how is a room qualified as a bedroom?  Does it have to be a certain size, does there have to be a source of heat to that room etc?  

Quoted from rpforpres

how is a room qualified as a bedroom?  Does it have to be a certain size, does there have to be a source of heat to that room etc?  

If I remember correctly, a bedroom is defined as a bedroom if it has an actual closet

I never read up on heat source to such a room, never thought of it before, but now that you bring it up, I would guess there would have to be heat to the room, and my hunch is that you could be referencing the typical two family house in Schenectady, the downstairs has three bedrooms and the upstairs which would have the same floor plan basically but has a room that you could go through to get to the upstairs front porch--such a room often has no closet and no heat, commonly called an alcove.

If you look at records of most of the two family houses in the city, you'll see them identified as having 6 bedrooms even though you may know that a house has that other room.  So there is a clue to answer the question.

In some houses with that floor plan some people have kept that alcove separate from the living room/front room with the normal door like any other bedroom.  Other's have cut out part of the wall between the living room and that alcove so just to have an opening between the two areas but not exactly to use it as part of the living room.  But at least the heat will make it's way over there.  I'm aware of a number of people who use that space to put their children's toys away, others as a place to put a desk (if the wall is opened enough for heat to make it's way in there)

There are numerous rules each town has as to what a room needs to have in order to be considered a bedroom. Most of these rules are adopted from to sources; The International Building Code (IBC) and the International Fire Code (IFC).

Some of the most common are:
- Two forms of egress
- A window allowing in a specific amount of natural light (large enough for egress)
- A minimum number of square footage
- A minimum amount of ceiling height


http://www.trulia.com/voices/Rentals/What_does_a_room_need_to_be_considered_a_bedroom_-288990

I recall this:
more than 100 sq ft in size, a closet, and a window

thanks for all your answers. I had someone from a company do a weatherization audit of my home. The person said the one bedroom in my home is
not a bedroom, it has no heat source and no closet etc.

When I bought my house 30 plus years ago I never even thought of this. Also as the city has it listed as three bedrooms.........

Actually when I look at the info on egress, none of my bedrooms would qualify as a bedroom  

Quoted from joebxr

I recall this:
more than 100 sq ft in size, a closet, and a window

Not necessarily.  Many many old houses have bedrooms often 8 x 10 so 80 sq ft in size and are so designated as a bedroom.  


Best thing to do is forget that trulia site.  Contact New York State to determine what their definition is for a bedroom, especially if there is every an issue with the city claiming you have 4 bedrooms and you claim 3.


But then in Schenectady, there won't be any reassessment will not commence for at least 4, maybe 5, years.