Hotlines and Comforters

After a nippy no-more-than-65DEG F day at the office, Urban Dweller returns to his rented apartment, flicks on the light--and watches as his sigh forms a frozen cloud in the indoor chill. The thermostat is controlled by his thrifty landlord. A woodburning stove is banned by his lease. Improved insulation, not to mention a solar water heater, is hardly on the tenant's list of options. So what does the city dweller do to keep warm?

In New York, Chicago, Boston and other major cities, he can call for heat on a hotline. While the federal ceiling of 65DEG applies only to commercial and public buildings, most cities enforce local laws requiring landlords to keep residential buildings at a minimal 68DEG by day and 55DEG by night. Scofflaws reported over the hotlines are generally given a day to adjust the thermostat before they face fines or jail sentences. "Our big club," says Chicago Building Department Director Nick Fera, "is that we can haul a landlord into court within 24 hours." That may not deter a landlord whose fuel bill exceeds income from his building. "In such cases," says William Moses, chairman of a New York landlords' association, "owners are forced to abandon. That means a pretty grim winter."

Even if the landlord abides by the law, 55DEG or 68DEG is not exactly the smothering warmth Americans, unlike Europeans, have come to expect. In apartment buildings with fireplaces, urbanites are joining the national craze for wood power. When Chicago's park district had some trees chopped down in Lincoln Park last month, the loggers outran the joggers to haul away the wood before the city could remove it.

For the majority of the nation's apartment dwellers who do not have fireplaces, there are a few alternatives. Space heaters are selling well, though fire departments warn of dangers from liquid fuel and certain electric models. Safer and cheaper by far are the 79-c- sheets of transparent plastic offered as "indoor storm windows." Used in combination with Mortite and other caulking compounds (some offered in decorator colors), they can effectively seal out drafts around window frames, balcony doors and air-conditioning units. One Chicago store shows shoppers a quick how-to-do-it movie to help them with installation. Insulated window shades, made of a multilayered quilt of polyester and aluminized plastic, are a fancier and costlier option at $60 to $100 per window. For those who can afford to wait out winter in bed, down comforters--selling at four times last year's rate --and electric blankets are recommended. Macy's 15 New York City area stores now offer an array of such items in specialized boutiques aptly known as "65DEG shops."

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