With the advent of autumn, colds come, the air on the street cools, and accordingly, the cold penetrates into the apartments. The supply of heating to residential buildings brings with it not only heat, but also causes new feelings, frustrations and unnecessary problems for residents. If you are given heating and the batteries are cold, you should not expect that everything will resolve by itself. There are several options you can take.
Search for an answer in HOA
First of all, the question arises: when are cold batteries, where to complain? To begin with, it is worth talking with neighbors and finding out how things are with heating in their apartments. If you have a common problem, and the batteries are cold in the whole house, then you need to contact the management company. The responsibilities of the Criminal Code include control over the provision of residential buildings with all utilities , including heating. The company has an agreement on your behalf with contractors providing these services. The essence of the document is not only in the payment of debts on receipts, but also in the quality of services received and paid. The task of the HOA is to find out why the contractor did not provide the building with heating in the specified period.
Good reason for a general heating outage
The cause of cold batteries in the apartment may be a major accident on the highway or CHP. In this case, utilities are forced to turn off the hot water supply to the site in which your home is located, for repair work.
What should residents do if the house has cold batteries? Where to complain if no one warned and informed about the shutdown of the coolant? In connection with a major accident that violated the provision of heat to the entire residential building, in addition to the management company, a collective complaint should be filed with the State Housing Inspection (State Housing Inspectorate). This organization receives calls around the clock.
Collective complaint
Any complaint must be submitted in writing. When compiling a statement from the team of residents, you must collect their signatures - the more the better. The complaint is written simultaneously to the chairman of the management company and to the housing inspectorate in duplicate. The paper describes the problem with the requirement to solve the question of why they gave heating and the batteries are cold. One copy remains in the company as an incoming letter, and the other with a stamp and the date of acceptance is returned to you. It will serve as a confirmation of appeal in case of measures not taken on time. It is acceptable to send a complaint by mail with a delivery notification to the recipient. The authorities are obliged to consider a written collective complaint within the time period corresponding to the law.
Temperature according to sanitary standards
When the heating season begins, residents often face the fact that the battery is half cold or slightly warm. This suggests that the supplied water for heating the premises is not fully hot. To verify this, it is enough to determine the temperature in the rooms with an ordinary thermometer. Sanitary standards allow that a comfortable day temperature in the apartment should be at least 18 ° C above zero with a slight excess of 4 degrees.
After accepting the complaint, a company engineer is sent to you, whose task is to identify the causes of cold batteries. To do this, he measures the temperature in each room, fills out an act form and gives a copy to the owners. If the testimony is below the required norms, then the communal services must take appropriate measures.
Where else can I complain?
It is hoped that after the liquidation of the accident, heating will enter the house. But often the public utilities, supplying the coolant to the house, ignore complaints of insufficient temperature to heat the entire apartment. In this situation, when the house has a little warm or cold batteries, where to complain about a non-executive management company?
Do not forget that you have in your hands the act of insufficient heat supply drawn up by an engineer who came from the managing organization. You also have neighbors as witnesses who have the same problem. It is necessary to contact all authorities competent in municipal matters. You should contact a local government official to whom all utilities are subordinate. You can make an appointment or send a complaint by e-mail. Today there is such an opportunity. You can also write a complaint to Rospotrebnadzor. The statement must indicate that you have cold batteries in the apartment, note the address and name of your managing office. After that, the experts of Rospotrebnadzor send an order to the Criminal Code with the requirement to correct the violations in the temperature regime. The request will indicate the period during which the problem should be resolved. In case of failure to comply with the requirements, the management company will be fined.
The last instance, which can hold the director of the Criminal Code accountable and thereby restore order, is the prosecutor’s office. The management company is afraid to violate the requirements of law enforcement agencies.
Do not pay for what is not received
Dissatisfied and cold residents in their apartments have every right to demand a recalculation of the cost of heating services. Confirmation will be an act drawn up by an engineer of the management company, which indicates the date of the call when the violation was recorded. Applications are accepted at the Unified Information and Settlement Center. Recalculation must be done next month. You can also demand the payment of a penalty for insufficient heat. For each day of inconsistency of the temperature regime with the norms, 3% of the total payment for heating per month is deducted.
Often, a statement from the whole team of an unheated house is reacted on time and correct the problem on time. Things are more complicated for those who find that they gave heat, and the batteries are cold only in their apartment.
