'It's inhumane.' Despite how hot it is, Tennessee renters don't have a right to air conditioning ( www.newschannel5.com )

Despite how hot it is, landlords in Tennessee are not required to keep the air conditioning running.

In our changing climate, that probably comes as a surprise.

However, unless it's in the lease, nothing in Tennessee's Landlord-Tenant Act gives renters the right to air conditioning.

"I think it's unfair. It's inhumane to me because without air we can't live and breathe," said Anita Brown.

Praetorian ,

As an American you don't have a right to universal healthcare and you're worried about air conditioning?

Fidel_Cashflow ,
@Fidel_Cashflow@lemmy.ml avatar

Multiple things can be bad at the same time

HauntedCupcake ,

This is also a lot more achievable than total healthcare reform. Both are achievable for sure, but just forcing landlords to install and maintain aircon is easier

Praetorian ,

Sure except air conditioning is not a right. It's a luxury.

boatsnhos931 ,

R U SERTIOUS??11

BonesOfTheMoon ,

This is soon to pass as a bylaw in my city. I hope all the landlords have chapped asses over it. ALAB.

Lets_Eat_Grandma ,

Most of the world can't afford air conditioning. We're talking something like five billion people or way more.

theRealBassist ,

I mean first of all, not every part of the world needs it. Second... everyone who needs it and can't afford it should also have access.

Giving it to group A does not, in cases like this, preclude group B from it as well.

Lets_Eat_Grandma ,

I'm not here to say people don't deserve air conditioning. I'm just pointing out the lack of equity in life. Most of those poor billions are in places where the heat index is higher than most places in the US.

intensely_human ,

I actually agree that nobody has a “right to air conditioning”.

But people do have a right to whatever’s been promised in a contract they signed.

This lady rented an apartment with an air conditioner. She’s paying for this apartment. The landlord isn’t allowed to just ignore requests for maintenance because they don’t feel like providing the air conditioner any more.

The air conditioner is part of the deal they agreed to, and the landlord isn’t holding up their end of the deal.

jaemo , (edited )

Counter point: do I have a right to engage in activities that cause the overall habitability of the planet to drop for vast swathes of the population?

Edit: I seem to be getting taken out of context here. I'm referring to corporations/landlords in this context, not the humans wanting to be cool.

Poor wording, rip inbox.

TheMonkeyLord ,

That is only a question that can be asked after corporations are made responsible for their damages, considering they account for the VAST majority of emissions

bluemellophone ,

I have a strong feeling you don’t live in the southern US.

intensely_human ,

Are you arguing that her running her air conditioner cause the habitability of the planet to drop? On what dimension, and by what amount?

Let’s say in one timeline she runs her air conditioner for six hours. In the other timeline she doesn’t. What’s the difference in Earth’s habitability between those two scenarios?

nutsack ,

people used to build houses that were designed in such a way where you didn't need air conditioning. In tropical country such as Vietnam where I live this is still the case. I have to wonder if the United States builds houses inefficiently on purpose.

jam12705 ,

I think we got lazy with our designs once centralized air was mainstreamed. The house my father grew up in the 1950s was designed like you mentioned. It would only allow light through during certain times of year/day with its overhanges and louvers and it jad more windows which allow more air flow....now according to him it was still a miserable place to live during the 1950s Texas summers....

MintyFresh ,

Most of our houses have to stand up to the cold too (at least presently). Idk how much this affects what kind of designs are possible, but some brain roughage for ya.

Strykker ,

Surprising keeping the cold out vs in doesn't change much. You insulate the shit out of the building to minimize unwanted transfer from outside to inside.

grue ,

The comments two and three levels up were about third-world tropical houses and old houses respectively, both designed to be habitable in hot climates without air conditioning. As such, they are/were designed exactly the opposite way: to maximize cross-ventilation instead.

What you really want these days would be a house that's tightly insulated but also has lots of operable windows, a whole-house fan, and/or a design that facilitates stack effect ventilation so that it can use either cooling strategy when conditions are appropriate.

acockworkorange ,

Modern houses with their insulated walls and double windows are better at withstanding summer than the ones I’ve lived in while my only solace for 85+ degree nights was a fan.

I’m all for demanding proper maintenance from landlords, even if it’s not on the lease. You visit a unit that has a thermostat on it, that’s advertising it has a working AC. It’s disingenuous from the landlord to claim the AC is decorative.

But claiming air conditioning is essential is utter horseshit.

mlg ,
@mlg@lemmy.world avatar

Sort of. Pretty much all of suburban housing is cookie cutter houses made out of the cheapest possible material available. Really the only improvements we've made is better insulation and standardized 2 way heat pumps.

