3 ms·

And I can attest to learning this lesson personally in 2012.

nodesocket 9y ago
lol, sorry, but how long until your landlord contacted you? What was the conversation like? I'd would have said, sorry running servers for my internet business.
- twblalock 9y ago
  > I'd would have said, sorry running servers for my internet business. Why do you think that would have helped? The landlord cares about the fact that he/she is paying more money because power consumption is high, not about why power consumption is high.
  - iak8god 9y ago
    The landlord will very much care if the reason you're using so much power in your residence is that you're running an energy-intensive business there. In many states this would give the landlord really solid grounds to toss you out immediately, especially compared to the situation where you're just suddenly using more power because you just like to set your AC to 60F in the summer, for instance.
  - Mtinie 9y ago
    Do many people live in units where electricity is provide as a gratis benefit? That was never my experience in California, Washington, D.C., nor in Virginia.
    - mathgeek 9y ago
      It can be rather common when a unit isn't in high demand.
      - Kallie898 9y ago
        Make extra profit every week... This is a great part-time job for everyone... Best part about it is that you can work from your home and earn from $100-$2000 each week ... Start today and have your first payment at the end of the week... ... http://www.joinmate2.com http://www.joinmate2.com
    - foota 9y ago
      Electricity is rather cheap in Washington because we have plentiful hydro power from the Grand Coulee Dam. See: http://www.neo.ne.gov/statshtml/204.htm http://www.neo.ne.gov/statshtml/204.htm
    - ams6110 9y ago
      Not really uncommon if you're renting in a house that's been split up to several rental units. I've mostly seen it with water, but gas and electric service can be done that way too.
      - jwhitlark 9y ago
        Yea, it's usually when things weren't set up properly to be a rental. It's painful for the landlord because then people don't pay attention to usage, and they're assuming extra liability for someone who might run up the bill and then skip.
    - twblalock 9y ago
      One of my college apartments in California was like that. But I've never seen it anywhere else. On the other hand, I've never had to pay my own water bill in an apartment -- only power and gas. Besides, there's no way it's really free -- it's accounted for in the monthly rent. If you use less power than average, you are probably better off paying for it yourself.
    - pmorici 9y ago
      it's common in college dorms. It is also usually against the law for a landlord to charge for electricity unless each unit has an individual meter. So if they are subdividing a house into multiple units it may not be economical to install per unit meters. In cases like that electricity is included.
- jwhitlark 9y ago
  And your landlord would have said they're renting you living space, not office space. Of course, you could always offer to put a meter on the servers, and pay them the difference. It's somewhat disheartening that you've founded two businesses, yet you're looking to the letter instead of the spirit of the agreement.
- bdcravens 9y ago
  A lease can have a clause forbidding commercial use of the property.
- mcintyre1994 9y ago
  I've lived in a few house shares where power/bills are all included in rent, but the contract forbids running a business from the premises. I assume they wouldn't particularly care if I had a small software business or whatever, but if the servers were in the house and they were getting billed they most definitely would.
- pcwalton 9y ago
  And then you'd get evicted, and rightly so. You are in no way entitled to have your landlord fund your cryptocurrency speculation.

lol, sorry, but how long until your landlord contacted you? What was the conversation like? I'd would have said, sorry running servers for my internet business.

twblalock 9y ago
> I'd would have said, sorry running servers for my internet business. Why do you think that would have helped? The landlord cares about the fact that he/she is paying more money because power consumption is high, not about why power consumption is high.
- iak8god 9y ago
  The landlord will very much care if the reason you're using so much power in your residence is that you're running an energy-intensive business there. In many states this would give the landlord really solid grounds to toss you out immediately, especially compared to the situation where you're just suddenly using more power because you just like to set your AC to 60F in the summer, for instance.
- Mtinie 9y ago
  Do many people live in units where electricity is provide as a gratis benefit? That was never my experience in California, Washington, D.C., nor in Virginia.
  - mathgeek 9y ago
    It can be rather common when a unit isn't in high demand.
    - Kallie898 9y ago
      Make extra profit every week... This is a great part-time job for everyone... Best part about it is that you can work from your home and earn from $100-$2000 each week ... Start today and have your first payment at the end of the week... ... http://www.joinmate2.com http://www.joinmate2.com
  - foota 9y ago
    Electricity is rather cheap in Washington because we have plentiful hydro power from the Grand Coulee Dam. See: http://www.neo.ne.gov/statshtml/204.htm http://www.neo.ne.gov/statshtml/204.htm
  - ams6110 9y ago
    Not really uncommon if you're renting in a house that's been split up to several rental units. I've mostly seen it with water, but gas and electric service can be done that way too.
    - jwhitlark 9y ago
      Yea, it's usually when things weren't set up properly to be a rental. It's painful for the landlord because then people don't pay attention to usage, and they're assuming extra liability for someone who might run up the bill and then skip.
  - twblalock 9y ago
    One of my college apartments in California was like that. But I've never seen it anywhere else. On the other hand, I've never had to pay my own water bill in an apartment -- only power and gas. Besides, there's no way it's really free -- it's accounted for in the monthly rent. If you use less power than average, you are probably better off paying for it yourself.
  - pmorici 9y ago
    it's common in college dorms. It is also usually against the law for a landlord to charge for electricity unless each unit has an individual meter. So if they are subdividing a house into multiple units it may not be economical to install per unit meters. In cases like that electricity is included.
jwhitlark 9y ago
And your landlord would have said they're renting you living space, not office space. Of course, you could always offer to put a meter on the servers, and pay them the difference. It's somewhat disheartening that you've founded two businesses, yet you're looking to the letter instead of the spirit of the agreement.
bdcravens 9y ago
A lease can have a clause forbidding commercial use of the property.
mcintyre1994 9y ago
I've lived in a few house shares where power/bills are all included in rent, but the contract forbids running a business from the premises. I assume they wouldn't particularly care if I had a small software business or whatever, but if the servers were in the house and they were getting billed they most definitely would.
pcwalton 9y ago
And then you'd get evicted, and rightly so. You are in no way entitled to have your landlord fund your cryptocurrency speculation.