'm sure they'll care and realize this is a "There, Fixed it!" type jimmy rigging thing. Make sure to bring up the weird shared wiring between units as well.
There's also, at least in my area, housing law about how long various stuff that's required for a certificate of occupancy(stove, fridge, heat, etc) can be broken/missing/down. And at least here, being jimmy rigged like this likely would not count as properly functioning since it's not safe. Part of the reason i'd call the fire department so you have an official record of "this thing was fucked up on X date". The laws might be way more lax(or stricter!) where you are, so that's more of a food for thought bit there.
posted by emptythought at 5:30 AM on December 7, 2014
Response by poster: Thanks all for your kind thoughts and concerns. I brought the hammer down in an email I just sent to the landlord, the email clearly stating my intent to follow up with the fire department/township if the situation is not rectified with a licensed electrician. It may do nothing and I'll have to go to the township anyway, because these people have been fucking awful about repairs.
As it is I'm keeping the jury-rigged electric unplugged except for brief times when I need some light, and I've let the landlord know that there extension cord solution is not up to par and therefore I am living without power to half of my apartment.
Thanks again.
posted by angrycat at 9:04 AM on December 8, 2014
As it is I'm keeping the jury-rigged electric unplugged except for brief times when I need some light, and I've let the landlord know that there extension cord solution is not up to par and therefore I am living without power to half of my apartment.
Thanks again.
posted by angrycat at 9:04 AM on December 8, 2014
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In Australia, this would most likely be classified as an urgent repair and tenants have the right to organise a tradesperson to fix it if it isn't attended to within 24 hours. Not sure about the laws where you are though.
posted by mewsic at 5:18 PM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]