Resident radiant heater on in July

Ever since I moved to this nursing home, I noticed the temperatures in this building are strange. In the wintertime it is usually overly warm after they turn the building's heat on November 1. But, before that, I could probably freeze to death in my room. Two years ago housekeeping told me they could turn on the radiant heater above the window if I was cold, before they turned the building's heat on. A couple of days it was cold outside, and cold in my room. So, I asked them to put it on. It takes a while for the radiant heater to warm up. It's nothing like a forced air heater or furnace.

I waited for it to warm the room. When it did, it did not shut off. I could tell from the way the radiant heater works that it has no thermostat, per se. That made me kind of nervous. I decided to cover up with extra blankets at night, when it's usually coolest, and deal with it until the facility's heat was turned on.

But, in the summer, even with the air-conditioning on in the building, it still gets very warm in some spots. I also know that some residents on the other end are too cool from the AC. They sometimes ask that the AC be turned off. That's weird when I would like it to be cooler in my room. But, I know, how difficult it is to get the temperature right to please all the residents.

For months, since the spring, particularly on warmer spring days, it felt so very warm in my room. To me, it felt like the central heating was on while I was using air conditioning (my window air conditioner)  I mentioned this to almost everybody, aides, nurses, and management. I just thought it strange that it was so hot in here. I thought there had to be a reason for it.

I don't know why I didn't consider that a resident had the radiant heater on over their window. I guess I thought none of them would try to do that on their. I know my radiant heater has no knob on it. So, either the aides had to figure out how to turn it up and down without one, or I had to wait until housekeeping/maintenance was available to turn it off or on.

I heard over a week ago that the female resident next door is turning on her radiant heater. When it's on, it heats up the end part of the hall. Personally, I think the heater should be disconnected, so she cannot turn it on in the summertime. I don't think certain residents should be allowed to have the radiant heaters on unless were having a really bad cold snap. And then, it should only be put on if the outside temperature goes below a predetermined number.

Last week housekeeping had to get the maintenance man to turn my next-door neighbor's radiant heater off. This morning one of the aides said they heater was on again. It's only 73° outside today and this building is rather warm. But, I'm sure maintenance turned the ACs thermostat up due to us having lower temperatures outside.

Congregant living is problematic when some residents do not consider the welfare of others, and only are concerned about their own needs.