it was 100 degrees yesterday and my tenant said the ac would not cool the house below 81 F. he claims it should cool to 72-75 . Is there a problem with my ac or the tenant's understanding of ac's?
Its a 2 year old AC and my neighbours who have the same ac says it wont go below 80 either.
Hi, Common sense logic tells me the unit is little under powered? How did you select the units?
the unit came with the condo. it was a brand new condo complex a few years ago. The condo is 1360 sq. ft and the ac is rated at: 1.5 ton 10 seer efficiency. What do you think?
20 degrees is about all most residential systems are designed handle.
It was 96 here and my upstairs unit did not cool to 77 until almost 1 AM.
Arm chair opinion 1.5 ton on 1360 square feet is a little on the light side for here. Your load calculations might be different.
Can your tenant go into several nearby stores, offices and such and find that their interior temperatures are in the low 70s?
If he can I'd say, "You got a point there, Judge!"* Any other explanation is just an excuse for inadequate AC sizing.
Jeff
What does your lease say?
Well, then you screwed up big time. You need to add a clause to your lease that provides the landlord is absolved of responsibility if the cooling provides cooling of 15 degrees below ambient temperature (after running 24 hours continuously with no inhabitants).
Save yourself some grief and pick up a window unit at the box store for $86.
And read up on your lease for legal methods to kick the tenant out asap.
You could do that but it would do nothing for the current tenant/situation
Would help, IF the condo association allows them and IF you'd rather go half-assed rather than fixing the problem peoperly.
Thats probably one of the most rediculous suggestions I have ever read. So one has a good tenant that pays the rent, keeps the unit in good condition and generally does not cause any problems and you suggest "finding" a way to evict them because they have a problem? In my opinion they have a ligitimate issue here, my home will cool to below
72 degrees on the hottest of days (SW Florida), a 1.5 ton A/C unit IS too small for a 1360 sq. foot condo and 80+ degrees can be uncomfortable. Oh wait a sec...lemme' guess, YOUR A SLUMLORD RIGHT???? Lets see you probably collect the rent on a weekly basis, charge two to three times what the rental is worth and do everything in your power to take advantage of those who are too poor or ignorant to defend themselves. You are a moron.Thank You have a nice day.
Is the filter clean, windows closed, did he leave it run or come home to a hot place and expect it to cool a hot place fast. You could measure temp drop and repost, someone will know if its correct. Tennants will complain about nothing wrong.
Make sure any lease renewals mention that A/C only has to cool 20 deg less than ambient temp. Even in 100 deg heat my 10000 BTU windowa/c cools 1stfloor to 75-77 degrees.
veg snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:
I'm no expert, but I can tell you this. I bought a mobile home in 2000 and it was 16 feet wide and 68 feet long. It came with a 4 ton American Standard unit. I don't know if that was too big or not, but that's what it came with.
Marginal, depending on other factors, such as insulation and general climate.
One ton = about 12,000 Btu. I do my upstairs with about that for 1000 sq. ft. Downstairs I keep cool with only 10,000 Btu. If it was sized for a region with typical 85 to 90 degree temperatures, the same unit that will give you the near 30 degree temperature drop will be oversized and make for a damp environment when the outside is 85 degrees, or 80 and very humid.
My guess is that it was sized for a 20 degree temperature drop and it is performing as designed. There will always be a few days of marginal performance.
Chances are, your tenant will not accept any logical explanation. Unless the lease specifies a set of temperatures, just tell them to like it or move.
Meaningless comparison though. If your first floor is shaded, partly below grade, well insulated, it will be a different load than the condo on a third floor with southern exposure.
And you must be a deadbeat tenant on welfare who mooches off innocent and generous landlords.
Unit TOO SMALL!
Bite the bullet and upgrade to a larger unit.
This home in YOURS, and a investment, ultimately its your responsiblity to maintain it in good condition.
I am not a big fan of home inspectors but this would of likely gotten flagged if you had a inspection before purchase.
have you had the unit cleaned and serviced ? if it used to work better in 100 weather,it may need a good cleaning ,,and maybe some freon.. if its not blowing as hard as it used too it is dirty for sure.81 would be to hot for me. lucas
The home inspector will do a manual J calculation? Doubt it.
Dont want to go to far off OP here , but earlier someone suggested closing the drapes to block the light and not heat the floor up...but if the shades or drapes are in the inside of the house , isnt the heat already inside? I would think once gthe heat gets through the glass, blocking it with shades would have little effect. Shutters on the outside, or the new glass which reflects light seems to me a better way...
G
Thanks for all the replies. The ac repair man came and said he add to add 1-2 lbs of freon. He said we will need to see if this is a small leak or a bigger one. That did the trick and air was much colder . He was asking 110 / year for the bi-annual service agreement visits. Is this a good investment? The condo is just 3 years old so am not sure about this. On the other hand I found him honest and knowledeable.
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