I can't imagine apartments and buildings are much better when you can just slap an AC onto anything and call it a day.

henfredemars ,

I once lived in an apartment with no windows that could open. They were all sealed.

nutsack ,

that sounds bad

ItDoBeHowItDoBe ,

I am from the US and am living in malaysia at the moment and have traveled throughout South East Asia. I think the issue is not that our homes are built I efficiently, but that we just do not tolerate heat the same way that those in South East Asia do. We could open our windows and doors like they do in asia to create a draft and cool down, but it would still be warmer than we would like. Living in Asia is warmer than we would like in general.

dan ,
@dan@upvote.au avatar

If you think US houses are bad, you should see Australian houses. Barely any insulation and very draughty drafty, so they're too cold in winter and too hot in summer. A huge percentage of houses fall below the WHO's recommended safe temperature in winter.

Sure, you can use AC or heating, but it dissipates very quickly.

I'm from Melbourne, and the climate there is fairly similar to the San Francisco Bay Area where I live now. Similar winter weather, but it gets a bit hotter in summer. Bay Area houses are much more comfortable though. My US house is a 1960s build yet it has way better insulation than even a 2010s build in Australia.

grue ,

I have to wonder if the United States builds houses inefficiently on purpose.

Starting roughly during the housing boom just after WWII, the United States started building houses cheaply on purpose. One of the most noticeable changes is common house designs went from being Craftsman bungalows with high (e.g. 10') ceilings, lots of windows for good ventilation, and large roof overhangs for shade and protection from wind-driven rain, to "American Small Houses" with 8' ceilings, minimal windows and no roof overhangs.

As the owner of one of the latter (in the South, BTW), I can tell you that trying to keep it cool via cross-ventilation is largely ineffective.

Draedron ,

Why dont you build houses with insulation? Other countries handle it well without ACs

assassin_aragorn ,

Insulation can only do so much. It's sufficient in some countries and areas of the US, but in others it's just way too fucking hot. When it gets to 100+ degrees F during the day for multiple days in a row, insulation isn't going to keep your house cold for long.

nutsack ,

in vietnam its not about insulation it's about having air flow through the house

Drusas ,

That's how Japan historically handled heat as well. To be fair, though, those designs help a lot but still leave a house miserably hot.

intensely_human ,

Blowing hot air around is called “convection baking” in the US

Ulrich_the_Old ,

In the mean time instead of dying from heat exhaustion do an internet search for DIY AIR CONDITIONING and at least see what your options are. Good luck. Climate change is a thing by the way.

drunkpostdisaster ,

I do not know why you are getting downvoted. The state is in the wrong here, but its a redstate so you cannot expect change on their part. making your own air conditioner is the only option.

afraid_of_zombies ,

I had jury duty once and the air conditioning was acting up. Judge announced we would all be moving to a different room as a result, which we did.

Guess it isn't a luxury when it's a judge's place of work.

Asafum ,

It's very much a selective thing. Humans vs meat machines.

I'm a meat machine. The factory I work in regularly gets over 90°F in the summer and being on long Island its also humid as fuck like 75%+.

I checked the NY state laws on factory conditions and wouldn't you know it, the fucking laws are vague as shit to allow essentially anything... "All factories must maintain a reasonable temperature and humidity." That's the fucking law. "Reasonable" is not defined anywhere in that law... I contacted my business cuck "R"epresentative about what that law means or how we determine what is reasonable, and yet again wouldn't you know, he never responded...

afraid_of_zombies ,

Bohemia area by the mini airport? Did some factory work in that part of LI. Yes it can very much feel like you are working in a sauna there.

Asafum ,

That's actually the area where I went to learn HVAC! I'm much more east now past Riverhead actually, I couldn't deal with the traffic lol

Happy cake day apparently! Lol

bluewing ,

Been there done that too when I was a toolmaker. Old buildings with no air flow, (except in the winter on sub-zero F days). But hey, sometimes on the really bad days we would get an extra 5 minutes at break. And maybe on very rare occasions, a Popsicle.

Good times.........

brlemworld ,

Start a fire

Timecircleline ,

For ambulances, if the air conditioning is broken in the patient compartment it's considered a critical fault and the vehicle needs to be out of service. In the cab it's a minor. Maybe it's in case a judge needs to be transported.

UnderpantsWeevil ,
@UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

Right to Fry

VelvetStorm ,

We could just start building houses so they don't need them like they do in Hawaii. The well designed houses are designed in a way that allows maximum airflow when the windows are open because the price of running an ac there is astronomical.

ripcord ,
@ripcord@lemmy.world avatar

There's a lot more regular breeze in Hawaii

VelvetStorm ,

Ya, you got me there. You can also build them like termites in Africa do with their hives. They build them in a way to vent heat, and so they catch the minimum amount of light and heat.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

There's also windcatchers, the "ancient air conditioners" of Iran.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windcatcher

intensely_human ,

And finally, there’s air conditioning

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Let's not go crazy here.

PancakeTrebuchet ,

My childhood friend had a farmhouse that had a back door facing west (I believe that was the direction), and when you opened the door and a specific set of windows, the whole house turned into a wind tunnel. It was pretty cool. I remember his dad saying they'd design the houses that way on purpose.

afraid_of_zombies ,

Can't. Zoning board says it's not in neighborhood character.

RememberTheApollo_ ,

We could just…?

Maybe we could just limit the temps in other hot areas to the same as Hawaii which gets around 85° and rarely goes over 90°?

