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The empty week is the only time everything is reachable
No appointments to arrange, nobody to work around, and every register, filter, attic hatch and outdoor unit available at once. It is also the week almost nobody books.
Most rental HVAC cost is deferred rather than caused
The large bills on a rental property are very rarely the result of anything a tenant did. They are the result of small things not being done: a filter nobody changed for two years, a drain nobody cleared, a coil nobody cleaned, a charge that drifted and was never checked. Each of those is a twenty-minute job at the right moment and a compressor at the wrong one.
The second thing is about evidence. Almost every disagreement between a landlord and a tenant about heating and cooling comes down to the same question — what state was it in when they moved in? If nobody wrote that down, the answer is whatever each side remembers, and a claim built on a memory does not usually survive. A dated record at move-in costs an hour and settles it in advance.
So: what are you actually dealing with, and what were you planning to do?
What you are dealing with, and what you were planning
Nothing is sent anywhere and nothing is recorded. This is what we would ask you on the telephone.
This is the point at which landlords most often come unstuck, and the reason is almost always the same. Normal wear, the age of the equipment, a component at the end of its life, and a filter that was never supplied in the first place are not tenant damage — and a claim that treats them as though they were usually falls apart the moment it is examined.
What genuinely can be attributed, where the evidence is there: physical damage to a cabinet, a grille or a thermostat; something removed; a drain blocked by something that was put into it; an outdoor unit damaged by something stored against it. Those look like what they are and a photograph shows it.
What almost never can: a failed capacitor or contactor; a compressor at fifteen years old; a dirty coil; a system that was never serviced; and a filter nobody changed — unless you can show that filters were supplied, that the tenancy required them to be changed, and that the property was handed over clean, with a date.
So our position, and it costs us work: we will write what we found, what condition it was in and what caused it where the evidence supports a cause. We will not write “tenant damage” because it would be useful, and we will not adjust a report to suit whoever is paying the invoice. A report that says what somebody wanted rather than what was there is worth nothing in the one situation it was written for.
And the part that is not ours at all: what a deposit may lawfully be charged for, and how a claim must be made, is a question for an attorney or a landlord association. We supply the facts, the readings and the photographs. We do not advise on the deduction.
One visit, six things, and a dated record you can hand the next tenant
An empty property is the only time the whole system is available without an appointment. It is worth an hour and it removes most of next year’s emergencies.
What we would cover: filter changed and its size written down; condensate drain cleared and proved by pouring water through, with a float switch fitted if there is not one; both coils inspected and cleaned if needed; charge checked against the manufacturer’s target; static pressure and airflow measured; and every unit aged from its serial number.
And the part that pays for itself: a dated condition record with photographs, taken while the property is empty. It becomes the baseline for the next tenancy, and it is the single document that decides any future disagreement about what state the system was in.
One practical thing worth doing at the same time: leave a labelled spare filter in the cupboard with the size written on it. A tenant who has been handed the right filter has no excuse, and a tenant who has not been given one has a reasonable answer.
Attend, measure, photograph, and report before anybody decides anything
A complaint from a sitting tenant is information rather than an accusation, and the useful move is to establish what is actually happening before it becomes a dispute about who is at fault.
What we would do on the visit: record what was reported and what we found, separately — they are often different, and the gap is useful. Then measure: airflow, static pressure, charge against target, temperature split, and combustion where there is gas. Then photograph anything that will matter later.
What we will not do: carry out work beyond making the property safe without your written say-so, however reasonable the request sounds and however much the tenant would like it done today. That is your decision and it stays yours.
And the commonest finding: a filter that has not been changed. It is worth checking who was supposed to be changing it and whether they were ever told, because that answer shapes everything that follows.
Establish the cause first, and accept the answer you get
Some failures genuinely are caused by use or by damage, and where they are, the evidence is usually obvious: a broken cabinet, a bent grille, a thermostat removed, something stored against an outdoor unit, a drain blocked by something that was put into it.
What we would look at: the failed component itself, its age, the service history if there is one, and whether the failure pattern matches wear or matches an event. A capacitor that has aged out and a fan that has been hit do not look the same, and a photograph shows the difference.
