Aesthetics Matter More Than Safety/Staying Alive During Summer Heat Waves, Say Some Building Managers

Window air conditioners like this one on my house aren't
exactly pretty, but they can be life saving to some during
intense heat waves. Residents, lawmakers in various
parts of the nation are rebelling against landlord
issued window air conditioning bans. 

As we move into the hot months of summer,  I'm seeing a smattering of reports around the nation of apartment building managers bent on making their tenants broil in dangerous heat.  

The reason: The buildings need to look pretty, even if it means some people die of heat stroke or something. 

This involves apartment buildings or rental houses without central air. People in those cases resort to window mounted air conditions to get them through heat waves. 

In addition to aesthetics, building managers cite supposed safety issues. As if there were a sudden epidemic of air conditioners falling from windows, kind of like the constant rain of Acme-brand anvils smashing down on Wily E. Coyote.  

Examples are cropping up everywhere. In torrid San Antonio, residents of a mobile home park were told they can no longer have air conditioners in their windows.  Not sure what the residents are supposed to do when the Texas summer sun hits those tin can homes, but whatever. 

In equally hot Denton, Texas, a 600 unit mobile home park also banned window air conditioners. Central air is allowed, but many residents can't afford that. 

In South Portland, Maine, managers of an apartment building this spring abruptly told residents that window air conditioners are now banned, says television station WGME.

This particular apartment building tends to heat up big time in the summer. One resident said on a recent day when temperatures outdoors were in the low 60s, the temperature in their apartment reached 81 degrees.

Residents were told that window air conditioners are a safety and liability worry. "Why are they all of a sudden worried now, when there's never been an accident where one fell out," resident Anthony Nizza said. 

People who live in the apartment block can use portable air conditioners but they are much expensive to operate and not as effective as window units. One resident said the cost of operating a portable unit is twice that of a window air conditioner. 

Following complaints, operators of the South Portland apartment building will allow window units this summer only if brackets are installed.  Next year, no window units.

Some states and municipalities are fighting back. 

After an extreme, deadly heat wave in 2021, Oregon legislators passed a law ordering landlords to allow window air conditioners. 

Lawmakers too action after residents complained that landlords weren't allowing air conditioners as temperatures inside homes reached a dangerous 100 degrees. 

There are loopholes in the Oregon law. . Landlords could claim the air conditioners are overloading the building electrical system. Or they could be banned from historic buildings.

Same issue seems to be brewing in Spokane, Washington. There, the City Council is considering an ordinance that would forbid landlords from banning tenants from installing air conditioning in Spokane rental at any time when the National Weather Service issues a heat alert. 

It has happened. The Seattle Times reports that the nonprofit Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners have ordered the removal of air conditioning units in one apartment complex due to liability worries. 

Even if the ordinance is enacted, landlords would surely find loopholes. For instance, a common lease provision bars tenants from altering a rental unit without permission. Or do things that make the landlord pay an increased electricity bill. Those rules could effectively ban window air conditioners. 

I get it. Window air conditioners aren't necessarily the prettiest things in the world. But as heat waves worsen and lengthy under the strength of climate change, these ugly little boxes will more often become lifesaving devices.