As heat waves intensify in a warming world and a growing body of research shows the deadly effects of extreme heat, some renters, politicians, tenant advocates and environmental health experts are pushing for stronger hot weather protections, such as requiring rental units to be cooled to a certain temperature.
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The effects of extreme heat are severe and have been linked to heart, kidney and respiratory failure. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about a third of recorded heat-related deaths in the United States have occurred in people’s homes between Jan. 1, 2018, and July 13, 2024.
Under many state laws, if a rental unit comes with an air conditioner, landlords are required to keep it in working order — but not cool the dwelling to a specific temperature. Most cooling policies exist on the city or county level.
Phoenix, Dallas and New Orleans have ordinances that require landlords to keep residences cooled to certain temperatures. But Arizona, Texas and Louisiana do not have state-level laws mandating cooling.
“We really haven’t thought about cooling as a basic right or basic need,” said David Konisky, a professor of environmental policy at Indiana University. “But I think it’s something that we need to take into consideration.”
In some places that have been hit by major heat waves in recent years, officials are working toward enacting maximum temperature requirements or ensuring tenants have access to air conditioning.
Oregon launched a program to subsidize air conditioning, but “when the number of applications exceeded the number of devices available, the state paused the application process to make sure all current requests could be fulfilled,” said Amy Bacher, a communications officer at the Oregon Health Authority.
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Experts see other pitfalls with cooling mandates.
“If a landlord is requiring AC, they might raise the rent,” said Sanya Carley, a professor of energy policy at the University of Pennsylvania. “Once the rent is raised [residents] may curtail the electricity even more.”