Call dispatcher
If you are too busy or do not want to find out the cause yourself, for fear of disrupting the heating system, then first of all call the emergency dispatch service of the service company. The dispatcher must introduce himself, write down your data, note the date of the request and register the application received. Then the plumber will be sent to you, who will determine the cause of the lack of heat, and if this can be done quickly, it will eliminate the breakdown.
If you have a serious problem, then the management company employees should come to you on a call and draw up an act in two copies, measure the temperature in all rooms. In the absence of employees of the Criminal Code, call the neighbors who will attest and confirm that it is cold in your apartment. Together with them, draw up an act arbitrarily and fix the current temperature.
Mark the filing date of the first application and indicate that no one has come to you. Sign with your neighbors and send the paper to the Criminal Code. Signatures in the act must be at least three. After correcting the violations, an act of compliance with the temperature standards is again drawn up. On this procedure is considered complete.
Clarify the situation
At the beginning of the article, we found out when the apartment has cold batteries, where to complain. But you can not raise a panic, but try to figure it out yourself because of the lack of heating. If you find that the riser is hot and the battery is cold, this indicates that hot water does not enter it. Check the position of the tap that allows the coolant to enter the apartment, if it is locked. Maybe you just forgot to open it. Make sure that the riser is not blocked due to work in the basement.
Air congestion threat
The reasons why cold batteries in the apartment with the onset of the heating season are several. And this problem arises among many residents every year. Moreover, in one apartment building, someone has heating with order, and someone still has a cold. One common situation is the accumulation of air in the system. If gurgling is heard in the battery, then it is emitted by an air plug that needs to be released.
The air accumulated in the pipes prevents the free movement of water, which must continuously circulate and heat the room. In addition, air is not able to conduct heat. This causes the riser to be hot and the battery to be cold. The presence of air clusters reduces the wear time of heating devices, causing rust.
Let the air down
Usually in a situation where cold batteries are in the apartment, tenants bleed air on their own. For this, a Mayevsky crane is located on the battery .
Before opening the valves, you must first turn off the heating and put rags under the battery, as dirty water will leak out of the air. The faucet is opened with a screwdriver, which is inserted into a special hole and slowly turns. The exhaust air from the special opening will come out with a hiss. When the air lock comes out, fluid should flow. The crane can be closed. Thanks to this method, the disturbed circulation of the coolant is restored. The valve is installed on all batteries in the apartment, but it would be logical to carry out the procedure only with cold heating devices. You may need to open the tap more than once.
It is more difficult when the air did not accumulate in the room battery, but in the pipes located in the basement. You turn the tap, and the room is still cold batteries? What to do? In this case, the plumber from the housing and communal services is called up, who will open a special valve and bleed the air drowning the riser.
The neighbors are to blame
It may be such that the neighbors, taking care of the comfort in their apartment, illegally make changes to the design of the house system - increase the battery by several sections or install another radiator. The incoming coolant fills the entire area of the heated appliance, while losing heat for the next apartment. Coming further through the system, the water cools. As a result, it turns out that your apartment has cold batteries.
What to do with dishonest neighbors, and how to fix the situation? Taking an example, you can do the same. But this will lead to the fact that the coolant will cool faster, and the increased number of batteries will not bring the desired heat to the apartment. To establish justice, contact the housing and communal services.
Why is the battery cold below
The cause of partial heating of the heater may be its improper connection, which causes an uneven distribution of hot water. With an incorrect connection, part of the sections heats up, but the remaining battery area does not. The best option is the diagonal pattern. With a side connection, the coolant does not flow throughout the battery, but selects a short path, so the bottom of the radiator will be cold. It will be necessary to correct the situation and simulate the diagonal pattern using the injection tube. It lengthens the duct, due to which the battery heats up evenly. This can only be done by a qualified plumber.
Another reason why the battery is cold below may be its contamination. Scale and rust settle on the bottom and walls of the radiator, thereby narrowing the passages for the coolant. In this case, the circulation of hot water is disrupted, and the battery does not fully warm up. To clean the battery, rinse it several times under pressure with water.
In any case, if your apartment does not have heating, contact all instances. According to the law, public utilities must fix simple violations in the heating system in a day. Utilities must carry out complex repairs in a week.