Smart tenant gets ultimate revenge on ‘tight’ landlord after refusing to turn on the heating with a cunning thermostat hack

A tenant won a battle with his ‘tight’ landlord over cutting off his heating after devising a cunning hack to get his radiators back on.

Alin Oiste and his two flatmates were fed up with their flat getting cold after the owner of their property in Helmsley, Yorkshire, insisted on controlling the heating from his phone.

The 33-year-old says his landlord locked the system in an attempt to save money so it only kicks in when the house drops below 16 degrees, but he has figured out how to get around this.

Video footage shows him removing the thermostat from the wall and placing it in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator, making him think the temperature in his apartment is about eight degrees.

Another clip shows him bringing the thermostat inside, after letting it drop to zero degrees outside, and putting it back in the refrigerator for a night.

Alin claims the hack would start the heater in minutes and he would remove the device in the morning when he and his friends were warm again.

The crafty hospitality worker says he would carefully plan this around 10:30 at night because he knew the landlord wouldn’t notice the temperature drop from the thermostat.

His video has since been viewed more than half a million times on TikTok and users are applauding his improvisation.

Although he has now left the property, he wants to encourage other tenants to give it a try and beat the cold this winter.

Landlords can arrange thermostats if they pay the bills, but the Housing Act 2004 says councils can take action if a tenant is not free from ‘hazards’, including excessive cold.

Alin, originally from Orastie, Romania, said: ‘The first half of winter was the old thermostat, so it worked fine, and in the second half we were all so cold.

‘The whole house was freezing and you couldn’t shower or bathe because you would come out and it would be freezing.

‘No matter what I would set, the temperature would not rise above 16 degrees, so I thought: I will not accept this’.

The 33-year-old says his landlord has locked down the system in an effort to save money, so it only kicks in when the house drops below 16 degrees. However, he has discovered how to get around this.

Alin explained: ‘My housemate thought it wouldn’t work, but it did. The thermostat didn’t detect how long it was in so it still worked until I took it out’

Another clip shows him bringing the thermostat inside, after letting it drop to zero degrees outside, and putting it back in the refrigerator for a night.

“He did it to save money on his heating bill, so he was just strapped for cash.”

He explains: ‘By putting the thermostat in the refrigerator, we tricked the landlord and the thermostat into thinking the house was a lot colder than it already was.

‘My roommate thought it wouldn’t work, but it did. The thermostat didn’t detect how long it was in so it still worked until I took it out

‘During the day the landlord had a business nearby, so he could drop by to see why it was so cold in the house. So it was just at night when I got home from work.

‘I knew he wouldn’t come to see me at night. I had thought of everything.

‘I left it on from 10pm all night until morning and we did this for a few months until summer started and no heating was needed. I wanted to share it because I thought it was funny.”

Alin left the flat in September and has since moved to Scotland, where his landlord lets him manage his own heating.

He believes landlords should let their tenants control their own thermostats. ‘I think landlords need to trust tenants more and let them change the thermostat.

‘If there’s no one in the house there’s no point in turning it on, so you can turn it off, but it’s a fine line because a lot of people forget.

“I would tell anyone who’s struggling with their landlord checking their thermostat to put it in the refrigerator.”

His viral video was captioned “when the landlord overrides your thermostat, but you can easily override that” and has more than 300 comments.

One commented: ’16 degrees? Absolute misery, with a second medal: ‘Nice work!’

A third added: “Oh you won,” to which Alin replied: “The joke’s on him,” alongside laughing emojis.