Know the Code
Whether you’re an owner, landlord, property manager, or tenant, it pays to know about New York City’s residential heat and hot water requirements. All residential building owners in NYC are required by law to provide heat and hot water to their tenants. Hot water must be provided 365 days a year at a constant minimum temperature of 120ºF. There are additional requirements for the period known as “heating season.”
The 2019-2020 heating season begins October 1, 2019 and lasts until May 31, 2020. During this time, building owners must provide tenants with heat according to the following rules:
- Between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., if the outside temperature falls bellow 55ºF, the inside temperature must be at least 68ºF.
- Between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., the inside temperature must be at least 62ºF at all times. There is no outside temperature trigger during these hours.
If you are a building owner, landlord, or property manager, keep in mind that the second of these two rules is relatively new. Before last heating season, the minimum nightly temperature for inside was 55ºF, and this was only triggered when the outside temperature dropped to 40ºF or lower. This means you now may have to run your boiler or furnace longer and at higher temperatures, which could affect fuel consumption and service needs. Talk to your Bioheat® fuel dealer about ways to manage your fuel supply and maintenance costs.
