My boyfriend won’t give me access to the smart thermostat

I moved in with my boyfriend in march. We split the utilities 50/50 before anyone incorrectly assumes he has the right to control the temperature because he is paying for it. He has OCD and is very particular about things and thinks that the way he likes stuff is the only way (for instance the TV volume, in his mind it should only be at a few different numbers. If you can’t hear or it’s too loud it’s a you problem ). He has this mindset with the temperature of our heating and cooling systems as well. In the summer I didn’t mind because I didn’t want it to be quite as cool as him anyways but now in the winter I’m finding he prefers it to be way too cold. He is currently out of town as well.

We live in the Midwest and are experiencing an awful cold front right now. Temperature “feels like negative 16 degrees.” Before he left town I asked him to find a way to give me access to the smart thermostat so that I could change the temperature of if I needed to without bothering him while I was gone. I have asked him to do this before and he’s always made an excuse or said it wasn’t possible or just told me that it wasn’t necessary because if I want to have it adjusted all I need to do is ask and he will oblige. He actually does oblige when I ask but I hate having to ask it makes me feel like we have a parent child relationship.

But anyways he is working out of town this week like I mentioned earlier. Currently he has the thermostat arranged so that the time I always leave for work in the evening (I work nights) the home goes into eco mode and the heat shuts off. Last night I got sick at work and needed to come home and it was in the 50s inside the house. I called my boyfriend several times to ask him to turn it back on but he was asleep and never responded. I ended up creating a blanket fort to try and get warm. It was especially miserable since I’m dealing with cold and flu symptoms.

Well when my boyfriend woke up this morning he was very apologetic but still refuses to give me access to the smart thermostat, saying he will just find a way to have the heat automatically come on when my phone connects to the WiFi. He said that function was on weeks ago so I don’t believe him. What should I do? He is not a controlling person with the big things but things like this are starting to wear on me!