Heart of winter in CT: Complaints of ‘no heat’ and ‘no hot water’ and rats ratchet up

After the heat and hot water shut off in a New Britain apartment house before Christmas, health inspectors examined the system, consulted with the landlord, ensured that a contractor was making repairs and later confirmed with tenants that the utilities were back in service.

But two days later, the health department got a new round of identical complaints: The Kensington Avenue building and its water were cold again.

“Usually these things are resolved in 24 hours. This one was unusual: The owner was pretty cooperative, and there was no history (of complaints) with that building,” said Sergio Lupo, the city’s director of health. “It turned out that when the owner recently rehabbed the building, new downspouts were installed and went directly to the corners of the foundation. It was letting water into the basement, putting out the (furnace) pilot light.”

A new set of repairs got the systems back to running reliably, but Lupo said the case was one of the more difficult that his staff has had to deal with this winter.

Like communities across the Northeast that have high concentrations of apartments, New Britain gets “no heat” and “no hot water” complaints — and an uptick in reports of rodents — from tenants every winter.

Poorer communities and those with older housing stock, such as the early and mid 19th century three- and four-family houses common in New Britain, typically get more than in affluent suburbs with more modern apartment buildings with newer mechanical systems. But health inspectors are called out at least once a winter in all but the smallest towns, and the rate can go up during deep freeze periods like last weekend.

“Heat and hot water complaints are routine for us during the colder months. We do see increases during extreme weather and cold snaps, like the most recent one we experienced,” said Susan Lonczak, director of the South Central Health District, which covers Southington, Plainville and Middlefield.

“We could have anywhere from a handful of complaints for months to upwards of 12 to 20 in a given month,” Lonczak reported. “Some heat/hot water issues affect just one tenant, while others may affect an entire apartment building.

Over the past three winters in the Central Connecticut Health District, Rocky Hill recorded 19 complaints, with 14 of those about no hot water and the others about heat. During that same period, Berlin had six complaints about either no heat, no hot water or both; Wethersfield had nine and Newington had six, according to statistics compiled by Supervising Sanitarian Kristen Amodio.

“In general, we have not seen many of these types of complaints, but we always make them top priority if they do happen during the winter months,” said Charles Brown, the district’s health director. “We also work with our town social services to ensure that if people need to be relocated due to lack of heat issues that it happens quickly.”

The West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District has a roughly similar experience.

“I would say on average, the district will receive one to three confirmed ‘no heat’ complaints per month from November through February. Generally, ‘no heat’ complaints will arise when there is a cold spell. We receive ‘no hot water’ complaints on a less frequent basis,” Director Aimee Krauss said.

For tenants stuck in unheated buildings in the middle of winter, even a brief delay can be a burden. Like other health districts, South Central is usually able to get conditions back to normal soon after a complaint — but not always.

“I would agree that these complaints are generally resolved in the first 48 hours, but there are instances where more significant repairs are needed that force tenants to be relocated for longer periods,” Lonczak said. “Sometimes, a tenant fails to have the oil tank filled, while other times a heating component within the dwelling fails and requires significant work to become functional. Every complaint we receive has its own unique story and way of resolution.”

In New Britain, Lupo said the Kensington Avenue case was an unusual one because the problem happened again just days after repairs. There was no history of water infiltration trouble in the basement, but inspectors were able to trace the trouble to water coming in from the downspouts. The situation has been resolved, he said.

Lupo’s agency gives “no heat” calls high priority in the winter, especially when they involved senior citizens, children or people with medical conditions.

“Anything to do with utilities takes priority, we usually respond on the same day,” he said. “There are more complaints when you have three or four nights in the single digits because the furnace in older homes in constantly running. That puts stress on the furnace and increases the chance of something happening.”

Health directors in the state recommend landlords have furnaces and hot water systems inspected and serviced before the heating season. Lonczak recommended tenants raise the issue right away if something’s wrong.

“Communicate, I cannot stress this enough. I urge tenants to reach out to their landlord as soon as something is not working properly in the dwelling. If they are unsuccessful, they can always reach out to their local health department for guidance,” she said. “If tenants are struggling to pay for utilities, there is no shame in asking for help and looking into what social services they may be eligible for.”