broken heater: apartment is below 50 degrees

By maya

Our heater is not functioning correctly; the thermostat is reading at or below 50 degrees (we cannot assess the exact temperature, as the unit is 20 years old and cannot read temperatures below this level, it could be much lower).  
We have been complaining (via text and phone) to our landlord for two months and he refuses to fix the heater. He told us we can buy a space heater, and that he is not obligated to fix the heating unit. 
He did send someone to look at it, and they told us that the unit is from the 1980’s, and it needs to be replaced. The worker privately stated that our landlord texted him asking him not to tell us that information, and to instead to lie and tell us it was normal under these weather conditions and we just need to buy a space heater. 
I feel like he is giving us the run around because we are student age, and he thinks he can get away with it. 
Yesterday afternoon I emailed him an official notice of the complaint, and he has yet to respond.  

 
If he continues to ignore us, I am unsure of what action to take. 

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Holy Cow, we couldn't find any other related post. Sorry. :(