As temperatures rise, so do tempers, and Ken Borden is sweaty and mad.

He’s had an air conditioner in his apartment at Finch Ave. W. and Bathurst St. for more than three years, but last week, when daily highs topped 30 degrees, his landlord told him to get rid of his A/C.

“This is a bunch of nonsense,” he said. “Our building collects heat. Our bedroom is really hot, even with the windows and doors open. Without air conditioning, I can’t sleep.”

Borden says his wife suffers from migraines that are exacerbated when the mercury rises, so the couple considers adequate cooling to be a health issue.

Despite paying for their own hydro, 21 tenants at 521 Finch Ave. W. received three letters in quick succession demanding they get rid of their window units “due to issues with air conditioners causing injury or damage, as well as the additional drain on power to the building systems.”

The letters, which the Star has viewed, are dated July 24, 27 and 31, and give the tenant 24 to 72 hours to comply. The last one states that “not removing the A/C by August 1st, 2015 will result in legal actions being taken.”

“It gets very, very hot. Over 35, easy,” said Michael Simand, who also lives in the 91-unit building. “I don’t know what they expect us to do, but there’s no way I’m getting rid of my A/C … not unless the police come.”

Brent Merrill, president of MetCap Living Management, which oversees the building, says the leases require tenants to seek permission to install an air conditioner in their unit.

“Of course, residents who require A/C units for medical reasons or can provide proof of proper installation from a professional contractor are exempt from this policy,” Merrill wrote, though this was not explained on the letters sent to tenants.

The law doesn’t explicitly deal with the question of air conditioning in rental units. While landlords are required to maintain a minimum temperature in the winter, they only have to respect a maximum temperature in buildings that have central air conditioning.

Since most of Toronto’s apartment buildings were built before the development of central air systems and lack the ductwork necessary to install them, many of the city’s renters have no alternative to individual air conditioning units when summer temperatures soar.

Geordie Dent, executive director of the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations, says that no matter who pays the bills, landlords can’t prevent a tenant from using air conditioning.

“You can do whatever you want in your apartment unless it does something illegal or it damages something, and this is a basic principle of law,” said Dent. “If an air conditioner is causing a brownout in your building, the problem is not the air conditioner. City bylaws are clear on this: you’re supposed to have a proper electrical system, and I don’t know why an air conditioner would blow over the top on that. It shouldn’t.”

Many landlords charge a monthly fee for the months when an air conditioner is in use, and this is legal as long as it’s included in the lease, said Mary Todorow, a policy analyst at the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario.

“While there’s no absolute right to having an air conditioner in your unit,” she said, “you don’t have reasonable enjoyment of your apartment if you can’t keep it at a healthy temperature.”

According to its own calculations, Toronto has more than 500,000 people living in 1,200 older apartment buildings built between 1945 and 1984, the majority of which do not have central air conditioning.

“Many older apartment buildings without air conditioning face significant overheating problems,” states a city staff report tabled in June. “Ensuring access to cooling in apartment buildings that do not have air conditioning is an important but complex undertaking.”

The report projects a five-fold increase in the number of heat waves by 2050, which would double the current number of premature deaths caused by heat.

A series of consultations hosted by the city has identified solutions that include requiring landlords to provide “cooling centres” once temperatures reach a certain threshold. The city is also studying incentives to induce landlords to retrofit their buildings with roof coatings and window films.

These solutions have been developed in places like France and Italy, where heat waves in 2003 killed thousands — mostly seniors and socially isolated people. In Sarnia, Ont., two people died during a heat wave in 2007 because they could not afford the extra charge their landlord demanded for air conditioning.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

MetCap’s Merrill says every tenant can’t have an air conditioner, and asks that the limited power is saved for those truly in need.

“We definitely appreciate that the summers in Toronto can be muggy and our residents need relief. We just want this to be done in a safe manner,” he wrote. “Other residents have provided us with either proof of proper installation, doctor’s notes or both. I don’t think it’s too much to ask of this particular resident to do the same.”

Correction – August 6, 2015: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said two people in Windsor died during a heat wave in 2007 because they could not afford the extra charge their landlord demanded for air conditioning.