Everyone raves about those old beautiful but huge homes that are now apartments. They are so pretty and elegant. The people who live in those converted apartments are just so lucky. Well, not so much. I find myself living in one of these big old Victorians. The place has been chopped up into a series of 1 bedroom apartments. Given my circumstances it seemed like a decent place to land for awhile. Overall, it’s really not too bad. I like my neighbors and everyone is respectful about privacy, noise and the like. We share a great big kitchen and that ends up being a really nice social situation. However, the HVAC in this place could not be worse if they had tried. I have one heating and cooling vent in my apartment. And the vent is right by the door. It’s not so good for the air flow to be pointed at a closed door. I was able to remove the vent and at least point it toward the main living space. However, there is only one thermostat. Of course it is in a hallway and under lock & key. Only the management can move the dial at all. They keep it around 80 in the summer and 65 in the winter. All the tenants are upset with this part of living here. It simply makes no sense. So, we sat down the manager of the property to air our feelings. We also had at least an initial solution. Putting in a smart thermostat would at least allow for a more liveable situation.