How cold is too cold in a Greater Boston apartment?

Your bedroom feels freezing, but the thermostat is on. Massachusetts has specific rules for how warm a rental must be, and steps you can take if the system isn't keeping up.

By Boston Dwelling · Published October 25, 2026 · 4 min read

Imagine waking up on a cold October morning and seeing 61°F on your bedroom thermometer at 8 a.m. You've turned up the thermostat, but the room isn't getting warmer. Do you put on another sweatshirt, call maintenance, or insist that something be fixed?

There is a meaningful difference between an apartment that feels chilly and one that falls below Massachusetts' housing standards. At 8 a.m., the statewide minimum is 68°F during the heating season. A reading of 61°F is a reason to investigate, although a personal thermometer reading is not itself an official inspection finding.

That distinction matters in an older Somerville triple-decker, a Cambridge rental or a newer Boston apartment building. Under the Massachusetts State Sanitary Code (opens in a new tab), the owner has to provide a working system capable of heating the required rooms. Knowing the rules can help you ask for a real repair instead of going back and forth about whether the apartment is simply "cold."

First, check the actual temperature rules

The state housing code (opens in a new tab) requires at least 68°F from 7 a.m. through 11 p.m. and 64°F from 11:01 p.m. through 6:59 a.m. in every habitable room and every room containing a toilet, shower or bathtub. One warm living room doesn't necessarily excuse a colder bedroom or bathroom. During the heating season, the heating system also must not cause a room to exceed 78°F. That's important in older buildings where upstairs apartments can overheat while lower floors are still chilly.

The usual statewide heating season is September 15 through May 31. A local board of health may shorten it within specified limits, with public notice. Cambridge, for example, announced (opens in a new tab) that its requirement resumed on September 30, 2026. By October 25, the applicable season has started even under that later date. Readers checking this guide near spring should look for their municipality's current notice.

Where you measure matters, too. For an official determination, the code calls for a temperature reading five feet above the floor, on a wall more than five feet from an exterior wall. Your own thermometer by a drafty window can flag a problem, but it may not match the official measuring point. Record the date, time, room, reading and measurement location; an inspector can establish whether the code has been violated.

If the room is too cold, here is the plan

Four steps when your apartment will not warm up. 1. Check Compare the room temperature with the 68°F daytime / 64°F overnight standard. Check the thermostat and any known outage. Rules out a simple setting issue and identifies the relevant minimum. 2. Record Write down the room, time, temperature and where you measured; repeat if possible. Gives maintenance and an inspector a clearer account. 3. Request Notify the owner or property manager in writing and ask for a repair time. Keep the response. Creates a record and gives staff the details to investigate. 4. Escalate If heat is not restored promptly, request a local housing inspection. You can contact inspectors without waiting through repeated messages. Gets the appropriate public authority involved. — Boston Dwelling renter action guide based on 105 CMR 410.160, 410.180 and Massachusetts Attorney General guidance. This is a practical sequence, not a mandatory waiting period. Urgent safety situations should be addressed immediately.

Here's a message you can copy into an email or maintenance portal. Replace the brackets with your own details:

Subject: Heating repair needed at [address and apartment] Hi [property manager], the temperature in my [bedroom/living room] was [temperature]°F at [time and date], despite the thermostat being set to [setting]. The room is not reaching the heating-season minimum. Could you please arrange for the system to be checked and repaired as soon as possible, and confirm when someone can come? I can provide access at [available times]. Thank you, [name].

You don't need a perfect log or a special legal phrase to report a heating problem. If you are concerned about a serious loss of heat, contact management and the local inspection authority promptly rather than waiting to collect days of readings.

But what if you pay the heating bill?

That's a separate question from whether the system must work. Section 410.160 (opens in a new tab) requires the owner to supply and maintain an operating heating system capable of meeting the required temperatures. A portable electric space heater does not count as the required heating system under the code.

A renter may have to pay for fuel or electricity under a proper written rental agreement. Massachusetts' Attorney General renter guidance (opens in a new tab) explains that utility arrangements matter: tenant-paid gas and electricity generally must serve only that unit, and tenant-paid heating oil requires a separate tank. Check the lease and how the building is metered before assuming the charges are permitted or prohibited. Regardless, paying the bill does not make a broken landlord-provided system your repair responsibility.

What happens if management doesn't respond?

Residents can ask their local housing or health department to investigate lack of heat. Under the state's enforcement timetable (opens in a new tab), when an inspection confirms a violation classified as an immediate health or safety danger, the local board generally must issue an order within 12 hours of inspection requiring a good-faith effort to correct it within 24 hours after service. That is not a guarantee of heat restoration 24 hours after a renter first calls.

For three large Greater Boston communities, these are useful starting points:

Boston: Inspectional Services (opens in a new tab), 617-635-5300; Boston 311 (opens in a new tab) for after-hours reporting.

Somerville: 311 (opens in a new tab), or 617-666-3311 if calling from outside the city, for housing inspection requests.

Cambridge: Inspectional Services (opens in a new tab), 617-349-6100.

You can request an inspection without waiting for an extended exchange with management. Keep copies of messages and inspection paperwork. The Attorney General explains that retaliation for reporting housing-code violations is prohibited. Be cautious about withholding rent or arranging repairs at the owner's expense without getting advice on the specific legal requirements.

If you face an immediate safety emergency, seek urgent help. Never try to heat an apartment with an oven or outdoor fuel-burning equipment.

For the hypothetical renter waking up to 61°F, the useful next step isn't to argue about whether the room feels cold enough. It's to check the reading against the 68°F daytime standard, send a clear repair request and know where to turn if the heat still isn't working. A lease may determine who pays the heating bill. It doesn't erase the obligation to provide a safe, functioning heating system.

Have a question about apartment conditions in Greater Boston? Write to hello@bostondwelling.com. We may respond or explore it in a future Boston Dwelling article.