Summers are heating up, and so is the fight between renters and landlords over AC units. A Canadian resident vented on Reddit about landlords who oppose air conditioning.
"Landlords in B.C. warning renters against installing AC units despite rising heat," they said, quoting the headline of a CBC News report.
Average temperatures in Western Canada, which includes British Columbia, are already up to 2 degrees warmer than they were in the 1940s, and officials have warned the public to prepare for extreme heat events.
Access to air conditioning is particularly important for vulnerable residents such as seniors, but high energy costs can make it difficult for people to stay cool. One tenant, Ryan Le Neal, told CBC News his landlord said his old building couldn't handle his AC's high electricity usage.
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Still, uncollaborative landlords can complicate matters, as one Reddit user alleged of Dinesh Chand, who sent notices to renters in at least eight buildings telling them not to use their AC, according to CBC News.
"If you are going to buy an apartment to rent out and it doesn't have infrastructure to make the apartments liveable, then it's YOUR responsibility to fix it," the user wrote.
Le Neal said he consulted with electricians about his AC unit and that he wouldn't be intimidated into not using it. "I'm really sticking my neck out here," he told CBC News.
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The renters in B.C. have reached out to a tenants union. In the meantime, Chand's lawyer, Michael Drouillard, wrote in an email to CBC News that some AC units draw too much power. "Not every kind of A/C unit is appropriate [for old buildings]," Drouillard said.
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