Rental Property Investor · West Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2014 · 81 posts · 50 votes
Hello, I have multiples rental 2/1 apartments Florida rented for low income tenants ($650). Most of them have central A/C but I found out that these are really pain in the neck and very expensive maintenance. The tenants don't change or clean their filters, the coils get dirty and we have to spend $150 to clean the coils. Plus the A/C needs maintenances and repair on average the A/C company will charge $125 to $200 to fix it. Considering the low rent that is very large expense. I'm planning to change all the central A/C by just disabling them and put windows A/C that cost $110 at Walmart. I have other units using windows A/C and never had any complaints and I don't have to call the A/C guy to fix. I will rather buy a new one and install it. Do you think this make sense?
What you're saying makes sense, justremember that the window units create gobs of condensation. If it is just falling on the ground, not much of a concern, but I've seen a/c units wreak havoc on roofs, awnings, sills, etc. Just make sure they are properly installed.
One recommendation if you want to keep central a/c is to find a technician who works for an HVAC contractor and hire them off hour/weekend for a fraction of the price. I regularly get furnaces installed for $250-$500 labor which is a great break for me but much more than they make per hour.
If you have AC I would stick with it. I use the cheap air filters that you can see through. They work better if the filter gets change once a year. They won't change the filter on the window unit either. You will have $400+ in purchase and installing good window units.
I live in Michigan where air conditioning is needed about 2 months a year.I also rent to low income individuals and I find that they abuse all air conditioning systems similar to what you said and to their pocket book.This segment has no self discipline and you would be doing both of you a favor by removing any and all air conditioning. I personally need a sweater/coat when I go into their house in the summer and in the winter I’m sweating and can’t wait to get out of their house.
If they are responsible and deserving of air conditioning they can purchase their own window units.
If you have AC I would stick with it. I use the cheap air filters that you can see through. They work better if the filter gets change once a year. They won't change the filter on the window unit either. You will have $400+ in purchase and installing good window units.
Unfortunately here in Florida we need to provide A/C. And when A/C stops working I need to treat is as an emergency cause the tenants will not tolerate living without A/C. Not only causes me stress to have to call the A/C guy and ask him go immediately. The repair bills are always more then $125 per visit. My thinking is the windows A/C is just less maintenance or no maintenance at all. Also if one brokes the one 2 are still working it will not become a emergency that needs to be addressed immediately. Besides my current central A/C are old and they just need constant repairs. Central A/C makes more sense in larger apartment with higher rent.
What you're saying makes sense, justremember that the window units create gobs of condensation. If it is just falling on the ground, not much of a concern, but I've seen a/c units wreak havoc on roofs, awnings, sills, etc. Just make sure they are properly installed.
One recommendation if you want to keep central a/c is to find a technician who works for an HVAC contractor and hire them off hour/weekend for a fraction of the price. I regularly get furnaces installed for $250-$500 labor which is a great break for me but much more than they make per hour.
I used to have a guy fix A/C after he get off the work. It ended up costing me more money cause he was not licensed and just could not get things done in 1 visit. Now I just stick with licensed contractors when it comes to stuff like electric and A/C. Besides the tenants do not really want to wait too long since in FL is always very hot and humid.
Will Wu
I too am in FL and understand the requirement for AC. In Pensacola, low income rentals commonly use window units, though I suspect that is the case in large part due to the age of our city. Retrofit of older homes to central AC is a high cost for a low SF rentals.
Aside from install concerns (mold, rot etc) I'd worry about theft as well. Guess it comes out of the security deposit, but just one more hassle.
What I've often thought of as a middle ground option are the mini-split systems. They use a small exterior unit paired with a ductless wall mounted unit. They were everywhere in Afghanistan when I was there. If they were Army/Navy/Marine proof, i'd guess they'd be pretty tenant proof as well. If you went this option, no ducts/air handlers, limited theft concerns. They still have a small filter, but it's reusable. Also, they might not have the reach to condition a whole unit, but might be good enough depending on size. Total cost is usually ~$3-5k.
-Tim
Since each apartment cost approximately $40K. 3 to 5K is too much investment for A/C for these low income properties. The split units has another concerns is that the tenants will probably loose the control remote and it won't be easy to replace them.
Since each apartment cost approximately $40K. 3 to 5K is too much investment for A/C for these low income properties. The split units has another concerns is that the tenants will probably loose the control remote and it won't be easy to replace them.
Who says they need a remote control? does the remote function as anything other than a remote? It isn't the thermostat too is it?
I like the idea of being able to replace a window unit yourself and not having to call an AC guy.
I used to use window units, but they constantly got stolen. I now use the hotel style PTAC units that go through the wall. So far we haven't had any stolen and they seem to work well enough to heat/cool the entire apartment. I was able to find a lot of them on craigslist that had been removed from a hotel. So far so good!