The honest warning: in our experience most of these turn out to be age or deferred maintenance rather than damage. If that is what we find, that is what the report will say, and it is better to know before a claim is made than after one has been challenged.
What we cannot help with: whether the cost can be charged, and how. That is an attorney’s or a landlord association’s question, and the note above sets out why we stop where we do.
Measure the property rather than arbitrate the argument
A tenant saying the bills are too high is usually saying something true about the building, whatever they mean by it. Four things explain most of it and all four are measurable: duct leakage, a restricted filter, a charge that has drifted, and a system running on backup heat when it did not need to.
What a visit produces: those four numbers, plus airflow and static pressure, plus a note of insulation and obvious air leakage even though that is not our trade. In the Panhandle wind, a leaky house costs a great deal more to heat than a sealed one, and that is a landlord’s question rather than a tenant’s behaviour.
What usually helps most, cheapest first: sealing duct leakage, correcting the charge, sorting the filter regime, and setting the thermostat staging properly. Equipment replacement is rarely the cheapest answer to a bill complaint and is frequently offered as though it were.
What we will not do: quote a percentage saving. It depends on the ducts, the building and the usage, and nobody knows it from a driveway.
Survey it before you own it, because after that everything is yours
A rental property is bought on a yield, and heating and cooling is one of the few line items that can move that yield in a single year. An hour before completion is worth a great deal more than an hour afterwards.
What we would establish: the age of every unit off its serial number; measured condition — airflow, static pressure, charge against target, temperature split, combustion; the state of the ductwork; and a realistic replacement horizon as a range with a reason attached.
Why the range matters: “probably five to eight years, because of the refrigerant it holds and the state of the coil” is something you can budget against. A single invented year is not, and anybody offering one for a machine that currently works is guessing.
And start the record on day one: whatever you find, write it down and date it. Every future question about this property — a tenant complaint, a deposit, a sale — is easier if there is a baseline from the day you took it on.
About the empty week
Book it as soon as you have a move-out date rather than when the next tenancy is agreed. The week between is short and it fills up.
About a sitting tenant
Ask for what was reported and what was found to be recorded separately. The difference between the two is the most useful line in the report.
About suspected damage
Ask for a photograph of the failed component itself, not only of the unit. A part that has aged out and a part that has been hit look completely different close up.
About high bills
Ask for duct leakage to be measured rather than estimated. It is the largest single variable in a rental property and the one nobody checks.
About buying
Ask for the replacement horizon as a range with a reason. A single year is a sales device; a range with a reason is a budget line.
If you were going to charge it to the deposit
Read the note above before anything else on this page. In short: we write what the evidence supports and will not label something tenant damage because it would be useful, and what may lawfully be charged is an attorney’s question rather than ours.
If you were going to put it on a schedule
The right answer for almost every rental property, and it is worth specifying rather than accepting. Ask for what each visit must include as a list with units, ask for the readings to be recorded against last year’s, and ask that the document belongs to you rather than to the contractor. Named months matter more than promised response times, because a visit that happens is worth more than one that is guaranteed.
If you were going to replace it
Establish first whether you are replacing a machine or a maintenance history. A system that was never serviced fails early and its replacement will too, on the same schedule, unless something changes. If you do replace, do it in a shoulder season rather than in July, get the heating load calculated as well as the cooling load, and insist on commissioning readings on handover — on a rental they are the only proof you will ever have that it was set up properly.
If you were going to leave it for now
A defensible position, with one exception. If there is a gas appliance and no working carbon monoxide alarm, that is not a deferrable item on a property somebody else sleeps in. Beyond that, the cheapest thing you can do while doing nothing is start a record: the age of each unit off its serial number, a photograph, and a date. It costs nothing and it makes every future decision easier.
Four things a managed property should have
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A dated condition record from move-in
With photographs and the age of each unit. It is the document every future disagreement turns on, and it costs an hour once.
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The filter size written down, and a spare left in the cupboard
Labelled. A tenant who has been handed the right filter has no excuse; one who has not has a reasonable answer.
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A drain that has been proved, and a float switch
The failure that damages ceilings is a blocked condensate line, and the part that prevents it costs very little.
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A working carbon monoxide alarm where anything burns fuel
Tested and dated. On a property somebody else lives in, this is not a deferrable item.