I outsmarted stingy landlord who controls our heating with his phone… but Brits say I’M selfish for messing with him
A TENANT who outsmarted his landlord and turned his heating up has been turned on by the public.
Alin Oiste, 33, revealed that his landlord had locked the heating system in a bid to save cash and that it was all controlled remotely from his phone.
He went on to say that the landlord would only heat the property in Yorkshire if the temperature dropped below 16 degrees - which gave him an idea.
The 33-year-old shared a video to TikTok where he removed the wireless thermostat from his wall and placed it in his fridge.
His crafty manoeuvre tricked the system into thinking that the house was around eight degrees, and immediately started the heating.
Alin said that he would then remove the device from the fridge in the morning, after a night of warmth.
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The crafty tenant even revealed that he only put the thermostat in the fridge at around 10.30pm, as he knew his landlord wouldn't notice the drop in temperature.
He has now posted a handful of TikTok videos about the process, which have been viewed several million times.
Although not all of the comments have been in support of his actions.
Many were quick to call him selfish, with one user saying: "bro I spoil myself having it set at 17 😳 usually sits at 15/16."
Another added: "thats a touch over 64 which is plenty. put on a sweat shirt."
A handful were quick to side with his landlord.
One wrote: "Understandable, that’s pretty much the perfect temp."
While another said: "did you read the lease you signed? 65 is a decent temperature or at least from someone that pays to heat their own home."
Alin defended himself, saying that he only shared the videos in the hope that other tenants would learn from him and not face the same problems with their landlords.
He said: "The first half of the winter was the old thermostat so it was working fine and then in the second half we were all so cold.
"The whole house was freezing and you couldn't have a shower or a bath because you would get out and you'd be freezing.
"No matter what I would set it to, the temperature just wouldn't go above 16 degrees so I thought 'I'm not accepting this'.
"He was doing it to save money on his heating bill so he was just being tight."
He added: "My roommate thought it wouldn't work but it did. The thermostat wouldn't detect how long it had been in there so it was still working until I took it out.
"During the day the landlord had a business nearby so he could pop in and see why the house was so cold, so it was just at night when I would get home from work.
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"I knew he wouldn't be checking at night. I'd thought about everything.
"I would have it on from 10pm all the way through the night until the morning and we did this for a couple of months until summer started and there was no need for heating."