I am in Florida as well, and I agree Ac is really necessary in fl. My rental house doesn't even have central air, and I just put in window Ac units, you should read reviews, I did and went with a little more expensive one at Home Depot over the super cheap option. I was in lowes wanting to buy a really small one for cheap and was advised by someone else who was getting his third cheap Ac unit that it wasn't good. I also wanted to spring for a nicer one, as it was quieter as well. What I like about the window Ac units is that they are cheap, no service calls, and a new one can be bought and be replaced by me when it goes out.
I am in Florida as well, and I agree Ac is really necessary in fl. My rental house doesn't even have central air, and I just put in window Ac units, you should read reviews, I did and went with a little more expensive one at Home Depot over the super cheap option. I was in lowes wanting to buy a really small one for cheap and was advised by someone else who was getting his third cheap Ac unit that it wasn't good. I also wanted to spring for a nicer one, as it was quieter as well. What I like about the window Ac units is that they are cheap, no service calls, and a new one can be bought and be replaced by me when it goes out.
I guess your rental place must be nicer. I rent to low income tenants and I learned that no matter how good is the product that you gave them they will destroy it very soon. So going for cheap is the best option for me. The same apply for appliances. I only go for the lowest cost or sometimes I buy second hand. There is no point in giving them better brands appliances they don't know and don't care about maintenance. I have tenants that called me complaining their electric bills was so high because the (central) A/C keep running and running. When I went to check for it I found out they set up the thermostat to 50 degrees and don't know how to operate it. I learned that for low income tenants just keep things as simple as possible. Fridge must be without ice maker and water dispenser. A/C the best is to use manual control without any electric thermostat panels. Stove use ceramic type cause they will keep burning the coils all the time.
@Account Closed Thanks for sharing about the motel style units, we're thinking about them as well. Couple of questions: Are they hard wired or do they plug into an outlet? What would did they cost all in, including carpentry, wiring, etc.?
@Giovanni Isaksen the units can be either hard wired or plugged in. I chose to hard wire them just to save a few bucks on outlets and cords. Here are my best guess estimates for how much it cost when we installed about 10 units:
PTAC units - $150 each (I used units on craigslist including the sleeve. That was cheap, because the sleeve can cost about $100 by itself sometimes.)
Carpentry work - $500 for a handyman
Concrete saw rental - $100
Permits: $750 (can't remember, but it seems like it was about $75 per unit to upgrade the panels to 200 amp and wire the units at the same time)
Electrician: $300 (lucky we had a friend in the biz!)
I hope I am remembering those numbers right. I will say that I have been happy with the decision to use this style units. None have been stolen and they seem to do a good job.
hi all, let me start by stating that I'm an hvac contractor in S Fl. And every A/C system gets tested in summer. The weather here is an air conditioners enemy.
Depending on the filter, they should be changed every 30-90 days.
As far as the ductless mini split systems, avoid them...they cost the same as a central split system and really only cool 1 room.
How big is the A/C? How many window units do you plan to put in to replace the central? Window units aren't very energy efficient.
Also there are many hacks in the a/c trade down here. Most are just out to sell new units and the ones that aren't cant do a proper fix so just be careful with who you deal with.
Our smallest (2 bedroom, 1 bath) least expensive house here in Georgia gets cooled by two window units; one in the bedroom, one in the living room. For rent of only $525 a month it's not worth it to fork over the $$$ to put in the duct work for central air (the house never had it in the first place) and at just under 800 square feet these two units plus three ceiling fans provide enough cooling.
Interestingly enough, we were recently doing some work in one of our larger older homes where we'd replaced the HVAC unit about a year ago and I soon wonder why the heck I bothered. The tenants...frugal folks who gratiously sat watching TV while we did repairs...were just as happy to have the ceiling fans going and never bothered to turn on the central air, no doubt figuring they were saving energy costs. A couple of weeks later our electrician was in there replacing their cooktop and said the same thing; he sweated the two hours he was working there and the tenants sat on the front porch and enjoyed the breeze and never had the central air on.
P.S. For what it's worth, it's now just the two of us in our own home. We use a little window air conditioner in our bedroom at night instead of running the central air and I know several single people who do the same thing.
Around here (where it gets plenty hot in the summer, although it isn't Florida), low-rent 2/1 SFRs usually have window units. And they grow legs & walk off quite regularly.
I put in central air, since I was replacing the furnace, anyway. In my area, it's an upgrade from the tenant's point of view & therefore worth a little more rent.
My problem with the window units (based on having to repair them!) is that regardless of how or who installs them, they often destroy the window frame. A lot of these places are old & have less-than-tip-top casings - the weight, condensation & shoving in/out will really tear up the window.
Using a hotel-style unit would take care of that & might be more cost-effective in the long run, even with the higher up front outlay.
@Will Wu I think that the simple solution is to have a maintenance guy/general handyman change the filter and shopvac the coils once a quarter, it would allow a visual inspection of each unit and for maybe $200 for a days work including the filters, you would meet the same solution at less cost! side note, did this for 26 units owned by two partners and would leave a spare filter and show tenant how to change, it cut down a lot on maintenance for them and I would catch and fix leaky faucets and running toilets while there!