A/C Woes

[wisteriapg]

South Carolina
I'm a landlord. Our renters called a few weeks ago reporting that the air conditioner was working properly at night but wasn't cooling the home during the day. They further stated that they consistently kept the thermostat on 85°. Over the phone, we asked them to try decreasing temp on thermostat to approximately
72° - 74° to see if it improved. Unfortunately, it didn't help. We arranged for a repairman to check it. The freon was full, he cleaned the filters, sprayed debris off outdoor unit and reported everything was in perfect condition. (Please note, due to a house fire in 2012, the outdoor unit, indoor unit, ductwork, insulation & thermostat were all replaced.) Couple days later, the renters called again to report there was still no improvement. We had a repairman come again to check ductwork which was in excellent condition. However, the renters are still reporting problems with the temp. This is our first experience as landlords... we have no idea what to do. It's been checked with no problems found! There's ceiling fans in every room, if we also provide them with an excellent window unit, will we be in compliance with South Carolina law? Also, it's time for a lease renewal. If the current lease doesn't address A/C repairs, can that be changed in the new lease to reflect that the tenants will be responsible for the repairs? Thank you!

 

[STEPHAN]

It takes hours to go from 85 to 72, even if the AC works fine.

 

[FarmerJ]

I wonder if they were lying about temperature settings and have been trying to run it colder and it iced up OR leaving one or two windows open even though the system is on ? AS to renewing If your air conditioner service -repair guy tells you that he cannot find any thing wrong and the unit should be working okay Id suggest your free to bring in one more tech to look at it BUT if nothing is found then seriously don't renew your lease with this tenant because the complaints are likely to become worse and tenant may become more demanding as to putting into a lease a requirement for tenant to pay repairs , I can tell you that's a giant turn off for some tenants BUT you are free to handle repair issues a bit different in a new lease such as wording it that if the tenant calls for a repair and you send out repair services and nothing wrong is found if the same issue is complained of again the tenant will be responsible for the service fee for a return visit by the repair person.

 

[Zigner]

What did the repair technician(s) say the temperature of the air coming out of the registers was?

 

[Gail in Georgia]

Your tenants consistently kept the thermostat at 85 degrees and complained the house wasn't cooling enough during the day?

Seriously??

It is probably unreasonable to assume the temp will be able to get down to 72 degrees in the middle of a southern summer. 78 degrees may be more reasonable. At any rate, the real issue is whether a landlord is even required to provide air conditioning to tenants. Does your lease address that air conditioning is provided?

In many states, a landlord must provide an adequate source of heat, plumbing and working electrical but air conditioning is not a requirement. However, if your lease states air is provided, then the air must be in working order. Your posting would clearly imply that you have attempted to address this through at least two visits from your repairman.

If your tenants continue to be PITA's in regard to this air conditioning business then do not renew their lease.

In terms of them being responsible for repair visits; they would be IF the repairs are due to their fault. For example, a unit freezes up because your lease requires them to regularly change filters and they do not. Or (and, yes, this has happened with us); they complain about a unit not working correctly and the repair guy finds that out of the seven floor ducts, six of them are covered with either heavy furniture or boxes, impeding air flow (and making the unit work all that harder).

Gail

 

[pac72]

suggest putting in lease tennant is responsible for monthly changing of owner supplied airfilters . that service calls generated by dirty filters will be billed to tenant... I do hvac service and 80% of rental calls are clogged airfilters...TOTALLY avoidable by simple filter changes, and you SHOULD have yearly maint done also..

 

[xylene]

Honestly, maybe get a second opinion from a better hvac tech who can do a temperature study and thermoscan.

Is it possible the unit is undersized?

Bluntly, the air conditioner can't be working "fine" if it can't drop the average interior temp to at least the mid 70s.

 

[FarmerJ]

If the a/c unit were undersized it would still cool some but it would take longer, just like the person who wants to cool a 1 bedroom apartment with a Liv , small kit and dining area with a 5 or 6 ,000 btu window machine, its just going to take a lot longer

 

[xylene]

If the a/c unit were undersized it would still cool some but it would take longer, just like the person who wants to cool a 1 bedroom apartment with a Liv , small kit and dining area with a 5 or 6 ,000 btu window machine, its just going to take a lot longer

Whether rated in BTU or Tonnage, window or central, and an AC unit only has so much cooling capacity. Buildings receive solar heating, among many variables. An undersized AC unit won't 'eventually' cool space to an acceptable room temp, no matter how long it runs.