Owning a rental property is an excellent long-term investment. However, the maintenance of your home or apartment building can be one of the major drawbacks that keep people from making this type of investment.
While there are several aspects to maintaining your rental property assets, don’t let maintaining the HVAC units on your properties become another hassle on your maintenance to-do list. City Heating and Air Conditioning offers a full range of services for residential heating and cooling systems to keep your sought-after rental properties in high demand.
To better understand the best options for providing quality heating and cooling for your tenants, here’s a guide to get you started with making your HVAC systems work best for you.
Legal requirements to have and maintain HVAC units at rental properties
You are not legally required to provide air conditioning at your rental property in the state of Tennessee. However, landlords are required to provide heat to keep the home or apartment building safe and habitable for tenants. If a lease includes air conditioning as part of the rental agreement, then both heat and AC must be provided.
With the sweltering Tennessee summer heat, you’ll likely want to provide properly running air conditioning to keep and attract quality, long-term tenants, which means you are required to maintain a fully functioning HVAC system for your rental property. If either the heat or air conditioning stops working, it’s the landlord’s responsibility to repair it.
Best maintenance practices
With that as our baseline, let’s talk about what you can do to keep your system running at peak performance. The key is proper and routine maintenance.
Create a maintenance schedule
Rather than rely on the “I forgot to replace the ____?” moments months after it was due, keep the HVAC units at your properties running at their best by creating a maintenance schedule. This will eliminate the guessing game and help you save time and money.
Replace air filters
This is the easiest way to prolong the life and efficacy of the HVAC systems at your properties. The best way to remember this is to change the filters with the seasons. A clean filter, especially a high-quality filter, will make an enormous difference in the air quality inside your rental homes or apartment buildings.
Check belts and bearings
Like the timing belt in a vehicle engine, the belt on your HVAC unit can wear down over time. Check these belts regularly, and have a trained technician with City Heat and Air replace it when needed.
You’ll also want to ensure the bearings on your HVAC unit are always properly greased to make sure no metal-to-metal contact is grinding down the equipment.
Clean air ducts
This will have a similar result to changing your air filters in that cleaning these areas will make a huge difference in the indoor air quality in your rental homes. When you inspect these ducts, realize all the filth you’re seeing in these spaces is contaminating the air your tenants breathe within the home. Performing routine cleanings can maintain the high air quality in your rental units.
Clean HVAC units
This is another easy and simple way to maintain your HVAC investment by ensuring there’s no brush, mud, or other foreign contaminants on or inside your outdoor HVAC unit.
Remove standing water
Standing water is a breeding ground for bacteria that can easily work its way into your HVAC system. Frequently get rid of standing water around your building’s drain pans and other humidity-moderating areas of your system.
Keep your monthly bills and costs low
As a landlord, you of course want to lower your expenses while maintaining a quality of life standard for your tenants. Whether you or your tenants pay for utilities for your properties, you’ll want to do everything you can to keep these costs low. Therefore, you’ll want to maximize energy efficiency within your rental units.
- Replace equipment
- Install Low-E windows
- Install programmable thermostats
- Duct sealing
- Upgrade your insulation
- Perimeter sealing
All these changes can be made without a major expense, but they can make a significant difference in the heating and air bills for you or your tenants.
Protect your investment
The typical lifespan of a high-quality HVAC system is 15-20 years, which means you’ll want to spend the extra money to get a system you can rely on. The last thing you want is the heat to go out in the dead of winter and have irate tenants waiting for you to make the needed repairs.
Your HVAC system is likely the greatest financial investment in your rental properties. When choosing a unit to install, trust a reputable heating and air provider to give you the comprehensive information you need to make the best decision for your properties. These are the main types of systems to choose from:
- Split vs Packaged Systems
- Furnace vs Heat Pumps vs Duel Fuel for Heating
- Ducts vs Ductless Systems
Once you’ve chosen an HVAC system, consider an extended warranty to protect your rental property investment.
HVAC Company in Knoxville, TN
Operating rental properties can be an incredible opportunity to build wealth, but you’ll want to ensure your HVAC systems are operating well so you have happy and comfortable tenants. To increase the lifespan of the HVAC, regular maintenance is a necessary investment to protect you from the inconvenience of a malfunctioning system during the extreme weather months of the year.
At City Heating and Air Conditioning, we offer an annual service plan that is unrivaled in East Tennessee. Whether your heating and cooling system needs routine maintenance or you’re ready for a new HVAC installation, City Heating and Air Conditioning has everything you need as the coming winter months bring colder weather to our area. We’re proud to provide Knoxville, TN, and the surrounding communities with exemplary heating and cooling services and have worked hard to build a reputation of outstanding customer service and satisfaction. Our HVAC company offers HVAC maintenance, installation, and repairs for a variety of HVAC systems. Learn more about our HVAC services by calling us today at 865-938-1005.