How about other parts or the US where temps regularly exceed 100° or even 110°? Those airflow designs would do little more than pipe summer heat through their homes.

You can design homes in hot areas to do well, but it’s not an airflow issue. You can do earth berms, thicker walls, much better insulation, and design windows and eaves to prevent the high summer sun from coming in windows to heat the interior. Unfortunately a lot of these kinds of efficient building styles are seen as crunchy-granola and don’t lend themselves to mass produced, cheap material, suburban tract homes and McMansions. The problem is crappy construction and our insistence on the prevalent suburban style.

VelvetStorm ,

It is with a great sadness that I do agree with you.

31337 ,

I think the best you can do passively is keep the home at the average daily temperature, which is still uncomfortable in some areas at some times of the year. Average daily air and soil temperatures where I live are typically in the 90s in August. I guess that's better than the 100F-110F highs though. I think I've read it's better to insulate homes from the ground in areas where it's hot or cold both day and night. AC can be pretty efficient in well-sealed highly-insulated buildings.

RaoulDook ,

If you've ever been to the deep south usa like Tennessee you would know that's not viable. Temps hit 100 F easily most summers. Humidity is often very high in combination with the scorching heat.

Fortunately it is definitely NOT the norm for homes to be built and/or rented that do not have AC. I've rented numerous cheap homes and apartments in the South, every one had AC. My cheapest rental home was $300/mo and it had all utilities (and central HVAC) working except Internet.

original2 ,

But it is done in SE asia where it can reach 40C at even greater humidity... Why not Tennessee?

Semi_Hemi_Demigod ,
@Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world avatar

Because it also gets down to 0C in Tennessee in the winter and houses need to be able to handle that, too

iopq ,

I've been to a house with extremely thick brick walls, it's almost never an uncomfortable temperature.

Semi_Hemi_Demigod ,
@Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world avatar

My dad built two earth-sheltered, passive-solar houses that were always comfortable, required no cooling, and cost about $100 a month to heat over the winter. It's absolutely do-able but you won't get a house that looks like a "normal" house so people won't be interested in buying them.

I've still got the plans and if I had my druthers I'd build a whole mess of them all over so people can see that sometimes weird is much better.

Wizard_Pope ,
@Wizard_Pope@lemmy.world avatar

Just isolate the walls well and make sure the window seals are tight. Simple as.

NikkiDimes , (edited )

Ah yes, Hawaii, where it gets to a scalding 85F on the hottest of days

TechNerdWizard42 ,

There ARE designs that work. Just not found in the USA. Designs from 2000 years ago throughout the hot and humid southeast Asia that work fine.

If you've ever been to India for example, you'd know. The USA does not have a monopoly on humidity and isn't close to the high for temperatures.

AA5B ,

Downvoted as irrelevant to the topic of apartment rentals, but it’s a great separate topic with several appealing approaches that could make a big difference

samus12345 ,
@samus12345@lemmy.world avatar

Downvoted for announcing that you downvoted the comment instead of just doing it.

(I took the liberty of downvoting my own comment as well so as not to be hypocritical.)

TepX ,

If this was Phoenix Arizona we wouldn't be having this conversation because all the tenants would already be dead. If there's a danger to tenants the answer seems obvious.

Whirling_Cloudburst ,

I had a friend that was not allowed to run air conditioning in his flat. The landlord said the old wiring could not handle it. I said that all you needed was a decent UPS (they make these just for window units in India), but my friend just moved instead. 100+ F is too hot in a flat during Summer.

tal ,
@tal@lemmy.today avatar

The landlord said the old wiring could not handle it.

If wherever it was was dry, you can use an evaporative cooler. They can only cool so much, but they're far more energy efficient than an air conditioner.

You can also get low-end portable air conditioners. These are noisier and not as energy-efficient as a window unit, but you can get pretty small-capacity ones that will run on regular 120V lines, don't need 240V. It'll maybe keep a room cool.

https://www.amazon.com/GE-Conditioner-Dehumidify-Evaporation-Installation/dp/B09WSH44RQ

Here's an 850 watt one. Most microwaves will pull more power than that.

Sterile_Technique ,
@Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world avatar

I used to live in an apartment that also explicitly disallowed window units. The apartment did have a fireplace though, and I figured hot air rises, so we just shoved a window unit in there and let the hot air vent out the chimney.

It did the trick, and we never agreed not to install a fireplace unit.

AA5B ,

While I admit I didn’t pursue it when I lived in a similar situation, there’s a case to be made that would violate electrical code. You should be able to safely plug in any appliance which meets the limitation of the outlet.

In my case, I just ignored that and got a window AC anyway. Granted it was a lot smaller than needed and even that made the lights dim, but it did plug in to a standard outlet. Probably not a good choice but the easy choice

FireTower ,
@FireTower@lemmy.world avatar

I feel like the habitability requirement might be governing on issues of extreme heat.

intensely_human ,

Yes. Temperature range is one of the basic requirements not just for life but for all physical phenomena.

motor_spirit ,

something in common with prisoners! Hell yeah Tennessee!

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