13-05-2025
Heat wave creates AC ‘guessing game' for Winnipeg landlords, tenants
As temperatures soar in Winnipeg this week, many apartment dwellers are forced to sweat it out without air conditioning.
With highs well into the 30s C, Winnipeggers are feeling the heat, but many buildings aren't ready to flip the switch to AC just yet.
The Residential Tenancies Branch sets a minimum temperature that all landlords must keep their buildings at throughout the winter, but there's no maximum temperature for the summer before the air needs to come on.
Avrom Charach of the Professional Property Managers Association told Global Winnipeg that it's a tricky situation, as the HVAC systems in some buildings require some time to fully switch over from heating to cooling, and a sudden heat wave like the one Winnipeg is experiencing is hard to plan for.
'If you decided today you want to turn on the cooling, it's going to take days before it's turned on,' Charach said.
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'You have to be careful, because once you turn the cooling on, you can't turn the heat (back) on … so should there be a sudden cold snap, now you may violate the minimum temperature, because your building may go below 18 degrees at night.'
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And the forecast for the next week or so in Winnipeg bears that out — after a few really hot days, the temperatures are expected to plummet close to zero later this week.
Charach said most landlords have to take a best-guess approach as to when to make the switch.
'Often it's looking at the long-term forecast,' he said. 'Of course, during March and April, you're not going to be looking too closely, but by the beginning of May, property managers would be looking at the May long-term forecast, the June long-term forecast.
'Some time after the (May) long weekend tends to be usually when you would swap over.'
The logistics of when to turn on the AC, however, are little comfort to Winnipeggers who are feeling the heat right now.
'It'll be like entering a sauna. No word of a lie — I sit and all the sweat just drains off of me, it's terrible,' Sarah Kitcher, who lives in an apartment block on Adamar Road, told Global Winnipeg.
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'This heat is also creating headaches for me. I've been using cool cloths.'
