renters and air conditioning
We rent our garden-floor apartment. It is a nice apartment, with dishwasher, granite countertops and a washer dryer. The entire brownstone has central air, which we control from upstairs. Before our new tenants signed a lease, we made it clear: we do not want to supply air conditoining for their apartment, simply because it means also providing air conditioning for the entire house. (Unfortunately, it’s a one-thermostat system.) They will certainly be provided air conditioning, simply because we will use it during the summer months. Long story short, they want a/c. They say their apartment is stuffy and they cannot sleep. Their windows are barred, so finding a portable a/c system that fits might be hard. We upstairs are fine without the a/c, and I really don’t want to pay for it. what should we do?
add2make4
in Landlord 13 years and 8 months ago
10
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10 replies
slopegirl | 13 years and 7 months ago
ceiling fans work wonders. maybe a cheaper solution than new bars. but I think you’ll need to give them a place to put an AC for next summer at least.
shirleys | 13 years and 8 months ago
Do you have to deal with Landmark if you want to change the bars?
mab | 13 years and 8 months ago
Unless the window is an odd size, you don’t need to modify your window bars. We installed an AC unit with “solid sides” in our garden level living room window…I don’t remember the proper name for that type of unit…but it is doable. The exterior of the AC sits flush with the window bars (but doesn’t touch them), and the bulk of the unit sits inside upon the window sill or otherwise properly s supported. The unit cools off the entire garden floor, so that could be a viable option without resorting to the expense of modifying your window bars.
rh | 13 years and 8 months ago
You can call any ironworker to modify the bars. For the future, it might be wise to consider a zoned system for heat and a/c. Not just for the sake of your tenants, but you’ll be saving a lot of money and energy by not running your utilies in empty rooms.
daveinbedstuy | 13 years and 8 months ago
I’ve never seen a portable one with duct that works nearly as well as a window unit.
add2make4 | 13 years and 8 months ago
also, i should add, we let them use our portable unit, which ducts out to the window. they don’t like htis system either.
add2make4 | 13 years and 8 months ago
no airconditioning mentined in the lease. does anyone know who i could call about modifying the window bars? I am reluctant to do this, simply because it becomes a non issue in a few days. at least i hope so.
Silvermax | 13 years and 8 months ago
Is the air conditioning mentioned in the lease? Are temperatures specified? If not, I don’t see how you are obligated to supply them with air conditioning over and above times when you have it turned on for your own benefit, which is presumably during the worst of the heat. If that’s insufficient for them — for example, if they still feel the need for air conditioning even though external temperatures have dropped below 75 degrees, and nighttime temps are in the 60s or 50s — then they need to get a window unit for their own use. There are shallow window units that will fit in windows with bars — my old downstairs tenants used to have one. You might do a little research on this and offer them some suggestions. (And when they discover the electrical cost of keeping a place super-cool, they may decide to use fans instead.) And if no such units exist, it’s possible to have an ironworker come in and modify the bars to create a bump-out for an a/c unit.
Rick | 13 years and 8 months ago
You can change the design of the bars so that an A/C will fit. Another option could be an A/C that has a duct to the window. Or, since you are providing A/C in the Summer months, perhas a window fan would be good enough?
daveinbedstuy | 13 years and 8 months ago
I think you need to deal with the bar issue both for them and any future tenants. You are under no obligation to supply them with AC but they should be able to expect that their windows will accomodate an AC unit. My tenants have one large one in the rear room and it cools the whole apt…garden level so it’s relatively cool to begin with.