Should Massachusetts adjust "heating season" law for state housing?

We just went through the second warmest start to November on record. In the middle of that statistically odd week, WBZ-TV's David Wade met up with Kelli Bergman as Boston hit 70 degrees for a third day in a row.

Bergman had reached out about a possible Question Everything segment. "I live in a HUD subsidized building for disabled people and seniors," Bergman said. "Regulations say the heat gets turned back on September 15. Why haven't the rules been changed to reflect our changing climate?"

Bergman is right. State regulations under the "Sanitary Code" define "heating season" as September 15 to May 31.

It doesn't mean the heat has to be cranking, but it does mean landlords in these buildings must keep temperatures at 68 degrees or higher and cannot exceed 78 degrees. So, that usually means the cooling systems are turned off.

Bergman says her 15th floor unit gets very uncomfortable many days after September 15.

"It's 76 in my unit right now, and I have the windows open, fans running, and the blinds closed, and it's still 76. And it's November," she said.

Bergman lives in Lynn, Massachusetts, in a government subsidized complex for elderly and disabled people. She loves the view toward the shoreline of Nahant and there's one thing she really dislikes: the temperature control.

"It's either cool or warm. The 'in-between' knob does nothing. There's no actual thermostat," she said. "It's very, very uncomfortable."

Bergman said she cannot turn the air conditioning on.

"No, I can't because the heat has already been turned on for the building for the season," she said.

According to state housing rules, September 15 is the start of "heating season" when landlords have to maintain temps of 68 degrees or higher and can't let temperatures go above 78. "Heating season" won't end until May 31.

A 68-degree minimum doesn't sound uncomfortable, but on warm fall days, Bergman has to have the windows open and a couple of fans going. Even then, her trusty infrared temperature gun shows temperatures climbing into the low 80s. It was 77 degrees on the day WBZ-TV visited.

Bergman says she'd like to use A/C in her unit earlier in the spring and later in the fall because she says both seasons are getting warmer. She has a point.

NOAA records say fall in Boston is now averaging 11 additional days with above normal temperatures compared to 50 years ago and the average fall temperature is about 2.5 degrees higher.

Spring hasn't been as dramatic, averaging five above average days. The shoulder seasons are definitely getting longer.

"I'd like the legislation to keep up with climate change. I'd like it to be a little bit more flexible," Bergman said.

WBZ-TV reached out to the Department of Public Health to see if it has thought about shifting the "heating season" dates. Interestingly, it already has.

In 2023, the state moved up the end of heating season from June 15 to the current date of May 31. This was the climate adjustment. There's no evidence the beginning of heating season, September 15, will be pushed later into the fall.  

"Summers are longer. They start sooner, they end longer, and people in this building who are disabled and also senior citizens are our most vulnerable," Bergman said.

Local public health departments are allowed to adjust the schedule temporarily during warm stretches. One local board told WBZ-TV it's up to landlords and management companies to reach out and ask for permission, but no one ever does.