Heat problems hit off-campus apts.

Tali Aronsky might have been mistaken for Frosty the Snowman as she typed a paper Tuesday night, when this winter's first burst of bitter cold weather hit campus. Although the College junior was wearing gloves and multiple sweatshirts, she still shivered as she completed homework assignments in her bedroom. Among off-campus residents, Aronsky was not alone in her situation. But after two weeks of waiting in the cold, Aronsky's landlady finally dropped off a space heater yesterday afternoon at her house on 41st Street between Locust and Walnut streets. According to Mihaela Farcas, assistant director of the Office of Off-Campus Living, city codes state that in buildings with two or more apartments, landlords must supply heat at a temperature of at least 68 degrees from October 1 until April 30. During May and September, landlords are required to have heat available when the outside temperature falls below 60 degrees, Farcas added. "If a tenant has constant problems with heating, they need to address the problem in writing," she said. To increase the chances that they will get prompt attention, tenants need to inform their landlords by certified mail of the specific nature of the problems they are experiencing. And problems need to be addressed in a timely manner, Farcas added. Students who come to her office seeking to break leases because they did not have heat all last winter -- and are now out in the cold again -- are pretty much out of luck. Students should turn to their landlords for help. Many have 24-hour emergency maintenance telephone lines, Farcas explained, adding that the Office of Off-Campus Living also provides assistance. And if those options do not work, the city's Gas Commission can be reached at 686-0910, and the Department of Licenses and Inspections Heat Hotline can be reached at 686-2590. Employees at two of the biggest apartment management companies near campus, University City Housing and Campus Apartments, said yesterday that all of their properties' heating systems are operational. Despite the current cold snap, UCH received more calls during the month of October when systems were first being turned on, division manager Bill Groves said. The steam boiler system in the Hamilton Court "A" building on Chestnut Street between 38th and 39th streets -- which is owned by UCH -- was installed last year. So most of the problems reported by residents of the complex this fall relate to radiation units in individual rooms, Groves said. The radiation units are operated by thermostatic control valves that automatically sense the air temperature and turn the units on or off accordingly, Groves explained. "It isn't really intuitively obvious how to operate them," he said. "They get knocked off all the time." UCH plumbers are working on resolving these problems, Groves said, adding that he expects all of them to be taken care of within the next week. Meanwhile, College senior Katie Portnoy -- who lives on the top floor of the Hamilton Court "A" building -- said she has not received any satisfactory explanations from UCH for her apartment's erratic heat. "It's been in the 30s [outside], so clearly it should be on on a regular basis, and it isn't," she said. Wharton junior Justin Faust also said he cannot escape the cold. When he walks to the bathroom every morning with his bare feet, he said, "it's freezing." Faust said he thinks the individual residents of Hamilton Court, and not a central thermostat, should control the temperature in their units. Campus Apartments General Manager Dan DeRitis said half of the company's 92 buildings in the area have new heat control systems this fall, so there have not been many glitches yet. But the biggest issue for some tenants has been setting up heating service themselves. Waiting for a Philadelphia Gas Works representative can occupy a full day, since the company does not give customers the specific time that the technician will arrive. College and Engineering senior Ava Dadabhoy said she had to wait for three days before a PGW employee finally arrived. "I found it irritating that they don't come when they're supposed to," she said. "My roommate waited for hours and hours and missed a lot of class waiting for them to arrive. We called Campus Apartments for help and they weren't able to do much for us, either."

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